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The Soul of an Artist (with Human Barbie and veronicavon — Chris Hackman and Xuan Nguyen)
Metadata
- title
- The Soul of an Artist (with Human Barbie and veronicavon — Chris Hackman and Xuan Nguyen)
- description
- Chris and Xuan join the pod to discuss artistic serendipity, co-writing, unexpected choices, and how recording choices inform genre. Veronicavon, the brainchild of songwriters Chris Hackman (Human Barbie) and Xuan Nguyen (Xuan), emerged in 2020 with a (secret) mission to explore uncharted horizons in lo-fi pop. Their universe of grainy synths, cassette-drenched drums, and warbling guitars, complemented by Nguyen’s enchanting vocals, creates a wistful, playful, and instantly addictive dreamscape. Flood Magazine dubbed them "casually devastating," and their hypnotic bedroom aesthetic quickly garnered a passionate audience, with over 500k streams on Spotify in their first year. They've been featured on editorial playlists like ‘Fresh Finds’, ‘Borderless’, and ‘Fuzzy’. Keep a close eye on this duo, as they follow in the footsteps of alt-pop icons Men I Trust, Alvvays, and Japanese Breakfast.
- status
- complete
- date
- 2023-07-18
- kind
- guest
- guestSlugs
- chris-hackman
- listenUrl
- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/The-Soul-of-an-Artist-with-Human-Barbie-and-veronicavon--Chris-Hackman-and-Xuan-Nguyen-e272gag
- appleUrl
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soul-of-an-artist-with-human/id1567355195?i=1000621510181&uo=4
- spotifyUrl
- https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uzlerqnWzs5BHEB2DmwTU
- topicsDiscussed
- Creativity
- Analog
- Music production
- Singing and vocals
- Songwriting
- Collaboration
- AI
- Genre
- Mixing
- The music business
- Lo-fi pop
- hostNote
- Two artists who make records in very different ways, in one conversation. **Chris Hackman** records as Human Barbie, lo-fi pop built at home; **Xuan Nguyen** records as veronicavon, rock tracked on analog gear. We talk about how each of them gets a song from an idea to a finished recording, what changes when they work with other people, and what the day-to-day of being an independent artist looks like right now.
- selectedMoments
- label
- The contrast of music styles
- startSec
- 94
- note
- Chris compares their two projects, Human Barbie's analog sound and veronicavon's upbeat lo-fi pop.
- label
- Recording on tape vs. digital
- startSec
- 175
- note
- The duo discusses the decision-making process when working with tape versus digital production.
- label
- The essence of vocal performance
- startSec
- 559
- note
- Xuan emphasizes the emotional nuances that can be captured in vocal performances.
- label
- Creating music with intention
- startSec
- 1961
- note
- Chris reflects on the importance of intention in artistic creation.
- label
- Unexpected vocal transformation
- startSec
- 730
- note
- Chris experiments with voice transformation technology in new vocal projects.
- label
- The importance of collaboration
- startSec
- 1220
- note
- Chris and Xuan offer insights into how their different writing styles complement each other.
- excerptQuotes
- text
- I met Xuan and we started kind of like... sister brother cousin project Human Cool.
- startSec
- 88
- reviewed
- true
- text
- There's no room to edit and there's no comping, so when you're done, it's just done.
- startSec
- 174
- reviewed
- true
- text
- We have a record coming out and I'm curious if people will be able to tell which songs were written solo.
- startSec
- 1290
- reviewed
- true
- text
- I'm trying to do it more musically, we're like going deeper and being a little more recursive.
- startSec
- 1711
- reviewed
- true
- text
- Just remember that you really rock and you kick major butt.
- startSec
- 2881
- reviewed
- true
- faq
- question
- What is Chris Hackman's musical background?
- answer
- Chris Hackman is the creator behind Human Barbie and has a strong foundation in analog recording techniques, integrating lo-fi aesthetics into his music.
- question
- How did Xuan Nguyen develop her vocal techniques?
- answer
- Xuan Nguyen emphasizes capturing emotions in her singing, learning to balance technical accuracy with the expression of feeling.
- question
- What themes do Chris and Xuan focus on in their songwriting?
- answer
- Their songwriting often explores themes of emotional vulnerability, artistic identity, and the serendipity of collaboration.
- transcriptPublished
- false
- draft
- false
Content
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