Charisma, hits and constant reinvention have made Eason Chan the Cantopop tops

By HeyJude
Translation by Ben Sin

Eason Chan’s charisma can be attributed to three things: his amazing vocals, his stage presence and his ‘never grow old’ attitude. There’s never a dull moment when he’s on stage.

There’s never a dull moment when interviewing him as well – during the interview session, he’s constantly recommending songs, and if you really get into it with him, he’ll even sing the song out loud for you. His passion for music is contagious, but we don’t possess his endless energy.

“Sometimes my schedule is hectic, but it doesn’t matter,” he says. “To be honest, as long as you love what you do, you don’t get tired.”

After releasing his Cantonese album H3M in March, he immediately went on to work on his new Mandarin album. having already released nearly 10 Mandarin albums, chan still placed importance on this one. “My previous Mandarin discs were almost all recorded in hong Kong,” he says. “but for this one, i found Will lin [taiwan’s renowned music producer] to produce, and nine tracks were recorded in taiwan. i’ve long admired the work of Will, especially his sodagreen stuff.” chan adds that the rest of the sodagreen crew will cameo on his record, but what excites him most is the lead single. Give You is a self-penned track. “This is the first time a song i wrote will act as the lead single,” he says.

Taiwan has served as a home away from home for chan, who stayed in taiwan for 15 days to record. “I think maybe i was in someplace new, time flew by very fast, like i was on vacation,” he says, adding that he felt free and happy.

Chan’s live performances have been acclaimed in recent years, starting with 2007’s ‘eason’s Moving on stage 1’ concert in hong Kong. He followed that up with performances around south-east asia, in canada, australia and the us in ’08 and ’09. even though he was performing nightly to the same set list, chan was never bored and gave it his all each night. he says that even though it was the same songs he was performing every night, each night felt unique. “each performance is different for me. it’s because it’s a different venue, i’m with a different crowd, they have different reactions, and it all affects me. It’s the magic of live performance.”

Chan is among the more active of his contemporaries, with more success critically and commercially as well. And he plans to continue – with no end in sight. “I haven’t thought about retirement at all,” he says. “Even though I do envy those who have retired and are living the relaxed lifestyle.

But ultimately my heart is with performing. I’m still young anyways – I shouldn’t be talking retirement!”

Chan disagrees with the common perception that he’s a workaholic though. “I enjoy my own personal private time too,” he says, adding that he watches old Stephen Chow movies as a way to relax. “Last time I was in Malaysia to work, I watched six Stephen Chow movies in the four days I was there.”

And when Chan is working, he isn’t controlling. “I’ve always let the company make the decisions that are theirs,” he says. “I believe as a singer my job is to sing and perform well.”

profile

Birthday: 27 July 1974
Sign：Leo
Blood type：O
Height：173 cm
Education： Kingston University in London. Two-year degree in Architecture, four-year degree in Music Theory
Favourite Food：Fishball noodles and anything else that tastes good
Favourite singers：Sandy Lam and Jacky Cheung
Best instruments：Piano, violin, guitar, trumpet
Lucky number： 7
Favourite Hobbies： Photography, especially landscape photographs
Artist i’d most want to collaborate with：British singer Mika. He’s a very creative singer, I met him in Beijing once. I hope to work with him one day