Valencia-dreamy synth-pop soundscapes, haunting vocals, and oscillating rhythms
Interview conducted on Feb. 13, 2020
by Dan Locke
From Sydney,Australia by way of New York Valencia James offers a unique brand of dark-pop. Having featured on Earmilk, Idobi Radio and Variance magazine, her debut EP “Light & Shade” is out now.
Tell me about your upbringing? You were born in New York, but bred in Sydney. How did this happen?
I decided to move to Sydney when I was 22 for college and then met my husband here, and I have now lived in Sydney for almost 10 years. Pretty crazy, but I love it here. I miss New York often, but the weather in Sydney is a lot nicer.
What music influenced you growing up?
I actually wasn’t allowed to listen to a lot of music, so I could only listen to artists like Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson, Nysnc and other vocalists/bands that were similar. However, I always found ways to sneak in other music, and ended up listening to everything including Nirvana, Snoop Dogg, DMX, and others.
How did you discover music?
I discovered I loved singing since a very young age and I probably discovered it through watching Disney movies. I remember singing all the songs from “Cinderella” since I was 2. I also have home videos of me singing it when I was 2, or at least I used to until a fire burned up our family’s memories. More about this in the next questions.
Tell me about the single “Flames”? What compelled you to write this?
Well, there were quite a few different inspirations behind writing this song, but one of the main ones was from the memory of my family’s house burning down when I had just moved to Sydney and losing most of our childhood memories including photos and home videos. I relate the destructive properties of a fire to how destructive our words and actions can be in relationships.
You wrote “Dreamers” at a time you were trying to rediscover who you were. You were coming up from a period of depression about where you were going. Can you talk about this time period?
Yeah. I was very unsure of the future and there were a lot of dreams I hadn’t seen come to pass yet and that was very frustrating for me. This song is about always look ahead to the future and seeing that there’s always something good ahead no matter how the past or the present might look.
How soon before an EP comes out?
Actually, a lot sooner than you think. I’ve got some pretty exciting things to film/shoot etc…in the next week or so and then some news will be following shortly after. 😊
Have you thought about working with others artist? If you could work with any artist from the past or present who would it be?
Definitely. Working with other artists would be amazing. Of course, working with someone like Billie Eilish would be amazing. I think any dark pop artist would look at Billie as being inspirational.
What do you think about the Australian fires? Will Australia recover?
They’ve been pretty crazy here, but already we can see the recovery process happening as it has been raining here for the last week and the Aussie people are incredibly resilient.
Any plans to tour this year?
No plans to tour yet…
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still writing all the time, releasing more music, and enjoying an even bigger family.
Anything you like to say to your fans in closing?
Keep your eyes peeled, some exciting things are happening really soon. 🙏🏼
