“The first time I realised I already knew of [the Beatles’] music was when I was going back through the origins of all of my favourite contemporary bands," Guo Ding tells Apple Music. "The Beatles were like an unavoidable giant in the mirror." For the producer and singer-songwriter, their music was a mysterious force driving the entirety of contemporary music. “During their middle and late period, they started making use of unusual sonic textures, and their style and methods had an inevitable influence on later musicians. From the early stages of my own creative life, I was also unconsciously influenced by these unknown, yet familiar songs.” Guo's music has experienced a remarkable metamorphosis—not unlike The Beatles’ ever-evolving artistry. Starting as an R&B-tinged singer and teen idol in the mid-2000s, he spent seven years producing and writing songs until he released 飞行器的执行周期 (The Silent Star Stone), a ’60s and ’70s rock/funk-inspired sci-fi concept album that established him as one of C-pop most creative powerhouses. For Guo, the ability to outgrow your former self is what it takes to leave a mark. “From the Beatles’ initial melodic style to their evolution into frenetic psychedelia, their career had a relatively simple beginning, and developed into a complex and kaleidoscopic story,” he says. “They compelled music to move on from standardised forms and brought on the conflicting beauty of a sort of self-willed self-negation. In only a few years, they took various styles of music and transformed them in a way that made them timeless and eternal.” “When I’m making a song, I also get absorbed into this band’s creative journey, from the first expression of simple creation to the latter phases of experimental exploration. Their music can always change your trajectory when you least expect it. Maybe it gives you the courage to change, and so changes your life forever.” And once you reach a certain point of evolution, “perhaps you can look back into your past and greet your past self saying, ‘hey, I’m your future.’” Guo says.