Arts & Culture

Local singer-songwriter performing at Vancouver festival

By Hannah Scott

Published 2:00 PDT, Fri October 7, 2022

Last Updated: 12:32 PST, Mon November 7, 2022

Emerging musician Jason Qiu has been writing music since he was 17. An alumnus of Hamilton elementary and Cambie secondary schools, Qiu is raising his two kids in Richmond after returning in 2017.

“It was sort of a rebellion against my classical music training,” he adds. “My brother and I both studied piano since we were four years old.”

While Qiu was in a band from 2007 to 2010, he stopped playing music for almost a decade. A passion for writing lyrics and singing brought him back to music, and in 2019 Qiu began writing again, performing as a soloist.

“The spontaneity of it is really fun for me; (inspiration) always comes at the most unexpected times,” says Qiu. “I always try to do something really different stylistically, but I like the variety and the freedom; I just have my phone and record ideas, I love the portability of that.”

Pain serves as a source of inspiration for Qiu, who finds that feeling and working through difficult emotions is where life lessons are learned.

“For me, the music is that safe space for me to talk about pain, trauma, sadness, heartache, the things that I don’t really like talking about in real life because it’s so jarring and so on the nose for me,” he says. “When I write music, I can think about it in a very metaphorical way and can compare it to different experiences.”

Qiu’s latest EP Lone Wolf includes songs in both English and Cantonese. Although he doesn’t have full native fluency in Chinese, and enlists other writers to help write lyrics, Qiu enjoys celebrating his background and the music he grew up with.

“When I’m performing in Chinese, especially when I play certain venues like the (Richmond) Night Market where there are a lot of Asian visitors, I think it helps me get closer to them, and to find an audience,” he says. “It helps distinguish me a bit from other performers—at one point I wanted to perform only in English because those are my lyrics, but I find that some people who are only English speakers gravitate towards my music in Chinese because they’re not only listening to the words but the emotion.” 

When he performs, Qiu likes connecting with people. The feeling that his music is bigger than himself motivates him to continue. 

“Right now I don’t consider myself a professional musician. I’m hoping that one day I can stand up and tell people this is what I do full-time—I hope that one day there’s a way for me to do it as a living,” he says. “One of my smaller goals in the beginning (was to) curate a set of songs that I’m really proud of and can still perform when I’m 70 years old.”

Finding balance as a dad can be challenging; Qiu records after his kids are in bed, as well as working full-time during the day. 

“When you love something that much, you’ll find time to do it. You’ll do it for free even,” he says.

One recent piece of advice that has stuck with Qiu is not to doubt himself ever. 

“That’s really helped me with music making. I used to write a lot of songs, like 30 bad songs before I would (write) one good one—it was really that self-doubt, criticizing, and nagging that was deterring me from what I wanted to do. Learning to trust myself, listen to my instincts, and have faith in my own abilities has been really good advice.”

Qiu is performing at the Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival on Oct. 15. As a slightly older emerging artist—Qiu turns 40 this month—he appreciates the platform provided to artists who identify as an outsider in some way.

“The message I get from potential sponsors and society at large is (that) once you’re past a certain age you’re no longer an emerging artist. I don’t think there should be an expiry date on someone’s passions and dreams,” he says.

For more information, visit jace829.wixsite.com/jasonqiumusic.

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