Hongkongers Soft Liu and Soni Cheng moved to Taiwan more than two years ago when tough Covid curbs shut down the live music scene in Hong Kong. Now they’re happy to be home as they prepare to make their debut at the city’s biggest music festival, Clockenflap, where they will appear for the first time locally as Running Youth.
Soft (left) and Soni are performing at Clockenflap as Taiwan-based duo Running Youth for the first time. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“We are constantly moving,” Soft said in Cantonese. “Clockenflap will be the first occasion Running Youth has ventured outside Taiwan – and back to Hong Kong – it’ll be interesting.”
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Soft and Soni, perhaps better known locally as the vocalist and the guitarist for the four-piece indie band GDJYB, moved to Taipei in early 2021, part of an exodus.
By mid-2021, the city with a population of more than seven million had recorded a net outflow of close to 90,000 residents. While many booked a one-way ticket to places such as the UK and Canada, some also hoped to settle in the self-ruled island across the strait.
Soft, also a YouTuber, made a vlog which documented her and Soni’s departure. “We didn’t move to Taiwan because of work opportunities or anything, we simply decided to leave the unfamiliar place [that Hong Kong had become],” she said in the video.
Taiwan, with its vibrant indie music culture and a more mature market for independent bands, offered plenty of opportunities. Since releasing their first song, Sun will Rise Again, in August 2021, Running Youth have performed on various stages around the island, including at the iconic Megaport festival in Kaohsiung.
Taipei-based Running Youth said they are happy to be performing in Hong Kong once again but are adjusting well to life in Taiwan in an interview with HKFP on Nov 29, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
This year, their first album Our Adventure Begins earned them a nomination for a Golden Melody Award (GMA), one of the region’s most prestigious music accolades.
Soft and Soni benefited from the reputation they had earned in GDJYB and the experience they gained in their home city.
“We didn’t start from zero,” Soft said. “Perhaps we started from one,” Soni added.
Ahead of Running Youth’s Clockenflap debut on Sunday, Soft and Soni talked to HKFP about their journey to Taiwan, the GMA nomination, and the excitement of performing once again in front of a home crowd.
Before moving to Taipei and starting Running Youth, Soft and Soni’s main gig was GDJYB – a four-piece indie band formed in 2012 with a rock-leaning sound that was known for its technique-driven live performances.
“GDJYB was deeply attracted to the Taiwanese indie band culture and had always wanted to explore making music in Taiwan,” Soft said. But it took the coming of Covid in 2020 to transform the thought into action.
Taiwan-based duo Running Youth. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Global cancellations of live music caused serious disruption to GDJYB, which relied heavily on local and international live performances.
At one point, Soni, the guitarist and also a session musician for hire, was practically jobless. For a brief period, Soft even tried to earn some cash as a Uber food delivery driver.
“And then we saw our Taiwanese friends posting live music shows on social media,” Soft said. “But nothing happened here. We were so jealous.”
Taiwan imposed some of the world’s strictest Covid restrictions, including tight border controls and tough quarantine rules to prevent the import of the disease. But the self-ruled island also had one of the lowest infection rates and social life was less disrupted than in mainland China and Hong Kong.
In March 2021, Soft and Soni decided to give the island a go. Their initial plan was to bring the whole of GDJYB along and commute between their home city and the island.
Also the vocalist and the guitarist of Hong Kong four-piece band GDJYB, Soft (left) and Soni have began an adventure in Taiwan since early 2021. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
But by this point, drummer Heihei Ng had left the band and bassist Wing Chan decided to stay. And when Soft and Soni arrived in Taiwan, they soon realised they could not easily return to Hong Kong due to the strict travel restrictions.
For the next year, they did not leave the island and focused on making their music heard in their new surroundings. GDJYB was put on hiatus, and the duo Running Youth was formed.
In their first single Sun will Rise Again, Soft, who wrote the lyrics, was speaking to people temporarily afflicted by hopelessness and directionless.
“In the process of moving, we were still influenced by the story of Hong Kong,” Soft said. “Our songs then naturally recorded our feelings about what happened here, or our experiences during the transition [to Taiwan].”
For Soft, the migration process separated people not just physically but emotionally.
“My dad called me every other day to check in with me,” she said. “But sometimes, [the people who stay] are unable to express their worries to those who’ve left. They don’t want to pressure people who are struggling to settle down.”
“For those who’ve left, they also don’t want to make the people who care about them even more worried. So sometimes they pretend to be fine,” Soft continued.
“Even if all of us are feeling sorry for each other, we find it difficult to communicate our feelings,” Soft said as she talked about the emotional aspects of moving to Taiwan and creating Running Youth. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“Even if all of us are feeling sorry for each other, we find it difficult to communicate our feelings.”
Drawing on these sentiments, Soft wrote two tracks, To Those Who Stayed, and To Those Heading Away to capture the experiences of the move to Taiwan.
The tracks were featured in Running Youth’s first album, which earned them a Best Vocal Group nomination at the 34th Golden Melody Awards.
