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FENG | Chris Heyn Show

36m 21s

FENG | Chris Heyn Show

Fang, a UK-based artist from Croydon, shares his journey from a creative upbringing to building a music career rooted in authenticity and real-life experiences. His songs are deeply personal, developed over months through a meticulous process that ensures emotional depth and longevity. Influenced by artists like M.I.A. and the raw edge of grime and indie pop, Fang rejects polished, formulaic music, instead favoring imperfections and genuine emotion. He credits his self-expression to a hands-on approach—recording, producing, and performing himself—while remaining grounded through close friendships and a refusal to be swayed by fame or commercial agendas. Fang values positivity and humility, describing his art as a form of rebellion and self-empowerment. He resists labels like “influencer,” instead aspiring to the role of a relatable, authentic figure—like Johnny Carson—bridging diverse cultures through genuine connection. A key part of his identity is his energetic, playful internet presence, often featuring absurd themes like “Honda Civic” or “androgynous squirrel,” which fosters community and fun. He is currently working on a more mature, mature pop-indie project reflecting his growth from age 17 to 19, and remains committed to authenticity in both music and lifestyle. He wears vintage Vans, embraces colorful, eclectic fashion, and values music as both therapy and rebellion, drawing from personal experiences and cultural touchstones like SpongeBob and Goths. Fang’s story is one of self-discovery, resilience, and joyful authenticity, where personal evolution and community engagement go hand in hand.

