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(Excerpt from the Star Newspapers dated 27 July 2004 by Michael Cheang)

This is an interview done during their promotion tour for their debut album "The Fairy Land in Reality" in Malaysia.

F.I.R's Facts:

1) The name is derived from the initials of the 3 members and it also stands for "Fairyland in Reality".

The story behind FIR's rise to stardom is a product of Chen's dreams, fueled by a desire to make music that touches both the hearts of the listeners as well as the composers themselves. Although the group was formed 2 years ago, Chen has been in the business for more than 10 years now, producing and composing for Taiwan artistes such as S.H.E, Zhou Hui and Soo You Kang. However, tired of the repetitive work of churning our commercial albums, Chen decided to quit and formed his own band to get back to basics and makes his own kind of music instead.

Ian Chen: I have been in the business for 10 years now, and I have seen many good artistes joining the industry and also many who dropped out after a while. Some of the albums in the market now are all over produced or packaged, and I wanted to get back to the basics of music making with this band. To keep going you must keep in mind that music is not just about making money. You must enjoy what you are doing.

When Chen initially set out to form the band, he already had an idea of what kind of sound he wanted - to have 1 female vocalist with 2 male back-up musicians. According to him, the creative possibilities for such a combination is endless. He wanted a voice that could capture the emotions in a song, and have good musical instincts as well.

After countless, auditions, he decided on petite Chan, whom he heard once before during a singing competition in which he was a judge. The choice of Huang as guitarist was equally hard, with Huang winning through in the end based on his credentials as an award winning composer, and his reputation as one of the most talented young musicians in Taiwan.

With an accomplished composer and producer in their ranks, it's no surprise that the band writes its own songs. Chen is not the only one writing songs, as the other 2 members also contribute to the song writing process. In fact, their collaboration has been so prolific that Chen said fans would not have to wait long for their next album to be released.

Ian Chen: For the past 2 and a half years, we have written many songs, enough for 2 or 3 more albums. Of course, we will also make sure that each subsequent album does not sound too much different from one another in term s of direction and melody.

The group members each have different musical tastes and influences. Chan, for instance,admitted to listening to Western music a lot, especially folk rock music like Dave Matthews Band.Chen himself comes from a musical family.

Ian Chen: My father was a music teacher and my mother used to give vocal lessons. I am more influenced by classical and traditional music. I also like to listen to all sorts of musical styles, and try to incorporate them into our music. For instance, Lydia has become baroque influences, and Revolution combines classical Chinese instruments with nu-metal elements.

Meanwhile, Huang, who is also a fan of Japanese music, has a more unconventional influence.

Real Huang: When I was young, I didn't learn music. I was taught art instead. So my initial ambition was not to become a musician, but to become an artist. If you listen to our songs, you will notice that there is a lot of visual imagery involved. I try conjuring up a scenery in a song, like painting a picture. I am also influenced by cartoons, especially that of Hayao Miyazaki (the Japanese artist/director who made the acclaimed animated feature "Spirited Away". His cartoons are very touching, and reaches out to people of all ages. I think our music should be like that as well.

Huang added that although they all have different influences and styles, it is Chen who guides them along.

Real Huang: Ian always encourages us to follow our own musical direction, and he tries to understand our ideas and help us improve as much as possible.

Ian Chen: All of us can create music, so we don't want to focus on just one style. We want a more concept-style of music. Each of our albums will focus on a main idea, even with different music styles.

Huang's favourite song on the album is Fly Away because he did the arrangement for the song, while Chen's favourite is the Revolution.

Ian Chen: It has a little nu-metal, and is the edgiest song on the album. We also combine western and Chinese instruments in the arrangement.

Faye Chan: Ian let me decide what to do on the song, and told me to go ahead and express myself fully. The song also involves a bit of role-playing because it is about a witch who gives advise to another girl about what to do about the man in her life.

Faye Chan: I use my voice to express all my unspoken emotions. Ian chose me because I can express express the feelings in a song the way I do.