After a whirlwind month of touring, we caught up with Liang after the final night of her debut headline UK tour at EarTH Hackney on October 3rd (and yes, she did ask everyone to wear pink). Liang has been prescribed a week of absolutely nothing, so naturally her body has decided now is the best time to fall ill - nonetheless, she kindly kept aside some time to chat with us. What was booked in as 30 minutes, turned into an hour. Scroll on to dive in.

Liang provides a really detailed insight into life as an artist and more.  We spoke about tour, latest EP 'It's A Funny Thing', touring with HONNE and grentperez, her Mum's dumplings, exploring dual heritage within her music, Jane Goodall...just to name a few. 


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Firstly, congratulations on your amazing final show in London! It was so wonderful, and I really loved how engaged your audience were as well. This show marked the end of your debut headline UK tour, how are you feeling?
I’ve spent the weekend with friends and family. I laid in bed last night and just cried...just like pure overwhelmed-ness. It was crazy. I was speaking to my manager this morning and we were all really surprised by how it went, but, when we thought about it, everything was in place to go well. The most shocking thing was the audience. We’d been out on shows beforehand and there were a couple where it was hard to get the level of engagement we wanted. I was really scared for how London was going to be, especially if I was going to face that many people who potentially weren’t willing to engage with me. 

On the night it was so evident the second I came out that it was going to be fine. It was such a crazy feeling! I remember singing, specifically ‘The Pilot’, struggling to remember the words, because in my head all I was thinking was “Oh my god, I wrote this in my bedroom!” Everyone was so excited about it. It was bizarre…I think I’m still processing everything. 

I am so proud of myself and the team who put it together, because I cannot stress how small our team was. Everyone has been doing far more than they are paid to do. We’re losing money doing these tours and it just came together the way it needed to. The audience was on our side, which was all we could ask for – it was the final thing we needed. We’d worked so hard. It was the best way to send off the last month. I feel a lot of things. Ultimately, I feel a sense of relief that we made it and it was a success. We can walk away from it being really proud of how it went. 

I feel excited for the next thing, I’m really bad at being in the moment. My manager’s given me a week of nothing to just sit with this for a while. I’m sitting here like “Ok, now what?”. There’s not one specific thing I’m feeling, it’s a lot of things. But it is positive feeling.

You've kind of touched on this a bit…There were a few difficulties. You had to cancel, push back dates etc. We know touring is incredibly hard to break even on. What would you say to artists facing a similar situation? How did you stay positive in spite of it all?
In all honesty, I wasn’t very positive for a long time running up to this tour. I was kind of dreading it. This year we rescheduled the dates in May and that was already quite disheartening. But it was definitely the right thing to do and ultimately, I needed more time to work on the music. So, we did that and everybody was really supportive. Then we announced the European dates and then had to cancel those two weeks before we went out. That was really tough. When you have a period of time you expect to have filled with shows, going out, doing the thing, speaking to people, meeting people and suddenly that’s wiped clean - I now had to figure out how to fill that time and space so that I felt productive. I felt like I wasn't doing anything to help myself, the people around me and my listeners.

grentperez, that tour coming along was a blessing. It was really exciting. I was like “Yeah sick, let’s just fill that time” with that tour. I flip-flopped at some points, I was like "maybe I shouldn’t have done that and let myself rest before the headline tour". I went out and did those 4 support shows and they were amazing – I’m so glad we did them. 

A very long winded way to say, I did really mentally struggle last month. It was a lot of questioning whether I’m making the right decisions. Whether I’m spending money on something that is ultimately not bring anything back in, financial anxiety is so uncomfortable. When you’re looking at spending that much money on a tour and you don’t know how it’s going to go because you’ve had to cancel half of it. For a while I was like “just get through it, just get through to the end. We’ll come out the other side and we’ll figure things out then.” Then every day got better, every day I played a show things felt better. I went out on the grentperez shows…I met people, I spoke to actual human beings! It wasn’t a matter of someone sending me a ticket sales update anymore. Talking to people about my music, meeting Grant and having my band out for the first time on a tour – things gradually felt a lot better. By the time we were on the headline tour, even though I kind of stopped looking at the sales updates, I was like, "Look, the shows are happenings. We’re going to play them. We’re going to do our best and we’re going to have fun." The people in the crowd were willing to have fun with us and that was the best thing that got me through whatever other turmoil I was going through. 

