Zhen first caught the attention of fans and critics with her debut album Secretly Susan, a release that explores how we construct our identity online through the guise of a character named Susan. Now working towards her next release, Zhen remains firmly grounded in the tradition of expression through a creative medium.
Creating music is a meticulous process for Zhen, who recently took part in an artist residency in Japan to work intensively on her writing. The experience allowed Zhen to fully immerse herself in her music and work within a structured format. “Artist residences are usually for visual artists, writers or academics – people who can work in a place without causing much noise or the kind of person who can work pretty minimally. It was this beautiful solitary experience where I was very focussed. I’ve always wanted to have a consistent routine of making music every day, but hadn’t really made time for it in my life.”
In terms of what has informed the writing for the new album, Zhen is reflective but conscious of a greater narrative within her music. “I wrote a lot of songs that were processing emotions when I originally intended to do something more conceptual. It’s now at the point where there’s emotional content like the previous album, but there’s an emerging concept and another character that I’m working on that I’m really excited about.
“It’s almost a continuation of the path I was previously on,” Zhen says. “I’m still interested in characters that are a product of our contemporary society and its relationship to technology. I think I’m exploring something more specific to the technological world. I’m watching a lot of TV and films that explore A.I [Artificial Intelligence] and the characters that emerge out of these impressions of what a fully advanced A.I would be. I’m also fascinated by video game characters and how there’s always a limit to their depth. That’s where I’m taking my next person.”
Zhen revels in the opportunity to challenge herself musically as she prepares for her upcoming show as part of Melbourne Music Week’s Hush: An Evening of Quiet Music. The gig requires audiences to remain completely silent during the performance while allowing for the artist to rework their live show to suit the occasion. “I’m used to live performances where I probably project more and need to command attention,” says Zhen. “I want to have opportunities to play with a more nuanced sound. What I’ve done is made a simple change to the band arrangement for these gigs by removing the backing track and having a live drummer instead.
“It’s fun to be someone who’s able to play in another realm and not just be a purely electronic artist. I can play songs on just a guitar and it still works. I’m also looking forward to singing quietly like I do on the record because I rarely sing softly like that when I perform live. It’s really nice to have the opportunity to be forced to do that,” says Zhen.
Zhen is completely in control of her craft from her presence on stage, through to her videos and the way she is portrayed in the media. “Knowing which decisions to make for yourself is really important. I’m not saying everyone should be a jack of all trades, master of none, creative direction is the one thing that links all of my projects. It doesn’t necessarily require a whole other skill set, it’s just taking a leadership role over your image and how you’re marketing yourself.”
By Holly Pereira
