“I would say I’m definitely more of an extrovert,” Lucy Tun laughs over Zoom. “I think I came to that conclusion at the beginning of this year. I spent about three weeks at home without going out and I was like: no, I’m dying, I need to see people!” A Burmese-British artist who started out learning to DJ in her bedroom, Lucy Tun is now an artist in her own right, creating hypnotic pop beats with deeply personal lyrics, which go far beyond those original four walls.
But she didn’t start out with dreams of being a musician. Studying economics and Burmese at university, Lucy Tun recalls telling her parents that she planned to quit music. “I think it was the pressure to be a successful fully-functioning adult…That was kind of how I felt at the time. I just couldn’t see an avenue for working in creative industries. I didn’t have any friends or family or anybody who did anything remotely creative. I didn’t know how I would even start.”
Whilst a lot of musicians cite their parents as their original musical influences, Lucy Tun cites the internet. “For the most part, most of my music taste came from music videos that I watched online,” she says. “It was a melting pot. I always found the internet a safe space for me to really explore and express myself as opposed to being outside in the real world.”
This Autumn sees the release of her debut EP, the bouncing, experimental ‘Unreal’. With her thumb keenly on the pulse of contemporary culture, the project sees Lucy blending diaristic lyrics with captivating 808 frequencies. “I want this period to be known for exploration, growing up, coming-of-age. Regardless of how it performs, this project is very personal to me. It’s very raw and it’s very exciting but also a little bit scary too, because you don’t know how people are going to perceive you. It’s a really big moment for me.”
And how will Lucy Tun celebrate this big moment? “Probably sleep. Probably turn my phone off. Probably buy lots of yarn and maybe go to a farm and bring all my knitting machines and just make a bunch of shit. That sounds like my kind of celebration.”
WHAT: Dreamy, floor-filling pop hits
WHERE: London
3 SONGS: ‘Kulture Klub’, ‘Rabbit Hole’, ‘ADHD’
FACT: A fashion-forward creative, Lucy has DJ’d for GUCCI
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Words: Grace Dodd
Photography: Bella Howard
Styling: Sabrina Soormally
Creative Direction: Rob Meyers
Lucy Tun wears wears the Long Sleeve Fred Perry shirt, in Black / Petrol Blue / Petrol Blue (l55), £120; by Fred Perry. Shop the collection here.
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