HO HO ONE Brings Cantopop and EDM to S2O in U.S. Debut

The world’s wettest party and one of the most attended music festival in the world, S2O, finally hit the U.S. for the first making its official debut in sunny Los Angeles. Matched with an all-star lineup such as Steve Aoki, AFROJACK, R3HAB, Elephante, Yetep, and many more. The event is also known for introducing some new acts and sunny SoCal met for the first time two well-known Hong Kong artists, Eric Kwok and Dan James, for their debut as super duo, HO HO ONE. The name in Cantonese means “lucky” and the DJ duo were just as bright as the sun that day living up to their moniker.

HO HO ONE got to sit down with EDM Tunes right after their set and the vibes were just right.

Growing up overseas, what musical influences shaped you most, and how do you bring that local sound into a global stage like this?

Dan: Cantonese music is super powerful for me. You know, such a huge part of my life, and I want to be, you know, that that bridge that gap to be able to share that music with the rest of the world. It’s amazing.

Eric: Well, for me, it’s all those pop stars in Hong Kong, but actually the music that influenced me the most would be The Beatles, because they’re just a lot of a good pop tunes. And then I went off to listen to all these synth pop music from Europe. So, we’ve witnessed the whole electronic thing start. I’ve never stopped since.

How does blending Cantopop with EDM reflect who you are as artists from Asia?

Eric: Wow, it’s just I’m from Asia so it totally reflects my work, I’ve never stopped listening to EDM. I’ve witnessed the change of it. I’m glad I’m in a position where I can bring these different elements to it now. I hope people when they listen to EDM. I’m thinking, feel something different.

As a duo, how do you balance your individual personalities and tastes when creating tracks together?

Eric: Yeah, we are so different as a person. He’s like always full of energy, right Dan? Are you not? I’m like an “I” person, you know?

Dan: I think we have a perfect partnership like, I have the energy, but Eric’s like the mastermind, you know always in the studio with these incredible ideas, because obviously, he’s like the old classic singer songwriter.

Eric: He’s a performer, so we kind of like bounce off of each other. I totally need him!

Dan: The balance that we have is actually what makes you HO HO ONE, you know? When the crowds sees us, they can feel both of our energies, and then what we could both bring to the table. Yeah, the crowd can definitely feel that.

Eric: But the one good thing is as different as we are, our taste in EDM is actually very similar. Like he would come to me with all these hundreds of songs and I’m looking at least 50 of them.

Dan: We have a lot of fun putting the actual set together, especially with the “Canto-influence” into it which Eric did all the production, and all the work behind the scenes.

Eric: You sang! You didn’t know any Cantonese.

Dan: We actually went to studio. We were like breaking it down, and I was recording it.

Eric: This guy is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met because I mean, Cantonese is really hard. But he can learn this and sing it in just 4 hours!

Who’s the bigger perfectionist in the studio?

Dan: I will definitely say– No! I think I bring a lot of ideas to the table and then we brainstorm and Eric is with the execution . I mean, because it’s like in barely years of experience,? He’s the master behind it. And we brainstorm and discuss, and then Eric is the one who can put everything together so seamlessly, you know the way it’s done is just incredible.

Eric: When I was younger, I used to be anal about stuff. But now, I just say fuck it.

Today is your first American festival performance — what’s running through your minds right now, and how did you prepare?

Eric: The only thing that’s in my mind is “Don’t screw up”. I know I did [jokingly].

Dan: We wanted to leave the audience, the crowd with the impression of HO HO ONE, right? Our feeling even before the show was the nerves, which was turning into excitement and adrenaline. Once we were up, I think you know, we just went into autopilot. With all the years of experience.

Eric: I just want to make it clear while I was up there, I was really focused on the buttons. I didn’t see any bikinis. My wife is here.

6.Since many in the crowd may not understand Cantonese, how do you want them to feel when they hear your music live?”

Dan: Eric’s genius. We had actually eight of our original Canto songs, which Eric transformed into lan EDM track, the beauty of it is that you can see the reaction from the crowds and they were just so buzzin’, and, loving it.

Eric: Totally. I mean, EDM, as long as you get the kick and the bass right, and the groove, people will dance to it. It could be in Spanish, and can be in Korean. So now, I don’t see why not Cantonese?

Dan: The way you put tracks together. It’s pure and genius.

What’s the biggest difference you’ve noticed so far between the music scene in Asia and here in the U.S.?

Eric: I think in America, they like dubstep a bit more than Asia. Asia is house? Tech house? Techno?

Dan: I think that opens to more genre assumptions, right? So, in Asia, I think it can be a little bit more reserved sometimes.

Eric: The music brought back some really dance classics from the early 90s, Y2K.

What’s the first American snack or store you’ve fallen in love with since landing here? (rapid-fire)

Dan: I never ate In-N-Out before. Eric, recommended it to me. It changed my life. Store-wise, I think CVS since it’s open 24 hours, it’s just so convenient. And inside, you can find everything that you need at the moment in time.

Eric: We actually had two meals at KTown. Korean Barbeque. It was so good. We got it twice in two days.

Dan: It feels like three.

If you could collaborate with any American artist right now, who would it be and why?

Eric: It would be Skrillex for sure. He changed things epically.

Dan: Yeah, I think the respect I have for the top 10 like that gets up, Calvin Harris? He’s always been my idol as well. I hope they became how they started to where they are now.

Eric: But in terms of dubstep, I really like Illenium, but I’m not sure if he’s from America or Europe.

After this festival debut, what kind of legacy do you hope HO HO ONE will leave as a Hong Kong duo pushing Cantopop into the EDM world?

Dan: We want to make sure that we would love to open the Canto music to the Western world. I think, you ,now, they’re missing out the old school songs, especially many songs that Eric wrote for the big stars, Eason Chan, etc. At least he’s on there, right?

Eric: He said that it was some content.

Dan: I have nothing but love for this legend. Nothing but love for this legend.

Eric: There are a lot of good melodies or top lines from all these Canto-pop songs. And I think you can take those and put ‘em in the EDM and it’ll be refreshing.