My dream came true yesterday: I translated & published Slash's autobio and gave him the book as gift in person

[chrisfilet]

https://imgur.com/a/EtWY5zK

 

This has been an amazing journey for me. And I thought I'd share my story here because maybe it'll worth someone's while.

I was born and raised in Beijing, China. I started listening to GN'R when I was 14, and practically learned English through all things related to this band ever since. In 2008 I, along with two guys on the internet, collaborated online to translate Slash's autobiography into Chinese. The project did well, though as I grew and as my English level got better, there was this gnawing feeling that I could've done better. But I didn’t do anything about it for six years.
2008 was also the year Chinese Democracy was released, which sealed the fate for GN'R because they were officially banned from performing in mainland China. I knew I had to go abroad to see them live, something I had never done before. During college I realized that the goal of seeing them live would be perfectly fulfilled by going to a grad school in the US. So I studied hard for the GRE, got admitted to USC's PR program in 2012. During those two years I saw more than a dozen GN'R and ex-members’ gigs combined, including the 2012 SMKC's show at Wiltern Theater where I met Slash in person.

Then came 2014, which was the year my grad school program would come to an end. I thought before I graduate I should deal with the gnawing feeling while I still have relatively more free time. So, in January 2014, I decided to re-translate the whole book. My goal was a thousand or so Chinese characters a day, and I never missed a single day. The translation process halted during summer and resumed in September, and then finally concluded on December 31 2014, with a total duration of about 9 months.

I had no idea what the "proper process" for publishing a translation work was. Turns out you should almost never translate a book first and then look for publishing companies willing to undertake the project. But that's what I did. The next year saw two failed attempts at finding the right publishing company; then slowly but surely, I found the right one, which was a well-intentioned but unbelievably inefficient organization. About three years after my translation was done, in July 2017, the book came out.

The Chinese version was surprisingly both commercially and critically well received. And I began to hatch the idea of giving the book to Slash himself as a gift. Would it be an awkward gift since Slash can't read Chinese at all? Maybe, but it's worth trying.

I waited patiently for the right opportunity. As I had no personal connections that would allow me to inform Slash of my intention, I had to improvise. After the book was published, I went to two GN'R reunion shows (2018 Taiwan and Hong Kong) to see if there was a chance to find leaked information as to his whereabouts. But it didn't pan out. 

Then I learned that SMKC would perform in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2019. This sounds like my best shot.

I arrived early at the venue of the Beijing show, lurked around the entrance to the backstage, talked to one of the roadies who said he'd talk to the guy handling VIP arrangement. While waiting for the other roadie who would hopefully get me inside the backstage, something magical happened: A nondescript Chinese middle-aged man who looked like a scalper walked up to me (I was with some other fans), and dropped Slash's hotel name and flight info in thick, almost unintelligible, dialect. And then he disappeared. 

My jaw dropped. I looked up on my phone to try to make sense of what he said. Turns out the only flight whose first class tickets almost sold out was the one he told us about. That was a promising sign.

I hesitated but decided to try my luck and bought a first class ticket. Fans verified the validity of the hotel info later that night as well as the next morning. Seems like the flight info was legit indeed. I arrived at the airport, passed security check, and was advised to relax at the VIP lounge. I stepped inside, looked to my right, and there was Slash, having his lunch with his bodyguard.

I waited for him to finish lunch. When he sat down with his band, I approached him, telling him that I was the translator of his book, and that I wanted to give him a copy as a gift.

He seemed amused, and said: "My book? In Chinese?” And gladly accepted my request.

That's how I took the photo, which was, in a sense, four years in the making.

Thanks for your time for reading my story. I just got back from SMKC's Shanghai concert, and decided to share my excitement while it's fresh.

P.S. I also translated and published Duff’s autobiography. Look forward to the day I present the book to him in person.

Chris Liu

 

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by chrisfilet

[lame ass security]

31 minutes ago, chrisfilet said:

https://imgur.com/a/EtWY5zK

 

This has been an amazing journey for me. And I thought I'd share my story here because maybe it'll worth someone's while.

