Whitianga-based musician FĒI LÍN sat down with fellow Kiwi-Asian Elvisa van der Leden to share some insights on some of the elements that bring her music to life.
I hear you’ve recently released a couple of songs! What are they titled and when did they come out?
Love is a Ladder was released on 4th October. My other recent single, You are the Mirror, released last month on 15th November – I was fortunate to get funding from NZ On Air to shoot my first music video for it!
Those are really lovely song titles. Can you tell us more about what inspired these songs?
Love is a Ladder is a dreamy jazzy tune, inspired by the pull between the comfort of one’s own company, and the gentle hope to share it. That love isn’t only an outwards, romantic experience, but like climbing a ladder inwards, to meet your true self. To share that journey with someone is really special, but also requires a great amount of vulnerability and courage to expand.
Like exploring that vast limitlessness of potential?
Yes, that’s it! And then You are the Mirror is a song about friendship and how when you’re in any kind of relationship with someone, they’re going to be your mirror. It’s a song about how I’m really grateful for that with my friends. They will always help me see the things I forget to see in myself, and vice versa. Like, any time they’re doubting themselves, as a friend you lift them up and say “No, you got this!”
I love that. I have a motto where I try to ‘surround myself with people I want to be like’. The idea that you’re more likely to become like those you hang out with. Do you feel the confidence to recognise that you bring a light into other people’s lives?
Yeah, a friendship should be like a reciprocal relationship where you’re both enhancing each other’s lives and can lean on one another when you need the support. I would love to think that I enrich my friend’s lives as much as they enrich mine. I started playing music through the inspiration and encouragement of friendship. That’s an invaluable gift!
What instruments do you play and what inspires you to play them?
I sing and play guitar. I was raised listening to a lot of different music and was always an avid music lover and gig goer. But what inspired me to play originally was my father dropping me off at my first guitar lesson as a 12 year old and speeding off before I could jump back in the car! Now I’m grateful for that little push, as it’s thanks to my dad for giving me that foundation that I’ve picked it up again later in life. It wasn’t until I moved to the Coromandel five years ago that I started to play guitar again and learn to sing, finding confidence in musical community. I have always written a lot of poetry, so the transition to songwriting came naturally. I like to write about whatever is present in my heart or on my mind.
“I would love to think that I enrich my friend’s lives as much as they enrich mine.”
I noticed your lyrics are very poetic!
Yeah, I love poetry because when you’re reading or sharing a poem, people are going to get different things because it’s not always literal. You can take away your own personal experience of what the poet is expressing. I love hearing what someone will read in my poem or hear in a song, because sometimes I don’t even know what I’m writing or singing about and then I’ll be like “Oh my gosh, that’s so true!” It’s just very therapeutic. And I also love listening to music in other languages where you don’t even know what the lyrics are but you can still feel and understand the music. The whole combination of vocals, the instruments, balance, rhythm and space can speak to something deep.
Would you say you like to listen to quite immersive music?
I listen to everything; soul, funk, folk, jazz, R&B, rock, country, classical, reggae … and so on!
“I love poetry because when you’re reading or sharing a poem, people are going to get different things because it’s not always literal”.
How would you describe your music?
Indie, folk, jazz? But my recent single Love is a Ladder is very much jazz and I’m a sucker for a sax or trumpet solo. You are the Mirror is poppy with tones of R&B and funk. It’s a bit more upbeat – my debut single I released last year The River Beneath Us, had a chill bossa folk vibe. So I like mixing it up. I don’t really want to be contained to one genre.
Where can we listen to your music?
Anywhere you usually stream your music! Search for ‘FĒI LÍN’on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music, Bandcamp etc! 🙂
And do you have any upcoming gigs where we can see you perform?
Yes, I’m excited to be playing a show in Whitianga at the Monkey House Theatre on Friday, 13th December! I’ll be joined by my friend Elsa Klein, a singersongwriter who also plays the grand harp and flute. Please come along! Tickets are $10 + booking fee from UTR.co.nz, or there will be door sales if not sold out! Elsa and I will also be performing at the Coromind ArtWorks (14 Coghill Street, Whitianga) on 21st January!
Go to Under The Radar Website for more info and to buy tickets.
Follow FĒI LÍN for updates on her music journey:
Beach Photos by Christian Tjandrawinata
Live shots by Azrie Azizi
Words by Elvisa Van der Leden
