Four-time Hong Kong Film Award winner Peter Kam is one of the city’s most prominent composers. He talks to June Ng about his path from Christian music and commercial jingles to propaganda songs, and hitting it big time with movie scores.

As a kid, I was never quite sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, though I thought it would be quite cool to be a policeman or a detective.

Strangely enough, music was never an important part of my childhood, even though my dad played piano in a nightclub band. I didn’t even teach myself to play piano until I turned 17.

My whole family then moved to America. When I had to choose my subjects for college, I decided to remain true to myself and study something that I enjoyed. I turned my back on subjects that focused on money and chose to study music instead. 

“Freelancing” is another way of saying “unemployed.” When I graduated, I did a lot of freelancing, mostly composing Vietnamese songs. Did you know that South California is a huge base for Viet pop?

I came back to Hong Kong in 1990 because I got an offer to make Christian music for a church. But that adventure was over before it began. There was a change in management and my position was made redundant before I even started.

By sheer luck I got to work in a proper studio. From there, I learned how to make “practical” music, such as commercial jingles. From there, I got to write songs for Cantopop stars, and finally, I started to pen movie scores.

When writing a score for a movie, you have to take into account the plot. But really, every song has a tiny plot in itself—the emotion that the singer tries to convey is a distillation of a story.

A singer is like an actor in many ways—they have to sing so many different love songs, but can they really experience all the kinds of love there is in the world?

More directors now appreciate the importance of a good musical score. Since “Infernal Affairs,” they’ve realized the difference it makes if you use a real orchestra, even if it takes more time and money.

I’ve also written propaganda songs for the government. You need to be quite calculating, and think about how to use the simplest language to say that Hong Kong is the best, but without being too blunt. But it still has to be catchy, and something that everyone can sing easily.

No, government officials don’t interfere too much with the composition. Well, maybe with the lyrics, but not with the melodies. We’re all literate, but not everyone is musical.

Experiencing love would definitely inspire a composer to create more heartfelt music—I can’t imagine how it would even be possible for someone who’s never been attracted to another person to create a truly beautiful piece of music.

If I never went into music, I might have ended up as a computer or insurance salesman. I did take on these jobs during my “freelancing” days, but I kept telling myself, “it’s just temporary.”

A job becomes a career when you wake up one day and realize that you’ve been doing that exact same job for years.

Opportunities are for people who are well prepared, especially in this industry—you never know when your chance will come—and when someone offers you a job, the last thing they want to hear is that you’re not ready to do it.

Peter Kam’s new CD is now available at any McCafe.
http://www.mcdonalds.com.hk/chinese/mccafe/coffeemusic/