Transcription

5942 Words, 30123 Characters

English
(upbeat music) - Bang, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. Good to see you, bro. How you doing today? - Good. - I'm good. - You got off the plane like last night. I saw you right away, I think at the club. Does your mom know you're here? (laughing) - Not she does. - She does, right? - I think it's incredible that you've not to put you on blast, but like you've hid this from your family for a while, from they don't know you're an artist. They don't know that you're like kind of becoming this, you know, face a little bit of like the UK scene right now. - I think it's really great. - I think I'm doing a great job. - You are. - And so you know find out. - Well when they find out, it's gonna be good. - I hope to see. - It is very happy. You're spreading like good vibes. I think part of you're a lore and you're like aura, is that it's like positive. Like you kind of just have fun, you screw around. It's about being good and like being good to another person. And that's a lie in your lyrics. So talk a little bit about like your creative process of like making the song from start to finish. Like how does it work through your head? - So all my songs are based on like real life experiences. So like I don't cap rap. Everything is something that I've done or is something I exaggerated or slightly changed. But everything's pretty just what I do like. It takes me like a month to make a song, you know what I mean? Like, because after process what I've done for the month and then I put it and I consolidate it into a song. - So typically like, I guess a month is start to finish and then you release? - I mean yeah, normally but I'm working on projects so I have to like keep it together. Like I'm geeky, I'm very geeky. - You have to. That's important. - It's also dramatic. - I'm doing something good. - A long-term graphification right now. - Yeah, edging. - Edging. - What the fuck? (laughing) - This guy's bright. - Wait, no, no, no. What I mean by that is I'm making an algorithm. - Yeah. - It's called We Can Rotestor. - Yeah. - This is about me and like, what a shit I'm doing. - That's a perfect name for it. I've started to use that term more and I think it might be because of you but people will call me like a nine to five warrior or then they'll be like you're a rock star on the weekend and you literally have a hit song about that. So I think that's so cool because there are so many people like going through their daily lives, looking for a better life, looking for some sort of outcome or like new positive inspiration and it's cool that you're giving that to them. So yeah, I'm excited. When is the album going to come out? Do you have dates? - All right. - Do you have to gate keep that? - You know, I was gatekeeping. I will not gate keep internet. (laughing) Probably like March next year. - Okay. - Well, I'm like, hopefully done, I think. - That's good. - But I'm shooting videos out here and just having a good time. I'm doing a party, referring to a party. But no, no, like weird people. Like it's just friends just having a good time and we're gonna record it and shoot. But I hate people that like, they try and be your friend for some benefit. Like some finance agenda like that. - I can sense it. - Yeah. - And it's weird. - You can sense it always, but you're gonna see that more and more, I guess as you get older and just with you know, business and creativity and trying to mix all that. People are gonna want something from you. So you gotta protect your energy. So that's important. But you got a good team around you. Your boys are cool too. - Yeah. - I love it. It's just another camera block. There's my three friends there. And I keep my friends close. - You do. - 'Cause it's very important. And I know you keep your friends close. - Yeah. - No, that's super important. Especially as you're leaning into the public eye a bit, like we're on camera right now. You gotta keep people like them to keep you chill and grounded and let you know where you came from. So let's talk more about where you came from. Croydon, right? - Croydon, yeah, Croydon. - Where is that in comparison to London? - Some people don't even say it's Pablo. Like it's like the long islands. - Okay. (laughing) - Yeah, it's cool. People say it's dangerous, but I'm in a pretty nice area of the barra. So yeah. - How far is it from like London? Essentially like middle of London? - 40 minutes. - Okay. - So not too far, but. - Yeah, so that's like Long Island. (laughing) - Yeah, I'm from Long Island. - You're just from Long Island? - I'm from Long Island. - Yeah. - Where are you from? - You're from, I'm gonna leave. - I'm gonna give you a minute to think about it. Do you know this? - Why don't you mean? - No, bro. Why are we so far away? One more try. - It's kind of like Long Island, but not. It's another one. - It's just upstate New York. (laughing) - No, can I have a kit? - Same thing, right? - Same thing, right? - Yeah, I know. - It's just essentially the same thing. - It's an episode when they're fucking, they're out of the beach and shit. That's where you live. - Kind of, kind of, kind of. I wanna talk more about, you know, you growing up in some of your inspirations and like, what has created Fang? 'Cause by the way, I know your real name now. I've known you for a year now. I didn't know your real name. I'm not gonna dox you, don't worry. But. - I've been doxed anyways. - Yeah, I know. - I was on Instagram. People looking at my football pictures. Look, he's good. That's the next talk. Oh, okay. - So you got, you got Man of the Match in 2023. It was zero, zero. You must have signed game. - You didn't smash it. - Exciting game. - Exciting game. - No, you played, like, we were ballers. I knew that. Did you ever think of like, taking that further? Were you gonna like, maybe play more professionally? - Yeah, but I just, I just got bored. No, I got high. - Same. - Like, I'm, I'm a very creative person. So I was creating a pitch. - But. - I decided to. - What was your position? - Sensing it short. - Number 10? - 10 slash DM. I was either attacking. - Yeah. - But I was good. I was good. But I found this one, and I can make more money for this. 