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1. Hi Nian, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Hi thank you for having me! I’m well!
2. Gradually has been described as a deeply personal and cinematic journey through love, confusion, and healing. At what point did you realize these songs belonged together as one cohesive EP?
I wrote three of the songs in 2023, and they naturally followed my own emotional arc rom confusion, to realization, to the beginning of moving on. Even back then, I already had the feeling that they belonged together as an EP.
Last year, I brought the songs to my friend Paola Payan, who’s a playwright, and asked her ‘I have three songs now, but I need one more to complete the EP. What should I write about?’ After listening to the story, she suggested writing about the non-linear process of moving on, something that could connect the second and third songs. She also came up with the word “Gradually.”
That was the moment I realized we really had an EP.
3. You originally built your career writing and producing for others. What was the biggest emotional shift in stepping forward to tell your own stories as an artist?
I think the biggest shift was learning to be comfortable with vulnerability. When you’re telling your own stories, especially very personal ones, you’re exposing parts of yourself to the public. That takes confidence and courage, especially for someone as introverted as me.
4. Your music blends modern indie pop with clear influences from 1960s and 1970s songwriting. What draws you most to that era, and how do you reinterpret it for today?
I’m a naturally optimistic person and I think a lot of music from the 60s and 70s contains this sophisticated mix of joy, innocence, and melancholy that really resonates with me.
I think what I’m doing is combining that musical language with modern production to talk about love and relationships in the digital age, and somehow the contrast feels like a really natural match.
5. “What’s On Your Mind” mixes hip-hop rhythms, with some great string quartet textures, and doo-wop piano patterns. How did you approach creating such a nostalgic yet contemporary opening statement?
I was listening to a lot of Benny Sings when I wrote that song, and I had also just moved to London. I think being in a completely new environment gave me a different state of mind creatively.
My earlier releases were more traditional and built mostly around live instruments, but with this track, the sound just came together very naturally. I wasn’t really trying to force a balance between nostalgic and modern elements. It was more an instinctive reflection of everything was happening at the time.
6. “I Shouldn’t Have Talked to You” has this great rawness and vulnerability. Was it difficult revisiting that moment of heartbreak while writing and recording the song?
Writing it wasn’t actually that difficult. I wrote the song almost immediately after the confrontation. It felt like writing a diary haha.
Recording it was harder, though. It was my first time trying a stripped-down piano ballad, and with nowhere to hide behind production, the vocal felt much more exposed and vulnerable. I recorded the song in my bedroom and did many many many takes while holding the microphone in my hand because I wanted to capture a sense of rawness.
7. The title track “Gradually” explores how unresolved emotions fade slowly rather than disappear instantly. Why do you think letting go often happens in waves rather than all at once?
I feel it’s just how human works. Those memories don’t really disappear completely. Sometimes something small, like a song or a movie, can bring it all back for a moment. You might think about it for a bit, but then it fades again. Eventually, you just kind of laugh about it and carry on.
8. You produced the entire EP yourself while collaborating remotely with musicians across multiple countries. What did that international process add to the final sound of the record?
I’ve actually been working like that for many years, so it feels very natural to me. There’s so much talent all over the world now, and the internet makes it incredibly easy to connect and collaborate with people remotely.
9. Before launching your solo career, you worked with major Chinese artists and in musical theatre. How have those experiences shaped your songwriting and production instincts today?
II think those experiences helped me develop a more objective perspective when making music. Working with other artists taught me how to step back and think about what best serves the song, rather than just following my own emotions.
Musical theatre also really shaped the way I approach storytelling in songs. It made me think more carefully about how every musical choice supports the emotion of the lyrics, like what chords can best embody a certain feeling, or what sounds should be added or removed to leave space for the words to come through.
10. Your song I Do Love You found huge success on Chinese TikTok. How has that earlier momentum influenced your confidence as you build a global audience now?
It’s a reminder of ‘You got this!’ haha. When you’re making music independently, there’s always uncertainty, so having a song connect with that many people gave me a sense of affirmation and confidence in what I’m capable of doing.
11. Gradually closes on a hopeful note with “Whatever You Do.” After everything explored on the EP, what message do you hope listeners carry with them when it ends?
I’ll answer with a quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem‘Go to the Limits of Your Longing,’ which I first heard in the film Jojo Rabbit:
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.”
