Coming out of a dissolving boy band must be a bit like being an entrant in one of those dystopian jungle fights –a Hunger Games- style event in which bandmates are scattered across an unknown terrain and challenged to slog their lonely route back to fame. Justin Timberlake, after NSync, enjoyed the unsporting edge of natural talent and crushed his former colleagues. Robbie Williams looked supreme in the Take That scrimmage, at least until Gary Barlow circled back, gathered up the other three, and made the fight a more compelling four- on- one. By the time One Direction announced they were to go on indefinite hiatus in 2015, many of us were familiar enough with the conventions of boy-band bloodsport to start picking favourites for the coming melee. 离开一个男团就像是一个新手在一场反乌托邦的丛林战争 – 或者是饥饿游戏式的战争中 – 所有的成员被分散在不知名的地带 然后不断挑战着自己再长途跋涉重新回到名誉的顶端 Justin Timberlake在NSYNC之后享受着并不公平的天赋 打击了他的前同事 Robbie Williams在Take That的名誉之争中明显占优势 至少在Gary Barlow团结了其他三个人 把战争转为一场基本不可对抗的四对一局面之前是这样 在One direction宣布他们要在2015年进行不限期的团休的时候 我们中很多人对于男团之间的这种血战再熟悉不过了 已经在即将发生的混战之中开始挑选着自己最喜欢的一个了 Harry Styles – charming, a grinner – was best placed to succeed on his own. Big-lunged Zayn Malik was already out of the band by that time and had used his head start to good effect, preparing a solo album that went to No 1. Liam Payne and Niall Horan – always second-tier members – were given middling chances. And ranked last in any serious analysis, the most fitfully appreciated member of One Direction, was Louis Tomlinson. Here was a combatant you might expect to find curled up in a fox hole on the battlefield, pale and chain-smoking. Harry styles – 迷人又有着灿烂的微笑 – 是单飞最易成功的人选 巨肺Zayn Malik早已经离开了乐队 而且用他自己的头脑成功的开了个好头 制作了一张直冲第一的专辑 Liam Payne和Niall Horan – 永远是第二引人注意的成员 – 成功的机会中规中矩 在各种严格分析中都排名最后 最不被欣赏的成员 就是Louis Tomlinson了 你可能会发现他在战场上蜷缩在狐狸洞里 脸色苍白 一只接一支的抽烟
It is in roughly this position I find the 25-year old, one afternoon earlier this summer. Slender, track-suited, a little wan under his manicured facial hair, Tomlinson sits on a garden bench outside the photographer’s studio and rewards himself with an entire pack of cigarettes. “I know, I know,” he says of the smoking. “It’s not great. But there’s so much hurry-up-and-wait in this job. It helps me get ready to go again.” 在今年初夏的时候某个下午我见到25岁的Louis 当时大概是这样 他很瘦 穿着运动服 胡子修剪地很整齐的 看着有些苍白 他坐在摄影棚外面的园凳上 正在用一整包香烟犒劳着自己 “我知道我知道” 他吸着烟说 “这并不是什么好习惯 但是这个工作太过匆忙 烟能帮助我整理好心态出发”
I’ve often wondered why the fringe members of boy bands do this to themselves. Why they gather themselves to “go again”. As Tomlinson acknowledges, in One Direction he was seen by some as “forgettable, to a certain degree”. “The others have always been… Like Niall, for example. He’s the most lovely guy in the world. Happy-go-lucky Irish, no sense of arrogance. And he’s fearless. There are times I’ve thought: ‘I’d have a bit of that.’ Zayn, back in the day. He could relate to me on a nerves level. In the first year we were both the least confident. But Zayn has a fantastic voice and for him it was always about owning that. Liam always had a good stage presence, same as Harry, they’ve both got that ownership. Harry comes across very cool. Liam’s all about getting the crowd going, doing a bit of dancing…” 我很多时候都在想知道为什么这些处在边缘的男团成员要这么对待自己 为什么他们要一次又一次地”重新出发” 就像Louis说的那样 在One Direction的时候他被一些人看作是 “从某种程度上来说很容易被忘记的” “其他几个人一直是… 就像Niall 举个例子 他是世界上最可爱的人 随遇而安的爱尔兰人 为人亲和 而且他什么都不怕 有的时候我会想 ‘我也要像他一样再有点勇气’ Zayn 在之前那个时候 跟我还是很像的 在第一年的时候我们都是最不自信的 但是Zayn的声音无可挑剔 对他来说一直都是要去掌控自己的声音 Liam有很好的舞台表现力 Harry也一样 他们都有这种能力 Harry非常酷 Liam能够带动观众的情绪 跳跳舞” And then there’s you. 然后就是你 “And then there’s me.” “然后就是我”
Tracks from Tomlinson’s solo record have been playing inside the studio. They’re modest, rather lovely pop songs that in their quiet way seem to acknowledge his underdog status. Tomlinson lights another cig. “You know I didn’t sing a single solo on the X Factor,” he says, recalling the time back in 2010, when One Direction were first put together as a band on the ITV reality show. “A lot of people can take the piss out of that. But when you actually think about how that feels, standing on stage every single week, thinking: ‘What have I really done to contribute here? Sing a lower harmony that you can’t really hear in the mix?” He guesses, smiling wryly, that in those months he was best known as “The kid wearing espadrilles, stood in’t back.” Louis的个人专辑在摄影棚里播放着 听起来是很简单的 好听的流行歌曲 好像以歌曲的方式承认着自己弱者的地位 Louis又点燃了一根香烟 “你知道我在XFactor的时候没有过一句独唱” 他说 回忆起了2010年的时候 One Direction第一次作为一个男团被组合在一起 出现在ITV真人秀上 “很多人都拿这个开玩笑 但是你真的想想这会是什么感觉 每天站在台上 想着 我到底做出了什么贡献 唱着别人根本就听不太见的低声部和声吗”他猜想 苦笑着 在那段时间里他被人叫做 “那个穿着平底凉鞋 站在后面的那个孩子”
Not the best singer, not the high-energy guy, not the dude, Tomlinson discovered he was the one in the band who was most tuned into backstage logistics – the one who paid attention when “the 20th approval form” was passed around for a signature. “And if there was any bad news that needed giving to the label I’d always be designated to have the argument.” Later this would lead to Tomlinson founding a small record label of his own, Triple String, and to starting a side project managing a girl band. In his day job with One Direction, meanwhile, he toured the world, released five albums and amassed a large, equal-parts fortune like the rest of the boys. Somewhere en route, Tomlinson says, he found his feet as a performer. “In the last year of One Direction I was probably the most confident I ever was. And then it was: ‘OK, hiatus!’” 不是最好的歌手 不能飚高音 也不是代表人物Louis发现了他适合在幕后做组织工作–当“第20种赞美形式”需要一个签名的时候他才会被注意到 “而且如果有什么坏消息要告诉经纪公司的时候 我就会被指定去跟他们去理论” 过了一段时间这也是Louis成立自己的厂牌 triple string的原因 他额外的工作就是管理一个女团 平时他还是One Direction的一员 他们跨越整个世界进行巡演 发行了五张专辑 他也和其他几个人一样 赚到了很大一笔钱 在交谈中他说 他找到了自己作为表演者的感觉 “在one direction的最后一年可能是我有史以来最自信的一年 然后就是 ‘来吧 休团’
Tomlinson argued against it, he says, when the band first sat down to discuss separation. “It wasn’t necessarily a nice conversation. I could see where it was going.” Tomlinson remembers his instinctive assumption being simple. He would step away – try writing for other people, keep his label going, wait the “two years, five years, whatever it be” until One Direction reformed. “If you’d asked me a year or 18 months ago: ‘Are you going to do anything as a solo artist?’ I’d have said absolutely not.” Louis说 当乐队第一次坐下来认真讨论各自发展的时候 他们之间是有争论的 “那次谈话并不是非常愉快 我明白接下来会发生什么” Louis记得他当时本能地作出的假设非常简单 如果单独发展 他会退居幕后 – 为别人作曲作词 维持他的厂牌运作 等到过了“可能两年或者五年 不管多久” 直到One Direction重组 “如果你一年前或者18个月前问我 ‘你会成为一个独唱歌手吗’我会回答你说 绝对不可能” What changed? If the management stuff made you happy, I say, why not sit back and focus on that? 发生了什么事改变了你的想法如果退居幕后做一个经纪人让你开心 为什么不放松放松 专注于做那些事呢 “But then I’d be conceding,” he says. “那样的话 我就是在让步” 他说
