Not everyone has the opportunity to reunite with their past lives, but Candy Lo is grateful for the experience that allows her to live again today with her present self, to grow together, and to learn to cherish this hard-won blessing.
In the Hong Kong music scene, there are always moments that will make you reminisce, and similarly, there are moments that will make you sigh; and she, probably makes you sigh lightly belonging to the latter. Before “Garbage” appeared, Candy’s music world was nurtured by underground rock bands’ music, until three years later when she caught the eye of a record company, officially debuted as a solo artist with her first album “Don’t Need… Perfect is Terrible!”, and the “Ultimate Newcomer Gold Award” was also born. After that, Candy’s music career soared, with 2002’s “Break Up Kindly” and 2003’s “Triangle” becoming classic pop songs in Hong Kong that were widely sung. Later on, she took on roles such as arranging, producing, and album production, and her songwriting skills were highly praised.
“Abandoned by the world is not scary”
After reaching the peak of her career, Candy finally announced her withdrawal from the spotlight in 2011 due to immense mental pressure. Sometimes leaving is not regrettable; leaving the decadent stage actually allowed her to gain more. Over the years, in addition to music, her life has included running, her husband, and a grateful heart. A simple and plain life has allowed her to relearn how to be with herself, be with her family, and appreciate the value of everything.
The most important thing is for her to find herself again and fall in love with herself once more.
From the emotional ups and downs of that day to now living a life of small happiness, after a thousand sails, what kind of understanding does Candy have about life now? With Candy’s long-awaited concert coming up, let’s invite her to share her current thoughts on everything she values and appreciates, with the theme of the concert’s “timeline.”
“It’s been two or three years since I last held a concert, and I really miss it.”
Open Candy’s IG, the most common posts are about running in the mountains and by the sea, snippets of her life with fruits and flowers, or some reflections on life. As you scroll through post after post, you will slowly feel the richness and little joys of Candy’s life. Whenever there is a picture of a guitar, microphone, or anything related to music in the grid, it makes people curious about the current state of her music dream. And she did not disappoint. On November 29th last year, she finally announced – the long-awaited concert is finally happening.
After a round of discussion, Candy finally decided to use “timeline” as the theme of the concert – a simple and direct proposition. She shared: “Actually, when we were brainstorming for this concert, there were many things we wanted to do at that time, and both the director and I were quite greedy. We wanted to try everything, initially making things very complicated.” Perhaps unable to contain her excitement for organizing another concert, Candy, who has always loved different creations and designs, admitted that in the initial stages of brainstorming, she hoped that every detail could be just as she wished, from stage design to performance costumes, and even the most anticipated song lineup, she wanted everything to be perfect. “But later, when everyone calmed down, I suddenly had a thought, saying, ‘Why not use a “timeline” as the concept of this concert?'”
Candy shared, “I just hope that the audience or friends who buy tickets to see the show, I just really hope, very simply, to spend a simple and pleasant evening with them, that’s all.” This journey starts from the debut of Lu Qiaoyin, continues all the way, until reaching the final stop representing the most recent music works.
“So, besides the three words ‘timeline,’ I can’t think of a more suitable term.”
“Using ‘time’ as the theme, is time a very precious thing to you?” we ask.
She said, “I didn’t realize it before, but as people grow up, they will find that time really passes by every minute, every second. If you don’t make good use of it, it’s actually a waste.” Time seems ruthless like a thief, stealing our innocence, beautiful faces, youthful dreams, and happiness… But in fact, time gives before taking away, every day is a gift, every hour, every minute, every second, is a gift, time teaches you to accept everything, the people you love are by your side, so it teaches us to cherish them.
Candy understands this principle well, so she has always felt that moments like family reunions, dining conversations, joyful times with friends, and even the emotions of preparing for a concert or choosing clothes are all irreplaceable and moving moments. She laughs and says, “So as people grow older, they understand the value of time even more. It won’t be refunded to you.”
Long-awaited, the concert originally scheduled to take place in early January this year was ultimately postponed due to the rampant epidemic.
When asked about Candy’s mood, she replied, “It’s been two or three years since I last held a concert, and I’m really ‘thirsty’.”
Candy frankly admitted that she was very eager to perform and sing for everyone this time, but the fifth wave of the epidemic struck, and Candy could only go with the flow. However, looking at it from a different perspective, Candy also turned a bad situation into a good one. The unconditional support from her team and friends, and even fans insisting on “not refunding tickets” and “waiting for you no matter what,” all deeply moved her.
“The whole team, whether making music or the friends behind the scenes, are willing to wait until June for this concert. Everyone’s response is: ‘Yes, let’s do it, let’s go.’ – I feel that this bond of sentiment is truly touching.” The unfortunate delay has allowed Candy to feel the support and love from the team and those around her, further reinforcing her belief, “I firmly believe that this belief will not diminish. This belief is that my heart – I want to spend a good evening with my fans.”
