Artist Selects: Hong Kong Boyfriend
Photography by Eddie Mandell
Rob Sanders AKA Hong Kong Boyfriend is a self-described “orchestra kid” who was born in Japan and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He spent most of his youth focused on classical violin training, but didn’t get interested in contemporary songwriting until much later. Drawing influence from online sources, Rob slowly formed his own musical identity from scratch by tinkering with Logic and Garageband.
Ultimately, the need to be self-sufficient helped Rob make songs that feel all his own, lying somewhere between R&B, folk, and alternative. He relocated to Los Angeles and began to take his work more seriously and came up with his moniker which is named after a girl he was interested in who had a long-distance boyfriend in Hong Kong. He’s already released two singles from his upcoming debut EP “Summer Doesn't Last” which is set to release in 2021. The next single “Sharlene” is coming out in November. While we wait for this highly anticipated project to come out, I had the opportunity to ask Rob some questions about his music, creative influences, and what it means to be an Asian-American artist in this age.
Listen below to “Hong Kong Boyfriend Selects” while you read the Q&A:
Hi HKBF! Where and how have you been spending the past 7 months of COVID? Have you picked up any new interests or hobbies?
I’ve been in LA for all of it. For a while I was getting better at meditation. I’m skating and playing GTA, too. Mostly I’ve been working on every single aspect of the music and videos. Maybe I need a hobby.
Congrats on being playlisted on Spotify’s Fresh Finds! What other Spotify playlists would it be an absolute dream for you to land on?
Thanks man. I would love for the next single to make it into POLLEN or Lorem, like pretty much everybody else.
You have a powerhouse of a team working with you to see your artistic vision to life. What is it like to work with your friends in Ourros, a creative studio and artist management collective, and the creative USC community?
It’s a lot of fun. We all live in a house together near campus, it’s really cool to be able to wake up and make art with my friends. I think I’m growing a lot by being so immersed in everything, but it can be a lot, too.
On that same thread, you have a seemingly opposing sense of imagery associated with your music: soft, yet grungy—sometimes dark, as well as, grainy and retro, yet modern. Though, it works so well; this style, for me, elicits a feeling of intimacy. What sort of aesthetics do you ascribe to as an artist and how do you communicate that with the people you work with?
My creative director Aamir Khuller and I really love Boys Don’t Cry, Wong Kar Wai, Illegal Civ and Davide Sorrenti. The visuals and music tend to combine digital and analog influences, that’s what the world feels like right now to us.
I’d also just like to add that I love the queer and POC cast/characters in your music videos. Could you elaborate on how this choice is important and intentional for you?
We’re really inspired by shows like Pose and Insecure. Growing up I didn’t see that many characters on screen - that really had depth and were genuinely cool - that looked like me. So for a while I was unable to see those things in myself. It made me realize how important it is to see yourself represented in media, because we spend so much of our time looking at screens. I want to show people that you can be an Asian artist in America without relying on stereotypes, making a joke out of yourself, or sacrificing any of the true parts of yourself.
I’m so excited for your debut EP, “Summer Doesn’t Last” to come out soon. What have been some challenges and proud moments surrounding this release?
I was really proud to be the cover of Fresh Finds. But it’s hard for anything to feel real right now without live shows. It’s strange, my entire experience of being an artist with released music has been through the Internet.
What is your process like for songwriting and producing? Walk us through from the idea to song completion.
My process has changed a lot over the years. I used to only write over my own beats but recently I have been working with Jhune, one of my roommates and my favorite producer. We’ll usually come up with some chords together, either a synth or guitar. We do a lot of resampling and layering - we both love it when the loop is something we didn’t mean to come up with. He’ll do the drums and I’ll come up with a melody and keep singing it until the words appear. Sometimes they don’t.
What are some compositional and production elements that you would uniquely define as the “Hong Kong Boyfriend” sound?
I come from a classical background so my instinct is to create grand arrangements and layer tons of instruments on top of each other. I think most of my songs have 100+ individual tracks in them. But I’m trying to get better at the simple stuff, a lot can be accomplished with a few words and chords. Writing is also changing for me, I’m getting better at exploring a single idea rather than trying to fit my entire life into each song.
As a fellow Asian-American, I’m curious—what are your favorite childhood/comfort Asian foods?
My mom is Chinese but she makes a lot of Japanese food, like okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) and nikujaga (squash soup). And she always makes udon on my birthday, too. I think the long noodles are supposed to symbolize a long life.
Speaking of your Asian-American identity, how do you feel that it informs and influences the music that you write?
I don’t really feel like I belong in pop music. The archetypes for male pop stars that exist right now are hard for me to fit into. The way I was raised is just not about drawing attention to yourself and I struggle with it on social media. I write music because I want to get better at being vulnerable and honest with my emotions, and I think that helps other people with theirs, too. For my brother Robin and for other people like me.
What has been some of the most memorable experiences in your musical and creative journey thus far—whether that be all the way back in your “orchestra kid” days to now?
My mom tried to pull me out of my high school choir cause she thought it was distracting from my schoolwork, which it totally was. But my choir director defended me and told me that I was a good singer. It really meant a lot to me at the time.
Who are some dream collaborators you'd like to work with, whether it be other artists, producers, labels, collectives, etc.? Manifest it!
I wanna make a song with p4rkr aka osquinn. She is the truth.
What’s next for you? What are some short-term and long term goals whether it be music related or not?
I just want to drop out and for my parents to be able to sleep at night.
Finally, the playlist you curated for us is fire. Could you explain some of the picks that you've chosen for this playlist?
Thanks man. It’s just music I think is honest and expresses emotions in nuanced ways. I really like how the Blonded playlist doesn’t have a genre, it kind of prevents you from falling into a rut of hearing the same emotion over and over again. I feel like that’s how you break out of a cycle. That’s how I would want my albums to sound.
Stream Hong Kong Boyfriend’s latest single, “Tiramisu” and follow him on Instagram!
