Rising artist Chi is the latest artist out of the bubbling Canadian music scene, and he’s made an impressive return with new single “Demons”. Although a newcomer in the industry, the 20-year-old, Vancouver-based artist has already showcased his huge talent on previous successes “19” and “Gemini”, which drew attention online, and he looks set to accelerate his rise with this latest release.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Chi about the Demons release, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada. I would say my music is mainly a mix of hip-hop and R&B. But I don’t like to put myself in a box and I like experimenting with new sounds and mixing stuff from different genres together to make music that’s more unique and original to me.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I first started making music when I was 16, and it was a way for me to get my emotions out during a rough patch I had in my life. I never talked to people about my problems so I held everything in and music was a great way to let my feelings out. The biggest things that motivate me are for sure my family and the evolution of my sound and how far I’ve come since I started.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
“Demons” is different because it shows a new sound to my supporters and how much the quality of my music has gone up over the year. I wanted this release to get people excited for what I have in store for the rest of 2021.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this over saturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Making music that’s original has become a lot harder these days because there’s just simply so much music being made right now. Anyone with a laptop and USB microphone can make a song now, so there’s nothing that really hasn’t been done. But at the same time, technology has helped me because if it wasn’t so easy nowadays to make a home studio who knows if I ever would have started making my own songs, so it has its pros and cons.
What was the last song you listened to?
EST Gee – “No Friends”
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
MP3
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Spotify because I feel like they are the most user-friendly.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
The best place to see what I’m up to is Instagram, and I also have a Twitter.
Anything else before we sign off?
I just wanna say I appreciate everyone that’s been running up the streams on “Demons”, and there’s more to come soon.
