Q&A: Jasmine Yen on ‘Roll With Me’ and Finding Her Sound
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
AUGUST IS IN ITS FINAL DAYS—but it’s not too late to add some more summer songs to your playlists. Jasmine Yen’s latest “Roll With Me” is the ultimate feel-good jam. From a vibrant music video to lyrics encouraging confidence, it’s a great track to wrap up your summer on a high note.
“I like to keep things lighthearted and fun for people to tune into another world and become their most confident selves and flourish,” Yen shares. “It makes me the happiest when I’m able to do that.”
Read our full conversation with Yen below.
LUNA: Your passion for music started very young at age seven. Over the years, what stands out to you as the biggest change to your musical approach or music taste?
YEN: My passion for music has always been the same, but I think everyone goes through different phases of what they listen to. Especially now with social media and the luxury of digital platforms, you’re able to explore different genres and cultures. When I was 14, I finally got Spotify Premium and that opened the gates; I was able to explore freely.
Even before that, I grew up in a very diverse, international household. My mom grew up in Peru, then Canada, my dad grew up in Boston and we have traditional Chinese values in Hong Kong. I also have a Shanghainese grandma, so we have many different languages and cultures, and the music comes along with it.
Music always brought out confidence in me. I used to be really shy and it was my creative outlet. When I was seven years old, I wrote my first song. Weirdly enough, it was called “This Is Not the World.” I don’t know why. I was singing it to my aunt and she was like, “Did something happen?” I was like, “No, I just made it up!”
LUNA: What are you listening to these days?
YEN: A lot of R&B. There’s a song that I really like called “Lick Back.” I’ve also been obsessed with Keyshia Cole because you just want to groove to it, and I feel like everyone knows it so it’s fun.
LUNA: Yeah, that 2000s influence is definitely in your music. Did you grow up listening to that kind of music or was it something you found later on?
YEN: I was at the end-tail of that generation. My mom is the oldest in her generation, so all her cousins, my aunts and uncles, are not very old. They were 15 to 20 years old when I was born. I was very close to them. I remember my aunt would download all her songs onto my little pink iPod Nano. I would listen to all the 2000s music on the way to school.
LUNA: “Roll With Me” is a lot of fun. The music video visually is so colorful and it’s a good time. How was that day on set and how was it collaborating with everyone?
YEN: It was crazy because the director and the stylist and everyone working on this project—I would not have imagined it. It’s one thing reaching out to them, but it’s another thing for them to listen to my music and believe in it. They’re so busy and I looked up to them, so the fact that they could make time for me was crazy. I learned so much.
The process of the music video looked cool and nonchalant, but it wasn’t because I filmed it at the end of January in Korea. I was freezing to death. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I did. We trooped through!
Also, there’s a pig in the video. A lot of people are obsessed with that. It makes me happy because baby pigs are my favorite animal. I wanted to incorporate my personality into the video. I got to hold him and his name was David. He was struggling because it was very cold, but I tried my best to give him some body warmth.
LUNA: What stood out to me the most in the video is the dual Jasmines. There are two of you and they each have a different vibe, two different fashion styles. How did that idea come to be and what does it represent for you?
YEN: Like I said, I think everyone has different phases and everyone has different faces to them. I was telling the director about my story and what “Roll With Me” represented. I’ve always written music and it was always me exploring different styles. But I think the songs that I’ve released are all one side of me. It was what I was going through at the time. I was 19, I just debuted, I was excited to put out music and bring out a pop sound. But I’ve always had this R&B sound that I wasn’t able to show yet because of where I was at in life.
I’ve always been consistent with confident types of music, and I really wanted to showcase that, especially now that I’m independent. The more music I put out, the more I get to know myself better. The more I know myself better, [the more] I want to put out strong, rhythmic, high energy music. I wrote so much more music, and it’s a bit edgy and experimental. I think “Roll With Me” is a great introduction to that.
LUNA: I’m sure that as you embrace more of that confidence, there’s a personal change too, like the way you see the world. When you think about the music that’s to come and this new era, what would you say “Roll With Me” represents?
YEN: I’ve always loved high tempo, upbeat music. When I was younger, I was really shy. Hearing the pop divas and their music brought out a side of me. I hope to do the same for others, especially with my new music. It’s a new edge, but I feel I’ve had that all my life. It was just never brought out to the world.
LUNA: Who are your favorites?
YEN: Beyoncé is my ultimate idol. Her Super Bowl performance—I’ve watched too many times, and obviously her Coachella set. I watch it when I need motivation and inspiration. It’s everyone; it’s Lady Gaga, it’s Britney, it’s Whitney, it’s Mariah.
LUNA: This song comes after a break from releasing music. What changed during that time, musically or personally, that made you feel “Roll With Me” would be the best next step to take?
YEN: In that period, I was trying to find my next sound and pushing myself. I love to push myself and see what I’m able to do and how far I can go. Every music experience has taught me a lot. No matter how successful and great it was—or maybe it wasn’t successful—it’s a lesson. I take that positively and gratefully.
There were two days where I was in LA, and I came into the studio. It turned into a song camp. Within two days, we had 18 half-done songs, which was insane. I was on this adrenaline [high] and loved the feeling of constantly being able to create ideas and bring them to life.
There were four to five different rooms and, in each room, there was a different producer or songwriter. Every 15 minutes, I would rotate and incorporate different ideas. That was a really interesting experience and it pushed me because there were so many different types of people. I learned a lot about the music and about myself. “Roll With Me” came from that song camp! It was my favorite from the two days.
LUNA: When you’re in sessions like that, what makes a good collaborator?
YEN: You have to be receptive to other people’s ideas and read their body language, their cues. I struggle with voicing my opinions a bit when I’m not comfortable, or with telling a story of what I want to write about from personal experiences. It takes time for me to open up to some musicians. But, I ended up having such beautiful relationships and friendships with a lot of these musicians. The more I write with them, the more they understand me. Music is a universal language, so with being able to understand each other on that level, the writing has become better.
LUNA: You mentioned that you wrote around 18 songs and I’m sure some of those are soon to come. What can you tease? What are you most excited about?
YEN: My next few songs are quite hardcore. There’s a lot of energy. There’s so much going on in the world. I like to keep things lighthearted and fun for people to tune into another world and become their most confident selves and flourish. It makes me the happiest when I’m able to do that.
