Eric Kwok is a composer and a former member of the band Swing. He talks to Janet Leung about his childhood, music and his rock singer girlfriend, Grace Yip.

I was born in 1974, in Hong Kong. I went to San Francisco when I was 13.

You do nothing when you are interested in nothing. I was lazy as a child and rarely got anything done. Everything changed when my mom bought me a piano keyboard as a present. I locked myself up in my room for 10 hours every day to play with it.

My mom has been supportive throughout the years. Nobody likes her much, however.

My dad was not that devoted to family throughout the years. Everyone likes him very much, however.

Music will get you nowhere unless you are the Beatles - that’s my father’s attitude towards music. That’s natural because he is a lawyer.

He never listened to any of my music. Last year I came out with my own album. He finally wanted to figure out what the hell I was doing all along so he bought it.

He gave the album to a friend of his. He thought his friend was kissing his ass when he said the songs were good. He was shocked when he knew his friend actually meant it.

He went through the album. He cried. I guess he finally understood what’s been going on with his son all these years.

You have to believe in yourself before getting others to believe in you.

I like driving. It gives you the time and space to think things through.

I like going to movies. The popcorn, my friends, the crowd, the fact that you are stuck there even if the movie is bad...I like everything about it.

Good movies are worth talking about simply because they are good; bad movies are also worth talking about because you’ve got to let the steam out after all that
wasted time and money.

Mark Lui can produce a lot. I can’t.

When 50 percent of your song is the same as another song, I would consider it plagiarizing; otherwise it is only referencing.

It would be nice to get an award like best composer or producer, that kind of thing.

Hong Kong people are very sensitive to new things. If you continue to feed them with new things, they will finally come to accept it.

I have been going out with Grace for six years.

Times change. Underground love affairs are so old-fashioned. I don’t understand why Grace has to carry her guitar all the time, even when she is not playing it. I know she is now a rock star, but still. It’s strange.

I’m very picky about people who are close to me. Grace knows that very well.

I can kill if I didn’t have enough sleep. Grace knows that well too.

Grace Grace Grace Grace. 

Jerald Chan [Swing co-founder] is my good friend who often comes up with questions that cannot be solved. Thank God he is now married.

I don’t know why our band was called “Snowman.” It was later on changed to “Swing” only because we wanted a verb.

Jerald likes jazz. His style is more alternative and I have to balance it off by adding some mainstream elements into our work.

You can’t make people stay. The band broke up the moment we got an award. Jerald was not happy about the scene here.

The song “1984” was just another ballad. Jerald didn’t like it much. He felt like he was living under my shadow because it was mostly my work. I wrote it to get people interested in us.

Life is fair. I eat a pound of food; I gain a pound of weight.

Life is unfair. Edmond Leung ate 10 pounds of food without gaining a pound.

Looking back, Grace and I have had a few years of uninhibited eating. Those were the good years.

I wish I could eat more.

Two golden rules in love: Don’t bring up past issues and always say sorry to your girlfriend after a fight, even if it is not your fault.

I still don’t know how to read music.