Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: As a first generation immigrant I moved from China to London at a young age so for a long time I didn’t listen to any English music. I was more into Cpop and Kpop growing up as I felt more relatable to them as a child.
If I think back to my childhood, I don’t remember seeing any Chinese music artists in the western charts and so it didn’t really interest me as much. So for a while in my teenage years I wanted to be a Kpop star and I used to go to the auditions that they would hold in London. Sadly, I didn’t make it through to any of them! Now looking back I’m glad that happened as that isn’t the route that I would want for myself now.
The older I get the more I realise there is a lack of Chinese faces in the western music industry and there are definitely kids still, looking to have someone to look up to or to have that representation for them.
The love that I had for music starts from my dad. He loves to sing and he was always buying me DVDs of these chinese singers. I remember being around 3 or 4 years old I would stand in front of the TV following along and dancing along to the videos from the DVDs copying the way they were performing and singing. Ever since then I’ve just loved music, even in my primary school leavers book I wrote that I want to be a star one day!
Q: Can you describe the musical style of AngelBunsx in three words?
A: Dreamy, Toxic and Storytelling.
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: I am a big instagram person, I post and update loads on there especially on the stories. I post stories everyday so there is always something going on! I also have other pages such as Angelfoodsx for food content as I LOVE food. This also had an influence on my name ANGELBUNSX. I had to combine the both together!
The only other social media that I am more active on is Tik Tok. I post loads of random content on there, like challenges, transition videos, acting for trending sounds, more food content, reacting, open verses, and also sometimes go on live!
The other socials I don’t really use as much (maybe I should) as I don’t have Facebook, twitter or snapchat like that.
Through my social media I get great feedback from people in terms of my music. Before I made Cold Chips a lot of people suggested I go down the Altpop/hyperpop route and it would really suit me. I really didn’t listen to them for like a year then one day I thought ‘you know what let’s just try it’ and now I love it! It’s so fun to write and so easy too! Don’t get me wrong I love writing and singing other genres but it’s nice to know that I’ve also unlocked this genre of music!
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Cold Chips’. Is there a story behind it?
A: The story that I wanted to portray in Cold Chips is how people like to ‘Self destruct’ in the name of fun and sometimes on the outside we might look like we’re having fun but deep down we are actually really broken. I tried to create this by having the beat quite upbeat and fun but the lyrics quite dark.
The first verse was actually inspired by girls I’ve spoken to about their experiences with ‘One night stands’. I personally haven’t had one but their stories always start with them drinking too much. Then waking up the next day, next to this stranger that they met while they were out and drunk…and when you tell these stories to people a lot of the time you get people’s judgment. No one likes to be judged as well so I thought let me keep it real with the lyric ‘Don’t judge me, I’m real, can you not judge me I feel” because at the end of the day we are all human and we just do things sometimes.
The second verse, written by my co-writer Shane. Describing my life with my ex and when he showed me what he wrote, I was like to him “Did you see me sneak out of his house or something because HOW did you know?!’
I also really love the skippy part of the verse where it goes “I got my own issues, habits I might misuse” . These lyrics show a very vulnerable side to me and I feel that a lot of people can also relate to it as well. At the end of the day we are all human. We have our own issues and our own ways of dealing with pain or uncomfortable situations which can lead us to falling into escapism.
Q: What is your favorite verse from the track and why?
A: The chorus! It is just really catchy and starts with “You can mix my tears with Hennessy” which for me when I hear that it’s like DAMN WHO HURT YOU?! You don’t even need any chaser?! Just tears?! WOW.
Then it goes “Looking at myself what’s wrong with me, Starving out my soul no energy, I became my own worst enemy” Which shows the listener that I’m really reflecting on my life and actions then coming to the conclusion that actually, none of this is serving me any more. I feel empty, soulless and realistically I am not having as much fun as I’ve been portraying.
I think in life we do a lot to impress people around us and we put up this front like we are okay and we end up doing the most and think having “fun” is the cure to our pain. We tend to drink, thinking that it will numb the pain/feelings. Which I know, been there one too many times. Waking up the next day feeling even worse plus a free headache on top of that! Now you’re deeping life like ‘WHY the HELL did I do that to myself?!’.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the single, “Cold Chips”?