'Cause I'm not, obviously I can make a lot of money for that, but I wasn't an amazing. - You were good. I saw a video of one of your free kicks. - Yes. - You had finesse. You were good. - I was good. - You were good. - I was very good. - No, big head as well, I was, I was pretty good. - Yeah, no. That's very humble of you, but you were good. - Thank you. - Probably still good. - And you were good as well. I swore some videos. - Thank you, bro. We used to have a different trajectory, and then same with me, I just got bored of it. I played in college, and I started to get burnt out, and it was so much of my life growing up. And I was so tough on myself, 'cause I wanted to play pro, when I was young. And then by the time I was like 16, 17, it's like this is not really what I wanna be. And I felt too creative. And I was like this is gonna put me in a box that I'm not gonna be the best, so I don't wanna do it. So I kind of long-winded way, found my way like believing it. - I felt like there was loads of people telling me, I should just do football, but then I was like, I don't want to see you. So I just did something else. And that's what everyone should do. It's your life, I know people have annoying parents, but it's your life, just do you do what you want. - It's all your dreams? - Yeah. - When did you start making music? - Like 20, like last year. - Yeah, I feel like it happened so quick. - Yeah. - Did you upload it first on, like walk me through that process? What was your first song that was like, "Oh, I got something." Was it walking apart? - Devil one's an inhaler. - Ooh. - Yeah. - Okay. - Yeah. - I don't know, that's a very niche song. But yeah, but before I started making music, I was just doing producing and then music videos. And I was like, let me just do it myself and make myself the person, like the star. - So many people, I think artists back into it that way, where they're like, let me either creative direct or let me produce. But when you have it, you have it and you're like, let me just do it all. - Exactly. And that's why I feel like I'm able to express myself well, 'cause I can record it, produce it, and play it together. - Do you do it on band-lab? - Yeah, I record on band-lab. I mean, I produce some of my beats, but I have producers and then we work together and make art. - Magic. - Magic. - Magic. - Yes. - Where did the name thing come from? - It's a combination of my two parents' names. But that's what I'm going to say. Yeah, no, you can get keep that, for sure. Yeah. I want to know more of your inspiration as a kid and like, who made kind of fang what he is today? What were some bigger artists, bigger shows, like just talk about some of your things that have inspired you throughout your life? Start first musically, I guess. I like Kid Cardi, Girl A-Sat, Santa Gold, M-I-A, first of the people. Like people that make music us, sounds like pop was not really pop. Like it's kind of on the edge. And that's kind of the music on the neck. Yeah, there's a little bit of like edgy grime and pop. I hate pop. Pop is lame. Like socks. No, I'm not going to pop either. Sorry to all my people who like pop. Like if you're going to make pop, just don't make this sound the time. You don't need to be perfect. Like I hate music that's perfect. Yeah, it should have imperfections, because no one's perfect. That's so real. That was really deep. That was deep. That was a dynamic. That was fun. What's like an emoji to describe you? Probably. Probably like the song glasses music. The cool guy song glasses one? Or just the song glasses? No, like the yellow emoji. Yeah, the cool guy. Or maybe the one where it's like. You know when it's like. Yeah, those are good. I remember I used to watch videos like. How to raise women. How to get girls. And it always said never use emojis. Never double text. All lowercase. Fuck that. Just double text. Text your ex girlfriend. Are you still up? Are you still up? 3 a.m. Just send that text, bro. Yeah. Like I miss you. It was. Life is too short. It was. Yeah. I'm with you. You miss 100% of the shorts you don't take. You're getting deep. You're doing some good clips right now. Fuck it. Shit. What was your first internet alias before fang? Can you show that? Oh shit, bro. Excuse my language. I'm sorry. No, you can share it. I'm so sorry. I know you don't want to hear proper lad, but it's fun. I tried to be into that famous about 4 or 5 times. Like, bro. I had like 10 YouTube channels. Three for Minecraft. Short films. Fucking archive pages. Music videos. Everything. And with none of them is successful. And I was like. Fuck it. Let me just. Sorry. Let me just become an artist. And then fang every day. I'm gonna face with it, then it works. Yeah, yeah. Put your face out there. I think it's something I'm gonna say. Like, all the other ones I was very. I didn't really show myself. And that's why they're on success for us. It's also you're probably just building up your, like, through repetition and through trying and through putting yourself out there. Yes. You build up to like, you know, who you are and what succeeds. You have to fail a lot before that works out. Yeah, failure is very good for you. Very good, like. You can't be scared of it. Because if you're scared of it, you're never gonna get anymore. It's part of every journey, you know. And it makes, it makes winning more enjoyable. It's like. It makes, yeah. Yeah, it makes it more enjoyable. Yeah. What, can you share the names of the aliases? Yes, I'm just curious, like, I want to know where your head was at creatively when you were at that stage. Okay. So, I had a, I had a itchy channel called, like, Visual thing or something. So it was always fun. You knew it was fun. I think so. I can't remember. These are old. Visual