No Party For Cao Dong have issued their first public statement since their drummer Tsai Yi-fan (also known as Fan Fan and Fan Tsai) was reported dead last month.
On October 30, the Taiwanese press reported that Tsai had been found dead at a quarantine hotel in Taipei. The 26-year-old musician, who had returned from China, had checked into the hotel on Monday October 25 and failed to answer calls from staff on Saturday.
NME attempted to contact No Party For Cao Dong for comment at the time, but understood that the band were not speaking to the press then.
Yesterday (November 25), the band broke their silence with a statement on Facebook. In the message, they spoke on their grieving process and thanked fans for their support.
“We can’t seem to learn how to properly say goodbye. These quiet days feel more torturous than the usual busy ones,” they wrote in Mandarin. “Till today, we are still trying to process our turbulent feelings about the incident, which are hard to put into words.
“Humans have many complicated emotions to bear, but beautiful ones amongst them are memories rooted in love, and Fan Fan’s journey has always been filled with love.
“After waking from dreams, sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry. We don’t know how long it will take before we get used to these feelings, but we may need more time.”
The band then appeared to address Fan Fan directly. “From the bottom of our hearts, we won’t forget all the good times we had together. Those were the best. Thank you for being in our lives.”
一直無法學會好好道別，這些安靜的日子比平時的忙碌來得更加煎熬。事情發生至今我們仍在試圖消化那些難以用言語表述的情緒以及混亂。人能承載的東西很多很雜，其中的美好我們時常稱之為愛，而凡凡一路以來就是充滿著愛的那一個。做了一些夢，有醒…
Posted by 草東沒有派對 No Party For Cao Dong on Thursday, November 25, 2021
No Party For Cao Dong also announced that after “honest reflection and discussions”, they have decided to cancel their concert We Were All Born To Our Mothers 6.0 at the Taipei Arena, which had been postponed from May due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The band apologised for the concert cancellation, and thanked their fans for their concern and longtime support. “May love be with you and your loved ones. Hold dear everything that they have given you,” they concluded their statement.
A investigation was opened into Tsai’s death, though police reportedly ruled out homicide as they did not find signs of forced entry or external injuries, per Taiwan News.
No Party For Cao Dong were formed in 2012 by vocalist Du Wu, bassist Xuan Shi and drummer Li Liu, who was eventually replaced by Tsai. They were also joined by guitarist Zhuzhu.
The band broke into Taiwan’s indie scene with a self-released EP in 2015, but it was their 2016 debut album, ‘醜奴兒’ (‘The Servile’), that launched them to acclaim. The album was nominated for Best Album and Best Rock Album at the 7th Golden Indie Music Awards, and Album Of The Year at the 28th Golden Melody Awards.
The single ‘大風吹’ (‘Simon Says’) won Best Rock Single at the Golden Indie Music Awards, and Song Of The Year at the Golden Melody Awards. The band also went home with Best Band and Best New Artist/Newcomer gongs at both ceremonies.
The band spent much of 2016 to 2019 touring ‘The Servile’ in Taiwan and around the world. In 2019, they played several music festivals, including SXSW, Glastonbury and Rock In Rio.
That year, No Party For Cao Dong also wrote and recorded the theme song to Devotion, a horror video game by Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games. In 2020, they released the song ‘如常’ (‘Same Old, Same Old’).
Translation assistance by Jovi Ho and JX Soo