I was born and raised in Beijing, China. I started listening to GN'R when I was 14, and practically learned English through all things related to this band ever since. In 2008 I, along with two guys on the internet, collaborated online to translate Slash's autobiography into Chinese. The project did well, though as I grew and as my English level got better, there was this gnawing feeling that I could've done better. But I didn’t do anything about it for six years.
2008 was also the year Chinese Democracy was released, which sealed the fate for GN'R because they were officially banned from performing in mainland China. I knew I had to go abroad to see them live, something I had never done before. During college I realized that the goal of seeing them live would be perfectly fulfilled by going to a grad school in the US. So I studied hard for the GRE, got admitted to USC's PR program in 2012. During those two years I saw more than a dozen GN'R and ex-members’ gigs combined, including the 2012 SMKC's show at Wiltern Theater where I met Slash in person.

Then came 2014, which was the year my grad school program would come to an end. I thought before I graduate I should deal with the gnawing feeling while I still have relatively more free time. So, in January 2014, I decided to re-translate the whole book. My goal was a thousand or so Chinese characters a day, and I never missed a single day. The translation process halted during summer and resumed in September, and then finally concluded on December 31 2014, with a total duration of about 9 months.

I had no idea what the "proper process" for publishing a translation work was. Turns out you should almost never translate a book first and then look for publishing companies willing to undertake the project. But that's what I did. The next year saw two failed attempts at finding the right publishing company; then slowly but surely, I found the right one, which was a well-intentioned but unbelievably inefficient organization. About three years after my translation was done, in July 2017, the book came out.

The Chinese version was surprisingly both commercially and critically well received. And I began to hatch the idea of giving the book to Slash himself as a gift. Would it be an awkward gift since Slash can't read Chinese at all? Maybe, but it's worth trying.

I waited patiently for the right opportunity. As I had no personal connections that would allow me to inform Slash of my intention, I had to improvise. After the book was published, I went to two GN'R reunion shows (2018 Taiwan and Hong Kong) to see if there was a chance to find leaked information as to his whereabouts. But it didn't pan out. 

Then I learned that SMKC would perform in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2019. This sounds like my best shot.

I arrived early at the venue of the Beijing show, lurched around the entrance to the backstage, talked to one of the roadies who said he'd talk to the guy handling VIP arrangement. While waiting for the other roadie who would hopefully get me inside the backstage, something magical happened: A nondescript Chinese middle-aged man who looked like a scalper walked up to me (I was with some other fans), and dropped Slash's hotel name and flight info in thick, almost unintelligible, dialect. And then he disappeared. 

My jaw dropped. I looked up on my phone to try to make sense of what he said. Turns out the only flight whose first class tickets almost sold out was the one he told us about. That was a promising sign.

I hesitated but decided to try my luck and bought a first class ticket. Fans verified the validity of the hotel info later that night as well as the next morning. Seems like the flight info was legit indeed. I arrived at the airport, passed security check, and was advised to relax at the VIP lounge. I stepped inside, looked to my right, and there was Slash, having his lunch with his bodyguard.

I waited for him to finish lunch. When he sat down with his band, I approached him, telling him that I was the translator of his book, and that I wanted to give him a copy as a gift.

He seemed amused, and said: "My book? In Chinese?” And gladly accepted my request.

That's how I took the photo, which was, in a sense, four years in the making.

Thanks for your time for reading my story. I just got back from SMKC's Shanghai concert, and decided to share my excitement while it's fresh.

P.S. I also translated and published Duff’s autobiography. Look forward to the day I present the book to him in person.

Chris Liu

 

 

Man, that is awesome, congrats on your work and fulfilling your dreams.

[Ralphelmo]

Once you meet the man, nothing's the same anymore. Congrats, I've been there too, know the feeling. Keep it up!

[Ratam]

53 minutes ago, chrisfilet said:

https://imgur.com/a/EtWY5zK

 

This has been an amazing journey for me. And I thought I'd share my story here because maybe it'll worth someone's while.