something. But I don't remember them. But they were just trash. When's the last time? I just want to talk about, like, your creative process and, like, what makes you inspired? Like, do you usually record or write at night? Or, like, when are you most inspired? When do you get the best, like, energy booster? Night time. Night time? Yeah. Yeah. Not daytime. I'm actually really lazy in the daytime. Really? I'm most active. My brain works the best when it's, like, just pissed black outside. I've noticed that with most artists. They're, like, night owls. Exactly. And the magic comes when you're kind of, like, 'cause nothing was mine. When it's dark. No one's going to disturb you. Yeah. I got to start becoming more of a late-night person. I'm the opposite. I get scared at night. I'm, like, I got to go to bed. You scared of the dark? I'm a vampire, though, like, as well. For what? No. I was kidding. But I use the vampire emoji a lot. Yes. I've seen that. Back to MIA. You've talked with her, right? Yeah. She seems really cool. She's great. Is she one of your, I know you mentioned, she's an influence, but. Is she one of your biggest? Yeah. She's so cool. I was just. She was going to come to my shirt in London. Well, she was in Canada. So, yeah. That was probably one of your first breakthrough songs, too. Yeah, it's big, I'll hit it in America. Yeah. It's a lot. But I like. That's one of my favorites. My favorite songs is "You Do You Want to Be." From my style. That's deep. That is my favorite song. Yeah. Mine of yours, I've told you this, but I think it's still metamorphosis. Yeah, you like us. I love that song. I think it was my most played song of, like, last year. Cool. Yeah. Cool. Nice. Nice one. Nice one, man. Yeah. Um. I like all my songs. I don't hate any of my songs. Interesting. 'Cause some of my friends, and, like, me, too, when I create music, we were just talking about this, actually, if there's times where I'll create a song or. or my friends will create a song, and right after it, we're, like, even if it's in a hit, or it goes really good, it's, like, mom to the next one. Like, I don't like that one. I can't hear it. That's cool. I wonder why. Well, why I like all my songs? Yeah. 'Cause I think I just spend a lot of time on every song. Like, I perfect it. Self-love? Yeah. That's pretty good. 'Cause then, a lot of people make music. They make a song within an hour. I kind of like. It's like an art piece to me. I work on one song for, like, a whole two weeks. And then, if I'm not getting bored of the song for two weeks, then I know that it's got longevity. Like, it's a song that I like. Yeah. That's cool. Um, what's your, what's your, like, favorite song right now, or go to song right now? Um, time to pretend. I have to. I have to. I play that every, 'cause I'm on tour. And I was playing that before myself. Every share. Like, I feel like the lyrics are really relatable. Yeah. That's a cool song. It's, um, very euphoric and almost like psychedelic. Yeah. I really like that kind of music. Where it's like. How are these words? Yeah. What was the answer of? Which is very hard to achieve. Do you know some of the lore on MGMT? They, uh, they didn't actually mean to become famous. Like, they were actually being satirical. Mm-hmm. With that music. And there's. Which I don't know, man. Do you think that's true? It could be. 'Cause that's it. That's it. That music is very good, like. You can't, it just made that as a joke. That's a monster piece. There's a super nostalgic video. I don't know if you've seen. I don't know when they performed that print. I think they went to Princeton. Or they. University? Yeah. Or they performed there. And it was like 2006 or something. And no one had their phones out. And everyone was just like. It's just five minutes. That's well known. That's so cool, man. Yeah. Yeah. It seemed like a very nostalgic time. Um. So that's just. That's the last song you played. Oh, before my set. Okay. What's the last song you played. Period. Did you play one this morning when you were driving here? Oh, yeah. That's a good question. No, I didn't. No. I was just listening to the subway. All right. I'm gonna give you this whiteboard. And I wanna have you draw. What was on your mind when you woke up this morning? Just first thing. First thing to draw it. Yeah. Are you. Like a drawer, at all? I mean, can I draw something before we do this? Yeah, of course. All right, cool. You can draw whatever you want. I can only draw one thing, and it's just sharp. It's a good word. That's pretty good. Nice. You nailed it. That was a good one. Thank you. I'll draw another one real quick. Okay. And then I don't get that. No, I'm entertained by these. This is good. This is. Can you guess? Doodle Bob? Oh, miss. Is it SpongeBob or Doodle Bob? You know the Duda Bob guy who runs around the puzzle. What does he say again? Me, I mean, I mean, I mean. It's a cultural thing. Wow, you are really good at this. I even know that SpongeBob has two lines in his socks. Great job. Wow. Yeah? Yeah, that's pretty good. I'm impressed. So SpongeBob, you didn't say SpongeBob earlier that was a show that you liked. SpongeBob, yeah. That was my favorite series. Wait, let me draw what you said. What do you say? Well, you kind of did. I was going to say, first thing it comes to mind. Oh. Before. When you woke up this morning, what was like your first thought? I was going to say draw it. OK, I'll do it. But maybe it was Squidward's face. Who's that? It's just a nice looking draw. That's nice. Yeah. So you're just thinking about a nice looking girl. Yeah. Real? I don't know who this is. Well, I just-- I was just thinking about a girl. Dreamgirl? No, dreamgirl. It's like, I'm in New York trying to find a wife. My plan is to get a green cloth. So I'm just going to-- I'm going to marry in the mouth. OK. That's a good goal actually. Yeah. Nice. Thank you. Good job. All right, so you are an artist. I am. People will ask, and I'm going to ask you this. But what is