Singer-songwriter Liang Bo recently released his second album, Mi Cang. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

He auditioned for The Voice of China in 2012 at the suggestion of his teachers.

"I had no intention to win. I participated in the show only because of the four judges. I like their music, and I wanted to know what they thought of my music," says Liang.

"I developed presence and confidence onstage, which I didn't have before."

Thanks to his wide vocal range and ambitions, critics compare Liang with established Chinese rock musicians like Dou Wei and Zheng Jun.

"I can visualize pictures when I listen to him singing. He is quite calm in the show, which is rare for a man in his twenties," says pop star Na Ying, one of the show's judges.

Liang says that his main musical influence is not from any musician but kung fu legend Bruce Lee. He watched Lee's movies in middle school and read books about him. Liang considers him a philosopher.

In Liang's mind, music and Lee's martial arts have a lot in common.

"In a fight, he simply blocks and strikes instinctively without a concern for what is right and wrong," Liang says, quoting the book, The Warrior Within: The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (1996).

"I think it also applies to music. I just write and sing songs that I like without much consideration about others. I firmly believe that a singer-songwriter should be sharp and determined."

He also agrees with Lee's openness to various schools of martial arts.

Liang mentions that his first album was recorded in Los Angeles, where he stayed for six months. It was the first time that he went to the United States, and he was immersed in the vibrant art scene there.

He often went to instrument shops and watched unknown artists performing on the streets of Santa Monica. He played guitar and improvised with an artist once.

"Lee said: 'Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, just like water. Don't limit into one form, adapt it and build your own'. I got inspired by listening to different kinds of music and watching various art forms," he says.

"I want to be someone like Lee, who is not just a martial artist but also an artist of life."

(China Daily 01/04/2016 page20)