[INTERVIEW] XTIE Says, “be passionate and believe what you do!”

Our last interview for the 2022 year is with, XTIE! She is a Hong Kong-based Songstress, who self-produces, writes, arranges and performs all of her own songs. She is an independent artist and her tracks “Spaceship”, “frenemy” peaked number 1 on the RTHK Global chart.

Aside from her own music, she is credited for various, “stellar-level acts and TV shows from Hong Kong, including but not limited to: Janice Vidal, Alfred Hui, ViuTV King Maker IV, (a girl group idol competition) etc.” Alongside all of that, she is also seen writing and producing for the A-POP and K-POP scenes.

You can check out her interview below where she talks about her music, who she’d like to work work, and the release of her upcoming EP in 2023.

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HYPNOTICASIA: Please introduce yourself to the readers of HypnoticAsia.

XTIE: Hello Readers of HypnoticAsia, this is XTIE! I’m an independent artist, songwriter, and producer from Hong Kong.

HYPNOTICASIA: How did you get into music? Inspirations?

XTIE: My musical influences are mainly from Nordic / US pop artists. When I was a teenager, I was very into Disney Channel and loved their artists, they inspired me to become a singer-songwriter-producer. I realized there are not many female producers, so I decided to work hard to become one.

HYPNOTICASIA: Is there a track you would recommend for those who want to check out your music?

XTIE: My most recent release “Skin” and also “Frenemy”. I always love to explore juxtapositions because life is complicated. I wrote and produced this song during the time I felt really lonely pursuing music independently and how social media created such an unhealthy comparison of yourself with the others. This inspired me to create ‘frenemy’.

HYPNOTICASIA: You have a new single entitled “Skin” that was just released last month. Tell us all about it!

XTIE: My new song “Skin” is a love letter to my own body, my skin, and my soul. I’ve been dealing with body image issues due to my eczema at a young age, and I wish to share this story with listeners that we all deserve to feel beautiful regardless of how we look.

HYPNOTICASIA: Congratulations on the release of your music video for “Skin”! Can you tell us more about that?

XTIE: “Skin” is my most important song so far, and was one of the very first songs that I’ve written as a songwriter and singer because it’s very important to me. As the song talks about a very personal and vulnerable message, we decided that the video should go for a “less is more” approach. A few props and a small set, and that’s it, so the audience can focus on the music and the dance performance with the help of camera movement.

HYPNOTICASIA: Any fun stories from the music video filming?

XTIE: It took me 4 years to be well prepared for this release – I invited Emily to be my dancer and choreographer for the music video even before I had any plans for the song! She also has a similar body image issue like me (eczema) and it was very interesting that we shared a similar situation and represented our different art forms, music and dance!

HYPNOTICASIA: In the music video, we see that performing artist, Emily, was featured. What was it like working with her?

XTIE: She is amazing to work with. The first time I worked with her was in my last music video “Spaceship”, she choreographed the dance challenge.

HYPNOTICASIA: We saw that you’re also currently writing and producing for A-Pop / K-pop markets. How is that compared to writing for yourself? Are there any songs that you can tell us about?

XTIE: For my own artist project, usually I have a unique connection with the songs that I think should be released under my artist project, which I am usually emotionally attached to. While producing for others, especially in A-pop, it’s been more relaxing and more collaborations. Recently a song I produced for a Cpop artist Alfred Hui has been out and it was charted No.1 in Hong Kong!

HYPNOTICASIA: Are there any past songs that you’ve written/produced for others that really stood out to you or meant a lot?

XTIE: Producing for the Kingmaker IV (2021) theme song. There are 99 girls on the show, the theme song had to be big, and I wanted to incorporate different concepts that girl groups have; girl crush, fresh, cute, and cool at the same time. Therefore, I separated the song into different sections to reflect that, drawing from hip hop, K-pop, and even adding elements of future bass.

It has been super fun to work on projects like this as you can be as creative as you want. 

HYPNOTICASIA: Is there an artist you would like to collaborate with that you have not had the chance to work with yet?

XTIE: Taeyeon and Chung Ha!

HYPNOTICASIA: You handle the songwriting, production, and arrangement of your music. What is your process like for all 3 parts?

XTIE: The creative process, it comes case by case, some songs I started with songwriting and some songs I start by making a simple arrangement and then topline on it.

HYPNOTICASIA: If you were not doing music, what do you believe you would be doing instead?

XTIE: Still music and art related – Art management – my postgraduate degree is in this field and I worked in the creative industry management field while I am working music part time for 4 years.

HYPNOTICASIA: What can we expect to see from you in the future?

XTIE: I am releasing my EP in 2023 Spring time! It’s a digital EP to wrap up my journey as an artist since 2020. And then I will release a few singles before I drop my debut album “Oxymoron” where I wish to celebrate my fellow women and non-binary creators in music. From 2020-2022, my songs are mostly self-produced and I’m doing everything on my own. Along the journey I met so many talented friends and I wish I can work together as a team instead of on my own. I’m very excited!

HYPNOTICASIA: What advice would you give to someone who wants to do music?

XTIE: You will need a strong will and perseverance to keep going. But most importantly, be passionate and believe what you do!

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