Real human interaction is ultimately what is going to get you through. It applies across music. You can get so bogged down in streaming numbers and statistics, like monthly listeners, we haven’t technically grown over the last year. But then we played Omeara last year and now we’re playing EarTH Hackney. Seeing all those faces in the room, it changes so much – you walk away from it being like - those are real life people that I can have a conversation with. This industry is so much about continuing to push on the tiny little bit of hope and belief you have in your music. 

Yeah, it's definitely beyond the numbers. We sent Rohan, to review Grant’s Birmingham show and he said the reception to your set was one of the most wholesome, sweetest things of the all the shows he’s been too. And that you’d most definitely come away from that tour with a whole bunch of new fans as well.
Yeah, I think it was definitely needed. I was in a real pit of being “I just can’t do this anymore.” This month killed me off physically but mentally it has brought me back! 

Alongside Grant, the last year or so, you’ve also been touring around the world with some incredible artists such as HONNE. Has there been anything from these artists, that you’ve seen them do with their shows that you’d like to incorporate into yours? 
I think HONNE really foster and handpick their crew and their band. Seeing how it means they get to go on tour with the people they love has been really nice. I want to do exactly the same. I want to know the people I’m working with and I’ll make every effort to do that like they have. It keeps the team so healthy. It’s so important on tour that you’re able to be open with each other, because you can be out for months at a time and if you’re not well or something happens back at home...you have to be able to be open with the people around you. That has been really amazing to learn from. They also just work really hard. I like to think I work really hard, but it’s nice to see people working hard at all levels. And seeing that it can get you places. 

More recently, grentperez, he has insane stage presence. He’s amazing! His fans adore him, because he’s so funny, he’s able to speak to them. He makes them feel very seen and I think he also just has fun on stage. He said once he started to take his shows less seriously, they started to go better because he was having fun and everyone else was having fun. I tried to do that in London especially as I had a bigger stage to work with. Touring with HONNE has definitely prepared me for a stage that big…Thank god! I didn’t feel too out of place because I had done this with the boys. Also, everyone in that crowd just wants to have a good night. So if you have a good night on stage, that will probably help!

Absolutely, they’re there to see you at the end of the day – they want to enjoy it with you!
Yeah, everyone’s on your side. Nobody wants to see you flop as show – you know? I’ve learnt so much in the last year and a half touring. 

During your time on the road, I’m sure you’ve had so many new experiences that have altered and grown your perspectives on life in general. Do you think it has affected your approach to songwritting and your music?
To be honest, things are a lot more intentional now. Being an artist is a 360 thing. I think at the beginning of all of this 3 years ago, I was like “I like this song that I wrote, I’m going to put it out.” It is at the core of things - I always want to make music that I love, but, that was the only thing I was considering. I gradually realized that I started to think about how I was speaking to people and the kind of person I want to be for people. I think about all these things, there is so many different sides to being an artist that keep coming up because gradually as you grow you have to think about them. Like on stage, how do you want to present yourself? What kind of band do you want to have behind you? How do you want to speak to people?  

Every decision is deliberate and every choice is really thought through…hopefully I don’t look back and go like “Oh shit, I should have thought of that way more” than I did at the time. That’s what I have done with previous projects looking back on things. I’m not upset because I was learning and I had to learn by not considering it then, to consider it now. I used to churn out songs all the time, that’s really changed. I’ve been busy with touring so that’s affected it as well. But I don’t just sit down and write everyday anymore. I really build up a concept and idea and then set out to write the song.

I worry about wasting ideas, because I don’t want to throw away a song to an idea and have it not really work. Conceptually the song could still be there and I just didn’t really put any thought into it. It’s a bit more of a balance of having more intention with everything I do.


You did our Get To Know Q&A with us, which was in 2024 just before ‘Use Me’ came out. Tour considered, 3 EPs considered, you’ve also been featured on some great platforms including being BBC 1’s ‘Future Bop’. Back then you mentioned that as an artist you’ve never formally taken any lessons in music. As a result, you didn’t really allow yourself to call yourself a musician. Do you feel more comfortable with owning that space now?
I think….Yes…I think I feel comfortable owning the space of being an artist especially. The two overlap, but I feel like in my head a musician has a real technical side of things down. Has an instrument that they really know…I don’t know…I have allowed myself more.

