GOASIAPLUS January 2017
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
This musical duo got their big break after<br />
doing a cover of P. Ramlee’s classic ballad<br />
‘Getaran Jiwa’ which went viral and was<br />
subsequently featured as the song for a<br />
Nescafe advertisement in conjunction with<br />
World Coffee Day. The video garnered more<br />
than 5 million views on YouTube, catapulting<br />
this duo into the public eye. We spoke to<br />
singer Eve Hong and guitarist/composer<br />
Billy Ho of EB Duet on their rise to success<br />
and their new album ‘At The Beginning’.<br />
INTERVIEWED BY AISHAH AZALI · PHOTOS BY EB DUET<br />
Now Boarding<br />
How did you guys meet and decided<br />
to start a duo?<br />
Eve: We met because we were both<br />
performing in functions. When we do<br />
functions, we don’t usually get to choose<br />
(the songs) that we 100% love to perform.<br />
We have to compromise between our<br />
songs and what the client prefers. After<br />
performing for quite some time, we found<br />
out that we share similar interests and<br />
vision in music.<br />
Why become a jazz duo? Is that the<br />
only genre you like to sing?<br />
Eve: We are both Chinese educated and<br />
our upbringing was exposed to Chinese<br />
music. Jazz was not in our roots but we<br />
are so moved by jazz music. Our album<br />
titled ‘At The Beginning’ represents the<br />
beginning of our music together. Jazz is<br />
our beginning but we do sing other genres<br />
like evergreen, pop and classic oldies.<br />
Do you do a lot of performances<br />
in Malaysia or have you travelled<br />
elsewhere for shows?<br />
Eve: We perform anywhere we get invited.<br />
The furthest we went was to China but<br />
mostly performances in Malaysia.<br />
Would you guys be open to<br />
performing more shows overseas?<br />
Eve: Of course. We love to travel around<br />
while working. We are both explorative<br />
people.<br />
What kind of music influences you?<br />
Billy: I play many types of music. I’ve<br />
played heavy metal like Metallica and<br />
British rock when I was young. But after<br />
some time, my taste started to change.<br />
Eve: Generally jazz but I still listen to<br />
pop and different kinds of music. As a<br />
performer, I don’t think we should limit<br />
ourselves to just one song or genre.<br />
Can you tell me about your first<br />
overseas travel experience?<br />
Eve: My first time was when I was 16. I<br />
went with my mum to Korea. That time<br />
Korea was not as popular as it is now but<br />
it was still a great experience.<br />
Billy: I went to Hong Kong with my<br />
friends. I remember when we went to the<br />
hotel; the credit card machine was down<br />
so we had to pay them in cash. After that,<br />
all of us were short on money. It was a<br />
small problem we faced but overall it was<br />
a good experience.<br />
Any travel trips that stood out?<br />
Eve: My solo trip to Bali 2 years ago.<br />
Two months later, I got addicted and did<br />
another solo trip to Boracay.<br />
You guys travel a lot for work. Is it<br />
easy travelling together?<br />
Eve: The way we travel is quite similar.<br />
First, we both do not like to go to the<br />
touristy places. We’ll just find a place to<br />
relax which is not a tourist spot and like to<br />
observe the people.<br />
Billy: We like to experience their culture.<br />
What are your goals in music?<br />
Eve: One of our goals is to perform in major<br />
music concerts or renowned theatres and<br />
music halls with an audience of people that<br />
truly love music. We want to share what<br />
we love, which is music to people that<br />
appreciate it as much as we do.<br />
How did the cover of ‘Getaran Jiwa’<br />
came about?<br />
Eve: We were doing a cover of a song by<br />
Michael Jackson called Black or White.<br />
We set up everything and did it in 2 takes.<br />
We didn’t want to waste the lighting and<br />
the audio set up, so we just sang another<br />
few songs for fun. Then we randomly<br />
sang Getaran Jiwa which we have never<br />
practised before.<br />
Billy: I played the first couple of chords and<br />
we liked the style and went with it. We did<br />
that video in one take and just uploaded it<br />
for fun.<br />
“We want<br />
to share<br />
what we<br />
love, which<br />
is music to<br />
people that<br />
appreciate<br />
it as much<br />
as we do.”<br />
WWW.<strong>GOASIAPLUS</strong>.COM · 15