EggPlantEgg

"Positive and optimistic. Grateful and cherishing." — EggPlantEgg band motto

EggPlantEgg (茄子蛋) is not merely one of the most representative indie bands of 2010s Taiwan. Through their distinctive "Taiwanese-style romantic" rock and "wanderer" narrative, they successfully liberated Taiwanese-language pop music from the traditional mold of lamentation and grief, infusing it with a new generation's vitality and cultural identity. Their work has achieved hundreds of millions of plays on YouTube and received repeated recognition at the Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎), making them a key force in the revival of contemporary Taiwanese-language songs and their emergence onto the international stage. EggPlantEgg's music is the younger generation's profound questioning of self-identity, emotional belonging, and the meaning of life amid Taiwan's social transformation.¹

Birth of the Wanderer: Cultural Translation from Underground to the Golden Melody Stage

EggPlantEgg was formed in Taipei in 2012, consisting of lead vocalist and keyboardist A-Bin (Huang Chi-bin), guitarist A-De (Hsieh Yao-te), and A-Ren (Tsai Kai-jen). The band name "EggPlantEgg" (茄子蛋, qiézi dàn) stems from the members' love of eggplant, with the addition of "egg" (蛋) providing a roundness and sense of humor that reflects both the band's grassroots character and their slightly irreverent nature — foreshadowing the style that is simultaneously grounded and full of imagination.²

In the band's early days, EggPlantEgg went through a long period of underground work and membership changes. Lead vocalist A-Bin has mentioned multiple times that during their hardest period, band members had to share a single loaf of bread to get through the day. This shared experience of living at the bottom deeply shaped the strong "street flavor" and sense of helplessness toward reality that permeates their music — and became the foundation for their work's ability to resonate so broadly.³ In 2017, their debut album "Cartoon Characters" (卡通人物) burst onto the scene, taking classic rock as its foundation and blending blues, soul, and the grassroots feel of Taiwanese-style karaoke. Their unique musical vocabulary and genuine emotion earned them the 29th Golden Melody Award (金曲獎) for Best New Artist and Best Taiwanese-Language Album — marking their official transition from underground band to mainstream view.⁴

The Wanderer Universe: Taiwanese Aesthetics Built Through Image and Music

What EggPlantEgg is most widely known for is the "Wanderer Trilogy" music videos (MVs), directed by Yin Chen-hao and starring actors Gao Jie and Pan Gang-da. These MVs are not merely visual extensions of the music — they are tightly integrated with the song content, jointly constructing a "wanderer universe" rich with Taiwanese local color and human concern:

1. "The Wanderer Returns" (浪子回頭): This song uses a realist approach to depict a middle-aged man's nostalgia for lost youth and brotherhood. In the MV, Gao Jie's masterful performance and classic lines like "What are you looking at" (看三小) and "You're so good-looking" (看你緣投) quickly spread virally across social networks, becoming cross-generational slang, and transforming the "wanderer" image from something negative into a cultural symbol carrying loyalty and deep feeling.⁵
2. "The Drifting Wanderer" (浪流連): Continuing the "wanderer" theme, it explores the humble wish of a man struggling on the social margins to "become better" for the sake of love. When writing the song, lead vocalist A-Bin cleverly coined the label "a good-hearted delinquent" (善良的歹囝) — a paradox that precisely captures the complex emotions of Taiwanese men oscillating between traditional and modern values.⁶
3. "This Kind of Making One's Own Romance" (這款自作多情): As the final chapter of the trilogy, it deepens the tragic heroism, depicting the protagonist's sense of fated self-exile between love and betrayal. This MV trilogy not only visually redefined "Taiwanese aesthetics" but through its visual storytelling extended EggPlantEgg's music to a broader audience, sparking resonance with Taiwan's local culture and emotions.⁷

At the Summit: "Love, You're Even Greater Than I Imagined" and Cross-Disciplinary Influence

In 2021, EggPlantEgg composed the theme song "Love, You're Even Greater Than I Imagined" (愛情你比我想的閣較偉大) for the hit film "When a Man Is in Love" (當男人戀愛時). This song pays homage to 1990s Taiwanese electronic rock, with an earworm melody full of tension and lyrics that straightforwardly sing of throwing oneself headlong into love. As the film's box office soared, the song quickly became the most-sung tune of the year across Taiwan. After its MV was released on YouTube, views rapidly surpassed 100 million, making it another signature work of EggPlantEgg.⁸

In 2022, "Love, You're Even Greater Than I Imagined" received the honor of Song of the Year at the 33rd Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎). This award is not only recognition of EggPlantEgg's musical achievements — it symbolizes that Taiwanese-language songs in contemporary popular culture have already acquired enormous power to transcend ethnic group, language, and age barriers. EggPlantEgg's success proves that Taiwanese-language songs, between innovation and inheritance, have found a contemporary context all their own, capable of dialoguing with the mainstream market.⁹

Hiatus and Current Status: An Unfinished Musical Chapter and Individual Development

At the pinnacle of their careers, EggPlantEgg announced a temporary hiatus in late 2022 due to lead vocalist A-Bin's need for extended vocal cord recovery. The news shocked the music world and left many fans heartbroken. Then in 2023, media reports emerged that "compensation distribution" issues might lead to the band's dissolution, sparking much external speculation. Although the official position has not confirmed a breakup, band members currently operate primarily as individuals, each embarking on new musical journeys.¹⁰

Lead vocalist A-Bin has joined Universal Music, actively exploring acting in film and television and pursuing individual creative work. Guitarists A-De and A-Ren have continued working behind the scenes in music, producing songs for other artists or participating in performances. Although EggPlantEgg's future direction remains unclear, they have already left a deep imprint on Taiwan's music history. They proved that Taiwanese-language songs don't have to remain bound to traditional lamentation — they can also have the soul of rock and the bearing of romance — and opened new possibilities for Taiwanese popular music with their unique musical style.¹¹

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