How has music changed your life for the better?
I used to be home alone a lot as a kid in HK and would play the piano to drown out the thunder. This is depicted in the track “She Learned to not be Scared”. I think the piano has always felt safe and playing it continues to be a conversation I love. Music has been where I speak freely, where I access darker weirder sides of me playfully. Music is amazing and is such a safe space.
Do you pull from culture or try to create in a vacuum?
I do not think anyone creates in a vacuum, even if they think they are. I used to write what I knew of my own experiences, but this album was written with women and art culture in mind. It is a new way of working for me, and I have to say I love the investigative quality of it. There is always more to learn and enrich this material. I love the translation process between facts and perspectives into something that I can rewrite and turn into sound. One of my favorite parts of producing this record was inserting the physical textures of the paintings that the songs are about into the sound. the album is a Venn diagram between music, art, and empowering the four women depicted.
What would you say is the most distinctive thing about your new release?
Greater separation between Jane Lui and the artistic voice. Working with three fantastic collaborators lets me focus on something bigger than me.
Along with making the music itself, there was a lot of teaching each other and whose skills best fit what situations, but without shutting any ideas down. There was a lot I did not know about how this record would turn out – I don’t think any of us did. But every “yes, let’s try it” incrementally formed these songs. The whole artistic voice here is greater than the sum of its parts. I hear elevated confidence and synergy than previous work where I was presenting one part of me. This feels great, I enjoy the complexity and gray areas as I do in art and music.
If you could be creating music in another decade – the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc.… – which decade would you choose and why?
It might be 50’s. I have a thing for the old melodies that go places and lyrics that were so playful. They just don’t write like that anymore.
What is the most inspiring thing you have heard/seen recently?
I’m a musician/actor in a showoff-broadways called Cambodian Rock Band, about the Cambodian genocide and destruction of an entire art form. It is a demanding show schedule and a few of us in the cast have been traveling with it, away from home for over a year. One day after a show, we met a group of Cambodian survivors and one of the ladies told me her survival story. She spoke openly with kind eyes and a joy for life – because she is here and alive. She inspired me and gave me perspective – that honestly, I have no problems. Life ought to be lived!
https://soundcloud.com/surrija/sets/rest-of-album
What is one thing we are likely not to learn about you from listening to your music?
I love this question. For years in college, I wore home-made raver pants and polo shirts. Big boys’ shorts and surfer/skateboarder styles. I have HORRIBLE balance, so I never mastered snowboarding, but tried!
How do you blow off steam?
Running, sprinting, and being alone is my main go too.
Ever tried skateboarding? Any history with Skate culture?
YES! My first boyfriend was a skater. He introduced me to surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding. But it seems that my lack of balance kept me from getting it. I have tried all three and I just ate it – all of it, for days in a row each time. But I still stop at skate parks and watch for a while, really love the beautiful movements and defying of gravity.
What is the best thing about being an artist in 2020?
Access. People are hungry for new sounds of all kinds, and access we have to the audience and vice versa is astounding. Cutting through the noise can be hard, but more reason we artists should lean into who they are, rather than catering to a sound.
What is the next big thing?
Album on April 3! and I am about to start designing some merch. overly excited. Meanwhile, I might try to make some music videos at home during this time of social distancing. Stay safe!
