A Conversation With Angel Fang, Who Doesn’t Chase Perfect

Angel Fang found a chunk of its audience the way a lot of music finds people now, through a Reel at 1 am, no context, just a sound that wouldn’t leave. Behind it is a California-based musician who spent a long stretch unhappy with the music he was making before landing on something he could actually stand behind, guided in part by his brother’s advice to lean hard into one thing before letting other influences back in.

We talked about the gap between American and Asian alt scenes, the new single ‘B L E A C H,’ and why he’s finally open to playing his first show, with Romania, hopefully, on the list.

Hello, and first of all, I am happy we’re doing this! Thanks to social media, many people, including myself, discovered your sound almost by accident: a random Reel, a late-night scroll, and suddenly I was trying to find the artist behind a sound that stuck.  What was your reaction when you realised your music was reaching strangers like that? 

Thank you so much for taking the time to set up this interview; your interest in my work means so much to me. 

It is definitely a new experience to have this relationship with a social media music fan base and the internet music community at large. I come from a more traditional underground music background where everybody is invested in live performances to reach an audience. Normally, every local band starts by playing to a room of maybe 10 of your friends, and over time, you slowly build a bigger audience by playing more shows. 

Since social media has taken audience attention on a global scale, it feels like your reach is much greater at a faster pace, even without having to play live right at the onset. I think, though, playing live is still the best way to build a true audience if your goal is to be a musician with longevity. 

Let’s do some time traveling: do you remember the exact moment Angel Fang stopped being just an idea and became something real? 

I’m not sure if there was ever one exact moment when this project felt real to me other than when I dropped my first single. I have this really bad knack for waiting until something is perfect to finally release something when, in actuality, I struggle between insecurity and admitting when something is not a good idea. 

When I dropped “Falling Star,” I knew it wasn’t perfect, but the song represented something I could fully get behind. That’s when it felt like this project could maybe go somewhere. 

Behind every musician, there is often a version of themselves that existed prior to their project becoming recognizable. Who were you before this project took form? 

I don’t know if this answers your question, but I was very confused about where I was as a musician for a long time. It felt like I was making music that wasn’t aligning with what I actually love to listen to. So much of my taste was influenced by what my peers were listening to at the time; it just felt comfortable to fall in line with their scene or try to fit in with what was happening around me. 

At the time, I was quite unhappy with my direction and was doing some dreadful soul searching before starting Angel Fang, but beyond the genre or scene or whatnot, this project honestly took shape because I simply wanted to make music that I truly resonated with.

Your sound has a very specific emotional, almost eerie atmosphere, like a memory you can’t fully place. When you create, what does that world usually look or feel like at the beginning? 

Usually, I don’t have a specific emotion or mood I have in mind but rather explore an idea until that ‘world’ reveals itself. I might start with a riff or a hook or even a song title, then if I stay with it long enough, something interesting always happens. 

This won’t sound sexy, but most of the time, the process for me is almost like I’m clocking in at work or putting in reps at the gym. Every day I try to scope for the right set of moods, stories and sounds that’ll eventually piece together like a puzzle piece. 

Do you feel like Angel Fang is something you molded, or something you slowly discovered about yourself over time? 

I would say it’s a little bit of both. As I mentioned in a previous question, I did a lot of soul searching to get to where I’m at because I was super unhappy with where I was as a musician. A lot of the credit goes to my brother because he’s the one who mentored me through a lot of what I am today as an artist. He always knew how to process what he’s listening to and channel those influences into the music he makes cohesively. 

He taught me that I should learn how to lean into something specific I really vibe with and explore that with tunnel vision for a while. You can then start molding your other influences once you establish some of your core sounds. 

As an international artist, how do you feel about the European/American musical scene compared to the Asian one? What differences can you point out? 

I can really only speak on my experience as an Asian American musician but from my experience, Asian alternative scenes at large get very low visibility compared to all the other alternative scenes in the states. Being from California, I think asian alts enjoy a level of visibility being at the forefront of the global music stage. However, a band might pop off because they’re a great band but not necessarily because there’s this space in the scene for asian alts to build a community around. 

The benefit of alternative scenes in Asia is that the majority of the people in those spaces are asians so they already feel represented. I think we enjoy the vast diversity of cultures in American alternative spaces, but maybe lacking in Asian representation, along with many other POCs. 

Are you currently in other musical projects as well, or is Angel Fang your only baby? 

I sometimes sit in for bass in an indie rock band called “House on Stilts” from Oakland.

I want you to imagine this: there is someone who has never heard your project before, and they’re also absolutely new to the genre. What song would you give them as their first introduction, and what does that song reveal about you? 

I would tell them to listen to my new single “B L E A C H” because it’s the newest iteration of this project that will reveal which direction I’m looking to take the music. The production is also better than what it started with, so I’d love to hear people’s reactions to the new sound quality. 

If someone fell asleep listening to your music, what kind of dream do you think they would wake up from? 

Hopefully a dark sci-fi fantasy dream where there’s magic, dragons, and hella dope fits like in Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts, or a liminal ambient space kind of dream where the lighting is grainy and mysterious. 

What tunes are on repeat in your playlist these days? 

I’ve been listening to a lot of We Cults, topographies, Provoker, Zeruel, and Obskuros. 

Do you see yourself performing live in the future, or is Angel Fang currently more of a digital/online world? (And I gotta say it: Romania would be very much waiting for a show.) 

I’m thinking of doing a one-off show just for fun sometime this year if it’s possible. Who knows, maybe it can be a regular thing? If that happens, it would be amazing to play in Romania someday. For now, I’m just grateful to be releasing music. 

Thanks for this interview, I had a great time talking to you. Since this is your first “contact” with the Romanian realms, what would you like to say to your local fans? 

Thank you for taking the time to listen to my music. I started this project at a very turbulent and challenging time in my life when I almost felt like giving up on everything. It’s truly a crazy time to be alive and to be allowed to connect with someone on the other side of the globe. 

This human connection means everything to me, so I hope that my music resonates with some of you in Romania. Sending love from California.

Follow Angel Fang on:
Instagram | Spotify | Bandcamp