Especially playing live, you realise that: “Oh, I guess have to be good at this thing to be here!” I think it’s something that I’ll always struggle with, because there are such incredible musicians and artists who have put years and years of really honing in on whatever it is, their vocals, guitar…That will always give me a little bit of imposter syndrome and feeling like I’ve just stumbled across this thing. But it’s also something that I will also always work on. With everything that I make I want to get better. But yes – I am allowed to be an artist now! 

Good, I’m glad to hear! Coming back to the Q&A, at the time I think you were also touring Asia. You said visiting these countries, especially China, you were still getting to grips with how you wanted your dual heritage to be expressed in your art. Do you feel any closer to what that may look like? Is it something you’re still exploring?
I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot recently as we’ve moved into the next thing. Especially speaking to my Mum, she grew up during the Cultural Revolution – when they really stripped back art in China. I was trying to look for music in China, specifically coming out of the 80s and 90s, because I just love those eras of music. I couldn’t really find anything that was super unique and drew from traditional Chinese music. It was like really old traditional Chinese music, then this whole skip of time. Then you move into slightly more modern music, where it’s these Chinese artists, specifically Mandarin speaking, over very Western sounding songs. Sounds that have really developed in America and the UK already. I’m not super well versed in any of this, so I’m still really trying to learn. I’m trying to figure out how I can bring that side of my culture into things when China did go through that whole period of time where things really were not allowed.

It will take a lot of research…I think, they did illegal pressings of vinyl or something. Obviously art will always prevail, people will always make music in times that they’re not allowed. There must be places where we can find this stuff! I’d love to learn more about that and understand how it’s affected China today and how young people in China feel about music today. Is it now quite an empowering time because there’s so much to create within China using traditional instruments in modern music? Or do people feel behind? I don’t know.

I was interacting with Grant and his team a lot, and his team is mostly Asian. I felt immediately at home. Our sense of humour aligned. You realise surrounding yourself with other Asian people is so important, you immediately have common ground. I’ve spoken about this all the time, but really building my team to have some really incredible Asian artists would be so good! I think that it would create a project that feels really safe for me and hopefully for others in the community.

It’s quite complex. It’s something that I heavily consider all the time. I just don’t want it to be this superficial thing, where people are like: Oh well you’re Asian, you should be Asian in your marketing. That’s really weird. I also don’t want it to come across like that, you know?

Thank you so much that answer! Moving on to your EP ‘It’s A Funny Thing’. I think this project really exemplifies your songwritting skills. In the sense, your metaphors and humours – you’re diving into some dark topics, but you do somehow manage to make them quite light. It’s great that you’ve really been able to keep that part in your song writing, but as you mentioned earlier, you’re becoming more intentional with the how and the what, and I think that really shines through. 

One of the questions I had, you actually answered at your show. I’m going to ask it again for those who couldn't make it. 'Enigma' – it is noticeably more gentle, it’s definitely a lot more stripped back than the rest of the project. Can you tell us a bit about the song?
I’m pretty sure ‘Enigma’ was chronologically the first song I wrote on the EP. I was subletting a place in London and I was really falling in love. I was 2/3 months into this relationship, and it felt like I had discovered this thing that no one had ever discovered before. I was like a little explorer digging through the sand and stumbled upon this amazing discovery like “Oh my god! This is mine now!” I wrote it in half an hour and I recorded it on a voice note – which if you have a Zine, you can scan through a QR code on the ‘Enigma’ page and it will take you to the original voice note. 

The original voice note captured everything I wanted it to, I couldn’t hear any other instruments behind it. I couldn’t hear many BVs…I just couldn’t really hear this produced track behind it. We kept it so stripped, it’s basically one live take. Coby played a little bit of extra guitar on there, which I really love. We built up the end of it because I did want it to be quite atmospheric. But otherwise, it was a live take and that’s how we wanted it to be. There’s not really any effects on it either, you can’t really autotune a live take. Guitar and vocals happened at the same time. Yeah…I do love that song.


