Alternative RnB singer-songwriter Earth Angel is part of a new generation of artists who are releasing music independently and rejecting industry norms. Authenticity prevails, and truth-telling is more important than exposure. I wanted to find out about Earth’s personal journey, and everything that has led her to where she is now.
Liverpool Noise: You spent a part of your life in South East Asia – how did this shape your childhood?
Earth Angel: I was very lucky to be able to see the world and experience culture in my early years. My parents moved me to Phnom Penh, Cambodia at the age of 3 as they were both HIV nurses. HIV was a huge epidemic there at that time. We lived in a wooden house in the slums amongst the locals as my parents wanted to live authentically, like most of the Cambodians they knew. I remember my mum bathing me and my brother in metal bins because we didn’t have a bath and when the rainy season came, my dad would spend hours sweeping the water out from the bottom of the house.
Liverpool Noise: What did living in that environment teach you to value in life?
Earth Angel: My parents were young, both 23 at the time. I will always admire what they did for the Khmer community and how they sacrificed so much for the people around them who had less. Those years will always be so special to me, they taught me a lot about how rough life can be for some, but also how sometimes people with the least in life are the happiest and most grateful. I feel privileged to have seen that side of the world and to this day I feel very connected to south East Asian culture.
Liverpool Noise: And then moving to Liverpool from Cambodia – that must have been a huge change. How quickly did you adapt?
Earth Angel: Moving to Liverpool was definitely a huge culture shock, coming from a city that was primarily Buddhist, eating fresh fruit daily and {being in} the sun, to then being in cold and rainy Liverpool, with a culture that I didn’t understand much. I never felt I fit in, not until the very end anyway. I remember my first day at school thinking, why do people speak like this? But later on, I caught the accent pretty quickly. I had my brother with me who was 15 months older than me and eventually, we adapted.
Liverpool Noise: You speak about Spirituality a lot in your music…was there a pivotal point in your life that inspired this?
Earth Angel: I’ve always questioned life and been so curious about the answers to everything. As a child, I was very empathetic and have always felt things so deeply. But I had my first real spiritual awakening in 2016. I was in school and we had a supply teacher for the day. He told me after the lesson to read a book called “The Secret”. It was a book about The Law of Attraction and manifestation. It’s basically the gateway book into new-age Spirituality. I read it all in about a week and it genuinely changed my life. I had always known that humans have more power than we’ve been told. I always thought there was more to life than working a job you hate and struggling your way through life. After reading the book, I started learning about the spirit world, meditation and visualisation. It has really helped me in my journey and it’s something I will never let go of.
Earth Angel’s debut single, ‘Insomnia’, was released in 2019 when she was just eighteen years old. ‘Moved out of home, feeling kinda lost,’ she sings on the track, articulating the feelings she felt when navigating leaving home for the first time.
Liverpool Noise: What was it like moving to London at a young age and how did you decide to take that step?
Earth Angel: I worked many different jobs in Liverpool to save and move out. Every job under the sun. I had a plan in mind to move to London with my best friend. We wanted to be somewhere with more music opportunities. A week after my 18th birthday, we did it. We shared a room in London for a year because we were so broke and were trying to save money to invest in our music careers. It was a struggle but it was worth it.
Liverpool Noise: You write, record and release all of your music yourself. What are some misconceptions that people have about being an independent artist?
Earth Angel: Everything that I make is invested into my music. I think many people see artists putting music out and they just don’t realise how much money goes into everything. You have to really desire a music career & do it because you love it…because you won’t make any money from your music until you’re at a very high level. The money you make from streaming doesn’t even scrape what you pay for studio hours & promotion, but let me not go into how I feel about that one.
In recent years, due to the streaming revolution, the music industry has been through a dramatic upheaval. While artists struggle due to underpayment from streaming companies, the ability to release music without a label has changed the game. Independent and self-funded artists have been given a voice. This allows them to be authentic and true to themselves with little to no influence from labels or management companies.
Creating music on her own terms is very important to Earth Angel. The predecessor to her debut single comes ‘Love from E8’, an Alt-RnB track released in 2021, with self-aware and mature lyrics that speak to Earth’s growth as an artist. As she evolves, so does her concern for the industry and the impact of her music on her listeners.
Liverpool Noise: I wanted to ask, why it is that you tune a lot of your music to 432hz?
Earth Angel: I am very into the science behind music and how the frequencies affect our bodies and emotions. Artists like Kanye, Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell tune their music to 432hz and 528hz. These are the frequencies which relax our nervous systems. The standard 440hz actually puts us in a state of anxiety…which most people don’t know. I think it’s important that more people know about this and begin to tune their music to the frequencies that are good for our bodies. We have to be more mindful of what we consume, as I believe it has a lot of impact on our mental and spiritual health.
Liverpool Noise: Your new single Virgo Boy was released in early January. The track is about grief and losing a friend…what can you tell us about the song?
Earth Angel: Sometimes in life, you meet people and just connect instantly (Earth says, about her friend who the song is written about). It was like I had known him for years and years and I had this deep sense of unconditional love for him. He was a man of character, style and charisma. Everyone that he met, he touched in some way.
Before he died, my friend was working on a fashion project for university. He was so passionate and driven. He had goals to be the best designer and be high up with brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. He was an amazing fashion designer and had the best taste in clothes. I would often ask him what accessories he thought I should match with the outfit I was wearing. He was highly critical, as Virgos are, but I always knew to trust his judgement.
Liverpool Noise: And finally, the track has many lyrics that allude to your beliefs. ‘I never knew you were an angel’, being one of them. How does your Spirituality affect your perspective of loss?
Earth Angel: Death taught me that we never really die. Physically, yes, but our spirit lives on. Losing the physical existence of someone you love, knowing you will never ever see them again is a pain that not much can compare to. But the faith that there is more to life than what we can see with our eyes, more out there beyond the physical realm, that is what keeps me going through grief.
Earth Angel’s new single Virgo Boy: https://songwhip.com/earthangel/virgo-boy-demo
Follow Earth Angel’s journey on Instagram.
Interviewed and written by Milla Thomas.
