Hyperpop starlet Alice Longyu Gao is set to star at NONSTOP WKND's Coalesce 005, happening as part of Now or Never.
“My braces just popped out!”
Alice is speaking to Beat from mainland China ahead of her first-ever tour of Australia, but right now her mind is focused squarely on her teeth.
“My dentist is in LA, and I was hoping to take my braces off before the tour started, but we didn’t have the time – and then the brackets of my braces came out on a flight from Belgium to China. I’m trying to find a needle to fix it!”
Coalesce 005 at NONSTOP WKND
- Friday September 1
- Max Watts
- 125 Swanston Street, Melbourne
- Get tickets here
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In spite of her current dental crisis, the Bengbu-born and New York-based hyperpop artist is still in good spirits as her world tour – dubbed the CEO Tour – continues on. The tour is in support of her recently-released second EP, the hilariously-titled Let’s Hope Heteros Fail, Learn and Retire.
It brings her to Max Watts for Coalesce 005, one of the events happening for NONSTOP WKND, Now or Never’s incredible venue-hopping program. NONSTOP WKND offers 13 shows at the likes of The Toff, Miscellania, Max Watts, Sub Club, The Curtin and Section 8 across September 1 and 2 and Alice is particularly excited about performing at an Australian festival.
“I love performing, and all the shows so far have been amazing,” she says. “I’ve been playing these huge festivals in Europe, with all of these crazy popular artists, and that’s been a really great experience. It’s been a real boost to be able to look myself in the mirror before going out in front of all those people and telling myself, ‘you earned this’.”
Coalesce 005 lineup
- Alice Longyu Gao (China/US)
- SEBii (China/US)
- Prophecy Girl
- CLAIR
- Resenter
- Marceline
- Mayari
- Coalesce DJs
Indeed, the eccentric harp-playing multi-hyphenate – who lists her age as “forever 18” – has certainly earned the cult status surrounding her music. Though not a household name, she has nonetheless racked up millions of streams for her music and enlisted key collaborators along the way such as 100 gecs’ Dylan Brady and even Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes.
“I’m super blessed to have been able to do whatever I want thus far as an artist,” she says. “Life is not linear, y’know? I see it more like a field. There’s all these opportunities around you, and you can venture out to them in any direction you want to.”
It’s now been five years since Gao first began pursuing music in earnest, releasing her first three singles back in 2018. Despite being a half-decade in, however, Gao is quick to note the misconceptions around her as an artist.
“I think, when people see my videos or they see me perform, they must think I’m a really confident person,” she says. “The anxiety that I get, though, often doesn’t let me believe that. I’ve had to learn how to live with that, and I’ve also had to learn how to believe in myself.
“If you don’t think that you’re the shit, you can’t expect anyone else to think you’re the shit!”
NONSTOP WKND runs citywide on September 1 and 2 as part of Now or Never. Get passes to all events here.