I was born and raised in Beijing, China. I started listening to GN'R when I was 14, and practically learned English through all things related to this band ever since. In 2008 I, along with two guys on the internet, collaborated online to translate Slash's autobiography into Chinese. The project did well, though as I grew and as my English level got better, there was this gnawing feeling that I could've done better. But I didn’t do anything about it for six years.
2008 was also the year Chinese Democracy was released, which sealed the fate for GN'R because they were officially banned from performing in mainland China. I knew I had to go abroad to see them live, something I had never done before. During college I realized that the goal of seeing them live would be perfectly fulfilled by going to a grad school in the US. So I studied hard for the GRE, got admitted to USC's PR program in 2012. During those two years I saw more than a dozen GN'R and ex-members’ gigs combined, including the 2012 SMKC's show at Wiltern Theater where I met Slash in person.

Then came 2014, which was the year my grad school program would come to an end. I thought before I graduate I should deal with the gnawing feeling while I still have relatively more free time. So, in January 2014, I decided to re-translate the whole book. My goal was a thousand or so Chinese characters a day, and I never missed a single day. The translation process halted during summer and resumed in September, and then finally concluded on December 31 2014, with a total duration of about 9 months.

I had no idea what the "proper process" for publishing a translation work was. Turns out you should almost never translate a book first and then look for publishing companies willing to undertake the project. But that's what I did. The next year saw two failed attempts at finding the right publishing company; then slowly but surely, I found the right one, which was a well-intentioned but unbelievably inefficient organization. About three years after my translation was done, in July 2017, the book came out.

The Chinese version was surprisingly both commercially and critically well received. And I began to hatch the idea of giving the book to Slash himself as a gift. Would it be an awkward gift since Slash can't read Chinese at all? Maybe, but it's worth trying.

I waited patiently for the right opportunity. As I had no personal connections that would allow me to inform Slash of my intention, I had to improvise. After the book was published, I went to two GN'R reunion shows (2018 Taiwan and Hong Kong) to see if there was a chance to find leaked information as to his whereabouts. But it didn't pan out. 

Then I learned that SMKC would perform in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2019. This sounds like my best shot.

I arrived early at the venue of the Beijing show, lurched around the entrance to the backstage, talked to one of the roadies who said he'd talk to the guy handling VIP arrangement. While waiting for the other roadie who would hopefully get me inside the backstage, something magical happened: A nondescript Chinese middle-aged man who looked like a scalper walked up to me (I was with some other fans), and dropped Slash's hotel name and flight info in thick, almost unintelligible, dialect. And then he disappeared. 

My jaw dropped. I looked up on my phone to try to make sense of what he said. Turns out the only flight whose first class tickets almost sold out was the one he told us about. That was a promising sign.

I hesitated but decided to try my luck and bought a first class ticket. Fans verified the validity of the hotel info later that night as well as the next morning. Seems like the flight info was legit indeed. I arrived at the airport, passed security check, and was advised to relax at the VIP lounge. I stepped inside, looked to my right, and there was Slash, having his lunch with his bodyguard.

I waited for him to finish lunch. When he sat down with his band, I approached him, telling him that I was the translator of his book, and that I wanted to give him a copy as a gift.

He seemed amused, and said: "My book? In Chinese?” And gladly accepted my request.

That's how I took the photo, which was, in a sense, four years in the making.

Thanks for your time for reading my story. I just got back from SMKC's Shanghai concert, and decided to share my excitement while it's fresh.

P.S. I also translated and published Duff’s autobiography. Look forward to the day I present the book to him in person.

Chris Liu

 

 

I be very happy for you @chrisfiletvery emotional story!! 

[alfierose]

Great story. Well done. 

