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Chet Lam is a firmly established Cantopop star, not only through his own singing but also through the many hits he has penned for the likes of Eason Chan. Producers turn to him when they want something different to the paint-by-numbers ballads that form the staple of a Cantopop star’s musical diet (“I’m the weird guy,” he says with a laugh).

While he’s comfortable on small stages for intimate audiences, he can also sell out stadium concerts and he’s had the distinction of opening for fellow gay icon k.d. lang, all the while clinging to his independent status. “I’m lucky because I don’t play the game,” he says, referring to a Hong Kong music industry that is as much about keeping up appearances as keeping in time with a beat, “but I’ve managed to survive.”

That independent outlook has allowed him the freedom to explore creative avenues that wouldn’t otherwise be open. In May, he staged a show at the Arts Centre with twee indie duo My Little Airport, and also released a CD with them titled Hum Ching for You, in which the musicians covered each other’s songs. Lam’s inventive and amusing re-works, as well as his wittily-penned originals, showed the versatility of a true musician’s musician, and a sharply-honed instinct for crafting pleasingly piquant pop.

Five months on, Lam is again turning twee-indie, this time pairing with DIY songstress Dejay Choi, who is the sole member of a long-standing project she calls The Pancakes. The pair – who’ll enlist the services of a backing band for their show at the Arts Centre – previously collaborated in 2004 on a CD called Freeplay, performing together at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in the same year.

Since starting The Pancakes eight years ago, Choi has been prolific, churning out at least seven of her own lo-fi albums and having a hand in many others. She has also contributed songs to films – including one for the McDull film Prince de la Bun, which bagged her a gong at the Hong Kong Film Awards for best original song – and a gaggle of television commercials. Her tunes are lightweight and fun, and her lyrics endearingly simple (from the song Fireworks and I: “It’s New Year again / We’re in the same world / I am drinking rain / While you’re tasting champagne”).

To see these beacons of Hong Kong indie together again on stage should prove a most satisfying experience – just beware of possible cutesy overload. Hamish McKenzie