Mango Jump lead vocalist George Kuo 郭佐治 describes his band’s music as being full of energy and passion. The Taiwanese indie group will make its Canadian debut at Jade Music Fest in Vancouver
“Whether in happy or sad times in life, we want to go through it all with you,” Kuo tells the Toronto Spark.
One of Mango Jump’s biggest hits, “I’m into You 我喜歡你“, showcases Kuo’s passionate vocals over a sumptuous melody. It’s one of five tracks on the band’s second album, Mission: Heartbeat Defense 心跳保衛戰, which was released in 2023.
Kuo quips that the inspiration for “I’m into You” came “from the cute clerk at the drink shop near our studio”. Toronto Spark contributing editor Ann Cheng translated the Mango Jump band members’ comments into English.
The band’s first music video for “I’m into You:” notched more than seven million page views on YouTube.
Mango Jump followed that with an animated music video for the song in partnership with the Taiwanese comic and web novel platform MOJOIN. It garnered another 2.7 million views on YouTube.
Watch the animated video (above) for “I’m into You 我喜歡你”.
Mango Jump records anthem for office workers
Drummer Even Huang 黃聖智 tells the Toronto Spark that the animated music video takes its story from an online comic book that the band co-created with the artist.
“Honestly, watching toward the end of the music video, I was screaming inside: ‘Don’t tell me they’re going to miss each other like this!’ ” Huang says. “The female lead, Su Qi-en, clearly liked the male lead, Zheng Cheng-yu, but she still pushed him toward someone else. Qi-en must have been hurting so much at that moment!”
Another offering from Mission: Heartbeat Defense, “I Am Not Cool 我不想工作aka我會中樂透”, is a punk-infused, high-octane anthem for stressed-out office workers. In the amusing Official Music Video, the central character finds salvation through a winning lottery ticket.
Guitarist Allen Tsai 蔡有倫 discloses that this song was revised very late in the recording process because time was running short.
“Maybe George was just tired of the world that day, writing songs to the point where he just didn’t want to work anymore!” Tsai says. “So he wrote down these feelings very genuinely, and these are feelings that so many people can definitely relate to—just not wanting to work anymore! Just wanting to win the lottery and quit their job!”
Watch the music video (above) for “I Am Not Cool 我不想工作aka我會中樂透”.
New music reveals a reflective side
More recently, Mango Jump released “Collapse 風”. Co-writers Kuo and Tsai describe as “a portrait of pure feeling”. The video on YouTube shows off Taiwan’s natural environment.
“Rather than having a clear theme or message, this song is more about capturing our state of mind at the time—a feeling where you seem to have words to say, but end up keeping them inside,” Tsai explains. “We weren’t trying to offer an answer or conclusion; we just wanted to depict what that felt like.”
“Collapse” demonstrates how the band’s music has evolved since the foursome came together at Tamkang University in 2017.
“From the passion bursting outward in our early days of songwriting to now—nine years later and after some ups and downs—our music has also developed an inward side with exploration, reflection, and gentleness,” Kuo says.
Meanwhile, bassist Aaron Lee 李皝達 highlights significant lyrical differences between Mission: Heartbeat Defense and the band’s debut full-length studio album, Shin Formosa Youth? 新・寶島少年? The earlier album earned Mango Jump a prestigious Golden Melody Award nomination for Best New Artist.
“Our first album documented work from when the band started in college all the way to officially joining Gather Music and releasing records,” Lee says. “It captured everything from naive young love as students to the worries and struggles of entering society.
“With our second album, along with the changes in our roles and growing up, we wrote more about work, life, and family,” he continues. “The way we made songs also shifted—from lyrics and melody first, to creating with beats and music arrangement first—showing different sides of our music.”
Watch the music video (above) for “Collapse 風”.
Band embraces linguistic versatility
Mango Jump weaves Taiwanese and Mandarin lyrics into their songs. Sometimes, the band even sprinkles in some Japanese, English, and Indigenous lyrics from Taiwan.
Lee emphasizes that different spoken languages convey distinct cultural backgrounds and imagery.
“Whether it’s in Mandarin, Taiwanese, English, Japanese, Indigenous languages, or even foreign languages, we’re very willing to learn them and try blending them into our music,” the bassist states.
The Society of We Are Canadians Too established the annual Jade Music Fest in 2022 to celebrate Chinese-language music in Canada and amplify other underrepresented language groups. The festival also fosters collaborations between musicians in Asia and Canada.
“Canada has an extraordinary opportunity to develop new music because of the many cultural heritages that exist here,” says Charlie Wu, general manager of the Society of We Are Canadians Too. “But diversity alone does not create new artistic expressions. We need spaces where artists can encounter one another, learn from different traditions, and have the freedom to create something that did not exist before.”
All of this makes Mango Jump an appealing programming choice at Jade Music Fest.
“This is our first time performing outside Asia—and we’re excited and looking forward to it,” Huang declares. “We’ll give it our all! No holding back! If you know how to sing, please join in and sing loud with us.”
Jade Music Fest will present Mango Jump at 7 p.m. on Saturday (November 7) at Performance Works on Granville Island. Jade Music Fest runs from November 3 to 8 in Vancouver. Toronto Spark contributing editor Ann Cheng translated Mango Jump band members’ comments into English. The Toronto Spark is on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