[Anastazya]

 im sooo happy for you!!! i was on gn'r mission too   technically i took my(SSS,elf) on a t(R.I.P.) to LA, and i really hope im outta this game, and that i can peacefully live a life of 45 years old woman, and not let my alter to drag me around  enuf is enuf, im to0 old for this.

so months ago i found out that in my country we have Rocket Queen beer  https://www.pivoljub.si/product/pivo-greengold-rocketqueen-330ml and sure, as i got Axl's home address like 18 years ago, maybe it was time that i dare to ring that bell. so i've tried to book a flight. nothing. all my credit cards blocked. ok. lets wait. i tried after a month, then it went through! i was soo happy! then i've booked the HoTell Good nite Inn in calabasas. all looked perfect. but then the fire burned down exactly and only that hotel, ok, i've booked another near LAX. from  Janunary 11 till 18, 2019 i was in LA. just me and my(SS,elf)  whatta combo.   on 13th, when i pulled mySSSelf together, it was the day to finish the mission, and as it was my 3rd time in LA, this time with rented car, i could finish it, despite GPS was not working all the time. 1st  i was cure(i,us) to visit MM/Charles Manson place, so that my fAKed up SS(elf) will be happy with itz game  and so i went there, and just left a note dat mySSelf was there. then i dr.O0ve to M(ali,bU), GPS not working, but i still found the place, left da damned beers there, ringed that bell, just MobScene soNG giving sound effects from my car, and my 3D body smiling in da security camerA. done. finaly. off the mission. whata relief.  now i know that i wasnt suppose to be there, but please understand, that mySS(elf) is torturing me like since 18 years, when i met n took pic of Richard in gnr backstage in London Docklands, since then it made me write down shit loads of useless crap https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/383108 i just hope im over this, and that i can be just waitress down on the farm. i've kinda tasted VIP life in LA https://anastazya-ng-man.imgbb.com/ no mobile connections, even on usa numbEr, even no stationary line access to my numbers in my country, no video calls, just voice and just on hotell wireless, otherwise blocked access, even on AI(r,port), no GPS at moments. Watt Eva  i just hope dat GN'R enjoy da Rocket Queen beer. 

 

Love and peace of mind for all of you,

 

NG

 

  

[Gordon Comstock]

Very cool story, chrisfilet!

[DeathCubeUK]

@chrisfilet That's awesome! Really happy it worked out, must have been great meeting him in a relaxed atmosphere as well.

Well done on the translation as well, you put in a lot of hard work!

[JY2016]

Great story, congrats!! What a great reward for your work!

Just out of curiosity, how many pages were the 1,000 Chinese characters per day?

[marlingrl03]

I love reading stories like this! Thanks for sharing man- super exciting!!!! 

[StrangerInThisTown]

Even before clicking the picture I knew Slash would be wearing that backwards cap lol. Amazing story dude

[chrisfilet]

10 hours ago, JY2016 said:

Great story, congrats!! What a great reward for your work!

Just out of curiosity, how many pages were the 1,000 Chinese characters per day?

Thank you! It's about 1.5 pages. Not much on the surface, but I really do care about the quality of each sentence. Sometimes I would spend an extra 15-30 minutes just to figure out the proper translation for one word (usually a cultural reference that has no equivalent in Chinese). So yeah, the time spent on this varies a lot on a day-to-day basis.

[The Holographic Universe]

On 1/23/2019 at 1:01 AM, chrisfilet said:

Thank you! It's about 1.5 pages. Not much on the surface, but I really do care about the quality of each sentence. Sometimes I would spend an extra 15-30 minutes just to figure out the proper translation for one word (usually a cultural reference that has no equivalent in Chinese). So yeah, the time spent on this varies a lot on a day-to-day basis.

Awesome story. Are Chinese translations rare for rock autobiographies?

[chrisfilet]

5 hours ago, The Holographic Universe said:

Awesome story. Are Chinese translations rare for rock autobiographies?

Thank you! As far as I'm concerned, the biggest names (Ozzy, Clapton, Beatles, etc.) have had their autobiographies/biographies translated into Chinese and published in China, but rock autobiographies and rock books in general are still pretty rare. Things are picking up in recent years though, now that the government has eased up on restrictions a little bit so that more rock bands are allowed to perform, which hopefully will drive the demand for rock-related books.

[money honey]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:17 PM, chrisfilet said:

https://imgur.com/a/EtWY5zK

 

This has been an amazing journey for me. And I thought I'd share my story here because maybe it'll worth someone's while.