Conceding to who? To what? He waves his hand in the air. He could mean anything: history, bandmates, doubters, the press. Tomlinson is quiet for a while and eventually says: “I’m trying to work out why it is that I’m [doing this], now that you’ve asked that question.” He fidgets and trials a few answers that run out of steam. “It’s frustrating, because I know what I want to say and I can’t articulate it.” He pats for his lighter. The odds are against this tilt, Tomlinson seems to understand. But as we start to talk through his reasons for at least trying, I find myself hoping that this Last Directioner makes an unlikely go of it after all. 对谁让步 对什么让步 他没说话 只是把手往空中挥了挥 他说的可能是任何事 历史 乐队成员 怀疑者 媒体 Louis沉默了一会儿 最终他说 “你问了这个问题 我才开始思考 我到底为什么会这么做” 他开始有些坐立不安 尝试给出了几个回答 但最终还是失去了回答的动力 “这让我非常沮丧 因为我知道我想说什么但我无法清晰的表达出来” 他摸了摸口袋找他的打火机 Louis似乎明白 他改变不了最终的结果 但当我们讨论他明知不可为而为之的原因时 虽然不太可能 但我发现自己希望这位最后的Directioner能最终放手
REASON ONE. THE pop industry has an ineluctable momentum, and the star who begins something ( like a skier inching off a hilltop) can quickly find themselves bound to ride out whatever thrills and trials comes next. Tomlinson gives the example of how he first became famous. Born in Doncaster in 1991 he was raised by his mother, Johannah Deakin, and later also by her new partner Mark Tomlinson. He was 16 when he went to his first XFactor audition. Prompt rebuff. A year later he made it into the audition process, but still nowhere near the part where ambitious young singers are briskly embraced or condemned by that great gatekeeper of celebrity, Simon Cowell. In 2010 Tomlinson, twice unlucky, gave the auditions a final try. 第一个原因 流行产业有这样一种无法避免的动力 而一个明星在起步时(就像从山坡上慢慢滑下的人)很快就会发现自己能应付接下来的喜悦和苦难 Louis用他成名的经历举了一个例子 1991年他出生在Doncaster 母亲Johannah Deakin 抚养他长大 后来有了他的继父Mark Tomlinson的加入 16岁时他去参加XFactor的试镜 收到了毫不留情的拒绝 一年以后 他进入了试镜阶段 但他与那些野心勃勃的年轻歌手被明星掌门人Simon Cowell 欣然接受或残忍拒绝都还差得很远 2010年 Louis在经历了两次霉运之后 做了最后一次尝试
“I told myself I’ve just got to get to Simon, get his opinion, that’s all my ambition was. Then all of a sudden everything changed. To my friends in Doncaster I would always say [getting into the band] was the most incredible thing that happened to me. And it was. But it happened when I was already having the best year of my life. I was 17, 18, just started driving, didn’t need fake ID any more, going to house parties. That’s the time. That’s the age. And to a certain degree… ‘Having it taken away’ is the wrong phrase. But there was a price to pay.” “我告诉自己 我只要到Simon面前 得到他的意见 就够了 那就是我的志向 可突然间一切都变了 我在Doncaster的朋友们知道 我总说 [能进一个乐队]是发生在我身上最棒的事 确实是这样 但这件事发生在我人生最棒的那几年 我十七八岁 刚刚会开车 不需要再用假身份证 可以去尽情party 那是最棒的时光 最棒的年纪 但从某种意义上来说‘这些从我身边被剥夺走’的说法不合适 ‘但我确实付出了代价’