Local duo Swing disappeared seven years ago after only two years together, but they have recently swung back on the scene.
Formed in 2000, Swing, formerly Snowman, consist of two Western-educated songwriters and arrangers, Eric Kwok and Jerald Chan. They freshened up the local pop music scene with their jazzy bossa nova musical style and won several awards the year after their debut.
But they split up soon afterwards. Chan (above right with Kwok) became a producer, working with singers such as Juno Mak Chun-lung, while Kwok has been writing popular Canto songs for artists such as Joey Yung Cho-yee. His career reached its pinnacle when his Wedding Card Street became a hit single for Kay Tse On-kay.
What was the cause of the split?
Chan: It was me, I was very unhappy. I had a dilemma. I loved performing and I had a blast within the three-minute duration of a song, but that was the only time I relished. The time before and after the shows, doing interviews and photo shoots, I didn't like at all. Plus there was the politics, the phoniness and posturing. It also bothered me that Eric's career went a little ahead of mine. I wanted my music to be heard and people to like my stuff too, but people were focusing on Eric's stuff. All of this got to me. I just didn't want to live that kind of life any more. I wanted to start over. Eric was very understanding. He was like my counsellor then.
Kwok: I'm so glad this guy got married. His wife can take over the job of counsellor. She is like a saint. She is the only person who could have tolerated him for this long. I only had to work with the guy - she has to live with him.