Image: JXCKY. Photo: Francis Biay/ Supplied
For West Melbourne-based, Chinese-Cambodian dark pop star JXCKY, the saying, “If you can see it, you can be it,” couldn’t ring any truer.
As he stood in the happy throng at last year’s Midsumma Victoria’s Pride Street Party, watching Keiynan Lonsdale and Jaguar Jonze, he felt empowered to seek a spot for himself. Fast forward a year, and he’ll appear on the Gertrude Street stage during a jam-packed day of music that includes Sycco, Maya Vice and LION.
JXCKY wants to pay his joy forward. “I think it’s so important for other people who are like me to be able to see themselves reflected in a line-up, sharing their stories, because when I’m in the audience, I want to be able to listen,” he says. “I hope seeing me can potentially spark something in others.”
Music Was The Right Fit
Growing up in Melbourne’s west as a kid of immigrants, JXCKY loved reading and was always scribbling down his own stories. “The hustle and the grind that’s instilled in you from a young age is very much there,” he says of his creative drive.
Channelling it into music came later, after graduating high school. “I wanted a unique way to express myself and for people to listen that wasn’t writing a book or teaching an English class.”
Music was the right fit. “How people listened to and dissected lyrics, how you can write out your story that way in a really fun format, hiding little clues about yourself where people really have to listen, it became a cathartic way for me to express the hurt and pain that I’ve been holding inside of me since I was a teenager,” JXCKY says.
New Single
“There’s a lot of vulnerability behind all the loud noise that’s often presented with conviction and confidence at surface level, but if you really listen, there’s a multitude of themes of sadness, revenge, hurt, contempt and guilt.”
New single ‘LFG!!!’ – JXCKY says it’s up to you if you read it as ‘Let’s freaking’ or ‘fucking go’ – lets it all out in spectacular style. “It’s basically a gym-hype song,” he laughs. “Sometimes the only way to get what you need is to really work hard by yourself. And having grown up in an environment where I’ve had to hustle, it’s created this mindset for me to continue this motivation.”
Hopefully, hearing his might is music to other young people of colour’s ears this Midsumma.
JXCKY is scheduled to perform at Victoria’s Pride Street Party on February 11, 2024
