INTERVIEW: Venice Qin on new single and upcoming EP 'Alien'
Interview: Jett Tattersall
New Zealand born and now Sydney based singer-songwriter Venice Qin has a remarkably varied musical background. She is a classical trained musician, had the opportunity to become an opera singer and also won roles in West End musical theatre. None of it pulled on her heart the same way pop music did, and last year she launched her career with the release of the single ‘ASSHOLE’. A infectious pop song with a regimental beat, it is a humorous and relatable look at the people we met that we really wish we didn’t. “I didn’t want to tell you you’re an asshole / But clearly you’re the type that needs to know,” Qin sings.
She recently released the new single ‘Alien’, with the announcement that her debut EP, also called Alien will be released on 17 November.
In contrast to her previous singles ‘Asshole’, and the euphoric electropop of ‘Somebody New’, ‘Alien’ veers away from brightness and into a darker, more contemporary feel, with its brooding electronic swoops and tortured lyrics (“I’m sinking into the back seat of the car / Thinking, ‘Who did I let myself become?’”). The accompanying music video is mesmerising as Qin floats across the screen in slow motion with alien makeup.
Qin has been releasing music for less than a year but she is already showing incredible promise as a potential superstar. With a powerful and beautiful voice, and the ability to knock out simple but complex pop songs that cover 1980s synthpop, dancefloor bangers and introspective down tempo electronica, she ticks every box you need in your new favourite pop star. We recently caught up with Qin to chat about her music and career.
Hi Venice, so great to meet you. Let's go straight to the fact that I went online and I saw your exceptional TikTok account - can we just talk a little bit about ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ and what that song means to you? Because your cover is like whoa!
I really love that song! I think it all goes back to the kind of music my mum used to play to me in the car. My mum was a real big ‘70s, ‘80s fan. I heard so much Phil Collins, and the Bryan Adams song, ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’, the Bee Gees. 'Holding Out For A Hero' was another one I'd hear, and for me, it's such a girlboss anthem.
Speaking of the feels, your recent single and title track of your EP 'Alien'. Oh, my goodness, it's a really beautiful track. Can you break down this track for me?
The starting point for the song wasn't so much the topic for me, it was actually more of a soundscape. I was listening to a lot of Caroline Polachek's and her album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You and there is a track called 'Billions'. There was something in there, her use of melody and also the production behind it, I was really inspired by that and I thought I'm gonna make something like that. I just started writing, I started with some synths and playing with some melodies. I'm a very innate subconscious, writer, I don't necessarily sit down and think ‘today I'm going to write about this’, I kind of just let it flow out of me. And that day, the first lyric came, 'I'm stuck in a crisis, I'm playing the actress' and I was like, ‘wow, what is this song about?’ And it basically just wrote itself. After I finished writing it, I made it as a demo and I thought, ‘it's okay, it's not that amazing.’ I was writing three to five songs a week, producing them and sending them straight to my manager at the time and I nearly didn't send him the song. The only reason I sent him it was because I was trying to make my song folder bigger! I met up with him the week after he goes, ‘I love “Alien”’. And I was like, really? Are you sure? Like, what do you see in it? I just assumed not everyone would relate to it, which of course, in retrospect, is the stupidest thought I've ever had!
You said writing is very innate in you. I imagine as a songwriter you don't realise what the melody is doing or what's going to happen or what question what it's asking you.
Yeah, I'm an over thinker and so really I just have to stop thinking and let it come out subconsciously. Because often when I start thinking, that's where in, my opinion, my worst things come out. It's when I just stop thinking and I let it come out naturally is when I'm myself.
Do you find that the same way when you're composing a melody, when you just let it happen as opposed to going ‘Okay, now I'm gonna focus on piano, then and I'm gonna focus on synths’
Yeah, because I'm one of those weirdos that a lot of the time, actually, the lyric and the melody comes out at the same time. And it just tells me where to go, and I just let the feeling follow through
Exactly. Of course, initially you didn't like the song, you weren't sure it was anything but it's now the title of the EP so it must encapsulate the whole EP. Can you tell me how the track or even just the word alien encapsulates the whole EP?
It was only once we had written the whole thing. It was only when I'd written the whole thing and I looked back at it and I was able to take a really external look at myself at a certain period of my life. Which I think unless you're in this kind of position, you don't really often get to do. I looked back and I really see who I was at that point in time, and I still am to some degree. That is someone who is very different from other people in the way that she thinks just because of certain situations, and she's very competent, she owns that, and she also knows how to make fun of it and be kind of quirky and funny, which is I guess where tracks like 'Asshole' come in. But she's also just searching for not acceptance as much maybe just belonging. There are two main tracks that really defined the EP for me out of the six songs, and 'Alien' is definitely one of them.
Can I ask you was there ever any other option for you than music, or was it always your thing?
I've always wanted to do music, I just never knew, up until I was 18, what genre of music I wanted to do. At first, my teacher and everyone else in my life was convinced that I was going to be an opera singer. She was very heartbroken when I told her I did not want to be in The Mikado! I just didn’t think it was for me, the 10 years of opera training. I couldn't quite get into it. After that, I wanted to be a musical theatre artist. I even went to England and I auditioned for maybe 10 different acting and musical theatre programmes in London. I got into a couple and then I decided 'nah not for me anymore.' I had written a song back in high school, which is still on my Spotify now, 'Found Myself' and that was the song that really changed things for me. I realised if people like what I have to say, maybe I should be pursuing this instead. It was really a big signal for me. I realised I actually really enjoy being myself. With musical theatre, yes you can be yourself but you're playing a character eight times a week. I love musical theatre, will always be fond about classical music, but it's just not for me at the moment.
‘Alien’ is out now via Sony Music. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Venice Qin you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
