With the global popularity of K-Pop acts such as BTS, BlackPink, BigBang, and Red Velvet, and with the emergence of C-Pop artists out of China like Rainie Yang, Sunnee and Xu Ziyin, it’s no surprise that the Asian pop music phenomenon has also infiltrated the Australian music scene. Chai Chang, a dynamic Hong Kong-born, Melbourne-based artist releases his debut single today, ‘New Reality’ and is hopeful of following in the footsteps of his musical heroes such as CoCo Lee and BTS.
Chai Chang grew up in Hong Kong and has been passionate about music since his early childhood. However, a career in music wasn’t culturally accepted back then, certainly not as much as a vocation in law or medicine for example and his musical ambitions had remained a dream until recently.
“I recall that my first experience with music was at the age of 12 and there was a music TV show in Hong Kong called Jade Solid Gold, which broadcasts new music and music videos. We didn’t have YouTube and that stuff. I always loved listening to strong, big dance and electronic songs, and I admired singers who can both sing and dance at the same time. So for example, like Coco Lee and Pussy Cat Dolls, especially Nicole Scherzinger. So I have been inspired by them to release a dance song later, when I grew up.”
“There’s a traditional thinking that we have to study hard at school, achieve good results, and then after graduating from university, we have to look for a stable job in a large organisation and gradually climb up the ladder. That’s my cultural background. So at that period pursuing a career as a singer, I think it has always just been a dream, but something that was not achievable. But now I’m eager to pursue the music career as a solo dancing singer where I can both sing and dance on stage.”
Chai first came to Australia in 2012 to complete a university degree, then moved back to Hong Kong to work for another six years. “Then one month before turning 30 years old, I decided to make a change and therefore I relocated to Melbourne in early 2020. I found that Australian music is a collection of diverse styles and songs, which includes rock, pop, indie, and classical music, et cetera. But it appears to me that electronic dance type of songs are not as prevalent as those in countries like Korea or Japan.”
“I think K-Pop started to hit Australia a few years ago when BTS started to go viral worldwide. And recently, BlackPink another group from Korea has also brought influences to our local music market. I believe there aren’t too many local artists at the moment in Australia that are leading towards this direction. But for example, Rose from BlackPink, she actually was raised in Australia and she moved to Korea and started her music career.”
Like many K-Pop and C-Pop artists, Chai doesn’t play a musical instrument but creates his music in collaboration with others. For example, his collaborator Kevin Chen used synthesiser, samplers, drum machines and piano to form the basis of the new single ‘New Reality’, while Chai laid down the lyrics and is responsible for the creative image of the project. Image and in particular fashion play a huge role in Chai’s artistic life and the young artist enjoys the styling aspect of the venture, as you’ll see from the new YouTube channel he is currently developing.
Chai’s debut single New Reality is out today. So what’s it all about?
“New Reality is an electric pop and dance pop song,” Chai tells me. “The lyrics describe what a social media selfie would do to attract mass attention and achieve his fame. So he immerses himself in swiping his phone and watches his life through the screen. Nowadays people spend lots of time using and swiping their mobile phones but sometimes it’s really hard to tell whether the information is actually valid or tells the full picture. The concept of perception and perfection on social media also changes how we think. We want to look good …perfect on social media, so we can attract peers to like us, but just like what the lyrics in the song state, “if I blurred my face until I’ve got no pores, maybe they can see that I am beautiful.” And there’s another lyric that “I will do anything it takes to get my five seconds of fame.” Sometimes it’s really hard to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. So here I’m open to my audience to analyse the good side and the bad sides of using mobile phones. And I want to point out that this is the new reality now and therefore the song ends with the line “welcome to the new reality.”
As well as working on his next couple of singles, Chai is keen to spotlight his YouTube channel, with plans to not only show his music clips but also vlogs, cover songs, and some fashion/modelling related videos in future. Once he builds upon his music catalogue, his attention will then turn to performing. With the that in mind, I posed this question to Chai … What if money was no issue, what would a Chai Chang show look like?
“I would like to hire a giant outdoor space and then there will be a huge garden with a built fountain in the middle of the stage together with artificial flowers and spotlights and then there will be plenty of lighting and stage effects,” he says enthusiastically. “And dancing will be one of the highlights during the show, featuring over a hundred dancers and actors dancer. The show would also feature mainly strong beat songs, and I would like to make it like a carnival.”
Since relocating to Melbourne from Hong Kong, Chai hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to get out and experience other K-Pop flavoured acts or dance pop artists around town.
“One month after my arrival, unfortunately Covid hit and we all missed lots of opportunities to see artists performing on stage. But the good thing is, for example in March, I went to the Sonica Music Festival. It was a semi outdoor festival featuring several popular artists such as Henry Lao. I’m eager to attend more concerts and festivals in the near future in Australia, not just in Melbourne, probably also in Sydney too, to not only enjoy the music and atmosphere, but also to gain more experience as an artist. I’m also eager to meet new artists and songwriters for future collaborations. And I can see that since earlier this year, concerts have started to regrow here in Australia, not only local artists, but artists from the US or even from Korea, they have come to Australia and started to hold concerts again… I’m also planning to go back again to Hong Kong in November this year, to look for potential and artists or even potential songwriters for future collaborations.”
For now, New Reality is out today and Chai Chang is working on his next couple of singles.
“The second single will be a Chinese ballad and the third one will be a dance type song in English,” he says. “I’m happy to keep releasing singles in the coming year until 2024. My longer term goal is to release a full album with a mix of both English and Chinese songs. But for now, first I have to gain more experience in the music industry and develop a clear music direction for my target audience.”
Follow Chai Chang online
Website: https://chaichang.com.au
Instagram: www.instagram.com/chaichangofficial
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@chaichangofficial
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@chaichangofficial
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chaichangoff
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/@chaichangoff