Q&A: Valencia Grace Sheds Their Skin and Reclaims Their Power on “PARASITE”

MusicQ&A

Oct 16

INTERVIEW

INSIDE VALENCIA GRACE’S METAMORPHISIS — Dark-pop songstress Valencia Grace embraces theatricality, transformation, and queer liberation on their newest EP, PARASITE, setting the stage for their forthcoming debut album. Grace explores the process of expelling the demons that linger within and making room for a more liberated version of oneself. Arriving ahead of their debut album, the release marks a defining moment in Grace’s artistic evolution rooted in theatricality and visual storytelling.

“This EP, to me, is being strong enough to expel the demons from you, the bad that you feel has attached to yourself, and to want change and want love and acceptance and freedom, and that's what this EP means to me,” Grace tells LUNA. “It's reconnecting with yourself and realizing that you deserve better, and the parasite inside you can go.”

Since Roses EP, Grace has taken a considerable creative leap, reconnecting with their theatrical sensibilities and sense of whimsy. With PARASITE, they lean into the dramatic possibilities of dark pop. That evolution has also brought a meaningful shift in their relationship with their audience as Grace has found a community of fans who embrace their identity.

At the heart of the PARASITE universe is an unlikely muse: Grace’s pet ghost mantis, Tina. The insect’s natural process of shedding its exoskeleton became a metaphor for the EP’s themes of growth, renewal and self-reclamation.

“I have a ghost mantis, and her name is Tina, and she sheds her exoskeleton whenever she's big and ready to go onto her next stage of life,” Grace reveals. “My song ‘Skin’ is inspired by her shedding her literal skin and then just becoming bigger, more beautiful, more colorful and stronger.”

Grace’s theatrical sensibility reaches its cinematic peak on “Exorcism,” one of the EP’s standout tracks. Drawing on religious imagery and the language of spiritual deliverance, the song transforms the familiar concept of an exorcism into a declaration of personal agency.

“Like ‘Guillotine,’ it's about reclaiming a shitty relationship, whether it's with someone or with yourself, and wanting to expel yourself from it,” Grace says.

The track also reflects Grace’s commitment to using their art to support the communities that matter to them. By incorporating passages from the Bible into the song, they have allocated a portion of the writing credits to the religious text, directing those proceeds to The Trevor Project, the nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ youth.

“That’s a great representation of where I stand as an artist,” Grace explains. “I just want to champion queer youth and lift them up with my dark, religious songs.”

With the EP establishing the foundation for their forthcoming debut album, Grace is preparing to bring this expanding universe to the stage. Their upcoming ENTER ABYSS: A POPERA tour begins in November with performances in London, Birmingham, and Manchester before heading to North America for an extensive 23-date run in spring 2027. As Valencia Grace continues to evolve, PARASITE stands as both a creative rebirth and an assertion of self.

LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked at Lollapalooza. I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.

VALENCIA: Lollapalooza was just amazing, and you also caught me in such an interesting day because I was then also playing another show right after that set, so that was my first time doing two in one, which was actually a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be. I did get to nap, so it felt like two really weird days. Lollapalooza, that was my second time playing it, but it felt almost like my first time playing it to a crowd of people who knew who I was. That was just epic.

After the show, we flew to Dallas, and I supported Melanie [Martinez]. That was my first arena show, which was just wild. You would think that it's hard to connect with the audience because of how many people there are, but it was just as easy, maybe even easier, to control and to be with than like a smaller group. They were so reactive to my songs, even my more delicate songs. I feel like I've moved on to a more theatrical and up tempo sound, but I still have my more organic, soulful songs, and they really resonated with those. It's just been amazing to ride that wave. The fan base, the crybabies, are so amazing. I'm just really honored and grateful to have experienced that. I normally don't really cry before I go on stage, but I almost cried before going onto that one, and then I held it together, and then as soon as I got on stage, after the fact, all the water in my body just left me. I've just been writing and being creative.

LUNA: PARASITE serves as an introduction to a larger world that will continue into your debut album. The title PARASITE immediately evokes ideas of attachment, consumption, dependence and transformation. What does the word mean to you, and what initially inspired it?

VALENCIA: I feel like, especially suffering a loss in my family, and reconnecting with my family, I feel like I have been holding it in a lot, and not really understanding or knowing where I've come from. I've always known who I was as a person, but I just never understood where I came from. To reconnect with my family, I'm realizing that I am normal to the sense of my family, and I'm not some attention-seeking basket case. I've been struggling, and now I've realized where I come from. This EP, to me, is being strong enough to expel the demons from you, the bad that you feel has attached to yourself, and to want change and want love and acceptance and freedom, and that's what this EP means to me. It's reconnecting with yourself and realizing that you deserve better, and the parasite inside you can go.

LUNA: How does PARASITE represent where you are creatively and personally right now compared with your earlier work? Did you take any risks or experiment more since Roses?

VALENCIA: I definitely have. I feel it's difficult to say this because I don't want to sound like I'm blaming anyone, but I think that in the earlier stages of my career, I was advised to shelter myself a certain way, and that is a parasite. That is not what one is supposed to do. You're supposed to be authentically yourself, and you're supposed to not be afraid of who you are. So, having learned that, I have reconnected with my queer side, and I've reconnected with my theatrical side and with my whimsy. Since Roses, I've taken a massive leap. I was really scared to put out my first song in a long time since having put out Roses, but luckily the reaction went so well. I'm now able to surround myself with a fan base that looks like me and that feels like me and do their makeup like me. We're just a select little group of weirdos who are different. I'm learning that it's okay to be different, and that it's actually very powerful and amazing to be different because you'll be surprised about how many people are just as like-minded as you.

