FEATURE: Spotlight: Wasia Project — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Wasia Project

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WITH a raft…

of live dates already confirmed for next year, it is a perfect time to get involved with Wasia Project. They were formed in 2019 by siblings Will Gao and Olivia Hardy. The duo are of mixed British-East Asian heritage. In terms of their music, Wasia Project incorporate a diverse mix of genres - including Jazz, Bedroom Pop and Classical. They released the E.P., How Can I Pretend?, in 2022 and have since released a few more singles. They were heralded and spotlighted in 2022. This year has been one where they have got on the radar of some big music publications. I want to include in a few interviews with the amazing Wasia Project. In fact, I want to take a bit from five different interviews from this year. In the U.K, U.S. and beyond, the brother-sister duo are getting a lot of acclaim and attention! I am going to start with an interview from Rolling Stone UK. It is interesting learning more about the start and influences of the incredible Wasia Project:

“Billie Eilish!” “Phoebe Bridgers!” “Boygenius!” “Frank Ocean!” “Agh, I don’t know, [my] mind’s blank… Beyoncé!”

Siblings Will Gao and Olivia Hardy are playing a game. They’re batting back and forth some of the names that influence their band, Wasia Project. Many of the artists are quintessential staples of Generation-Z Spotify playlists, but others, such as ABBA, Elton John, The Beatles and ELO, are exports from their parents’ CD collection. During their childhood, they’d spend evenings at home dancing to whatever was blaring from the speakers.

They haven’t yet touched on the influences, however, that make Wasia Project unique. Both Gao and Hardy have a background in classical — from both Western nations and East Asia — and jazz music, and both can play an instrument. Gao, who found fame acting in Netflix’s coming-of-age smash hit Heartstopper, took up classical piano at a very young age, while Hardy learned violin via the Japanese method of Suzuki, which favours learning by ear over using sheet music. “In the classical music world, it’s not been very beneficial,” she says, speaking over Zoom in a bedroom with mint-green walls, “because reading a lot of sheet music is an important part. But it’s helped with our creative process — it’s a lot more intuitive.”

What do they love about those styles? “There’s such pure emotion in classical music,” says Gao. “When classical music is tragic, it’s gut-wrenching. It can be really intense. I think that passion and intensity you can hear in it, and also in jazz, is equivalent to the kinds of music being created today.”

Their background in those styles bled into their contemporary alt-pop palette naturally and spontaneously. “We can’t not acknowledge or invalidate our past history with those genres,” Gao continues. “It’s inherent in our work, even when we don’t realise it’s there. I don’t think we could do it any other way.”

Classical and jazz are, arguably, an acquired taste, frequently dismissed as too highbrow, too stuffy or too dense. What the siblings have done with Wasia Project, however, is inadvertently wedge open a door that makes those sounds more accessible and contemporary for their audience, many of whom are their age, if not younger.

“It’s getting more and more difficult for people to get access to classical and jazz; it’s almost starting to become more of a closed shop in a lot of ways,” Gao acknowledges. “I think one of the ways forward is to make it accessible by blending [those genres and pop] and having sections where the music is very classically influenced, and that hopefully leads people to see [where that comes from].”

PHOTO CREDIT: Ollie Patterson

“It’s all about trying to make them less rigid and making people feel like classical and jazz really is for them,” Hardy adds. “They’re such huge genres; there shouldn’t be this arbitrary shutting down of them, [like] ‘Oh, that’s not for me.’”

Gao and Hardy’s musical journeys weren’t identical, although their paths ran parallel to one another, and they both attended each other’s concerts “all the time” growing up. Gao — three years older than his sister, who at the time of writing is a few days away from finishing her A-levels — stumbled down the pop rabbit hole earlier than his sibling, too. “I had this realisation when I was 14, when I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you can write a song and it doesn’t have to be a concerto!’” he says with a grin. Their paths eventually converged when they began Wasia Project in 2019, uploading debut single ‘why don’t u love me’ to SoundCloud that same year.

Since then, the siblings have progressed from DIY recordings on GarageBand to working on their ethereal, eclectic creations in a studio with producer Luke Pinell for their 2022 EP ‘how can i pretend?’. Two further singles — the softly sunny ‘Petals on the Moon’ and the gently unfurling, intimate jazz-pop number ‘My Lover Is Sleeping’ — followed this year, with another two set to be released this side of Christmas. Those songs are set to become, in Gao’s words, “the ground floor of the building we want to create”.

