DRAGONFORCE Guitarist HERMAN LI On Handling Online Criticism: "I Can Suppress These Things When I Read Them; It Doesn't Bother Me"

In a recent interview with Brocarde, DragonForce guitarist Herman Li opened up about how he navigates the occasional negative feedback from fans on social media.

Reflecting on the band's early days, Li remarked: "I think we got much more negative comments when we first started to get known, as a new band that came in. When we had our big break, a lot of people were confused about the music, they couldn't accept it. But these days it's been really, really positive generally. I mean, I really don't get that many nasty messages… For the nasty people who wanna send them, I'm not trying to say, 'Wake up and do it again.' But we've had a long career now and a lot of those people moved on in their life."

Li pointed out a common issue faced by many artists: fans often fail to see musicians as regular people. He explained, "Unfortunately, for a lot of artists, it seems like a lot of the fans don't look at them as like normal humans. They wouldn't say these things in your face, because that would just be crazy, it would be like a crazy thing." Li highlighted how such comments can affect artists, yet shared his unique ability to not let the negativity get to him, stating, "I've got some kind of superpower that I can suppress these things when I read them; it doesn't bother me."

Li emphasized that for artists, tuning out negative opinions is essential: "You've gotta block out what's out there, the noises, and just concentrate on what you do and express… you’ve gotta do your thing to satisfy yourself, be who you are."

He also touched on the challenges artists face in balancing fame and financial stability. "Too bad there's not like a rock and roll rock star education course where they teach you about stuff like accounting, legal stuff, all the way to mental health, how you can keep that going when you become famous. The last thing you wanna be is to be famous first and then poor. Then you don't even have a way to protect yourself against that."

In today’s music landscape, where streaming platforms dominate, Li believes reviews hold less sway. "Luckily, I think for artists now, in a certain way — I mean, it's a double-edged sword, because now people can listen to the music out there by pressing a button. The reviews become kind of irrelevant. I mean, are young gonna listen to a reviewer or are you just gonna go press the button and listen to it yourself?"