It was one song that stood out to me on the EP…Do you have a favourite line or set of lyrics from the whole EP?
The second verse of 'If It Isn’t Killing Me', I really love. It gets into this whole story of: “The reaper doesn’t knock, I told him where I hid the key.” That whole thing of you do just let these bad things in sometimes. There is some humour in “He hung his coat over mine”, “brewed a cup of tea” kind of thing. 

I love this song, it’s why the EP is named after it. 

I think that EP title really encapsulates your style of writing in a way
It’s funny because it took me so long to find the title. I tried so hard. I was really struggling, because it had to be clever but it has to be funny. It had to get all these different things. Then I listened to 'If It Isn’t Killing Me' and like why isn’t it just: “It’s A Funny Thing”? It just makes so much sense! I think because it was already said in the song, I thought no, it has to be a new thing – you already said that. It just made sense.

It’s the perfect name for it!...Tying back to touring a little bit. Has playing these songs live made you interact or view any of them differently versus when you created them?
‘Goldmine’ was always a funny one for me. I really love song, but until we played it live I really questioned whether we had produced it right to be honest. Then we played it live and it was great. It’s meant to be this huge feeling that washes over you. That one’s really changed for me.

And then I really want to play 'If It Isn’t Killing Me' with a full live band. On the tour it felt nice, but this song deserves more.

Hopefully the next tour!
I’m praying!

Last question on the EP. We know that when you put your art out into the world, it’s no longer yours so to speak. Is there something in particular that you’d like your listeners to take away from the project? And in general how has the reception been so far?
I think it’s been good. I think the depth of it is being realised, which is really nice. It is also the first EP where I don’t really go into heartbreak that much, which is a bit scary. It obviously goes through grief, which is huge part of heartbreak…it’s like a different angle of grief. I think a lot of music is so based in love and heartbreak that I was like: “Oh shit, there’s not a song people can relate to here!” My general understanding is that people are really appreciating the honesty of it. 

It’s the first time I’ve also explored speaking about my eating disorder. That was quite scary because, I worry about how it’s perceived. A lot of media romanticises having a eating disorder, which is so fucked up. I was really scared to make music and do the same. Especially when you’re working with humour and lightness at the same time. I had to make sure that I did that right. I think people have received it well, which is a relief. 

Thank you so much for the insight and depth of your answers so far. We're getting to the final section now, a few quick fire questions to finish off.

What was your favourite song to play live?
‘The Pilot’. It was wild for me in my head. It was just crazy. It’s not my top streaming song so I don’t expect people to ever really remember that song. And then people got really excited when I started playing it and I was like “This is my favourite song too guys!”. That was really amazing.

Is there a space you’d really love to play this EP in? Whether gig venue or even 'non conventional' music space.
I would love to do a Tiny Desk-esque type thing. I think some of the songs really lean into that type of way to be listened to. That would be really cool. That would be a huge dream if I could do that.

You mentioned at your show that you studied biology. In an alternate world, where you’re not a musician, do you see yourself being in the biology world still or something different?
I would definitely be in like zoology or something. The plan with biology was to do some sort of wild life conservation. The news about Jane Goodall has actually made me really upset. She was amazing, an incredible woman, an incredible person. Everything she did was for the greater good and ultimately the planet. In an alternate universe that would be my dream, to be in some kind of role within that space. I’d love to see how later, if music ever makes me enough money, how I can filter into it...Yeah, that’s definitely the ultimate goal. To give back in that way some how.

Do you have a favourite animal?
I don’t had a specific favourite animal. But I would definitely be a sea animal. If I could choose which environment to spend the rest of my life in, it would probably be the ocean.


Coming back to being around Asian community…Who from the community would you love to do a music collaboration with?
*clapping with excitement* Oh my god, Sarah Kinsley! Can I get a round of applause? I’ve been listening to so much Sarah Kinsley. I think she’s so cool. I think she produces a lot of her stuff as well and I imagine being her, she is amazing. There are so many though. I’d love to do something with Grant, hopefully we can get together again and do something. Beabadoobee is amazing, that would be really fun…There’s so many! But yeah at the moment Sarah Kinsley. She’s such a powerhouse.

