We had a chat with wildly creative dark-pop artist Fae following the release of her new EP false memories
Armed with an imposing and infectious dark pop sound and all of the charisma and personality in the world, Fae is an exciting, cutting edge artist who has put together a collection of tracks that highlight just why ourselves an countless others have been lauding her talent.
This has culminated in the release of her brand new EP false memories, a release that does a captivating job of highlighting the sheer scope and expansiveness of her intoxicating sound, packed full of tracks that feel both unique and creative but with that Fae DNA running right through them. Her sound feels volatile, delicate, creative, exciting, fresh and unlike anything that has preceded it, giving lovers of alternative and dark pop something to sink their teeth into and fall in love with. We had a chat with the fiercely exciting star and found out some more about the release and her journey so far.
Who TF is Fae?
Someone who is combating the feelings of feminine rage through songwriting instead of slashing people’s tires (my old therapist would be so proud, you did good Rhonda). I’m a queer Japanese and Jewish east coast native with a cutting tongue and fiery disposition that writes music for a younger version of myself. I’m also just generally a little shit because I think it’s silly! And fun! 🙂
How long have you been making music?
The earliest proof I’ve found of my songwriting is from third grade. It’s a song typed completely earnestly in Comic Sans that’s about three pages long because I had never heard of the concept of “song form” at the ripe age of 7. As far as I’m aware, I haven’t stopped since.
Why do you make music?
It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. I feel like the answer is the same for most creatives – you have this creature that lives inside of your stomach, you have no idea where it came from, and it gnaws at your insides until it’s fed by the act of creating, and it’s never satiated. The reason I make the music I currently do is to make anyone who reminds me of a younger version of myself feel more powerful. I want to make music until I’ve created an entire army of people that feel fearless and terrifying and unstoppable. And then I will have a little treat, and continue making more music.
What are your biggest influences?
I feel like I can be a little scattered sonically, but Halsey is definitely an artist that really resonates with me and has been a massive influence. There was a short period of time where I thought I didn’t want to do music anymore, and her album Badlands came out, and I just remember having this visceral feeling like “woah, that is exactly what I want to be making” and it pulled me right back in. I love that she doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks of her or anything else that’s happening culturally, and I adore her poetic and unapologetic writing style.
Aside from Halsey, I go back to my middle school roots a lot. I love referencing Arctic Monkeys, Christina Aguilera, Paramore, Panic! At The Disco (specifically AFYCSO of course), BANKS, and Willa Ford. I’m also super inspired and influenced by so many of the artists that surround me in LA – whether it’s my own friends or an artist that I find on Tiktok, I fucking love that the musical landscape has opened up so much over the last few years.
What would you say has been your best moment so far?
Going to Spotify’s SALT playlist to listen to it and seeing my song “devil may care” on there. I literally just sat there for 20 minutes in complete shock and kept checking the playlist throughout the day to make sure it was still there since I was convinced it had to have been a mistake. There were only four new songs added that day – one was new Taylor Swift, the other was me (?????).
I also recently got a comment on Tiktok from someone telling me that my music shook them out of a 7 month funk that they’d been in since their mom passed away and my songs made them feel powerful and like they can do anything..it just made me so happy to see my music have the exact intended effect I wanted on someone and really fucked me up in the best way possible.
How would you describe your sound to somebody unfamiliar with it?
Someone once described my music as “kill your boyfriend pop” and I’ve yet to think of a better descriptor, so we’re going with that.
What’s your dream “I’ve made it” moment?
I just went to Coachella for the first time a few weeks ago and I can now not stop thinking about headlining it. I want the crowd all the way back to the rainbow tower with thousands of people singing my words back to me. Also Halsey is a surprise guest, I get to pole dance during my set, and someone feeds me pizza on stage. (I just came up with this literally right now but this is now my new dream).
We love your new EP ‘false memories’, what more can you tell us about it?
I have actually had the concept for this EP for years. When I was 16, I read Salvador Dali’s autobiography and was absolutely fascinated by one chapter in particular, titled “false childhood memories”. He tells you from the start that everything in that chapter didn’t actually happen, and then proceeds to describe everything in such detail that you forget about that entirely. I became obsessed with the idea that most ways of how we remember events in our life are false memories in one way or another. We remember things from our own perspective in such detail that the objective truth ultimately becomes irrelevant, so the EP are all songs that encapsulate that to me. Whether it’s a song about a confrontation that felt more violent in your memory than it was in real life (devil may care), or is loosely based off a hook up that did actually happen but didn’t actually have the cruel energy portrayed in the song in real life (INTRUSIVE), every song is about how things existed in my own mind when I thought about them later – real life need not apply.
Also fun fact: the cover for the EP and the other photos from that shoot were largely inspired by Ira Cohen’s Mylar Chamber series from the late 60’s (the photos are incredible and I strongly recommend opening a new tab right now to google it. It’s okay, I’ll wait). I created my own mylar chamber in my kitchen and had my old roommate Taylor shoot the cover for me and I’m over the fucking moon with how they came out. I wanted the cover to feel like two different realities and the fact that we achieved that with practical effects in my own apartment is, to me, *chefs kiss*
What else do you have planned for the near future?
I think this is the first time I’m saying this publicly, but I have been WAITING for this EP to come out since it is the first release of many this year – I think I have something planned for every month from now through October. We’re going straight to the moon baby!!!
And finally, who is your biggest fan right now?
My dog Fang and my roommate Ray equally throw ass to all of my unreleased demos, shout out both of em.
