Get to know Valencia James, an artist straight outta Sydney who’s just landed with her latest single ‘Need’.
Find out which boyband’s release was her first ever album purchase, who she rates, how she began her musical journey and, naturally, find out all about her latest single.
So don’t dally… get to know Valencia here.
01. Name : Valencia James.
02. Where are you based? Sydney, Australia.
03. How did you get your start in music? My friends convinced me because I was always singing.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. Dark pop, Courageous, Bold, Mysterious and Haunting.
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. I guess I always loved a bit of the darker, more haunting melodies. So that’s probably why I lean more towards the darker and moodier soundscapes.
06. What’s your earliest musical memory? When I sang all of the ‘Cinderella’ soundtrack when I was two years old.
07. Who have been your musical influences? Wow, so many. I definitely grew up listening to a lot of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, but also gravitated towards hip hop artists such as DMX, Snoop Dogg and The Notorious B.I.G. and rock bands like Nirvana. I guess I have an eclectic array of musical influences.
08. What are your favourite songs of all time? Another really difficult question to answer, but I’ve been listening to some of the songs that I loved when I was younger and I’d have to say ‘Notorious Thugs’, ‘Come As You Are’, and ‘Through The Rain’ by Mariah Carey. I have a ton of others, but those are the ones that came to me straight away.
09. Where’s your favourite place to listen to music? In the car, on a boat, or anywhere there’s movement involved.
10. Who are your go-to artists when you’re feeling :
Happy? Any DJs like Martin Garrix, etc.
Sad? Billie Eilish.
Introspective? Khalid.
Exhausted? Dua Lipa.
11. What was the first album you ever bought? N*SYNC – ‘No Strings Attached’.
12. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. I am crazy ADHD and can only focus on something like writing for a specific period of time before my mind moves on to something else, so I do things really fast in general.
13. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? Psychologist.
14. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? Go with your instinct over all opinions, because everyone will have a differing opinion.
15. What’s been the highlight of your musical journey so far? Watching how each release has been received. It’s scary and daunting, but also so much fun at the same time.
16. What’s been the strangest experience you’ve had in the business? People I don’t know wanting to talk to me, but I actually really love it because I’m an extrovert.
17. If you could trade places with any artist in the world right now, who would it be? That’s an interesting question. I can’t say I’d want to trade with anyone, but I wouldn’t mind having the ability to create what I want and seeing the huge amount of success like Billie Eilish has.
18. Tell us about your latest release. ‘Need’ is a much more romantic, almost ethereal track for me. It means a lot to me personally, so I’m probably a bit more protective of the song than the other ones. But at the same time, I understand personal tastes and opinions differ, so I’m not really hurt if someone doesn’t see it the way I do.
19. What do your future plans involve? Lots and lots of writing.
20. Where can our audience catch you live? Not sure at the moment. I’ll have to let you know once I plan something.
FACEBOOK : https://facebook.com/valenciajamesofficial/
INSTAGRAM : https://instagram.com/valenciajamesofficial/
SOUNDCLOUD : https://soundcloud.com/valenciajamesofficial
YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBFw9_Cr_vEJac3FI2CA4eQ
Australia's first stop for pop!