Alongside music, food is also a huge part of our culture. If your music was a meal what are we eating?
*thinking very intensely* It has to be comforting in some way. So it’s definitely going to be a home cooked brothy situation. I don’t know…I think there has to be multiple elements to it. You know there a bit of stuff in there that makes you sad. There’s a bit of stuff in there that makes you feel really warm. Ultimately you walk away feeling reflective. So it has to be a meal that ties in a few different components. Which does work for Asian food…Oh man, this is really tough!

Would it be synonymous to your favourite food maybe?
Probably. My mum makes these pork and fennel dumplings and they’re so good. She grows the fennel herself. A lot of time people will have fennel and be like “Nuh uh”, the fennels really strong in the dumpling. But I swear everyone loves that fennel. In some ways I feel like, "is everyone really going to want to listen to song about this topic?" And then you have it and listen to it, and be like “Oooh actually this is quite comforting and quite nice!” Then you have to dip in vinegar or like a bit of chili oil, so you get a little bit of something different as well. You’re thinking about the different elements. Let’s go with that – pork and fennel dumplings.

That’s so specific. So good. I actually really miss them right now.

What is your advice to new artists? 
I would say trust your taste. If you feel like you’re making something that is true to you, it is probably pretty individual – that’s what you want to lean into. If you like good music, you’re music is probably not shit because you have good taste. I had to learn how to really trust my gut. Ultimately I always do but sometimes you go back and forth.

Surround yourself with people who care about you and your music and are passionate about it. Passion has to get you a long way in this industry, that’s going to get you through it. There’s not much consolation. People validate you in really short moments and they forget about you quickly. It’s a love for making the music, performing the music and getting better at the music that will drive you. You have to dig deep and really trust yourself and the team around you.

It’s all very wishy washy stuff but it’s a wishy washy industry.

Definitely, it’s ever changing.  I’m going to add in a question because of your answer there…there is the way that the wider industry determines what success is, but what does success to you look like?
Honestly, on a practical level I’d just like to be able to pay my bills, eat and see my family and friends. Live a nice life. If music is doing that for me, I am succeeding. If I could save a bit of money that would be great…I’m not asking for crazy money, I don’t do it for the money.

I would say success probably looks like, when I release something, when I have conversations with people like you – who ask questions after listening to the project and the questions really align with where I was at making the EP. That feels amazing to know that I concocted this thing in my head and hoped that people would get it. Then when they do and continue to branch off my ideas, that feels great. If it gives people things to think about, more to consider and reflect on – then I feel like I’m doing well.

If I feel like I’m creating something new and interesting, for me is also a big thing. That has changed for me as time has gone on. I would like to create a pocket of music that is super individual to me. That’s the hardest thing, to make something new and interesting but still good. That will always be the end goal.

I guess it’s also keeping your own artistic integrity rather than giving into virality and all that.
Yeah, you really do see artists fall into it. I can’t do that. I get it, I so get it. But it would cause too much emotional and moral turmoil in my head. 

Got you. Wrapping up, after your week of nothing, what is on the cards?
I’m going to be completely honest with you, not much for the rest of the year. Which is great because I really just want to focus on what music is next. Next year we do have a support tour with Asha Banks, which is super exciting. As a musician you don’t often know much about what you’re doing in the next few months, so it is really great to have that locked in. Also joining Alfie Jukes for that London show, we’ve done a whole tour together so it’ll be really nice to reunite.

Currently the headspace I’m in, you’re catching me at a high after the headline shows – I’m very much in the headspace of new music, more music and hopefully more shows next year. That’s the aim and we’ll try our best to do it. 

You’ve got this! I think a bit of time to chill as well will be nice to reset.
Yeah, I’ll do a bit of that as well. The next month is looking to be very chill, but also very pensive. That is just my eternal state of being. Hopefully just making some really cool stuff!

Amazing, thank you so so much for your time. 
Thank you for having me. Thank you for always being so supportive. You guys have championed me from the very beginning. I think it’s very important that as minorities in this industry, we got to band together. Thank you so much.

Exactly! Congratulations again on the tour and the EP. Really looking forward to what’s next.

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