Singapore-born Hanjin Tan is a producer, arranger, composer, and musician who has written hits for Hong Kong’s most successful Cantopop stars (and even some who can sing). After writing his first hit, Love is Doubt, for Eason Chan in 2001, Tan quickly rose to the forefront of the Cantopop industry. In 2003, he founded The Invisible Men, which has grown into a well-known production house. His notable credentials include Edison Chen’s rap song Hong Kong Dei, Joey Yung’s Lucky Star and Sum Faa Lou Fong, and the recently released Denise Ho concept album, Ten Days in the Madhouse. On Friday 20, Tan releases his first jazz album, Raw Jazz.

Why did you attempt jazz?

I was having a bad day in production, so I went to Gecko for the Wednesday night jam session. Jason Cheng was playing the piano and he made me sing a couple of standards. After I sang those songs, I felt good. ‘Good phrasing,’ Jason complimented. That gave me the balls to attempt jazz, and that was the first time the concept of a jazz album ever crossed my mind.

What’s the difference between making this record and Cantopop projects?

As the name of the album suggests, this CD is ‘raw’ as opposed to the pop music market, which pays a fair bit of attention to layering and cleanliness [Laughs]. The truth is, producing a jazz record is a whole different ball game from making pop songs. Doing one without drums proved to make it just that extra bit trickier.

Why did you found the Invisible Men?

Well, I founded the Invisible Men about five years ago. At that time, I was getting to know more seriously creative people like visual artists, movie makers, screenwriters, marketers and designers. Then an idea hit me: if the product sucks, the creators take the fall; if it hits, then it becomes the brand’s credit. And no one seems to pay too much attention to the people who actually made the product. So we were the invisible men – you could not see us and you didn’t really need to see us. So I thought it’d be fitting to call a music production team just that.

It’s funny how people in Hong Kong associate you as a rapper because of your collaboration on Edison’s song Hong Kong Dei. But you’re more than rap, right?

I experimented with a lot of things, including rap. I started enjoying rap around the time when I featured on a song called So Crazy I did for Coco Lee. It was fun and I was intrigued by rap and hip-hop more and more. I’m actually a U2 fan, and I grew up listening to the radio in the back of my dad’s car. So you’ll hear me going nuts over a Jamiroquoai song just as much as I would sing and swoon along to Neil Diamond’s Heartlight! Sound engineering has also been an enduring obsession of mine. I learnt everything I know about it on the job, and it’s just been eye-opening experiences for me one after another.

Congratulations on the new Denise Ho album, for which you composed and produced all the songs.

Thanks. That’s a great CD. Denise is a special artist. I have known Denise for a long time. I wrote and produced a couple of songs with her before. This was my second time collaborating with her, and it’s a new experience. Today, she is a very purposeful artist. She’s concerned with good products and she mingles well in this new age of MP3 and sales-downsizing. She’s working hard on building her own brand. She also feels the need to be socially conscious. I believe she is one of the best singers in the market today. She’s technically chiseled and has beautifully developed alto voice. And she has perfect pitch, to boot.

Let’s talk about your CD Raw Jazz. You’re singing standards like Wave, Moody Mood For Love, and Sweet Lorraine. Why those songs?

These are songs that I’ve known and loved for a while now. My aim is to do something fun. Like the song Spain on the CD, it’s so much fun only because there are just so many ways to make mistakes. I hope this CD becomes the first of a four-CD series. Oh well, one step at a time.

Raw Jazz goes on sale on Friday, March 20. See www.tanhanjin.com.