Deb Fan’s 6-track Kowloon Demos is a diverse set of songs named after the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, Deb’s home city. The EP gives an introduction to life growing up in Hong Kong:

“Hong Kong is very fast-paced, constantly in flux; the unaccustomed would likely find themselves violently thrown into a state of vertigo. Unfortunately, though I’ve lived here for the better part of my years, I found myself in this very position: an alien to these familiar-but not-so-familiar sights. Everything felt foreign. My initial discomfort eventually gave way to clarity. I was ultimately left with the foundation of Kowloon Demos,” says Fan in a recent press release.

I had the chance to ask Deb a few questions via email in the lead-up to the release of Kowloon Demos. Here’s what she had to say about her debut EP:

• How have you developed your musical personality over time?

I think my musical personality evolves over time. Music is a safe space for understanding as well as ego and regardless of where my music comes from, I know that I try to be the most authentically myself. I first started making music that sounded good with almost little to no thought behind the message I was projecting. I used to be pretentious about certain genres of music, but now I’ve gotten to a point where I genuinely love all types and genres of music. Although “Kowloon Demos” is a very intentional piece, I know that I definitely want to go back to making music without it being too deep and just purely for the love of it.

• Who/what did you grow up listening to?

I listened to classical music growing up and jazz/bossa nova standards, but I developed my own taste in music when spotify was first founded. I still gravitated towards older music so I was listening to a lot of classic/blues rock and indie rock in high school. I only started diving into r&b and neo soul in college.

• I see you have a series of global collaborators on this EP. How did these collaborations come together? What do they add to the significance of your EP?

I honestly started off this project alone and it was my intention to do this all by myself, but I hit a roadblock after finishing writing these songs. I ended up calling Max He and his enthusiasm for the project encouraged me to spend a week bringing this project to life. I knew that Leo Varella would kill it on the production of Willow after I finished writing it and the same goes for Mimi when I worked with her on another project that we were working on. I only reached out to Aphi and Sol after the music was pretty much done and their verses are even better than what I imagined. The EP represents cultural discourse to me and I wanted the collaborators to reflect that. It’s difficult to get people to understand it if they don’t come from a similar background.

• You mentioned feeling like an alien in familiar surroundings upon returning to Hong Kong. How did this experience shape the foundation of “Kowloon Demos”?

Hong Kong is such a diverse city within its politics, economy, and even its literal infrastructure. It’s an ever changing city and going back for the first time in 3 years definitely made me feel like I belonged nowhere. Ironically, I’ve never felt so free in my entire life. I wanted Kowloon Demos to reflect the feeling of being content with displacement.

• Looking ahead, what do you hope to achieve with the release of “Kowloon Demos,” both artistically and in terms of your career?

I want people to know that I’m not just fucking around with music and that I have a story to tell. Maybe it’s not a story that many people would resonate with, but it’s still a deliberate piece. I’m not afraid to make music for a black hole and whether people understand that or not is not my problem. Making a project like this definitely takes a lot out of me, so, like I said, I’m hoping to make music for the love of it without thinking too much in the future.

• I saw you participated in a cappella at the University of Rochester, how does that experience inform your songwriting and song production? What have been some difficult moments in your music career? What did you learn from them?

Vocal layers and production is definitely the focal point of my music and being part of an a cappella group definitely made me very aware of the voice and the extent of its capabilities. A lot of what I learned through my experience in my music career is all business oriented. I’ve learned how to balance between the business, goal-oriented side of it as well as the freedom of creating art. I think a lot of people struggle with this, including myself, and it’s probably a never-ending challenge. At least I can say is that I don’t overreact anymore when business inteferes with my spiritual goals.

• You mentioned being inspired by Fousheé’s album Softcore, are there other albums that embolden you?

“Red Moon in Venus” by Kali Uchis, “Choose Your Weapon” by Hiatus Kaiyote, “LP1” by FKA Twigs, and “When I Get Home” by Solange.

• Something I see often on your page is food, what’s your favorite food? What’s a restaurant or dish that has been really exciting you lately?

I love food from all around the world and I love trying new dishes I’ve never had before. I just ate Colombian food for the first time at this restaurant called La Fonda Antioqueña and it was bomb. My roommate Val is Colombian and she introduced me to this restaurant. Apparently Colombians eat a whole meal like that for breakfast. Meanwhile I split the portions into 2 meals and I was still overfed.

• If you could compare “Kowloon Demos” to a dish, what would it be?

Probably a pizza where the toppings don’t make sense. I love olives, pineapples and pepperoni as toppings. It’s a strange combination but it satisfies my own palette.