NYC indie-pop artist Ushio opens up about dreamy soundscapes, film-inspired visuals, and finding meaning in songwriting as life and emotions change.

Ushio is an indie NYC-based singer-songwriter whose songs, with dreamy textures and thoughtful songwriting, share a consistent 2000s visual style driven by her interest in film photo shoots and the emotions she wants to convey. Through reflections on the intimate feelings of the human experience, she aims to inspire and heal, offering a safe space where listeners can find solace and connection. Last year, she released her first EP, Under Alien Sky, with a transparent, green-and-blue, spacey, floating vibe. Today, I got to sit down in person with her to have this intimate conversation.

DicePressPlay: Hi Ushio! Could you tell our lovely readers a little about yourself and the story behind your name? How would you describe the world of “ushio”?

Ushio: Hi, I’m a NYC-based singer-songwriter making indie pop. I always loved music as a kid, but it wasn’t until I realized that I wanted to create something that felt like my own and pass on the emotion and joy I received from other people’s music that I felt the impulse to start writing songs. I wouldn’t define my music as one specific genre because my goal is to make something that blends different elements I like.“Ushio,” its pronunciation is similar to my actual name, and I like the combination of letters. It’s not Japanese.

DicePressPlay: Wow, interesting! To start with, I really love your visual style of your releases! They are very consistent, with a 2000s vibe and photos shot on film. How do you put the visuals together, and where do your ideas come from?

Ushio: Thank you! I usually have a general idea of what the visuals for a project should look like based on the emotions I want to convey and the atmosphere and texture of the song. What I do is nothing too sophisticated. I might just wander the streets with my friend/photographer and take photos at spots that feel right.

DicePressPlay: What did you grow up listening to, and how have your listening habits changed over time?

Ushio: I grew up listening to Mandopop, especially Yoga Lin and Cheer Chen. I was really into Yoga’s lesser-known songs, like《飘》and《纪念品》, and his covers led me to explore other artists’ work that I hadn’t known before. Faye Webster was an early inspiration when I started learning electric guitar back in 2020. Seeing her with a white guitar even inspired me to get one too.

As for my listening habits, I’m always trying to discover new music that might become an inspiration for my own. Recently, I’ve been drawn to music with fun synth parts.

DicePressPlay: I see you are always with something to read with. What draws you to reading, and how do words and images inspire your music in different ways?

Ushio: I think words from books or lines from movies usually inspire me most when they either express something I strongly relate to or discuss topics I’m interested in while leaving room for my own interpretation. These things are very important to my songwriting. Visual ideas inspire me in another way, especially in terms of a song’s textures and my self-representation as an artist.

DicePressPlay: Dostoevsky’s White Nights inspired the title of your EP, Under Alien Sky. What made it feel like the right fit for the project? Did finding the title change how you saw the songs as a whole?

Ushio: The book tells the story of a dreamer falling in love with a girl he has just met and how his inner dialogue and imagination ignited his passion for love and changed his view towards the world. The songs on my EP explore similar ideas. I didn’t necessarily talk about “love” in these songs. Instead, the EP explores the uncontrollable force of human emotion and how these emotions can make a big impact on you. After confirming the title, I think I was able to approach these four songs more consistently and deeply.

DicePressPlay: Looking back at your first single Wandering, how have your sound and the things you write about changed since then?

Ushio: “Wandering” was written while I was attending a songwriting summer program at NYU. The professor asked us to write a self-statement song, so that was what I came up with. Later, I wanted to produce it because it’s a meaningful song to me personally, so I worked with Craig Hendirx, the drummer/producer from Japanese Breakfast. When producing my first single, the producer led more of the process. Later, when I was working on my first EP, I started to develop a clearer sense of the sound I was looking for. In terms of the themes explored in “Wandering” and “Under Alien Sky,” the single was more about self-doubt and self-acceptance, while the EP focused more on raw and nuanced emotions.

DicePressPlay: I see. So what does songwriting mean to you? What does the process usually look like for you, like lyrics and melodies, which comes first? 

Ushio: To me, songwriting is a form of self-expression. I’m not a very talkative person in everyday life, so I think writing songs is a good way for me to express my feelings and thoughts more concisely and powerfully. As for the process, there’s no fixed method or sequence for me. I have a notebook where I record my daily inspirations, and later I might piece some ideas together to form lyrics. For melodies, I usually get ideas while playing the guitar or walking.

DicePressPlay: Tell us more about your latest single, Afterthoughts. How did it develop from the early inspiration into the version you released?

Ushio: The song was written around three years ago. I played and sang the initial version in a class at school and received positive feedback from my classmates. During the writing process, the chorus came together quickly, but the verse went through multiple versions. I wanted to make it a soft rock song with some spacey and ethereal synth, fun percussion, and dreamy guitars, so I’m pretty happy with the result. 

DicePressPlay: Can’t believe it took you three years, but it’s definitely a great song and totally worth it. I can feel that you are a perfectionist. What does that look like when you’re working on a song?

Ushio: If a song comes together naturally, I usually don’t change it much. But most of the time, I don’t even finish the song, or I come back to it many times and rewrite it until I’m satisfied.

DicePressPlay: Congrats on your music video! You shot for the song Potential Clue ; the magnifying glass appeared several times. How did that idea come about?

Ushio: Thank you! I worked with a friend on the shoot. I tried to draw a storyboard before filming, but after I bought the magnifying glass two days before the shoot, it ended up becoming quite a big part of the video’s imagery, so the storyboard wasn’t really used. I like the idea because it’s a very direct image for the act of looking for clues.

DicePressPlay: You said you sometimes feel less of an urge to express yourself than before. How has your relationship with songwriting changed over time?

Ushio: Some things that used to feel important to me don’t feel as important anymore, so they don’t bring out the same feelings or urge to express myself. I don’t quite feel the same way about past experiences or the little details I used to notice. Even a year later, it can be hard to reconnect with what I was thinking back then. So I think staying true to myself and only writing about what really matters to me at the moment is the principle I’ve been following.

DicePressPlay: You mentioned some things don’t feel important to express anymore. What still makes you want to pick up a guitar and write? And in a way, what motivates you to keep calm and carry on?

Ushio: I think the answer is connected to why I started in the first place. For me, creating is one of the things that makes me feel alive. It gives me little goals that keep me moving forward. Without those goals, I’d feel so directionless in life.

DicePressPlay: What’s your takeaway from your last show? After releasing the EP, did you also have CDs made? How are the physical copies selling? When’s your next show coming up?

Ushio: I started putting the show together about three months in advance, including reaching out to venues and finding musicians for the band. Since I’m a solo artist, I’m the only one responsible for promotion, scheduling, and figuring out what we still need to work on, so I’m usually a bit stressed when preparing for a show. 

I sold several CDs at the venue and am also selling them online. Some listeners leave encouraging comments when they order a CD, which I really appreciate.

It was my first time making a CD, so it felt really new and exciting. I felt something similar when I played my first show in New York a year ago.

This Saturday, 10/24, I’ll be playing a show at The Delancey at 5:45 p.m. Pull up if you have time~

DicePressPlay: Thank you so much for everything and can’t wait to be there. Break a leg!

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