words rachel mok

Sometimes it is better to be behind the scenes

Although you may have one – or a few – of Silver Ko’s records and may have seen her in some of Hong Kong’s big concerts, you probably won’t remember her. Not to worry – as one of the city’s veteran backing vocalists, Ko may not be all that immediately recognisable – yet her voice shines like the precious metal her name is derived from.
 
Silver Ko has always loved music and knew from an early age that she wanted to be a singer – so when she joined the 9th New Talent Singing Championship back in 1990, it wasn’t only for interest’s sake. She hoped that some day she would become a star. Although she didn’t succeed like Anita Mui or Miriam Yeung, through friends she met record producers who put her on the road to recording backing vocals for various artists. Considering that the winner of the talent championship, Tsui Chun Tung, has long since vanished from show business, his name now rarely remembered, Ko’s achievements include much to be happy about.
 
“I did think about being a star singer, but it would need a lot of money to buy fancy clothes and all that,” she says. “And I have heard that show business is really complicated and I don’t like socializing at all. So I stopped thinking about it.” Nevertheless, Ko will be forever grateful to her parents, who despite not being wealthy or well educated, insisted on buying their daughter a piano on instalments when she was 12 and continued to support her aspirations to be a singer.
 
She is also savvy enough to know that having an angelic voice doesn’t necessarily mean one will become a diva. “In Hong Kong you only need to be pretty, slim and tall to be a star… none of which I am!” laughs the artist who, the night before this interview had been recording a session of Disney songs until 1am. She sang the voice of Barbie – the irony is striking.  
 
Since turning professional in 1996, Ko has worked with many Cantopop stars like Jacky Cheung, Eason Chan and George Lam. From that she realised that not being a pop star may have been a blessing after all. “I have my own life. Stars may have fame and wealth, but they have to give a lot as well, and so do their family and friends,” she says. “If that was me I may have already gone crazy!”
 
Although no longer tempted by the ostensibly glamorous life of a pop star, she can’t deny working and touring with some of our city’s pop legends has given her the best times of her life. She particularly remembers working with the late Anita Mui and still cannot hide her excitement when recalling a tour with her in 1998: “It was so scary and I was so nervous! I couldn’t sleep for days before starting to work with her.” Yet, she remembers Mui as one of the best people she has worked with: Ko tells how the singer spent time with everyone who joined her, inviting them to her home for parties during festive seasons and making them feel like a part of the team.
 
“One time we were at a celebration party and, as usual, the food at our table was not as nice as at hers: There was a huge sashimi platter at hers. When she came to talk to us and saw that we didn’t have that, she complained about it and made the staff bring us one.” 
 
Ko may have been a backing singer for the past decade, but for her turn at the front of the stage she wasn’t going to settle for a meagre performance. It was originally planned that, for her first solo show this month, she would perform with only a keyboard and guitar but in the end she insisted on a full backup band. So is she excited to have her own show, finally? “I am excited, but the happiest thing is actually to jam with my friends,” she says. Now used to singing in the background, she no longer yearns, as she once did, for the glare of spotlights and the screams of fans.

Silver Ko will stage her solo showcase Raw Show: Chorus on Front Stage at Backstage on June 20. Show starts at 10:30pm and entry costs $150 (includes one drink).