I will come to some more regarding influences. I was also interested discovering their songwriting process and how, with their close-knit bond, the songwriting duties work. For that, it is to Vogue. They chatted with Will Gao and Olivia Hardy earlier in this year. A remarkable duo gaining traction and a growing fanbase, I think that 2024 will be their biggest year yet:

“How would you summarise the influences you both individually bring?

W: For me, quite traditional music – pretty early classical. I was in the school choir at school and we sang with organ and traditional church instruments. Also opera: it’s such an extreme, dramatic art form that is getting out of fashion now, but there’s something about it that fascinates me. So, I think I bring a bit of drama to Wasia Project.

O: I really look up to jazz vocalists, especially Ella Fitzgerald. But I think on keys, you’re very jazz influenced. We both are, actually.

W: And less is more – that’s what I’ve learned from Olivia.

O: You’ve always been obsessed by Paul McCartney and the Beatles, and Elton John – you sit down at a piano, and the piano and voice carry it. I’m in that crossover as well, but I’m more into a soundscape: ethereal vibe and a lot of melodies. That together creates Wasia.

W: You’re also more of a lyricist. The way we write songs matches really well, because her lyrics are very conceptual and poetic, whereas I try and just channel the emotion I feel and blurt it out. A lot of my lyrics are very blurt-y, and then she kind of goes in and works at them, she translates them in a poetic way.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ollie Patterson

Is that the process, you both come in with different lyrics on the same song and then edit each other?

W: I think so.

O: Every song is different. It’s not like, from scratch: “Let’s write a song about this.” It’s a pretty organic process.

W: Our collaboration really ignites when we go into a studio, and we’re with instruments and sounds. That’s when it takes off. It’s the most exciting part for me.

Where do you both draw lyrical inspiration from?

W: I love straight rhymes. Paul McCartney is a big songwriting influence. But self-expression: just feelings and thoughts as they come out.

O: For me, with that more lyric-centric sound, I’ve always loved Phoebe Bridgers.

W: Oh, yeah, so good.

O: One of my favourite procrastination things – I just finished my A levels but during my exams – I would just not do my work and Spotify was the worst thing, because I’d just go through the lyrics of so many songs. Phoebe Bridgers was one of the winners on that because they’re so gut-wrenching.

W: I’m listening to a lot of Loyle Carner at the moment.

O: Yeah, he’s got great stuff.

You’re both so young, but your songs centre around heavy relationships – is that drawn from your own life or more conceptual?

O: Both – I think it’s a bit of both for most people anyway. Overall, we always do write very personally and from the heart. You can do narrative songs that are incredible, but if you don’t have a sort of personal or emotional connection to it, you can’t make it as good as it could be… Like emotional blurting. But I think there’s a narrative element as well. I’ve always loved any song that has a name and [is] about a specific person, like “Eleanor Rigby”.

W: But again, “My Lover Is Sleeping”, the last single, is [partly] personal, but it’s about the character, it’s wondering where the character has been. So it’s a mix of conceptual and personal”.

When they spoke to HUNGER. In October, Wasia Project revealed how there is this pressure for artists to say something. Maybe make a statement and have important messages in their songs. What they are producing with their music is something hugely distinct and long-lasting:

“This past year has been so crazy,” she says, modestly. “It’s always a scheduling thing for us and trying to have one foot in one thing and one in another, trying to balance it all. It’s been challenging but really rewarding. Outlets are really important for us because there’s just nothing that compares to being in a studio or writing a song, and it is just a completely different way of expressing what’s going on in life compared to anything else. We’ve naturally gravitated towards it, despite everything.”

