Interview: Venice Qin IV

Radio BurgerFuel (RBF): Let's go way back. When did music become something you knew you wanted to pursue seriously?

Venice Qin (VQ): "I think I've just always loved music, ever since I can remember. When I was really little, my parents had a Fay Wong CD in the car, and that was just constantly playing. They didn't put anything else in the car. So I just rinsed and repeated. I could sing all those songs back to them, even though I had no idea what I was singing about.

Eventually that turned into Disney Princess CDs and even Celine Dion. What I love most about my journey is that I really loved music intuitively and innately, even before I realized I was any good at it. It was only when I won my primary school singing competition when I was seven that I realized, 'Oh, people actually don't think I'm awful.' That was the moment that really changed my life."

RBF: Did you pick up any instruments along the way?

VQ: "Yeah, I started playing piano when I was really young and I still play now. I also can play guitar and bassoon, which is not something you hear every day."

RBF: What made you want to move from New Zealand to Australia?

VQ: "I'd never lived out of home before, and I was like, it's time to spread my wings, it's time to go. I think it's been really beneficial, especially for writing an album. It gave me a whole different set of experiences to talk about.The biggest thing you can do is just change an aspect of your life, and the move just really did a lot of the work for me in terms of content.

Around that time, I'd also started working with Sony Music Australia. So it just made sense to be over there so it's easier to work with them and we could collaborate. Everyone here is just so great, and it's been really wonderful the whole time. The flight from Sydney isn't that long, so it's pretty easy to jump back over there so I still go back to Auckland all the time to see family or for other opportunities."

RBF: Your debut album has been about two years in the making. What was it like working with producers like Maribelle and others on this project?

VQ: "Honestly inspirational. I got to work hands-on with the producers a lot of the time. Someone like Maribelle she's just such a hard worker, has such a vision, she's so ready to get things done and she's a very fast worker. I appreciate that because I also like to hammer through and get it down.

It was also really great because Maribelle identifies as Asian as well, and to be able to create something with her was just so special. I left all those sessions feeling super inspired to create even more cool things. I worked with Ben Malone again, who is from Auckland - we made my first EP together. Working with him was super special, as it always is, because we've developed such a strong bond.

Then there was Dylan Brignall, who's actually become one of my best friends now here in Sydney. We made the song 'Mercedes' on my album on the day we first met. Now we're like really, really good friends and I'll text him all the time to hang out. I think it's just beautiful how all these things can bring all these beautiful things to your life."

RBF: Visuals seem to be a really important part of your project – not just the music, but how everything looks around it. Would that be right?

VQ: "Absolutely. The music is the core. I think everything's important, but obviously the music is the most important. If the music is awful, obviously nothing is going to work around it. It's not going to inspire anything. But I think that how I feel about my project is that every single little thing matters. The visuals matter to me so much. Even the way I communicate my story of each song through social media or the way I talk really matters to me.

Even more importantly, the message I'm bringing as an artist and things I want to change about the world through my projects are very fundamental and very important to me."

RBF: What’s that message? What would you like people to take away from your album?

VQ: "I'm trying to teach people to feel more and to… I think at the moment, the biggest thing is that I want people to feel more empathy in the world. I think we've just lost the ability to feel for other people. I want people to let go, have fun, but yeah, just to feel and to embrace your individuality. And to be open and accepting of everyone else's individuality.

These days I'm just feeling so angry at so many things. Some of the things that people think they can say - not even just to me, but to people around me - there are some bizarre messages getting sent online. Obviously I'm just one person, but I'm hoping that even if it's just through my art or anything, that can inspire someone else to speak up and that just creates a chain reaction."

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RBF: Your video for 'Angel' is stunning, and I think filmed in Inner Mongolia. How did that come about?

VQ: "The dream was always to be able to shoot in China. Benn Jae from Queenstown is my manager and also my creative partner in crime. The whole time we were there, he and I were always saying how full circle it was that we managed to end up back in China for that last video. Especially when you listen to my album and track one is a track called 'Home Country' where I very much discuss my heritage and how proud I am throughout this whole album. It was just really surreal.

We realized we could go to China thanks to New Zealand On Air, who was kind enough to fund this project. We did a search online because China's so big. I've been several times because my family's all based in China, but everywhere is so different. We came across Ordos, which was advertised online as a ghost town. That was really intriguing to us.

This whole song 'Angel', a big part of it is sharing how alone you can feel sometimes when you come to the end of a big chaotic messy breakup or messy relationship. We thought it'd be so interesting to shoot in this place which is totally empty, and it's just me in a crazy outfit going wild. When we arrived, I have to say they've definitely built it up more than the internet portrays. But there's still not that many people. I used to think New Zealand is really empty, right? You go to Ordos and you'll feel like New Zealand is so busy."

RBF: You mentioned being proud of your heritage in 'Home Country.' Have you always felt that pride, or was it something you had to learn and grow into?

VQ: "It's definitely been a journey. Growing up Chinese in New Zealand, I know my friends all did this together. When you're younger, we all have to go to Chinese class, usually on a Saturday or something. And gosh, it was boring. All the teachers were always really elderly and not relatable. They just did not understand how to teach us because even though we're Chinese, we grew up in this Western environment.

When you're going to really boring Chinese class, you probably aren't wanting to embrace the culture, especially when you feel like you're different from everyone else at school. In Chinese culture we have so many different festivals and holidays that we celebrate. Like Moon Festival that we’ve just celebrated. It’s the Mid-Autumn Festival where we all eat moon cakes. A lot of those, I think New Zealand celebrates now, and it's really wonderful to see. But when I was growing up in school, nobody really acknowledged when I'd come to school like, 'Hey, this is the middle of some festival day.'

It's hard to celebrate your culture when it's not ingrained everywhere. But obviously as you get older, you start to really enjoy it and start understanding the importance of upholding tradition and just enjoying it more. Because the more things you can enjoy, the better."

RBF: Do you think things are changing now in terms of how we view cultural identity?

VQ: "What's beautiful in today's age is that there are more and more people like us who - if people ask us something, they might assume something otherwise from us. But I think because the world is so easy to travel in these days, there are so many people in so many different places, mixtures of cultures. We're in an age now where everyone truly is a beautiful individual and you really can't group someone into something or just assume that they're something.

I know several people from Asian backgrounds who might even be born in an Asian country, but when they move to New Zealand at a really young age, they actually aren't able to speak the Asian language they're from. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I still think they have all the rights to say that they are from that place, because they are. But I think a lot of people would probably be like, 'Oh, then why are you even Chinese if you can't speak Chinese?' Everyone just needs to be less judgy."

RBF: Now that the album is out, how does it feel to finally release it into the world?

VQ: "I'm not going to lie, I completely freaked out. It's just a lot of emotions and I felt very overwhelmed. But now that the emotions have settled down, it feels really, really good because I love being able to give this piece of work to people. Particularly songs like 'Home Country,' where people can really feel what I'm feeling. To be able to tell that story is incredibly special to me and I feel very honoured. Just to give people experiences and moments they can experience with me was really special."

RBF: What's next for you over the coming months?

VQ: "People will just have to wait and see. Life is so fluid and life is always changing. I'm actually flying to Auckland next week for about a week for some music, which will be really fun. I'll be back again at the end of the year. I'm just always going back and forth. My friends truly never know where I am."

Venice Qin's debut album is out now on all streaming platforms. Keep up with her latest projects and whereabouts on Instagram and TikTok – though fair warning, even her friends don't always know which country she's in. Follow @veniceqin for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and more stunning visuals that prove music is about so much more than just sound.