Quirky indie-popster from London. Likes singalongs and wordplay. AKA Hong Kong Cockney*
Garlen Lo is a born and bred Londoner of Hong Kong-Chinese origin.
Aged 8 he was fostered to a white, Scottish, wine-guzzling, matriarchal, slightly scary auntie-in-law and was forced to listen to country ballads most evenings blasted at full volume. Her favourites were Jim Reeves ('I Love You Because') and Patsy Cline ('Crazy'). One Christmas, he got a guitar and took naturally to writing drunken singalongs with twee wordplay.
He formed an unruly, skinny-jeaned indie band but after that imploded, tried to become a respectable member of society. Not quite succeeding at that either - due in part to geeky wanderlust - he resumed his love for songwriting during the pandemic and DIY-recorded several indie-pop songs... with maybe a country ballad thrown in.
Influences: Beatles, Blur, Belle and Sebastian
*For a short time, he went by the artist name Hong Kong Cockney but lacked the confidence to see it through. He likes it as a nickname though, like Springsteen's The Boss.
The Third Song - 1 Jul 2023
'London, Tell Me WHY'
A love letter to London and sequel to 'Waterloo Sunset': What if Terry and Julie broke up?
In a city of 9 million people, how many of us are lonely, lost in a crowd, feeling insignificant? Yet all it takes is one person… and it changes everything. It's a sad but hopeful song.
Download at Bandcamp.
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