The entertainment industry's brother duo, Eric Chou and Alex Chou, originally both worked hard at the same company, but in early 2024, Alex Chou suddenly chose to go solo. This led to outside speculation about whether the brothers had parted ways due to disagreement. After rumors spread, Alex Chou decided to address them head-on: "It has nothing to do with that at all!" Alex said, "At the time, I just felt that the musical direction I wanted to pursue and the company's plans weren't quite the same. Both sides understood this, so I thought, why not go out on my own and give it a try, to experience something new."
Since his debut, Alex Chou is almost always asked in interviews: "Do you mind being referred to as Eric Chou's older brother?" He laughed, saying he's answered this question hundreds of times, but his answer remains the same: "He's my younger brother, we’ve always been close since we were kids. Seeing his achievements makes me proud."
He rarely shares childhood memories between the brothers, but recalled a story from when Eric Chou was still unknown. One Christmas during Eric's junior high years, their aunt gave Eric a simple USB microphone, and Eric bought himself a keyboard, beginning to experiment with songwriting. One day, Eric suddenly messaged him: "Bro, I wrote a song and want you to hear it." At the time, Alex had no idea his brother could write songs, but when he stepped into the room and put on the headphones, the intro played and he was stunned: "I thought, wow, I better start being nicer to him from now on." He laughed, saying that at the time his brother was just 11 or 12, and before then he’d always seen him as a crybaby and a mischievous little boy—but at that moment, he realized for the first time, "My brother is truly a very talented person."
Later, when Eric Chou was working on demos, since his Chinese wasn't that fluent, he would often send Alex English melodies and some bits of Chinese lyrics for feedback. Alex would help fill in the Chinese lyrics and make edits, playing the role of Eric Chou's "earliest companion" on his musical journey.
Source: United Daily News