promqueen
I’m super excited to share this new interview with promqueen who has just released her new album szn two ! She has grown and evolved so much since the first record and I’m super happy to witness all that !
szn two is amazing and it deserves to be heard by everyone. It’s a well-crafted album that only offers quality songs. promqueen is one hell of a talent and she is definitely one of the best artists ever featured on my music blog. I really cannot wait for her to conquer the world, because she deserves it !
szn two is now available worldwide !
Hi promqueen, how are you? What have you been up to since our last conversation?
Hi better, I am doing pretty well - thanks for asking! Glad to be back with you - we are big fans of you. Since our last convo, we have been running full speed ahead with our szn two launch. In a year, we’ve played our first out of town and out state shows, was awarded a Austin Cultural Arts grant, named Austin’s KUTX radio Artist of the Month, selected by Try Hard Coffee for first vinyl pressing and curated coffee roast, performed alongside an orchestra and choir with select arrangements of our songs, recorded a mini documentary featuring a Vietnamese American dinner and conversation with our community, and announced our ACL Weekend one performance!Oour team has grown in so many ways and we are continuing to dream big and share our story.
How does it feel like to release this new project?
Every release feels surreal. This album came together quickly and I am proud of the topics I dive into. The hardest part always for me is staying present and celebrating the release. I am always dreaming ahead and while that’s exciting, I know that others will be experiencing this fresh for the first time and I want to be in that joy.
What's the story/inspiration behind this project? Could you describe the songwriting/production process behind it? When did you start working on it?
My first album, szn one, was a promqueen sampler platter. It’s bright and sparkly. szn two is a deep dive into the dark fairytale forest where promqueen explores stories of her immigrant family, herself, how she processes these experiences. Some songs were sent to me and I wrote over it and others were more collaborative. I wrote two of them when I was sick and bored and one on a plane - I am sure folks wondered why I was mumbling under my breath, (laughs). waverly (my co-producer) and I started working on szn two at the tail end of writing szn one. The songs came naturally and from there it snowballed into a full album with the final addition of sweet mưa rừng, which is an ode to a traditional Vietnamese folk song, mưa rừng.
What different topics are you talking about on this project? What's the story behind each song?
I explore themes of French Colonization in Vietnam and how it affected my family, racism within my family, self and cultural identity acceptance/processing. It’s about unraveling brokenness, accepting myself and finding my resilience. I am launching a digital album tour later this fall chatting about each song so follow me @saypromqueen on IG and you can find out what each song is about :)
What did you feel when recording "mountain"?
A lot of my delivery on “mountain” was informed by how I perform it live. I love performing “mountain”. It performs itself and makes me feel strong, dynamic and multi-dimensional. The characters in it are so fun to play. Through the song, I am telling my dad’s story of running away from danger and finding inner strength so that’s what I embodied when recording it.
Any favorite memories from the making of this project?
Too many to count between the stressful moments of rolling the project out, (laughs). writing and recording with waverly is always a good time. I loved working with one of my dear co-writers, KAKI on a few tracks. We are both equally goofy and hella productive.
Favorite memory #1: capping off the project with an impromptu write for sweet mưa rừng. The album didn’t feel finished to me and waverly was a good sport about me wanting to add another song to our album so we wrote this song in one session and it is truly one of my favorites.
Favorite memory #2: I learned about my maternal great grandmother and grandmother’s story when they experienced the French colonizing their village. My mom never shared that story with me before and this heavily informed number on me. I was simultaneously processing another family member’s experience with domestic abuse at the time which was very hard and my heart goes out to those and loved ones adjacent experiencing it. from that, I combined these topics that seemed oddly related to one another to process it all. It’s the most research I’ve done on song and embodies so many layers of emotions.
Favorite memory #3: I worked alongside my bestie @samesiesart to create tarot inspired guiding cards corresponding with each song on the album. It was a 6 month project and so fun to dive into the intricacies of something neither one of us have ever done before. As you can see, a huge theme is just giving it a good ol’ try together and see what happens and usually, it’s slay.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
For the album photo shoot, we worked with one of the greats, Chie Endo. Everything we tried was very experimental. We were going for very intentional and dramatic lighting. Chie was incredible and I’m proud to say, we beat the mood board. All szn two album covers are meant to convey darker, dramatic tones where it feels like something is amiss but I am unafraid and confronting it, literally facing the object or camera to symbolize that.
You've been performing a lot of shows lately - what did you learn about yourself and as a performer?
I love honing in on performance details like crowd work, transitions, taking more water breaks and giving myself time. I am grateful for an incredible team that backs me like my co-manager, stage manager/creative director, stylist, choreographer, dancers and etc. We are all very intentional about our show from beginning to end. I’ve learned to stay confident in my performance and crowd work even if the crowd isn’t responding as I expect and not letting myself get swayed or pressured into doing what I think others want me to do. I’m owning what I bring to the stage and leaving it on the stage.
What do you like the most about being an artist?
Most times, it’s very easy to forget the good because the hustle can grind hard.
These days, the most rewarding thing is being able to process my cultural and self identity through this project and connecting with my family and other AAPI more. I’ve come to love the craft and prioritizing my focus which is telling stories. It’s something bigger than myself. It’s been surprising and surprise is best part of art. Another thing I love is getting to spend my time with people I care deeply about - that’s a gift I recognize most don’t have and I treasure it. we dream big, play pretend, make art, take care and keep lifting each other.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the release of szn one?
Keep allowing myself to have fun. if it isn’t fun, stop and reset. Keep learning to trust and collaborate. Art is not a formula. keep expanding and taking up space.
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