A dozen Canadian musicians of Asian ancestry have collaborated on an upbeat, jazzy song to welcome the Year of the Horse. “More Than Money 恭喜恭喜 我有你” was written by recording artists from Vancouver and Toronto at last year’s Jade Music Fest in Vancouver. They sang in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and English in a music video created by Ewan Mac.
The songwriters included Vancouverites Caroline Ding, Kristin Fung, Dennis Law, James Tseng, Shinlok, Sunny Daydream, and Tony Choi. The Toronto songwriters were Jacq Teh, Eunice Keitan, Chinyi C, Dr. Holic, and Violet Ziyi Grace.
“This is the kind of Lunar New Year Song I’ve always dreamed of!” declared Fung on the LunarFest Vancouver website. “The co-writing process was really neat.”
Watch the Ewan Mac-directed video for “More Than Money 恭喜恭喜 我有你”.
Shinlok, an immigrant from Hong Kong, said that he was thrilled to collaborate with such hardworking and talented artists. Tseng noted that he learned a lot by seeing the creative work of other artists and producers.
Daydream echoed this point, noting that building off one another’s ideas is her favourite part of making music. Choi described it as “such a fun and memorable experience”.
Meanwhile, Ding spoke about how her fondest memories of the Spring Festival always return to the joy spent with family.
At times, the musicians pass the microphone to one another in the music video as they each sing lyrics in their distinctive styles.
Law and Keitan were the recording engineers, and Law was the mixing engineer and producer. The video is available on various streaming channels as well as the LunarFest Vancouver website, which includes the lyrics.
The Year of the Horse begins on Tuesday (February 17).
For more information on LunarFest Vancouver, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Instagram @PancouverMedia.