“Music is like a friend, whenever I need it, it’s always there”
Apart from music, everyone knows that Candy has already embarked on her running life. “Now, I wake up around five or six o’clock, tidy up the house, and when the person next to me wakes up, we will go for a run together.” This is Candy’s daily life. Since retiring from the spotlight, she has dedicated a part of her life to running, and in recent years, she has occasionally challenged marathons around the world, making exercise an indispensable part of her life.
What about music? Does she feel regretful about choosing to step back when her popularity was high?
“Reducing the number of performances in front of the stage, I don’t feel regret at all,” Candy said confidently. “Because you see the younger generation coming up, a very strong younger generation is on its way. Do you still need to stand up straight and say, ‘I am a senior’ like that?” she laughed. As for stepping down from the peak back then, Candy admitted that she never felt regret, as her mental state at the time simply couldn’t allow her to continue moving forward, and she ended up hurting many people in the process. “I didn’t want my parents to see me as the mentally unstable Candy Lo. Even if you dress up gorgeously and have perfect makeup, when you return home, you are still their child, and they can see through you at a glance. And during that time, I knew I hurt them a lot.” She also pointed out that the so-called regret would only be because of hurting her family.
“So, I will continue to work hard to do what I should do, to prove to them that their daughter is fine.”
In 2002, Candy swept multiple important awards at various award ceremonies with the song “Break Up with a Good Heart,” including the Ultimate Song Award at the Ultimate Song Awards. However, on stage that day holding multiple awards, she lost control of her emotions during the performance, and you could tell that these were not tears of joy. Later, she revealed in an interview that she was already struggling with emotional illness at the time, and in 2007, she was diagnosed with depression. Reliving that day now still brings a sense of sadness.
“Have emotional issues ever made you consider giving up music?”
Emotional issues have never made me give up music; instead, they have made me consider giving up on life.
She continued, “But when that moment comes, I realized that I couldn’t do it; I found that there are many songs to sing, many fans to meet, many songs I haven’t written, many seniors I haven’t met, many places I haven’t been to, and many things I haven’t done, so I won’t be willing to leave.”
It’s about to happen, not just an emotional breakdown, but Candy’s strong will. Having experienced depression, she learned to adjust everything around her, friends, diet, sleep, and exercise, which shaped her running life. “I believe that through running, it’s not just about influencing music, it’s basically all-round. Everything around me is different because of running.” Candy admits that she has cultivated perseverance through running, whether walking on a marathon route of over forty kilometers, feeling physically exhausted, or encountering a bottleneck in songwriting, “You have to, you definitely have to” these words always come to mind at the right time. “Even if it doesn’t affect music, whether it’s running affecting running, or other life principles, this belief is very important, and running has given me a very strong will.”
The training of willpower has had a profound and lasting impact on Candy as the days go by, and her relationship with music since the age of 20 has also changed. When talking about her relationship with music, Candy described music as just a “tool” for her in the past, a tool she practiced constantly to perform better. However, looking back suddenly, she realized the significant meaning music has for her.
“Music is like a friend. When I need it, it will always be there; even when I don’t need it, it will still be there, that’s the kind of close friend relationship it is.” Candy expressed her feelings further, saying, “After creating music for many years, and experiencing various changes in my body and health, you will realize how important true friends are, and music is a good friend. Because when you feel unwell and stay silent, it will comfort you in its own way; when you are angry, it will also express anger with you in its own way. I think this is very good.”
Candy used to think that writing songs was very complicated, until she got to know this “close friend” better, and in recent years, she has become more focused on music creation. “Now that I have grown up, when I write songs, I observe many things, such as the shoes others wear, the expressions they smile with… I pay attention to the lives of different people, listen to their daily conversations, and no longer detach.” She continued, “In this way, although the output is not much, I feel that this way fans will benefit, and the work will become more heartfelt.”
Here we revisit some of her classic representative works. Candy frankly admits that her interpretation is no longer as good as before, whether in terms of voice, feeling, or even meaning, there are already significant differences. These words may seem disappointing, but in fact they comfort the soul in another way. Candy explains: “The special thing about songs and singers is that everyone grows together. Songs have been around for so many years, singers have been around for so many years, coexisting with them. So, I think as a singer, you have to have a space to progress together with the songs. I don’t know how to say it, but it’s about giving everyone some new feelings in this space.”
“All the good and bad things now. I cherish them all.”
Always think that when a person has gone through any difficulties, especially some things that can destroy a lifetime, destroy themselves, bringing up the past is like digging up scars, it must be uncomfortable.
