Iconic HK Band Grasshopper On Why They Dislike Beauty Filters And Don’t Have A Group Chat With Just The 3 Of Them

Cantopop band Grasshopper needs no introduction.

The group, made up of brothers Calvin Choy, 58, and Remus Choy, 56, and Edmond So, 57, have been massively successful since their formation in 1985. Yes, that’s 38 years ago.

And they have no intention of stopping at all.

The trio were in Singapore in May for their Re: Grasshopper Concert, and they also found time to meet Hear U Out host Quan Yifeng for a chat.

They spoke about their childhood, the time they spent working with legendary Cantopop diva Anita Mui, and how life was for them at the peak of their popularity in the late ‘90s and early noughties.

Calvin and Remus have been friends with Edmond since they were kids. They were neighbours who lived in the same “run-down building”, and also classmates in school.

It goes without saying that they’ve formed a very strong bond in the past 50 years, and though they admitted to having had disagreements every now and then, they’ve “never had a physical fight”.

“Do you confide in each other when you face problems?” asked Yifeng.

“No we don’t, we only talk about it when we meet in person. Sometimes, I will call Edmond at night and go to his house for a drink, then we’ll start talking as though we haven’t seen each other in years,” revealed Calvin.

Remus then added: “We usually don’t talk about our troubles when we work.”

“We have our own families now, and there are many other things that need our attention,” said Edmond, echoing the same sentiment.

Yifeng continued: “Do you have a group chat with just the three of you?”

To her (and our) surprise, they unanimously answered “No we don’t”, with Calvin adding: “We’ve never had one.”

They then explained to a slack-jawed Yifeng that they’ve never found the need to have a chat with just the three of them.

They have group chats with their staff , and have never found the need to hide anything from the people they work with.

“Do you ever go out and eat, and when you see something good, you have to send it separately to the other two?” probed Yifeng.

Their response? A collective, and very chill “nah”.

Without missing a beat, Remus said: “There’s Instagram now! You can see updates of where I go!”

He also said that they’ve never thought of sending anything to each other in private. “We don’t really have any secrets, everything is out in the open,” he added.

While they’re now accustomed to using Instagram to connect with their followers, Remus let on he was initially not a fan of social media.

“I don’t really like it because I feel like everyone is entitled to their privacy. But the trend now is to put your privacy on display and let everyone else look at it and talk about it,” he said.

Calvin then said he wouldn’t post about places with super good food as he wouldn’t want the crowds at his favourite haunts.

Edmond, on the other hand, is more than happy to share about his favourite foodie finds.

“I’m the opposite. I like to introduce good food to others. There’s a place in Hong Kong with really good fish balls, and my wife and I went there to promote it. The next day, the queue was six-hours long. But it’s okay, when I want to head down, I’ll just call the [owner] and make an advanced order,” he chuckled.

With all the technological advancements in the past decade, there’s one thing that the men of Grasshopper find hard to accept  — beauty filters on photos.

They agree that the software makes them look “even weirder”, with Calvin even requesting that fans turn off the beauty filters when he takes pictures with them.

“Our skin looks unnaturally smooth. I don’t want to look like a pretty boy,” he complained.

After taking a wefie with Yifeng, who admitted to using beauty filters religiously, Calvin chirped: “We look like we belong in a wax museum.”

“Your [looks] should match your age, if not it’s scary,” laughed Remus.

Photos: meWATCH, djremus_choy/ Instagram

You can watch Hear U Out with Grasshopper on meWATCH