your, like, spirit animal? It's either a great white shark or a yellow lab puppy. I'm, like, one of the two. And they're very crazy dichotomy. But those are the two. What are yours? One. A fox. A fox? What kind of fox? It's just a normal, like, street fox. I used to have a pet fox. That's pretty cool. But it died. All right, P. It died. There's a lot of foxes and-- And a lot of-- Yeah, there's a lot. It came to it. Like, it would come to my house, and I would feed it, chicken it. I would feed it. Milk. Even some light. Some sweet, some candy. So it became part of, like, the family? Yeah. And it came in my house. And we chilled. That's pretty nice. Did you have any other pets besides the fox? I had a dog where it died. Everyone's dying. All right, P. All right, P. What was the fox's name? Onyx. Onyx? That's a perfect fox name. All right, P. Onyx. All right, P. But I resonate with foxes because I feel like they're just-- they're nomadic. They go everywhere. But they also look elegant. They do. I think I look elegant. I hope. I hope I look elegant. Yeah. You have a cool look. Thank you. Where do you get some of your fashion inspired from? I like the colorful stuff. I can tell. You're always wearing colorful stuff. I wear colorful stuff because it changes your needs. I believe music. How you dress. Everything is very important. Like, especially music. Like, I stop listening to music. It's a music that's like really violent. And my mindset has changed. Positive energy, probably. Exactly. Do you listen to any sad music? Not really. I like French music. Me too. Yeah. I like sad music though. I don't know why. Like, little peep. Did you ever have a little peep? I like black clay. Yeah. Me too. Yeah. The whole goth money. Goth, yeah, goth wiggly. Yeah. I had a show with no Tracy. I was one of my first big shows. That was cool. Was that in London? UK. Yeah, okay. I was going to say. That was just one. Little Tracy Fresh Boy. Slade with me. Everyone. It's cool. It's cool. What's a dream collab of yours? Dead or alive? M-I-A. Sancti-code. Yeah. Empty. I like female artists. I feel like a man. A boy and a girl on a song is always a good formula. Yeah. You and in Yang, a little bit, or like juxtaposition. I'm very careful as well because I feel like. It shouldn't be for a popularity game or agendas. It should just be to make a very good song. And if it doesn't work, then it shouldn't even happen. I feel that. Yeah. I'm a useless thing. Also, I think it's important. I mean, there's so many ways you can do it. There's no set formula. But it's important while you're growing to not collab with too many people. Because then, like, who are you? If you're just always doing a track with someone else? Yeah. Would you say music is more of a therapy or rebellion? Rebellion. Rebellion? Yeah. I love your positive attitude with everything. It's very. But that's like a form of punk in this day and age. It's being positive. Yeah. Because no one is. I'm a positive punk. It's crazy that that's. The shift has happened where, like, being punk now is, like, being happy and positive. Exactly. Well, being punk is breaking boundaries and norms. I feel like I'm just one Chinese. The least. I dig it. I love it. Wait, let's talk about our lore a little bit because people are probably. Yeah. I've seen a lot of questions. They're like. Is Chris. Greaming Fang? Or something? That's what I've seen shit like. That's so weird. Fire people, so weird. I don't know. People say weird stuff, man. That's crazy. But no, we. You start. How did we. Link? Or what? When did it all start? Give your perspective on your mind. You can't say it. Oh, no, no. No. I saw it. Yeah. I was in London. We got like. We got speed. We went to a nice place and. Yeah, that was great. I was actually really close to not coming to see you. Damn. I'm happy you did. No, I was just like really tired. Yeah, because you had a show the night before before. But you were. You stayed at some buddies or something? Yeah. Oh, I was. Yeah, I didn't shower. So I saw you and I was wearing my friends clothes. And I was just. Yeah. It was good. I mean, I wouldn't. I probably wouldn't be here if I didn't see that. Me neither. Yeah. So thank you for. for making me effort. It was winter, last winter, and I happened to be in London. And I was like, alright, let's kind of see what he's about. And you would come out with a couple great songs at that time. And I. Something I get a joy out of the sharing things I like with people. And like, you know, I've kind of built up a little bit of a platform where I'm able to showcase people and things I like. And you're a great example of that. And I was, you know, lucky to be able to meet with you then. And kind of like. Grimming is the worst term ever. Blossom or like. Blossom. Blossom. Grimming, man. Grimming, no. Bad word. Weird word. Blossom. And. And how. Fertilize. Fertilize. That's also kind of stuff. Yeah. But like, placing my soul in shit. Yeah. It helps me. And just using it in TikTok. I remember exactly like. Yeah. I'm not going to say it indeed. I. You have, like, get my soul in front of people. And I love them. And they're a homie, so. It's very. I think so. Of course, bro. Of course. What are you most excited for right now? My next project. Which is coming up. Which is coming up, so. Yeah. It's more mature. Like, I like my. Like, obviously, my music now is cool. But people judge me of that music. But the music that's coming now is. I feel like it's more. Well, you're growing. It's more mature. Yeah, like the next album. I'm like a young adult almost. I'm 19. So it's going to be good. Because I was making a music. I was like 1780. But now I'm 19. I'm refining it more. It's more of like. It's not really like. It's a traditional rap. It's like. Pop rap. Indie music. Everything. Mm-hmm. Like, as I said, it's kind of authentic. And it's like. Edgy in the way. Yeah. And I'm excited for it. I think I've heard a little bit of it. But I'm very excited for it, I think. Back to your. I