When Candy revisited the past, she analyzed: “I used to be afraid to look back at myself, but now, especially in recent years, I review myself more. For example, how can I sing better, maybe even singing teachers may not be able to help me, many of these are my own issues, so I have to let go, face it, accept it, and then think about how to improve.” With a firm tone, as a listener, you can also hear the calmness between the lines, which comes from countless days and months of experience.
Passing through the valley of death, what did she lose and gain along the way? She shrugged and said, “I lost time, but I gained friends. These things cannot be measured, God has been good to me.” Losing time, even Candy herself admitted that she had to learn to seize time to make up for the past. “Why not go for a run first, if there’s time when I get back to shower, why not cook a bowl of noodles, or read a book. This way, I feel happy again, and I have gained more during this time.” Lamenting the lack of youth, she couldn’t help but sigh, realizing that as people grow older, they will understand that some time cannot be wasted.
Cherish, is it just about time?
In the past, Candy’s family deeply empathized with her emotional instability. Past silent hurts made her cherish the time spent with her family even more. She reflected on her younger days when she didn’t understand the concept of cherishing. Even when her parents brought a pot of hot soup to visit her, she didn’t communicate much and never knew how to be grateful. “They came worried about affecting your life; facing two pots of soup was very helpless, but at that moment I just needed that pot of soup, I was really in a bad place. Now I still need that pot of soup, but I also need a few more bowls to share with me.”
Until 2013, Candy and her husband, the lead singer of the band Kolor, Sammy, were harmoniously married, which taught her another lesson.
“I am most grateful, I believe it’s because I married this husband,” Candy sweetly said. When talking about how to get along with her husband, she shared, “Being with him, I have seen my deep weaknesses, which only the closest person can tell you. In the past, even if I knew, I would ignore it, but when you want to build a relationship, a family with someone, you have to learn to cooperate with them, and he is able to see my worst qualities – next time if you have the chance, you might as well ask him, haha.”
Candy also bluntly stated that her husband is the person who understands her the most, without a doubt. He even understands her better than she understands herself.
She shared, “So, it all depends on his observations, then he tells me what is lacking, what I can’t do. Sometimes I will argue back, but deep down, I am actually digesting what he said, which is very useful.” Admitting that she is not an easy person to get along with, and does not have the typical gentleness of a girl, but when it comes to interacting with her husband and grandmother, Candy always naturally reveals a sincere and happy smile.
With family, Candy has found direction in life. What does Candy cherish most now?
“All present.”
“All the good and bad things now, I cherish them all. Good things don’t need to be said much, but why cherish the bad? You should cherish its flaws, flaws will make a person better, cherish the shortcomings and strengths, so that the whole person will be complete.”
To learn to appreciate the good in bad things, Candy shares her insights over the years: “Face it, first you have to face it. You have to open your heart, face the problem and then solve it. After solving it, there will be a bright future; if you don’t face it, hide your weaknesses, it will grow, and later it may not be solved. In fact, these are things I have learned in recent years.”
As sung in “Goodbye Heartbreak”: “Are you surprised, unable to speak.” Who would have thought that the once fiery Lo Hoi Pang on stage would be so carefree today.
After experiencing hardships, does the current Lu Qiaoyin have enough strength to face the world today?
“I am not strong enough yet. I still need to listen to the advice of my seniors, and I am willing to do so.” With a humble heart to learn and listen, Candy hopes to be someone who continues to learn, perseveres to be an open-minded person, because only then will life have more diverse experiences.”
To live another life is both a blessing and luck. Having experienced the purgatory of adversity, Candy now learns to embrace life from a different perspective, cherish everything, and reunite with fans through a “timeline.” Perhaps it is not enough to share her thoughts and feelings over the years, but she understands that the timeline continues to extend forward. Living each day is to ensure that every moment will make you smile when you look back, understanding as she said: “When nothing and no one is inevitable, you will cherish these little moments around you even more.”
At the end of the interview, we asked her a question: “Among the many works you have released so far, which one is your favorite and most memorable?”
“The song ‘Garbage’ is timeless.” “This song is truly ‘divine’. Its lyrics, melody, arrangement, and performance are all ‘divine’.” She even revealed that she will perform the song ‘Garbage’ at the concert again to alleviate everyone’s ‘lovesickness’.
For this upcoming concert, Candy hopes to bring everyone a warm gathering that is direct, simple, and free of any pretense, like a meeting with friends, to move everyone with music. Let’s gather our energy together and look forward to the concert in June being held successfully.
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Executive Producer：Angus Mok
Producer：Vicky Wai
Photography：Phoebe Wong
Videography：Andy Lee, Angus Chau
Styling：Vicky Wai
Makeup：Vinci Tsang
Hair：Matt Chiu @Xenter
Video Editor：Andy Lee
Editor：Carson Lin
Designer：Edwina Chan
Wardrobe：SHIATZY CHEN、Iris & Ink、The OUTNET、Tiffany & Co.、SWANK
