Jolie Chen: Reflects on her first single Under the cover

Speaking to Jolie Chen about her first single Under the cover saw her share about her upbringing in China as a child before eventually moving to the United States of America as a 14-year-old. Her motive for moving to America was for education. To explore her individuality.

Growing up Jolie was introduced to music through her mother who recommend that she take up classical music as a hobby.

Through this experience, Jolie started to build more confidence in herself and her love for music began. Although it was hard to convince her family at the time that music as a career was a viable option Jolie chose to study music business at the University of New York where she would find a way to follow her music dream and build a solid foundation with the business side of music. Which she is thoroughly enjoying.

Outside of being an artist, Jolie also does freelance video production for other artists. Helping other artists to create video content was what led Jolie to create her music video for her single under the cover. She wanted to create a music video that would stand out from the predictable way of storytelling in modern society today.

Her video under the cover is cinematic and challenges the viewer to take in every moment of the song. Its slow-paced atmosphere immediately demands attention as you are taken through a series of emotions captured nostalgically. Jolie Chen is inspired by the likes of Erykah Badu and looks to carry on the traditions of neo-soul artists who have inspired her to create the music she does today.

For more on Jolie Chen, read our interview below:

This interview has been lightly edited for the purpose of clarity and context.

Daniel Young: The first time I heard about your music was that through discord. The very first song that I listened to was actually “Under the cover”. I remember watching the music video and favourite scene is the tent scene where you guys are playing rock, paper, scissors. Can you perhaps talk me through the music video?

Jolie Chen: That’s interesting because everyone that I’ve spoken to their favourite scene is the smoking one. I freelance and produce for a lot of artists in New York city and under the cover was my first single that I released in August. I worked on the music video with a few friends of mine that I usually work with. I always wanted to put out my own music video and I asked them to help me with it. Because the song itself is slow, I wanted the music video to also mimic the song in that way. If you watch the music video closely you can see that there is a story behind it. The opening scene starts with me laying on my bed and going through my phone and I suddenly throw it to one side to look at this bouquet of flowers. That symbolizes that I’m going through this ‘situationship’ and I’m getting really annoyed that this guy isn’t responding to my texts. Later it switches to a point of view angle where you can see my emotions when I received the flowers. The reason behind the video being so slow is that because these days all music videos are so fast paced because of people’s attention spans. I wanted to try something different.  I must admit that could be one of the reasons why my views aren’t going crazy now because you must sit down and pay attention to whats going on in the music video.

Daniel Young: I know that you mentioned you were busy preparing for finals, how is that going?

Jolie Chen: So, I am studying music business at New York University. Besides being an artist, I do a lot of things on the business side too. It’s going well. On the business side of things, I have worked in Orchestra and done artist relations for a small label based in Europe.  I also did concert promotion here and there, right now I trying to gain more industry experience as I go along.

Daniel Young: What is the least favourite thing that you’ve done so far?

Jolie Chen: I wouldn’t say that I disliked anything that I’ve done. Everything that I did just taught me that it’s something that isn’t for me. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t like it. Through everything that I do I try to learn something and see what I can take away from the experience in a positive light.  For example, working on live music is cool but I’m not much of a party person so working on live music shows daily wouldn’t be for me.

Daniel Young: Growing up in China and coming to the United States at the age of 14 years old, what was that experience like? How was it growing up in China? What made you move to America?

Jolie Chen: Growing up in was different. Well in terms of education it is much stricter than when you compare it to America.  I moved to America for schooling purposes. I wanted to pursue to my individuality. In China everyone studies the same subjects and does the same test. There isn’t really this path where you are able to create your own journey. In America you can become and do what you want and essentially choose your own path, there is more freedom in that regard.  That’s why I came here.

Daniel Young: Was there any challenges you faced when you first came over?

Jolie Chen:  I would say something that I had to come to terms with was fitting in. The high school that I attended was mostly filled with white kids and this caused me to become white-washed and for a bit I even followed white culture because that was the type of environment I was being brought up in at the time. After coming to New York with its various cultures I feel that I have found my group of people and where I belong. I appreciate my identity more now that I am here. Also, the music that I am making is pure neo-soul type of music and I draw a lot of influences from the city itself.

Daniel Young: How would you describe your creative process?

Jolie Chen: My creative process? I just write what I feel. It’s simple but that’s what I do. For the under the cover, it took me about 8 months to write the song. I started writing the song when I just got into my relationship. Then only after two months I began to work on the writing process again.

Daniel Young: Wasn’t it frustrating taking so long to work on the song?

Jolie Chen:  Yes, it was. It still happens to me these days that I take long to finish projects or ideas that I am working on. I have a bad habit of leaving things unfinished.

Daniel Young: Are you working on new music?

Jolie Chen: I am planning on releasing my second single soon…  The production is already finished I just need to hop into the studio and record the song now. Other than that, I have been performing here and there in New York. I did my first solo show in front of about 100 people which was a different experience for me. That night the energy was good, and the way people gravitated to the second single was amazing.

Daniel Young: Lastly, was music always something that you wanted to do?

Jolie Chen: Hell no! Look when you’re from a traditional Asian family, music wasn’t something that I thought about. My mother introduced me to classical music to build my confidence. I never really took it seriously until I moved to America. Even then my parents told me that music can just be like a side hobby. I shouldn’t really put all my eggs in that basket.  That’s how I ended up studying music business because it was a combination of both. Music that I love and a solid foundation to build a career out of with the business side.