LUNA: You are deeply inspired by visuals. When you first began imagining the world of PARASITE, what did you see? What visual references or artists helped shape the aesthetic of this era?

VALENCIA: I actually was really inspired by my ghost mantis. I have a ghost mantis, and her name is Tina, and she sheds her exoskeleton whenever she's big and ready to go onto her next stage of life. I like to keep her little bodies. My song “Skin,” is inspired by her shedding her literal skin and then just becoming bigger, more beautiful, more colorful and stronger. I love a dark world. I'm very dark, and I love making visuals. I feel that when I've written the song, there's still more to say, and we're still in the process of obviously fighting against budget, and so I always wish I had a million dollars every time so that I could do crazy crazy things. We are in the process of solidifying this visual world that we're going to shoot for the project, but it's coming from a new person.

LUNA: What did the creative process behind PARASITE actually look like behind the scenes? What was happening in the studio, visually and creatively, as the project came together?

VALENCIA: I've been planning on putting out my debut album, and I've been really excited to do that. But that's such a big body of work, and I really need time to get that perfect, and so in the meantime, I wanted to put something out. Halloween was coming up, and you know how Zara Larson gets summer, Mariah Carey gets Christmas. I thought I might claim myself a little Halloween moment.

It was to honor the spooky side of me and the darkness in my art was piecing together songs that felt that they fit sonically dark and quirky. It felt like a Tim Burton world, like Corpse Bride. I just want to be putting out more and more music. I really want to build my catalog, and this was my cheeky way of being able to put out some new songs in the meantime to then put out even more for the album.

LUNA: Do you have a personal favorite song on PARASITE — one that feels closest to your heart or most revealing of who Valencia Grace is right now?

VALENCIA: “Guillotine” and “Voodoo,” I feel represent those two different sounds that I'm doing, and it's very dark, but then also dark and spooky, but also more vocal gymnastics and ornamentation, and so I wanted to include those two worlds. I really, really am obsessed with “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me” from Rocky Horror Picture Show. I just told my team that the song has been written for me. I love the opportunity to play different types of characters even in a singular song, so that one is just so much fun, and I love it. Rest in peace, Tim Curry. That was actually right after I picked the song as well, so it felt really meant to be. I love him, love his work, and love Rocky Horror, and it's such a fantastic representation.

A special song on the EP is “Exorcism,” because it was originally supposed to be another song, but because I'm always trying to outdo myself and always trying to reach for the stars and do my best, I felt that I could do better. It's definitely my biggest song in terms of cinematic experience. I feel like that's a good representation of who I am. This song is very strong and powerful. Like “Guillotine,” it's about reclaiming a shitty relationship, whether it's with someone or with yourself, and wanting to expel yourself from it. Because I used passages from the Bible, I have given a portion of the writing credits to the Bible, and those proceeds are going to the Trevor Project. That’s a great representation of where I stand as an artist. I just want to champion queer youth and lift them up with my dark, religious songs.

LUNA: What are you most excited for listeners to discover when they finally hear PARASITE in its entirety?

VALENCIA: Definitely discovering that the writing credits of that song is going to a charity because I've never done that before. I've always wanted to, and I'm just so grateful that I get to do that. I'm just excited for them to hear “Exorcism.” I think the song is just so unexpected, and I've been playing a song that's going to be on my album, “BDSM,” I've been playing that one live. Something that I've really loved with that one is the operatic intro, so I've been really into adding more operatic intros to songs, and including vocals wherever I can. I'm excited for them to be pulled by the waves of my operatic vocals throughout the tracks.

LUNA: You’re also taking this world on the road with ENTER ABYSS: A POPERA. What can fans expect when they step into this world with you live?

VALENCIA: I'm just so excited to do these shows. I want it to be an experience down to the VIP meet and greets. I want them to come, and just be completely immersed in my world. A lot of people come alone, and I want them to make friends, and I want them to feel safe and comfortable. It's a therapeutic experience, really. I want to invite people up on stage, and I want to crown people. I want to play with people. I want to go into the crowd and sing with them and dance with them. Ideally, I'd love to crowd surf. I'm scared they'll rip my wig off.

LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?

VALENCIA: I feel like I've learned a lot about myself in this past week. I lost my mom and it’s been really tough for me, but I'm learning a lot about her. My mother wanted to be a singer, and I got all these beautiful CDs with her amazing music. What I want to do with my life and with my career is to uplift people and uplift the queer community and talk about mental illness and champion all the people who can't themselves. My passion for songwriting, for creating, for performing has just grown even more, and my fight for wanting to create a place where people don't feel alone and can grieve together.

I saw an Instagram video of some guy saying that he went to a Lady Gaga concert when he was a child. He was with his parents, and he was up at the nosebleed seats. She goes, “Put your paws up if you're gay.” He couldn't because he was with his parents. But he said he felt seen, and he felt understood, and he didn't feel alone. Just the power of that is beautiful, and that's all I want to do is just to make myself proud, make my fans proud, uplift people who need it, create spaces and experiences for people where they can just be strong, and they don't need to be strong for anyone. They can just be strong for themselves.