Q&A CHASING VELVET
If breaking into the professional music scene takes a lot of talent, plus plenty of hard work and experimentation, then the two young women of pop duo Chasing Velvet are well on the way, and they are having a lot fun doing it all OF all career paths, making music might be one of the more difficult to succeed in, something duo Chasing Velvet knows all too well.
19, and
21, have been making music together since early last year, and now these Gold Coast girls are preparing to release a new EP.
We sat down with these talented young artists to chat about life, music and what it takes to break into the music industry.
Amira Talbot, Grashuis,
QNaomi How would you describe your music?
A: I think our sound now with this new music is a lot more modern and clean, and more mature to represent us and where we are in our lives and our music career.
N: Previously we were kind of doing it more for fun and experience. So between us we were into the more pop punk kind of music, a little more upbeat music, band-y kind of vibes like Paramore. Then I guess over the year we matured more as people, and I guess musically as well, and decided to try and go on to the pop scene. Also, we enjoy the music we hear on the radio as well, so we wrote music that we both enjoy, that we think people on the radio will listen to and enjoy.
So what inspired you to get into music originally?
N: It was a common interest. I think nowadays everyone just meets on the internet according to what you have in common, and what we had in common was obviously music. When we started out we were just trying out new things, we liked the same genres of music and the same bands, and so it just started from there.
Do you try to balance your music and the rest of your life?
A: I think we both are trying to maintain a balance in finding time to do this, because we’re doing other things. We’re not at a point in our career where we can do it full time, which we’d
QQlike to, and I guess that is the end goal.
If that’s the end goal, what does success look like to you guys?
N: I’m always going to enjoy music, whether I can pursue a career out of it or not, but I guess at this stage the end goal, the dream would be to make a career out of doing something that we’re so passionate about, something that we love.
A: And being able to support ourselves through that passion.
QQCan you describe your process?
N: It’s rather a lot, it takes a lot of effort and creativity. I mean your creativity goes as far as your head will allow you to go, but I guess that’s the fun in it. You start with any little bit where you can.
A: And the process is different each time.
N: Exactly, so you could write a lyric and then make a melody, but they might not match. So you have to play around with a bunch of little pieces, and the process is rather long, but it’s fun because you get to experiment with it all.
What advice would you give to other young people trying to make it in the music industry?
A: I think there are quite a few key things to have. One of them is perseverance, and passion. Because if you’re not passionate about it you’re not going to go far.
N: I think those are the two main things. It’s just when you start, keep going. We actually get a few fans who are still in school as well, who ask us for advice on how to start up bands, and I’m like, we kind of started at a young age, we started when Amira was still in high school. So she knows the struggle of having to study and then having a band and making it work.
A: And it is doable.
N: So don’t stop once you’ve started, and if you’re really passionate about it, there’s no stopping you.
Chasing Velvet’s EP Replay will be available to download on August 4.
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