And for her older brother, there’s the small balancing act of doing the whole music thing while playing a main role in what might be Netflix’s most beloved and cherished LGBTQIA+ coming-of-age series: Heartstopper. The show isn’t just some side hustle that Gao does alongside his music career, it is what propelled him into global recognition, as part of a cast that is carrying the torch for young, queer storytelling on screen right now. In the series, Gao plays Tao Xu, and he’s close friends with co-stars Yasmin Finney, Joe Locke and Kit Connor. There are obviously lots of questions fans want to ask about Heartstopper, especially the new series. And you might be thinking that Wasia Project’s gigs are full to the brim with young kids wearing the show’s merchandise, but at Omeara that night, all the press attendees were asking, “Where’s the Heartstopper crowd?” That’s because what Gao and his sister have created isn’t piggybacking on their other creative successes. The way their audience has grown has been natural and organic, which makes their sold-out shows even more inspiring. With Gao and Hardy almost swallowed whole by endeavours beyond music, a question remains: why do this to yourself?

PHOTO CREDIT: Alexander James-Aylin

“I think the more outlets we have to express ourselves through, the better it is and the more balanced your artistic life becomes,” Gao says. “My work life is so in harmony because I get to express it through these different outlets. Getting to collaborate with Olivia is very different from collaborating with a group of actors in the theatre or with a director. That’s what I love. But it is hectic.”

It is difficult not to wonder whether a chaotic lifestyle, slammed work schedules and inevitable sibling tension would put a strain on the band’s working relationship. Many siblings probably wouldn’t last a day working with each other. But while we discuss whether it’s easy to make music together despite mounting workloads, a juggernaut of a Netflix series, A-levels, thoughts about university fast approaching, I can’t detect any release of pent-up anger in their answers. And as the pair go on to chat, their lӑolao (grandmother) enters the room and places small bowls of fruit in front of them. They laugh and apologise, but of course it’s OK; it even sets the scene almost perfectly for what they’re going to say next.

“I think you’d be surprised how helpful it is to be honest with each other on a level of being comfortable where you can just be like, ‘Yeah, shut up,’” Hardy says, taking the bowl of fruit from her grandmother. “It’s really beneficial in those busy moments. It’s gotten to the point where we’re completely comfortable with disagreeing with an idea or agreeing to disagree”.

The penultimate interview is from DORK. It is a chat from back in April. I wanted to include it here to show how far they come. Talking about ambitions and where they want to go, Wasia Project also reveal how they have a cooler façade than many might imagine:

“We’re opening up this sound we’ve created, which is kind of a fusion of a whole bunch of different influences,” Olivia grins. “I think we’re trying a lot of new things.” That is as much as she says before caution sets in. “I don’t know much I should give away…” With festival appearances set for this summer and more new music imminent (the band’s next single is set to drop early April), what we’ve heard so far is only the beginning.

“We’re very much going to experiment with sounds,” Will describes. “We’re also going to experiment with our live shows more. We’ve always been doing that, but we want to take things to the next level.”

He’s not wrong. At Wasia Project’s last live show in London in December, they not only added a trombone player and saxophonist into their ever-growing live band, but also partnered with a local bubble tea vendor to offer free drinks to their crowd. “We just wanted something to give to the fans,” Olivia states. “Like, why not?”

Taking to the studio like a duck to water, Wasia Project are entirely in their element. “We’re in this new studio space that’s basically a playground,” Olivia details. “We feel a lot more free than we have ever been.” With that freedom, the pair are having the time of their lives. Experimenting with their sound, playing with different genres and textures, working with new instrumentation and sound worlds, the siblings are building the bigger and better that the lyrics of their last single were yearning for.

“I feel like Wasia Project,” Will starts, then – after a quick amendment that “I mean, it should be very centred around the music” – continues, “I think it should be a real show, like a piece of theatre and cross all things. It should be an overwhelming stimulus for all the senses.”

Experimenting with and evolving their live show wasn’t the only reason they set up this partnership. It was also a way the siblings could say thank you and give back to their fans. “There’s this really intimate connection we have with the people who have supported us,” Oliva says. “It is very early on, and it’s very personal, and we want to keep this sort of connection.”

The fondness they speak of their fans with is every bit as enamoured and appreciative as the hype that surrounds them online. The band’s social media tags are full of devotion. There are dedications, memes, song covers, fan art… A community built around enthusiasm for the music Wasia Project are creating.

“The fact that the creativity we’re doing, and the art we’re making, is inspiring art and inspiring this journey of lots of very creative people, creating together and meeting and connecting,” Will describes, “it’s a really beautiful thing. That’s the beauty of communities, especially around musicians and artists. It’s this world of bubbling creativity.”

