Vanderbilt’s The Deltamen is the university’s first independent Chinese pop-rock band. Formed in the fall of 2022, they have since released multiple singles, an EP, and a full-length album, all of which showcase their range. Reminiscent of The Smiths and The Beatles, songs “Handan” and “After the Rain” cast a simple melody against a mellow atmosphere, while “Doves” and “Let’s Talk” employ guitar chorus and reverb pedals to create melancholic soundscapes similar to those heard from Vansire and Vacations. On the other hand, songs “Lover Boy Red Lips” and “Xiao Lu” whip up an energetic rock and disco quality evocative of Supertramp.
The Deltamen consists of five members: seniors Dodge Wang (lead singer) and Finn Li (drums), and juniors Joey Lau (keyboard/guitar), Trevor He (keyboard/bass) and Steven Yi (drums/guitar). I recently sat down with Lau, He, and Yi for an interview before their debut concert on February 1st at 7 P.M. in Rothschild’s Blackbox Theater.
Spencer McKee (SM): What brought you all together?
Joey Lau (JL): I shared some of my solo songs in a Chinese group chat. Dodge saw it, and he remembered. When we [Lau and friends] were getting a family plan at AT&T, Dodge kind of came up to me and asked, ‘Are you the songwriter guy?’
I was like, ‘Well, how’d you know?’
And he said, ‘I heard your songs — they’re pretty good. Let’s get a band together!’
Lau – a native of Shanghai – having moved to Nashville for college, needed a new phone number. Five days after settling into the new city, the AT&T meet-cute became a milestone for his musical career.
JL: I also knew he [gesturing toward Trevor He ] played piano. So I asked, ‘Do you mind being transitioned into a bassist?’ because it doesn’t take much effort.
[Trevor He and Steven Yi chuckle]
He started picking up my bass and became decent within a couple of months. Then we got Finn, who I think had a couple of mutual friends with Dodge. We first came together to jam at Tommy’s Rehearsal Room in Franklin, Tennessee. Then, we played our first set at the Mid-Autumn Festival in my freshman semester, 2022. It’s kind of remarkable, isn’t it? We were in a band two weeks into the first semester.
Trevor He (TH): I was a two-week-old bassist.
JL: Steven came in when we were missing Dodge on our second showcase — the Chinese New Year one — who had a stomach ache and was stuck in Boston. He [Dodge] had to be registered at a hospital in the city and stayed there well after Chinese New Year. So we had to get substitute musicians and when Steven came in… he vibed with us, and the sense of humor was there… He’s from the same neck of the woods.
SM: You had your first rehearsal in Franklin? You had to go out of town?
JL: Admin was very messy at the time [Fall 2022], and we needed a fixed regimen practice, so Finn found a place. We actually relied on that for quite a bit. We even had to get Uber XL for all the rides because Finn was carrying the drum kit everywhere. After the practices, we’d sit with it in McDonald’s by Centennial Park and he’d have to guard it.
As soon as we settled into the student scenes, we found a way to connect to the VRS (Vanderbilt Recording Studio) people… so we practice at VRS now… And I’d say, sooner than we realized, we were VRS executives.
SM: Do you have any messages that you want to portray with your art? Any kind of feelings that you want to bring about in listeners?
JL: I’m just there to vibe. As long as people resonate with either the music or the lyrics, I don’t care. I think that’s good.
TH: I think for us, it’s a blessing and a curse that there’s not one song that represents our music and what we make. It’s all different.
JL: It’s so different and so funny that you can listen to one album, and almost hear four or five bands. The comment that one of my friends gave me was, ‘You could be Metallica, and then you can be a Taiwanese band!’
Steven Yi (SY): What I really look for is fun, both for myself playing and for our audience. If they find joy in our performance, that’s what drives me to keep going from here.
SM: Who do you guys look to for inspiration?
JL: Dodge is heavily into rhythm and blues, especially Asian rhythm groups. Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong — they all have different scenes within the genre. But he just finds a way to write rhythm and blues that sounds like him.
I’m the polar opposite, so I don’t really have a fixed dial. I just happen to play like whatever has been in my playlist for the past 20 days. I think Trevor definitely has classical influences. Steven started out as a violinist, but he’s a hard rock guitarist now. A couple of the songs that I’m trying to direct us toward recording for the next release are based on Peach Pit and their simplicity of sound. And of course… The Beatles. In terms of style, I’m a big McCartney fan, and of course, Wings, which is becoming one of my favorite bands.
SY: I’d say my main influences come from Japanese music — J-rock, J-pop. Not so much for the guitar… I’m more influenced by the drums.
TH: I think for me, if I needed to name one influence, I’d probably say Joe Hisaishi. His music plays into how I play as a keyboardist, composer and songwriter.
SM: How often do you guys practice or rehearse?
JL: For all five of us, then normally weekly. But if you’re talking about just getting together in a room, we’re married to each other. I see Steven more than I see my girlfriend, and I see Trevor probably as often as I see her these days, to be honest. I hang out with Finn and Dodge as often as possible. We’re more of a group of friends trying to play music than a band. I don’t say Dodge is my bandmate, he’s a friend who happens to be in the same band as me.
TH: I think the three of us [for rehearsals]… usually three days a week.
JL: Yeah, they’re jams – lunch break jams: 20 or 30 minutes after we finish eating at Sarratt.
SM: Do you guys all have a favorite place that you like to hang out together outside Vanderbilt?
JL: Satay. Apart from that, there’s an American Chinese restaurant in Bellevue called Asihi. That was one of my most visited restaurants last year; it’s literally a buffet of Chinese food.
SM: Do you have a favorite song or project that you’ve all worked on?
JL: My favorite Deltamen project is “On the Spot”. We just had such a good time working off each other in the studio.
SM: How do you write new songs together?
JL: If it’s a co-write, it’s probably between Trevor and me. Otherwise, it’s Dodge or me and we bring the song to the whole band.
TH: I think you [motioning to Joey Lau] and Dodge have a lot of collaboration; his songs have such high ceilings, but also low floors. Joey is the guy that brings the best out of the songs, and Dodge listens.
SM: Where do you guys see yourselves headed?
JL: Nowhere. Off of a fucking cliff, that’s where we’re heading.
TH: I think the concert is our moment.
JL: I’m probably gonna say this during the performance as well, but these two and a half years of work and emotion have been for this concert.
SM: Do you guys have anything else you want to say?
JL: The Deltaman are hugely thankful for every bit of support that we have received over the last three years. Please go check out our music on Spotify!
TH: I know it might be just another night at a show for most of the audience, but for us it’s going to be super special.
JL: I don’t think we’ve had a full-length band concert on campus for years. I asked a lot of people and that’s the general conclusion that we’ve reached, that this is the first live concert from a band, on Vanderbilt soil, in a while. All of the profits of this show will go to Camp Kesem.
The Deltamen play their first headline show on February 1st at 7:00 P.M. in the Rothschild Black Box Theater with doors opening at 6:30. Included in the price of admission are souvenir wristbands and a poster giveaway. All profits will go to Camp Kesem, a national organization that provides support to children affected by a parent’s cancer.
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