JUSTIN LO TING-WEI isn't the easiest interview subject. During the 10-minute photo shoot before our awkward one-on-one in a Lan Kwai Fong pub, the Canto-pop singer-songwriter finds it hard to stay focused, frequently chatting with his friends and colleagues.
He says he loathes being photographed. 'It's my least favourite thing,' says Lo. 'Interviews are fine. I enjoy conversation. Photo shoots are the worst. I'm quite insecure about my looks. I don't stare into the mirror. I just take a brief glance and I'm out the door.'
Interviews may be fine - but not today apparently. To almost every question he gives little more than a brief reply.
The 29-year-old is the first local artist to stage a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum with just one album under his belt, Justin. His first concert, on March 26, was sold out in three hours, prompting him to add two more dates next week.
Lo seems to be enjoying his meteoric rise to fame, which he attributes largely to luck. Sporting his trademark baseball cap, he settles into a couch in a corner and lights up a cigarette. 'I think I'm very blessed,' he says. 'It's 80 per cent luck, 10 per cent work effort and 10 per cent talent.'
Introduced to producer Mark Lui Chung-tak by his musician uncle Ted Lo in 2003, Lo has been working at Lui's company, On Your Mark, and writing songs for the likes of Leon Lai Ming, Leo Ku Kui-kei and Miriam Yeung Chin-wah. He also produced Janice Vidal's debut solo, Day and Night, last year. For Ku's debut solo concerts at the Coliseum last year, Lo sang a cappella with the backing vocalists. His notable voice and confident stage presence captured the attention of Ku's manager, Paco Wong Pak-ko, who was keen to sign the camera-shy musician to his record company, Gold Label. '[Wong] said I had a god-given talent - the voice - to touch people's hearts and shouldn't waste it,' Lo says.