Have you ever had a paranormal experience that brought clarity to your life? KICCC has. Learn more about his scary encounter in Seoul, his experience within the Asian entertainment industry, and his transition from acting to singing.
Interview edited for clarity
I saw that you were an actor before getting into music. How did you get into acting?
When I was studying University I was in the theater program. It wasn’t like classical theater or Stage Theater or anything like that it was more really performance art which is more of a fine arts, heavy-thinking type of thing. After that I wanted to go into something more mainstream. I had an opportunity to audition for a talent competition. I didn’t win it, but I still got scouted. I worked as an actor in Hong Kong for a year until my Visa expired. It was pretty cool because I got to work in TV and short films
What was your favorite medium to act in?
I would say definitely I like something that’s a bit chunkier like film. I haven’t had too many opportunities to do that yet because I was just doing more featured extra roles. I really do love working on something that speaks on societal concerns or creates change.
How was your transition from acting to singing?
It felt quite natural for me. My degree was in Interdisciplinary Performance Art. What that means is we always trained in different mediums not so we were proficient on a professional level, but we could absorb their different aspects and apply them to what we’re working on. So, even though right now all my focus is in songwriting and singing, I think it’s just another mode that is being seen by the rest of the world. My thought process is quite similar and I think that’s why right now just being you know like an independent artist I’m finding a lot more agency with just creating vs when I was doing something a bit more commercials mainstream on you know just doing public TV. I was being given lines, I couldn’t say if I liked them or not. I just couldn’t be that selective in that stage of my career. I didn’t really feel like I was getting a chance to express myself. I think that’s why music is something I really do enjoy.
I read in a previous interview you did that your stage name, KICCC, is still you, just a more brave version of yourself. What is it about having an alias that allows you to be this more “brave version” of you?
I feel like using your real name can come with a lot of baggage. I wanted a new lease on my career. After a year of being an actor in Hong Kong, they have a much more conservative culture in terms of the industry. I really wanted to grow into my own and express myself with less shame or inhibition. When acting, I felt like I was stuck. Don’t say that, don’t act like that, don’t smile like that. That didn’t sit well with me. When I decided to become a musician and take on the name KICCC, this persona is not exactly a new me but I have a new interpretation of myself which is much more direct and brave. The name is actually a combination of my first name and my Chinese initials. I’m trying to incorporate what I can do as KICCC and who I am as Carson and find that harmony between the two.
Why did you decide to become a singer instead of doing poetry or another medium?
For expressions. It’s a matter of me wanting to represent Asians and come into the global pop game. I’m from a place called Macau which is in the southern tip of China. I don’t know any other Macanese Canadians doing pop, especially not in English right now. I understand that like this is something with a bit of a time limit on it as I learned as a person going into the entertainment industry after already completed University, especially in Asia. I think I was 23 going.on 24, and people were telling me I should have started years ago. It was so baffling. I just wanted to create art. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to be 30 or something like that. In that commercialized environment where I was essentially a product, there was a very specific shelf life. They didn’t value me. That’s why I thought that maybe I should do these things you know before before I’m 30 and because by that time if things don’t work out I’ll get a desk job maybe (not really). So why didn’t I go into poetry? Mainly because it was a matter of being able to provide representation for other people. And, also, might as well try things when I still have the energy.
I’d love to talk about your upcoming album The Water Knows. What’s the meaning behind the title?
My friend had booked this cheap Airbnb in Seoul. There was a dark alley leading to the back entrance and someone had written something in graffiti on the walls. My friend was trying to translate it, but even the syntax in Korean was off. It said something along the lines of, “the water knows”. It was really creepy. My mind went crazy, like is there a guy on the street called Water? I wish I took more pictures of that place. I didn’t want to in case I caught a ghost on camera or something. I got a weird vibe going into the Airbnb. In Korea you can drink water straight from the tap, but in that apartment the water smelled like sulfur. And it felt like something was watching me from the wardrobe. We immediately booked a different place the next day. There was a lot of weird stuff happening to me during that trip. I’m not even superstitious or into ghosts.
I would walk down the streets and hear the same song or go through people’s Instagram posts and stories and the same song about water would come up. I told my friend, who was with me, about it and she noticed it too. She was like okay let’s go see a fortune-teller. The fortune-teller started asking me a few things, then she talked about my Zodiac sign. She started interpreting, and I don’t remember all that she said, but the highlight was when she just looked at me and said “you are water”. Suddenly, everything just sort of clicked in my mind. I’m the water. Even though it all started off as a total horror story, what had happened became my strength and motivation because I learned that it’s all about trusting my gut instincts. Our body’s made out of water, and each particle within us has moved along the Earth since its creation. The album is called The Water Knows because when I was writing each of these songs there was like an image of something related to the water. I could see beads of sweat, sipping on ice tea by the beach. There’s another song that’s like a thunderstorm. I just started getting my juices flowing. The water was an inspiration for this album but I think the water represents so much because it represents me as well. Water can represent so many things.
With the album, how long did it take to create all the songs?
I started writing the first song, which became the first track of the album sometime at the end of 2018. I recorded most of my music in Seoul because that was where my first industry contacts were and it was close to home and Macau. I haven’t fully come back to Vancouver yet because I was still working as an actor. I finished the album around February, but it felt like there was something missing. There was still one more song that I wanted to add or the album was going to mean less for me. Actually a little bit about that, the next single and putting out is called “Wine”. There was a verse that was originally intended for that song but it just didn’t work in the composition so we scrapped it. But I’m like that was one of the main things I wanted to express in the song. So I turned it into something else. That’s why 5 on the album is “Mulled” and 6 is “Wine”, so mulled wine. You have to listen to both to get the full story. That’s why I like albums and EPs because there’s a story behind them.
How would you want your audience to feel when they’re listening to your album?
I can’t say. I can’t force you to feel a certain way about what you’re listening to. I want people to come to understand me a little bit better. I am a bit more introverted, especially larger settings. I just really want people to hear a little bit about my story and that things aren’t always as they seem. I think just based on stereotypes and cliches of what people may expect of me as an Asian artist, they might automatically think I’m a K-pop boy or whatever. Don’t assume that’s all I am. I am me. So I hope that people can come to appreciate that. Is that narcissistic? Maybe. I think we all deserve to be.
KICCC
