Mike Chan gets biggest break

MANILA, Philippines - They say that timing is everything in the music business. And with K-Pop gaining popularity in the local music scene, one can’t help but notice singer-songwriter Mike Chan nowadays because his Asian good looks often gets him mistaken for a Korean pop star. For Mike, the association with K-pop might have landed him his biggest break so far in his music career with the release of his newest album under Star Records called Game On.

“The album is actually an OST album for one of the most popular on-line games in Korea called Dragona, which is now in the Philippines. I think the developers thought I was Korean when they asked me to work on their soundtrack!” reveals Chan. Whatever the reason, the strategy seems to have worked as the album debuted at No. 4 on Odyssey music’s OPM sales charts this month. The carrier single Don’t Go is enjoying heavy airplay on radio stations and the Koreanovela-inspired music video featuring former Viva Hot Babes Jennifer Lee is making its way into the countdown charts of top music video channels as well.                                                              

“It’s the first time Filipino songs will be featured in a Korean game so it’s pretty exciting. What’s really great about all of this is that they (Dragona team) didn’t ask me to play their games and write about them. Most of the songs were already written for the new album when I met them so we just chose the songs we thought would be appropriate for their games. I’m very grateful to them because I probably wouldn’t have done it (and couldn’t have done it) if I was asked to write purely from a gamers point of view. Now there’s even talk about promoting the album in Singapore and Korea. This time, we Filipinos get to share our music in Korea.”

The album is also being released as a Music Album Phone under one of the biggest-selling local cellphone brands in the country, My Phone. “The songs and images are embedded on the phone so you can’t pirate them. It’s My Phones’ way of combating the problem of intellectual property theft in this country.” My Phone has started giving away free cellphones to fans of Mike who start following him on-line and on his live shows.

When asked what he thinks that led him to this point in his career, Mike has this to say. “I always knew that if I kept my eye on the prize, something positive would eventually come out of it. I got that from my parents. They showed us by example that if you worked hard then nothing is outside of your reach. I guess all those times I spent practicing and plugging away is paying off now. I think opportunity has finally met with preparedness this time.”