Gearing up for the release of her debut album, Fiona Soe Paing is doing everything in her power to ensure it's a success.
Fiona Soe Paing
We got the chance to chat to the half-Scottish, half-Burmese electronic producer and vocalist to chat all about her work, influences, inspirations and much more...
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
I'd describe it as 'off-world electronica'! There are flavours of Massive Attack in there, mixed with elements of the Cocteau Twins and The Knife/Fever Ray. A few people have said the music sounds like it's from another planet, too!
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
Being based up in Aberdeenshire is quite challenging, as it's not really renowned for having a thriving experimental electronic music scene up there, and it's so far away from the main music cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. What I'm doing is quite different, so it's been hard to find a genre to slot into so that folk can put a label on my music!
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
Aye, it's pretty tough, I'd say! I've just been plugging and plugging away for a while now, and slowly I think people are starting to take notice! With such different material and the live show format, it's not so easy to slot into events that are programmes with the usual 'live band' format... So I'm looking to do more multi-media and film-based events.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
Oh my goodness, totally one hundred per cent! I've tried giving it to other people to mix, and have never been as happy with the result as what I've done myself!
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
Sound, art, theatre, experience, people, relationships, dreams, the subconscious...
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
I can't think of any specific names right now, but it would be great to work with some experimental theatre or multi-media performance artists.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
When I lived in London, I used to work as a cleaning lady for Jeremy Irons!
Where do you hope to be by this time next year?
I hope to be still doing this and not have gotten totally bored of it yet! It'd be great to have another tour in the playing, maybe Europe and further afield.
Keep your eyes and ears open for Fiona Soe Paing's debut album 'Alien Lullabies', released on August 29 via Colliderscope.