Provided by fluffle asia
Hong Kong-Australian singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist Rainbow Chan joins the fluffle podcast lineup as their second guest, sharing her unique path to artistic and financial sustainability on episode two launching 3rd April.
Named part of the ‘40 under 40’ list for most influential Asian Australians in 2022 and awarded ‘Artist of the Year’ under the fbi radio SMAC awards, the award-winning and innovative artist started with roots firmly planted in a contemporary music background before making the segway into visual artistry midway through her career, and often uses multiple mediums to explores the intersection between her cultural heritage, femininity and art in a myriad of ways.
On the second episode of the podcast set in Chan’s colourful, eclectic studio in Collingwood Yards Melbourne, Rainbow spoke candidly about her struggles, misconceptions and journey to finding her own unique definition of artistic success, and how this multi-hyphenate handles it all.
Of the conversation, Asian Pop Weekly founder, industry executive and music journalist and host of the podcast Jocelle Koh shared:
“It was a no-brainer to have Rainbow on the podcast. She is one of the most fluid and exciting artists I’ve ever had the pleasure of speaking to, and each time she comes back with a new project, it is always a vibrant and unique celebration of her heritage, growth and worldview that is always equally visually and sonically stimulating. You will never have one Rainbow project that sounds anything like the next, and we wanted to pick Rainbow’s brain on how that happened so organically for her.”
Recently working on a theatre show titled “The Bridal Lament” which has already held sold-out productions across Australia and received rave reviews, this project represents the next elevation of Chan’s artistry from the studio to the gallery to the stage, exploring her Weitou heritage through the lens of her current worldview as an Asian-Australian woman and creative.
Chan is also preparing to release a music video for single ‘Pomelo Water’, a song from The Bridal Lament production and upcoming album which talks about the cultural connotations of bathing in Pomelo water for the Weitou people, the first settlers in Hong Kong. Of the song and upcoming music video, Chan shares:
“Historically, on the night before her arranged marriage, the bride-to-be would bathe in pomelo water to wash away her bad luck. She’s expected to shed her past and become a new person – a subservient wife. “Pomelo Water” is my subversion of that narrative, thinking through what it means to face erasure in both historical and contemporary contexts. The accompanying video is a satire and explores the theme of defiance through play and self-expression, whilst referencing old school Cantopop karaoke videos.”
Stills from music video for single “Pomelo Water”, taken from upcoming album The Bridal Lament.
The tongue-in-cheek music video pays homage playfully to the 80s-90s era of ‘generic’ karaoke music videos. The release of the music video will be advised at a further date.
Stills from music video for single “Pomelo Water”, taken from upcoming album The Bridal Lament.
Checking out Asian Pop Weekly’s analysis of Rainbow’s last album ‘Stanley’ in the context of 80s and 90’s Mandopop as well as our interview on 2019 electronic album ‘Pillar’ to witness Chan’s evolution on this journey!
The fluffle podcast with Rainbow Chan goes live April 3rd on Spotify, iTunes and other podcast platforms. Follow fluffle.Asia on Instagram and TikTok, and Rainbow Chan on Instagram for more information about The Bridal Lament.
