Emei opens up about her musical journey, from her viral debut on TikTok to her jazz and theater influences. Get an inside look at her songwriting, live performances, and what’s next in her career, including new music and projects.

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What inspired you to start your music career and how did you first get into singing?

I started singing when I was 9 and it was because my parents got me this laptop and all I would do is look up lyric videos like from Disney. I would not shut up so that’s probably how I started. Then I got into music accidentally because I started posting on TikTok during college and then “Late to the Party” went viral as one of my first singles.

Who were your biggest music influences growing up?

A lot of jazz! Ella Fitzgerald for sure and a lot of musical theater. I’m objectively a theater kid. I really liked Sarah Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, JP Saxe, and a lot of singer-songwriters who are storyline focused, which is my big thing.

Are those the type of artists that you are hoping to collaborate with in the future?

I feel like they’re not really in my genre, to be honest, which is interesting! I was inspired by a lot of music that I actually don’t make, so I don’t know if it would make sense, but I would. I want to share a stage with Sarah Bareilles one day. I think I would literally puke. It would be amazing.

So you grew up listening to jazz, but you’re more in the pop/hyper-pop world. What made you want to go into that?

Literally because I loved performing and I wanted songs that I could scream and dance and jump to nonstop. I wanted drums and I wanted that vibe on stage. So once I started playing live shows, my headline shows, I realized that. I really wanted my songs to reflect that energy.

How do you find a story to write a song about? What does that process look like?

I would say most of my songs are journal entries, so I basically start and ask myself “How am I feeling today? How am I feeling this week?” And then I unpack and explain that feeling and it turns into storytelling.

Is there something about you that your fans don’t know but you’d like them to?

That’s such a hard one, but I have a funny one! I have a tree nut allergy, a soy allergy, and a sesame allergy, and sometimes my fans get me snacks and I’m always sad because I can’t eat them. So I would probably say that I have allergies and that even though I really love getting those snacks, I always just share it with my band instead. I’ve never told them because I’m always gonna be like “this is awesome and I will eat it!” but sometimes I can’t.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had recording a song?

“Love Me Not” hands down! It was just so silly and so fun, and I got to scream at the top of my lungs, and I think as an adult you don’t really get that many opportunities to scream at the top of your lungs. So it was definitely fun. I definitely got a lot of anger out that day. It was awesome. It’s a special one because the chorus came first and it just felt so earworming I couldn’t get it out of my head and then we kind of morphed the song around that just to make sure that the chorus popped and we ended up recording the vocals slower speeding it up so it had this hyper-pop feel to it. Now it’s just one of my favorite songs to dance to.

Do you have a ritual before going on stage that you do every time?

I always have a pep talk with my band. We always like to get together and do this really loud pep talk where we’re getting excited about the show and then my drummer goes on this whole rant about two mics. It’s like a whole thing but we do it every night religiously and then also before all of my shows I like to look at myself in the eye in a mirror and convince myself that everything is gonna be awesome. I’m really into affirmations so I think that’s a big part of my pep talks.

What’s one thing you love the most about being on stage?

Seeing my fans’ faces and when they sing back to me. I think that’s my favorite part. I just love connecting with individual people because when I’m performing, I’m playing to everybody, but my favorite part is holding someone’s hand or making direct eye contact and screaming lyrics together. That’s my favorite.

Have you ever had a “Wow! I’m on stage living out my dreams!” moment?

Yes, definitely! I go through those emotions when I’m doing the show even though I’ve done it 100 times at this point, but every time there are just glimpses and moments where I step back and I’m like “Woah, look at all these people. They’re all singing and loving it! This is awesome!” There’s always moments like that.

What’s your most memorable moment that you’ve had on stage?

In San Francisco, there was this one girl in the crowd and she was just sobbing during “9 Lives” and I just really remember faces. That’s my big thing so when I see someone reacting emotionally to something I wrote, I think that sticks with me for sure. I want to just give them a big hug, but they can be so far away! This venue in Vancouver is much better. I’m a lot closer to my fans. I love having my fans super close because then I can really get close to them.

What’s your favorite part of creating a new song?

I like creating the lyrics specifically, especially when I get into a flow state and I’m just writing fast and not thinking too much and not editing the words. That’s my favourite part about the second verse of “Love Me Not.” I just blurted it out. It was a brain dump and my favourite part of the writing process and I just kept it all in. I didn’t want to touch it or edit it.

Do you have any exciting projects that you’d like to share?

Oh my God, we’re working on a lot right now, so I’m super excited! My newest single “Crazy Stupid Love” basically touches the top of it. There’s so much more music that we’re doing this year. So many more fan activations, so many shows, merch, etc. We might be coming out with my very first vinyl! I’m actually gonna freak out. Like when it comes into my hands, I’m gonna be like, “what?” There’s a lot of exciting things this year.