Band strikes a chord

In the first episode, they performed their rock song called Self Reborn. According to the drummer, they wrote the song for their old band but never had the opportunity to use it until Titian was formed.

"I think in some ways Titian's sound was born with that song. It was the sound we used then as a reference for all the rest of the band's songs," says Cecchetto.

Though the reality show is still going on, Titian has become one of the most popular bands. Right after their appearance, the band gained a huge fan base and letters and messages poured in.

One of the most touching ones came from a female fan. She said that Titian's music is "helping her through a very difficult moment in her life". "It is incredible for us to be not just making our fans happy with our music but also being in, some kind of way, therapeutic for some people," says Cecchetto.

Alip, from Karamay, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, already had a fan base for his band, Bear Biscuit, which he co-founded along with his classmates in high school in 2003.

"Compared to Bear Biscuit, Titian is like an evolution. Musically, the expression is very sharp and clean," says Alip. "When I perform with Titian members, it feels familiar and even better."

As a new band, Titian hasn't had any official tour yet, but they played a few shows in Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and Chengdu, in Sichuan province.

"Our goal with Titian is to reach as many people as possible with our music, and hopefully we can create a community of musicians that help each other and pursue the same dream," says Cecchetto.

"I don't personally want Titian to be just an island separate from every other band in the music scene. I would like to build bridges between artists because it is with connections between artists that the music panorama grows and gets better."