feel like you have a bit of a uniform with fashion. It's always Vans. Always Vans. Yeah, let's talk about those. I like. I like Vans. I like the. Kind of. When they're kind of worn out. Because I wear them. I don't like when they're keen. I used to. I wish I could show a picture. I'll find it. Will it be? I would go beat up my Vans. No. Before I would wear them. It doesn't look natural. No, I know. It was fake. I learned I was like 16 at that time. But little B would have like the most fucked up white authentic Vans. I want to go into the band. With little B. Like our collection versus his collection. We could try to make that happen. That would be pretty funny. But. He was such an inspiration for me when I was young. And a huge part of my interest in my story. I tried to get him to speak at my high school graduation. Did he reply? He replied. What did he say? He replies to everything. He said he was like, "Hell yeah, fly me out, let's do it." And I tried to tell my teachers and They like who's a little bee they're not based. No, they were not based. They're not a touch. But yeah Shout little B for always being like cool with his fans and he Almost to a crazy amount he probably today if we hit him right now He'll respond on like Twitter something in like two minutes. He's chronically online. His screen time is brought. What's your screen time? How do know I see a couple hours? They keep that okay. Yeah, I don't know. I should I can tell you But that's crazy you'll be that's that's crazy low. Yeah, now huge the pack shout out the pack shout a little B Big big I like we both know, but I like them because There's so many different colors and ways you can wear like a rich murky machine. Yeah with this random as t-shirt cat tied I t-shirt Someone I saw a comment someone said you dress like a 90s camp counselor or something. I've heard everything They say I'm like a indie teach and art school t-shirt, huh? I mean, yeah, fuck you. Yeah, I look cool shit That's great. You do and it's unique like I don't it's you Thank you. You're very funny. I want to talk about your internet presence a little bit How like is it top of mind or do you just like? Wing it I was just wing it. Yeah, I Saw something where you said like the theme for tonight shows like androgynous squirrel chipmunk chipmunk And then the other the night before it was like yeah theme for tonight's show is like Honda Civic Yeah, it's a joke. I know I love it. It's funny. It is funny. Someone actually pulled up to the show with a picture of a Honda Civic They were in character. They were in car like that was probably the early possibility Abided by the justice. Did you let them in VIP? I should of you should of bars. I think I gave them a high five Okay, so they got some sort of like some recognition. They got clout. Yeah, they go clout. How are you dealing with The fame or like getting, you know, recognize more. How does it impact you? Yeah, it's pretty cool I don't know. It's just like moving. Yeah, if you act like the famous, then you feel the fame a bit more But if you just act like a regular dude It's not really any different. Yeah, I feel like you have more friends. That's such a good way staying humble and like Acting like everyone. I think it's your friend is a great way to look at it. It's very nice Yeah, and what do you do the people know that you have they don't they don't yet? No, but that's like you like how is your My what what Wait, oh, yeah, I'm gonna say no, we don't have to no, can I talk about your yeah, we can yeah, he has a job. I do have a job people know I have a job I Can't see it as I've grown all this and I don't know What to exactly like call it or title it because I don't like a term influencer that's so lame Sorry shout out to my influencer friends, but I just don't like that You want something more? I want I see something bigger. Yeah, and there's a couple influences that I you know aspire to be like and you know Johnny Carson He was a really cool Talk show host and like personality in LA and Hollywood in like the 70s and 80s and Kind of bridged the gap for a lot of generations and brought on people to a show that were from all different walks of life and all different creativities and He's just a cool character and he brought out the best in his friends and the people he brought on the show and I think in our day and age there's not really someone of course There's like late night TVs and there he was BET and all that but like there's not I feel like they feel sanitized. Yeah, exactly. It's washed now. It's more real So I brought you something. I know you like fried chicken. No try again I'm gonna see it pancakes. No, it's not pancakes either Oh You had told me that you liked yeah, Luke's lobster. I'm when I was in Chicago I had these So I brought you we brought you. Thank you Jake shout out shout out Jake Luke's lobster Can I open up? Yeah, we can eat these right now Looks dry he's a mayor you all may I want it? Nice corp. Still. Let's go Yeah, now these are these are great. I'm excited for these ready. Yeah, okay. Let's look at this look cheers Very delicious. I love this place did I put you on no? Did I told you on bro Luke's lobsters has been a place in New York for like 15 years remember I sent you a message I was like when you're in Chicago. You got to try to mix those yeah, but I was confused because I didn't know as a chain It's like a national chain They have it so my first apartment when I moved to New York and was at 2016 There's a Luke's lobsters on the upper east side right near it and that's when I got put on but I love that you love it too So it's definitely it's all free. Yeah, it's all free for sure But yeah, we'll eat our lobsters now. Yes, thank you so much for coming. I'm very appreciative of you Your goat Thank you. Let's grow together. That's great together. Thank you. Welcome JPEG. Thank you Chris. Hey This is Chris. Hey, you know me better. Hi Chris. Hi This is the Chris. Hi. Sure. Thank you for the listener. Thank you

