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British-Chinese musician Yingge (David Yang) is known for his hybrid creative voice, shaped by an upbringing across Scotland, London, Paris, New York, and Shanghai. A classically trained performer whose early years spanned orchestral stages and indie experimentation, he rose to prominence on the hit Chinese series The Coming One before releasing his acclaimed debut project, Once On This Island. His artistic world expands beyond music: he has fronted global campaigns for Dior, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent as well as appearing in a short film directed by Wong Kar-Wai. With his new single ‘Bleach,’ Yingge opens his next chapter. |
Photographer:
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3 words to describe you:
fluid, introspective, nostalgic
Describe your sound:
worn and textured indie pop
Describe the moment you knew that you wanted to pursue music:
I’ve always been surrounded by music. I played in bands from a young age, performed in school orchestras — I even once performed for Prince (now King) Charles. But for the longest time, I thought that was where music ended for me.
Growing up in early-2000s Scotland as a Chinese kid, it was a very different time. The town I lived in was mostly white, and there wasn’t much pride or visibility around Asian identity like there is now. Back then, it was all about fitting in quietly, not standing out. I've always loved music, but I didn’t see anyone who looked like me making a career out of it — not on TV, not in magazines, not anywhere in mainstream media. So I internalised the idea that it wasn’t something for me.
It wasn’t really one single lightbulb moment when I decided to pursue music — it was more like a slow realisation over the years that I didn’t want to leave that part of myself behind. Coming back to music as an adult felt like reconnecting with that younger version of me who thought this dream was impossible. It’s a way of giving him permission to exist — to take up space, to belong.
How does your heritage impact your art?
It’s a huge part of who I am, even when it’s not something I’m consciously thinking about. I grew up in the UK surrounded by so much incredible music — Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, Amy Winehouse etc. At the same time, I was listening to Chinese pop music, which felt like another universe entirely. The textures, the sensibilities, even the emotional language were so different.
Those two worlds shaped me in opposite but complementary ways. Western music gave me a sense of experimentation and boldness — this idea that you can break form and still make something beautiful. Chinese music, on the other hand, taught me emotional precision — how to be soft, detailed, and sincere.
Some of my earliest memories are of band practice after school, followed by karaoke in the one Chinese restaurant in Glasgow that had it. It was this funny mix of worlds colliding — playing Arctic Monkeys covers one moment, and then singing Teresa Teng ballads by a table of dim sum the next. I think that feeling never really left me.
Now I lie somewhere between those spaces — between restraint and release, belonging and distance. My heritage doesn’t define my work, but it gives it dimension, the invisible thread that ties everything together.
What moment are you most proud of in your music journey so far?
A few weeks ago, Adidas held a big anniversary show to close out Shanghai Fashion Week and invited me to create a piece of music and perform live under the theme of Modern China. I wrote something that stood on the axis of past and future, between east and west — a sound that felt like my identity in motion.
I invited my friend Halamuji, who plays the 马头琴 (morin khuur), a traditional Mongolian string instrument, and Hazel, who’s known for his underground electronic sets. The end result was this surreal mix — the grasslands of Mongolia meeting a warehouse rave.
Through that project, I realised how far I’ve come as a musician — being able to bring together different parts of my heritage and all the skills I’ve been honing over the years. It was one of those moments that made me step back and think, oh, this is what all those years of experimenting have led to.
And on a personal level, it was full circle. I’ve walked runway shows for so many years as a model, so to be standing on the same runway performing my own music — to merge those two worlds — felt incredibly special.
Your next music goal:
Hopefully touring next year
If you could collaborate with anyone, who and why?
Blood Orange. Discovering his Champagne Coast album when it dropped was a game changer for me. The richness of colour and texture in his production completely shifted the way I thought about sound. There’s this emotional haziness in his work — it’s vulnerable but confident, nostalgic yet progressive.
Your favourite song/lyrics:
The whole of Joni Mitchell's 'A Case Of You'
3 songs you're listening to right now:
My Melody - TEED
Back, Baby - Jessica Pratt
By This River - Brian Eno
Your community shout out:
I want to shout out a few friends based in Shanghai who are all doing really exciting things.
DEN (@dendendenc) — he makes alt-R&B and recently released a beautiful album called 'blu-night'. There’s such a gentleness in the way he approaches the genre, so soft and atmospheric.
octodaddio (@octodaddio) — she makes alt-pop with these amazing melodies and production choices. It’s like if Oklou made an intro song for an anime — lush, playful and full of character.
Anything else you'd like to share:
I put out a new track recently called 'Bleach' — it’s a song that sits somewhere between early-2000s pop-punk and modern alt-pop. I grew up on Green Day, Weezer, and Avril Lavigne, so I wanted to take that sound I loved as a kid and reinterpret it through my own lens today.
It’s about surrendering to emotional burnout and making peace with it — that moment when you stop trying to fix yourself and just let things be. The music video follows a group of friends stuck in a house together, caught between boredom and comfort, and it captures that feeling of nostalgia and quiet chaos that inspired the song.
For me, 'Bleach' is a way of reconnecting with my younger self — the kid in Scotland who never imagined he’d be doing this — and turning those memories into something new.