I was born and raised in Beijing, China. I started listening to GN'R when I was 14, and practically learned English through all things related to this band ever since. In 2008 I, along with two guys on the internet, collaborated online to translate Slash's autobiography into Chinese. The project did well, though as I grew and as my English level got better, there was this gnawing feeling that I could've done better. But I didn’t do anything about it for six years.
2008 was also the year Chinese Democracy was released, which sealed the fate for GN'R because they were officially banned from performing in mainland China. I knew I had to go abroad to see them live, something I had never done before. During college I realized that the goal of seeing them live would be perfectly fulfilled by going to a grad school in the US. So I studied hard for the GRE, got admitted to USC's PR program in 2012. During those two years I saw more than a dozen GN'R and ex-members’ gigs combined, including the 2012 SMKC's show at Wiltern Theater where I met Slash in person.

Then came 2014, which was the year my grad school program would come to an end. I thought before I graduate I should deal with the gnawing feeling while I still have relatively more free time. So, in January 2014, I decided to re-translate the whole book. My goal was a thousand or so Chinese characters a day, and I never missed a single day. The translation process halted during summer and resumed in September, and then finally concluded on December 31 2014, with a total duration of about 9 months.

I had no idea what the "proper process" for publishing a translation work was. Turns out you should almost never translate a book first and then look for publishing companies willing to undertake the project. But that's what I did. The next year saw two failed attempts at finding the right publishing company; then slowly but surely, I found the right one, which was a well-intentioned but unbelievably inefficient organization. About three years after my translation was done, in July 2017, the book came out.

The Chinese version was surprisingly both commercially and critically well received. And I began to hatch the idea of giving the book to Slash himself as a gift. Would it be an awkward gift since Slash can't read Chinese at all? Maybe, but it's worth trying.

I waited patiently for the right opportunity. As I had no personal connections that would allow me to inform Slash of my intention, I had to improvise. After the book was published, I went to two GN'R reunion shows (2018 Taiwan and Hong Kong) to see if there was a chance to find leaked information as to his whereabouts. But it didn't pan out. 

Then I learned that SMKC would perform in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2019. This sounds like my best shot.

I arrived early at the venue of the Beijing show, lurked around the entrance to the backstage, talked to one of the roadies who said he'd talk to the guy handling VIP arrangement. While waiting for the other roadie who would hopefully get me inside the backstage, something magical happened: A nondescript Chinese middle-aged man who looked like a scalper walked up to me (I was with some other fans), and dropped Slash's hotel name and flight info in thick, almost unintelligible, dialect. And then he disappeared. 

My jaw dropped. I looked up on my phone to try to make sense of what he said. Turns out the only flight whose first class tickets almost sold out was the one he told us about. That was a promising sign.

I hesitated but decided to try my luck and bought a first class ticket. Fans verified the validity of the hotel info later that night as well as the next morning. Seems like the flight info was legit indeed. I arrived at the airport, passed security check, and was advised to relax at the VIP lounge. I stepped inside, looked to my right, and there was Slash, having his lunch with his bodyguard.

I waited for him to finish lunch. When he sat down with his band, I approached him, telling him that I was the translator of his book, and that I wanted to give him a copy as a gift.

He seemed amused, and said: "My book? In Chinese?” And gladly accepted my request.

That's how I took the photo, which was, in a sense, four years in the making.

Thanks for your time for reading my story. I just got back from SMKC's Shanghai concert, and decided to share my excitement while it's fresh.

P.S. I also translated and published Duff’s autobiography. Look forward to the day I present the book to him in person.

Chris Liu

 

 

Thank you so much for posting this inspiring and incredible story! I'm in awe of the effort you put in: moving the the US, studying there, improving your English, the translation work (which must have been intense), waiting for the opportunity, buying a first-class flight, and finally actually getting to meet the man himself...!! 

[GNR_uruguay]

This make my Day. Thanks for sharing. Congrats for the hard work! 

[Chester 524]

so cool!  great job and congrats on meeting Slash!  very inspiring!