Interview: Indian-American R&B Singer-Songwriter Chae Discusses Her Debut EP 'Letters Ill Never W

We had a chance to talk to chae, an Indian-American R&B singer-songwriter who recently shared her debut EP titled Letters I’ll Never Write. The LA-based talent spent the beginning of her career as a vocalist/songwriter in the EDM space, collaborating with prominent artists such as Rome in Silver, yetep, and William James.

chae is now ready to tell her own story with a collection of tracks that dive into her deeply personal experiences. Her new project reflects a new side of herself, one that veers into the R&B corner and sees her depart from the comfort of her usual dance sound. We asked chae about the new project, her transition from EDM to R&B scenes, and upcoming releases.

Hello chae! For those of our readers who are not familiar with your music, could you introduce yourself?

Hey guys! Firstly, thank you so much for having me – and of course! My name is chae, I’m an Indian R&B, singer-songwriter.

A bit of a cultural mutt – I grew up in the middle east and left home at a young age for the US to pursue my love for art. In short, I’m just a girl who loves to write stories and watch the words come to life. If there is one thing that I hope you take away, it is that we are more similar than you think, even as strangers, and I hope you’re able to resonate with me in some way.

Congrats on releasing your debut EP, Letters I’ll Never Write! Could you tell us a little bit about the inspirations for the album?

Letters I’ll Never Write is a project that I wrote for myself during a time of immense grief. It’s story derives from a chapter of my personal life that I wasn’t quite ready to let go of and the only way I could navigate through everything was to talk about it in the only way I knew how.

Letters I’ll Never Write features a blend of genres, how would you describe your sound?

It’s really hard to pinpoint exactly what the sound is, but I guess it falls into iridescent, soft, feel good bedroom R&B/Soul.

What does your creative process look like?

It usually starts with melody, and then words follow – usually from experiences that I’m going through in the present moment.

You spent the beginning of your career as a vocalist-songwriter in the EDM space. How did the transition to more of pop-R&B vibes feel?

So unbelievably natural, I felt like the minute I took the leap into R&B – I felt like I could creatively breathe. Back in music school, I was afraid to make this kind of music – only because there were many insanely amazing musicians that deserved that light and I guess I just wasn’t ready.

When quarantine happened I had a *screw it* moment where it was really now or never, and with what I was experiencing emotionally, this was how the music, the story, the art, fell out of me.

What are some of the artists that influence your music? Who would you like to collaborate with?

At the time of writing the EP I was listening to Alex Isley, Christian Kuria, Sabrina Claudio, UMI, Raveena – really soft, iridescent, feel good vibes. I think getting to work with Kaytranda one day would be out of this universe.

What are you planning for the rest of 2022? Any new singles or gigs?

Yeah I got a couple of singles that I’m dropping that will follow the EP, and I am also currently working on putting together the live show version – hopefully you will see a couple dates soon in the next coming months!

Let us know what you think of chae’s EP Letters I’ll Never Write on @CelebMix!

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