Interview: Venice Qin Talks Debut EP ‘Alien’

With her debut EP, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Venice Qin introduces herself as a new breed of pop artist on the rise. ALIEN exudes confidence, acceptance, individuality, powerful storytelling and pride in her Chinese / NZ heritage.

Across the EP, Venice injects clear pop elements while creating beautiful light and shade by intertwining dance floor electronica and melodic synth moments to create a soundscape that is wholly her own.

To find out more about her musical journey we had a chat with Venice:

SR. For people who is yet to discover your music. Would you mind doing a small intro about you and your style?

Heyo! I’m Venice Qin and I’m a hyper-pop artist. I’m currently based in Sydney, but I was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. My parents migrated to New Zealand from China in the mid-90’s, and so a big part of my artist DNA is my authenticity within my two cultures. Somebody once described my music as “honest hyper-pop”, and that’s my favourite description of it. It’s bold, confident, sometimes silly but always honest.

SR. How mind-blowing is to being able to release your first official EP under a major label like Sony Music?

Oh it’s UNREAL. This has been a dream of mine since I was seven years old, and to know that the team at Sony believe in my music and my vision as an artist means more to me than I will ever be able to convey.

SR. How was the recording process of the EP, do you have your own methodology?

I wrote half of the songs in the EP in the study room of my family home in NZ. They were then taken to the studio where my producer Ben Malone, my creative partner Benn Jae and I crafted them into what they are today. The other half we started from scratch in the studio. We’ll have to see if y’all can guess which ones started where.

SR. Your lyrics are not only very catchy, but also with a bit of irony and humour on them. What can you share with us about your songwriting process while working on “Alien”?

Thank you so much! I’m going to be annoying (but truthful) and say that every song started differently, and required TLC in it’s own way. But looking back on it now, all the lyrics are extremely reflective of things that would usually just come out of my mouth in daily life. For example, the chorus of my song “NOT CRYING” goes like “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine, if I lie one day it’ll be alright.” I took that lyric idea from a phrase I noticed I had been saying (as a joke) to all my friends during exam season during high school: “Keep telling yourself you’re fine and one day you will be.” Please don’t actually follow that advice, to be honest it sounds toxic AF (laughs).

SR. Also…why you named the EP “Alien”?

Through the making of this EP I was able to get a really cool external look of my life up to this point, and really see who I am growing into. When I listen to these songs, I hear someone who defiantly refuses to cave into society’s expectations, but also craves acceptance and belonging, but doesn’t know how to find it. I also have a song on the EP called “ALIEN”, and it felt like it just summarised the project perfectly. Plus aliens are so dope man.

SR. Your first single “asshole” has been getting a lot of traction. Bit risky to launch a single with that name. Was that the original intention or you changed it along the way?

Oh ABSOLUTELY. I wanted to make a statement, and show my ruthless and bold nature from day one.
We read about you meeting and singing alongside Faye Wong. What can you share with us about that experience?

Oh my goodness no I have not actually met Faye Wong (yet)! To be able to meet her in person is a massive dream of mine for sure. I think I would probably fall to my knees and cry while telling her that her music has changed my life.

SR. Where the Udon updates idea came from?

I had recently moved to Sydney at the time, and was kind of bored at home, so I decided to film a TikTok of me eating instant noodles and updating my friends on what I was going through. The name “Udon Updates” was DM’ed to me by a good friend, and I thought the whole concept was hilarious.

SR. We heard you are obsessed with Alpacas! Do you have any Alpaca pet already or is in the cards?

Oh I wish I already had one! Sadly I’m not at that stage in life yet, because my alpacas wouldn’t thrive living in my city apartment with me (Laughs). But trust me, I am so prepared to be an alpaca mum, with three alpacas called Donna, Bambi and Joey.

SR. Just to finish, can you share with us any funny story while on the road?

Some of my favourite stories comes from the “SOMEBODY NEW” music video shoot, where we travelled Lake Tyrell in Victoria. For one of the shots I had to lie in the pink salt lake water, where we drowned my hair in LUBE to protect it from salt water damage. I then had to lie in the lake, and let me tell you… pink salt lake water burns. Like my back felt like it was on fire. Between takes I would get out of the lake, and my manager would pour a bottle of water down my back. But that’s okay. No pain no gain!

Get Venice Qin’s ‘Alien’ Here