Fifi Rong [Interview]
Few music-related experiences are as satisfying as discovering a musician who completely spins your head around – even when you feel sure you’ve heard it all. Fifi Rong is just such a musician. Following the release of her new EP Violently Silently (reviewed on TMMP here), I caught up with Fifi Rong to discuss the creative process behind her latest release, while she dug deep into the motives behind her music…
Your new EP Violently Silently is starting to make its way out into the world. What thoughts and feelings are going through your mind right now?
I’m happy with the creative cycle, putting my thoughts and feelings and what I have become into my songs and production. Passed on to the people who are there to receive and interpret the music subjectively. What was once mine is now theirs; it’s a great feeling.
What was the underlying creative process behind Violently Silently? I understand the tracks are linked together in a very intriguing way…
I used the same set of sound elements, sampled, crafted, and re-sampled, to present a set of songs that people would conventionally consider as crossing several genres. Track one (Intro) is a premix of track two (Once) with a sample “preview” of track three (Slow Poison) and track four (Since When), and track five is a remix of track four, highlighting the theme “Violently Silently”.
How did you evolve as a musician and as a person while writing and recording Violently Silently?
Definitely more maturity in my production – it’s more specific and identified with my sampling and sound in general. Better songwriting, consistency, and continuity in the soundscape and thoughts on connection behind the thread of the track within the EP as one entity.
How would you describe your musical philosophy?
Breaking new grounds while consistently expressing the true self in the process.
I have many musical influences across eastern and western music traditions and widespread tastes, so I call my music “hybrid electronica” because it crosses and connects many genres through my own sonic interpretation. It’s a reflection of the world I’ve been living in; also London is a big music cultural melting pot.
Is there a spiritual element to what you do?
Big time. But mostly unintentional and subliminal. And funnily enough, channellers, yoga people, [and] healers are often into my music with in-depth understanding and resonance.
With 2015 drawing to a close and 2016 on the horizon, what do you have planned for the future?
I’m making my new full length album at the moment. Next year there will be more live shows as well. As mentioned at the beginning, I’m permanently in a cycle of input and output creatively.
Work makes me happy; and hard work makes me really happy.
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