How Hong Kong indie singer Jaime Cheung forges her own path while staying grounded in simple joys of music

Last month, the songwriter channelled these reflections into a new song, “Pick up Your Phone”.

“You make plans with someone and get ditched, but they didn’t honestly say why they couldn’t come,” she said, adding that it made her question her place in these friends’ lives. “Social media is powerful. You’d see ... he’s with someone else; he is doing this and that.”

The playful single, featuring Lai Ying from Pomato, is Cheung’s fifth song since her debut last year.

The independent artist’s first year was especially tough with the pandemic happening and her family leaving the city. Still, she found comfort in writing lyrics and melodies.

“They help me express myself and comfort me. I think it’s a loop – now, I am at my expression stage again,” Cheung said of the cycles in her music journey.

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Cheung has loved music since she was a kid. “My mum used to say I liked to sing more than talk,” she chuckled.

Growing up in Hong Kong, the youngster took piano lessons and was part of a few different choirs.

“When I was small, I loved music without any explanation ... I did it just because I liked it,” Cheung said, recalling her simple love for the craft.

Out of her love for music, she opted to pursue a performance arts technology degree at the University of Michigan in the United States.

There, Cheung’s horizons were widened. The budding artist experimented with video editing, lighting, live streaming, directing, songwriting and arrangement.

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Despite the many new experiences she had, the singer felt her school’s programme was “way too artsy”, and she lacked the training to pursue a commercial career.

“As long as you can explain why you’re doing this, they [the teachers] will let you pass. As long as it’s your philosophy, then it’s OK,” Cheung recalled, adding that while this sparked her creativity, she wanted more training in creating music for a mainstream audience.

After graduating in 2018 and returning to Hong Kong, the artist won a composing contest organised by Addoilmusic, a social enterprise aiming to develop the potential of young musicians. Then, Cheung became the company’s songwriter.

“When song requests come in, I start to practise, and I notice what is ... trending these days and start making my own music,” she said.

After a few years, the artist realised that writing music was not her only goal: she wanted to step into the spotlight.

“I’d regret [if I didn’t]. I’d like to challenge myself as a singer-dancer, and I couldn’t wait until I became old to do it,” she shared.

In 2021, she performed at the Hong Kong Coliseum as part of the Chan Fai Young x Women’s Choir, a well-known group of talented female vocalists. She also joined another artist training competition. Though she didn’t win, this period filled with dancing and singing was the final push she needed to pursue her own music career.

“At that moment, it felt just right,” she recalled.

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Though some record labels had wanted to sign her, Cheung decided to work as an independent artist.

“I don’t want to compromise. You can call me stubborn, but if that’s my own thing, I wouldn’t want somebody else’s hand on it,” she said.

But even as a rookie, Cheung already had a sizeable following on Instagram – that was because she was already posting song covers during her university years.

“At that time, no one sang on IG [as] the video length was only 15 seconds ... But luckily, I did that early. If I did it now, it’d be too saturated,” noted the artist, who has more than 85,000 followers on the social media platform.

Still, making music and videos without support from a label is costly and time-consuming. Luckily, Cheung describes herself as a disciplined person and her passion keeps her going.

“My motivation is the urge to express and connect and leave some legacy on Earth,” she said.

Amid the struggles of forging her own path, she finds her way back to the simple joys of music.

Through Addoilmusic’s projects, she teaches the keyboard to underprivileged children, and this reminds her of why she started her career.

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“Most of us might learn musical instruments unwillingly or because our mums pushed us, but these kids, they really want this. You can feel their innocent, simple desire for music,” she said.

“Seeing them makes me reflect on what music means to me, and [I] realise that it changed over the years.”

But recently, she has found a habit to keep her feet steady even as she chases success: meditation.

“On my Fitbit, there is a three-minute breathing [exercise] and ... it brings me back to reality,” she explained. “Even if I’m busy, stressed out or can’t sleep, I have three minutes to restart.”