A: Yes! The short story is me and Shane (My co-writer on Cold Chips) finished about 4 songs that day and he was getting ready to leave and we had like 20 mins. I played the beat of Cold Chips and I just started to hear the chorus so I quickly wrote that down. Showed Shane and he was like “Sick I like that, let me write something quick before I go” I started to write my first verse and he wrote the second verse. When he showed me I was like “Do you know my life story or something because how did you know?!” Which was pretty funny!
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for AngelBunsx so far?
A: I think the most memorable performance I had was last year in 2023. I was performing my debut single ‘Show Me Love’ and towards the end of my song I saw someone throw something at me so I quickly caught it. While I’m still singing I’m opening this THING and it turns out it was a pair of BOXERS! I couldn’t help but start laughing while I’m on stage I quickly check if it was old or new and THANKFULLY it was a brand new one with the tags still on!
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: Show Me Love. This song will always have a soft spot in my heart. It’s my debut single but also when I wrote this I was in a DARK hole. I was heartbroken over my Ex and I was struggling to get over him. One night I just decided to put all my feelings into a song. As I was listening to the instrumental the chorus just kept repeating in my head ‘Show me love, show me love, show me love, show me’. To me at this point I was really questioning myself what is love? This man who I believed to be the love of my life has just left me broken and lost. Is this what LOVE is?
During this time, I realised that I started to pick up the bad habit of drinking. I started to have a glass of wine at the end of the day, near enough everyday. I never used to drink like that at all, I used to be drunk off 3 ciders to this! So I sat with myself while the beat was playing, over-thinking and looking at the wine glass in-front of me. This is where the beginning of the song/chorus comes from. “Baby I’ve been over thinking, lately I’ve been over drinking”. The first verse was me reminiscing the deep conversations we used to have and he used to hate talking about his feelings and being vulnerable but the more we used to talk about it the closer we got to him admitting that this connection is more that he thinks it is. We used to argue and break up a lot and every time we are in separation the feelings between us gets more intense and I know it’s so toxic but we couldn’t help but to see each other again which is why I say ‘For one night, you’re mine’.
The second verse is like me actually holding myself somewhat accountable but still being cheeky and delulu because I know if I wanted him here, I still have the power to do so… but I know, more than anything I needed to let go and break out of the toxic cycle of US.
Telling myself to come back to focus, even though temptation is there I cannot fall for it over and over again.
When I got the finished product back and listened back I was really happy with it but I had so much anxiety when I came to releasing it as I was worried about what other people may think of the song etc. I know I come across to people very confident but I am really not!
Thankfully though a lot of people really loved it and the song is still doing really well now!
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into AngelBunsx’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: I personally really love to hear stories or write about my own. There’s something about a real life story that resonates with me and it helps me to explore deeper and understand the story even more.
If I am writing for myself and from a place that I know well. I tend to ask myself what do you want to say? Is there a particular person you’re talking to? Are you telling a story? What happened? How do you feel? Was there a significant thing or moment?
If I am writing based on a concept or someone else’s story, then I like to build a world in my imaginations. I would still ask the questions I ask myself, but I’ll ask more questions such as; What colours can you see? Where are we? What’s around you? Who’s around you? What time is it? How did we get here? Any items involved? etc
I try to break down and imagine all the details that I can to create this picture with my words and songs to tell this special story.
Sometimes, I like to think of a word or I might even use the beat title to write a song around that. I don’t think I have one way to be inspired to write, the spark can come from anything and anywhere to be real. I’ve definitely been on the train at some point and looked at the adverts that’s on the trains and thought of really cool lyrics and just ran with it. So it really could be anything.
Also it’s not always as straightforward as the spark to the song finished! I can promise you now I have about 400+ songs on my phone right now that I’ve started and not finished. Some of them the idea might be very mid but there’s a few bangers that I couldn’t finish there and so I leave it alone. I might come back to it later and write something even better for the missing parts so it really depends.
I’ve had days where I’ve finished writing a song in like 10 mins and some songs are still waiting on me to finish them 3 years later!
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for AngelBunsx, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: My personal dream is to go completely mainstream. Like I said at the start of this interview I didn’t see anyone like me growing up so I want to be able to open doors, gates and even windows of opportunities for people like me to be able to be on TV or in mainstream music.
Through my music I would like my audience to be able to feel heard, understood and healed. I call myself the Sad Baddie because I’ve been through a lot in my life and a lot of the times I do feel sad but I don’t allow the emotions to control me. I can have my emotions and still be a Baddie!
Lastly, the message I want to share with my audience is “Pure hearts will always win!”