Indie Rocker Jun Kung
Joventino Couto Remotigue Jr., better known simply as Jun Kung, is a one-time Cantopop star turned indie rocker, and one of Hong Kong’s most prolific session musicians. He talks to June Ng about the phoniness of the Cantopop scene, and the sure-fire way to nab a chick... er, a lady.
I’m from Macau. My father is a Filipino from Cebu, my mother is part-Chinese, part-Portuguese and part-Mexican.
Even though my father was a drummer, he was determined to stop me from becoming a musician. I had to sneak my drumsticks out of the house in
garbage bags.
My uncle’s band was a big influence on me. Uncle Caco. I loved him to death. He would take me to his shows and practices. Which was nice of him because it’s annoying for a 20-year-old guy to hang out with a 7-year-old kid.
Either you have it, or you don’t. I learned to play by watching my uncle and his friends. My first performance was at age 7—I played “Tell Me Why” by the Beatles.
I started working as a session musician at age 14. I recorded a theme song to a TV show. I then went to New York to study in a community college—not music though; none of them would accept me.
When my parents divorced, I told my mom, well, I’m all grown up now and I have to start earning a living. I left Macau and went to Hong Kong to try my luck.