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. The artist, Fang, creates music rooted in real-life experiences and takes about a month to develop each song, often refining it over weeks until it feels authentic and lasting.
  2. Fang is inspired by edgy, non-conformist artists like M.I.A., Kid Cardi, and Santa Gold, and values imperfection in music, seeing it as a reflection of human authenticity and positivity.
  3. Fang emphasizes staying grounded, protecting his energy from manipulative or transactional relationships, and maintaining close, authentic friendships as a foundation for his creative and personal growth.

Summary:

Fang, a UK-based artist from Croydon, shares his journey from a creative upbringing to building a music career rooted in authenticity and real-life experiences. His songs are deeply personal, developed over months through a meticulous process that ensures emotional depth and longevity. A.

and the raw edge of grime and indie pop, Fang rejects polished, formulaic music, instead favoring imperfections and genuine emotion. He credits his self-expression to a hands-on approach—recording, producing, and performing himself—while remaining grounded through close friendships and a refusal to be swayed by fame or commercial agendas. Fang values positivity and humility, describing his art as a form of rebellion and self-empowerment.

He resists labels like “influencer,” instead aspiring to the role of a relatable, authentic figure—like Johnny Carson—bridging diverse cultures through genuine connection. A key part of his identity is his energetic, playful internet presence, often featuring absurd themes like “Honda Civic” or “androgynous squirrel,” which fosters community and fun. He is currently working on a more mature, mature pop-indie project reflecting his growth from age 17 to 19, and remains committed to authenticity in both music and lifestyle.

He wears vintage Vans, embraces colorful, eclectic fashion, and values music as both therapy and rebellion, drawing from personal experiences and cultural touchstones like SpongeBob and Goths. Fang’s story is one of self-discovery, resilience, and joyful authenticity, where personal evolution and community engagement go hand in hand.

FAQs

The name 'Fang' is a combination of his parents' names.

Fang bases his songs on real-life experiences and spends about a month refining each track, often working on them for two weeks before finalizing.

Fang expects the album to come out around March of the following year.

He is most inspired at night, when it's dark and quiet, and believes his best ideas come when he's not disturbed by external noise.

He cites artists like M.I.A., Girl A-Sat, and Santa Gold, who create edgy, unconventional music that blends pop with grime and authenticity.

Fang's spirit animal is a fox, which he once had as a pet named Onyx. He connects with foxes for their nomadic and elegant nature.

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