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On a Monday night, I had the pleasure of diving into the world of Venus, a talented artist whose unique style and captivating presence have quickly made her one of my favorites. With her gap-toothed smile, she told me all about her latest EP, Time Change– one she wrote, sang, and solely produced. A California native, Venus’ voice radiates the warmth of the sun breaking through a cloudy sky. Her lyrics, like soothing mantras and self-affirmations, carry a sense of peace and introspection. There’s a mystique to her music, yet her bright, caring demeanor invites listeners to feel seen and understood. Before the interview started, she complimented my glasses on our Zoom call. From there, we dove into chatting about her debut EP.

Music has always been a part of Venus’s life, connecting her like an invisible thread. In high school, she joined the school marching band. “I was in the winter drumline, symphonic band”, said Venus. “I started with a wind instrument. I was a flute player, then I went to tenor saxophone and finally did percussion. After that, I’ve just always been singing. Around high school time, I started really producing, getting into my shtick, and really finding my voice in general. When college happened, I started to dive into it. I found my sound. I really love the genres, the genre bends that I like to do with like indie music, pop, R&B, folk, I love those sounds. So all of those combined into what came to be of Venus.” No, Venus isn’t her real name, but it’s who she is now. Venus was always within her. At one point it was in her AIM username until it solely became Venus. 

Venus currently is an artist who is secure in her artistry. Her sound flutters around you when you listen. Her sound starts with a sultry, psychedelic vibe in “Things Change,” with harmonies aligned with synths. From there, “Time to Go!” gently pulls you inward, grounding you with its soothing melodies and poignant lyrics: “There’s an aching in your bones. There’s a whisper in your ear. How something is lost. That’s when you know. Time to go.”

Along with her lyrics, Venus’ production is one layered in meaning. In the production for “Things Change,” it feels like you are slowly watching the seconds tick by on a clock. It reflects the concept of time as an unstoppable cycle that must be accepted, which connects with her EP cover. For Venus it is about “holding on to time, but really within that clock, time is always moving, you can’t really catch up to it, you can’t really hold on to it, you just kind of just hope for the best.”

After I theorized the EP and its concept, Venus was more than happy to hear it. “Yeah, 100% that’s so amazing that you got that.” This is one of many moments in Venus’ music that feels like connecting the correct pieces to a puzzle. Venus took the time to elaborate more, “But I think when it came to “Things Change,” it was trying to encompass the fact that like, as literal as it is, things change for people. Things are always changing, and it doesn’t have to be either heart-wrenching or very serious things that invoke that feeling of being scared of something changing or things like that just for everybody. Like, we’re always constantly dealing with change, and it’s just such an interesting concept that’s very general to everybody, but very specific to everybody.”

In one of the lines in the song “OMFG,” Venus sings, “Tip-toeing on the borderline of my sun and moon and rising sign.” I was immediately curious and knew I had to ask her about it. She explained that while working on the EP, she engaged in a lot of shadow work, a process that allowed her to reflect on aspects of her life she had been avoiding.

Venus went on to explain, “The more that I reflected on those and the more that I reflected on my main signs, I started to learn about the fact that we do have our shadow signs. There are parts of us that we want to have our higher self, we want to have our higher, just the most positive. I’m a Virgo. I’m the best version of Virgo, but there are those shadow sides of being a Virgo, or whatever sign you are, that you have to reflect on. And when I was writing the music, and that song in particular, I was thinking about all these things. Sometimes, I do feel like I’m still in the dark side of my moon side. Sometimes, I still feel like I might be on the dark side of my sun side, and I’m teetering between both of these all the time.”

Sitting there listening, I can’t help but feel the same. We’re all constantly trying to navigate where to align ourselves and our beliefs into who we are and can be.

Recording and performing can take a toll that’s why Venus’ coffee order is about the sweet stuff, but also preservation. She drinks Throat Coat, which she elaborated how it doesn’t tend to taste the best but it helps with singing. For other occasions, she’s an “iced matcha girly,” with oat milk, but it fluctuates between hot or iced depending on her mood. Venus is an artist that I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to find early in her career. Her sound is grounded and flexible, allowing for growth. More importantly, she has talent that feels like the cherry on top of it all.

You can stream Venus’ debut EP on all streaming platforms and follow her @solusvenus.