This is the world that Wasia Project create not only for their fans but for themselves, and they thrive in it. “We’re making a lot more music to release, and we’re releasing more music, and we’re in the recording studio a lot more,” Olivia details of their plans for this year. They aren’t sharing the particulars of any further releases yet, but from what they are hinting, it seems clear that it’s going to be something special.

“We actually did a demo with a string quartet, and it works really well. It added such a different kind of perspective,” Will enthuses. “We’ve both been brought up very classically trained; it’s not too unknown to us. To put these two worlds together, we’re really excited to do that”.

I am going to end with a recent feature from NME. Last month, they spotlighted a duo whose songs make the heart skip. Jazz-Pop gems that ensure that they can never be kept in a box and defined easily. This is an exciting act who I am sure we will see a debut album from next year. Go and follow them if you have not done so already:

“Music didn’t always feel quite so energising for Gao and Hardy. They were brought up in Croydon, a suburb of south London, by parents who encouraged them to “absorb culture” wherever possible. Their British dad had briefly worked as an actor and their Chinese mum, who moved to the UK in her twenties, really valued the siblings’ music lessons. “She was always like, ‘You’re gonna like this in the future, trust me,” Hardy says with an affectionate eye roll.

But at first, Hardy found learning the violin arduous. “It involved a lot of repetition, which was difficult for me because I’m very anti-monotony and always searching for new things,” she says. Gao felt equally restricted by his piano lessons until he turned “12 or 13” and realised he was skilled enough to deviate from the sheet music in front of him. “Something clicked and I was like, ‘Hold on. When you learn the notes and the techniques, there’s this whole other world where you get to make it up for yourself,’” he says. “That was the start of me discovering songwriting.”

After Hardy had a similar epiphany, the siblings gradually gravitated towards making music together. Gao says they shared their first few singles “just for fun and our friends” with no expectations. According to Hardy, Wasia Project really began to take shape “because it fed a lot of creative hunger” in both of them. “It was all about stepping back and looking at something you’ve created, then picking at it to improve your skills,” she says.

PHOTO CREDIT: Bella Howard for NME

They only played their first gig in 2021. “It was at The Beehive pub in Bromley-By-Bow and around 30 people came to watch us – all of them friends,” Gao recalls with a laugh. But around a year later, when they played to a larger crowd at The Fiddler in Kilburn, they noticed a real change in their audience. “It was just after the release of our EP and the place was packed with people singing our music,” Hardy says. “It was the first gig where we didn’t know the majority of people personally. It really felt like a community for our music was building.”

Since then, Wasia Project have continued to hone their live chops. When they performed at Latitude Festival in July, they were worried about their 1pm time slot, but walked out to what Hardy calls a “beautiful tent full of people”. She clearly relished the learning curve. “It’s very different to performing for a venue full of your fans,” Hardy says. “It’s another technique to be learned, I guess – it’s about winning people over, but also making them feel welcome.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Bella Howard for NME

Building their live reputation is now a priority for Wasia Project. Next February, they will embark on their first full UK headline tour; all seven dates have already sold out – a sure sign their community of fans is growing fast. They also want to focus on making what Hardy calls “an extended body of work”. Since she finished her A-levels this summer, she has more time to pour into music. “It’s been fun doing singles – especially while Liv was still at school and I was doing other things,” Gao says, alluding modestly to his acting career. “But when I picture Wasia Project, I see our songs fitting into two-year brackets. We’re just coming to the end of a bracket, but I see our next brackets as being [filled with] albums.”

At this point, they throw in another, absolutely pivotal influence – Kamaal Williams, the visionary artist-producer who mixes jazz, hip-hop, R&B and EDM into a shape-shifting style he calls ‘Wu funk’. “Everyone tries to put you in a box,” Gao says. “And that’s something I used to be frustrated by, but now I’m kind of at peace with it. You know, it’s a great challenge to blur the lines and keep running away from being put in a box. Kamaal Williams is doing that and so are we. But we’re not doing it in an active way; it’s just inherent to us.” The only possible response? Long may Wasia Project keep ‘the box’ at bay”.

A duo that are amazing and should be on everyone’s playlist, I think that there will be a lot of brilliant music from Wasia Project next year. I am a fairly new discoverer of their music. It will be interesting to see where they go from here. With so much support from publications, radio and a loving fanbase, there is no stopping this…