KICCC Spills The Tea! ♥ PlNKWIFI

Carson Cheng, also known as KICCC (pronounced kick) is a Canadian-Chinese singer who just released his new single “Iced Tea”!

“Iced Tea” is a groovy, upbeat tropical house song that was inspired by the bliss of sharing a connection with someone else. KICCC says, “I was on a beach and saw this couple I know from Instagram taking photos, while on holiday, It was curiously refreshing seeing how carefree and unapologetic their enjoyment in each other’s presence was and I was then inspired to write “Iced Tea.” For me, this song represents the fantasy of that sort of unabashed, decidedly naïve, pleasure which I think we all could use more of right now.”

KICCC broke out into the scene last year as a solo artist. While he always had an interest in releasing his own music, he had been focusing on his acting career. Now he’s releasing tons of dope music, and his debut album is on the way!

To celebrate the release of “Iced Tea”, I got to chat with KICCC about the makings of the song and what he’s been up to lately!

Hi Carson! Thanks for being down to chat. How’s everything going?

Hey Chels thanks so much for having me on PLNKWIFI! I am doing pretty good all things considered, thank you for asking. I’m very lucky that I’m a total homebody and that I have a great, stable internet connection (thank you Netflix) so I can’t complain! Hoping that you and your loved ones are safe and secure! :”-)

“Iced Tea” is a really refreshing song! How was the process of creating it like?

I’m glad to hear that you’re liking “Iced Tea”! I wrote this song in order to relive the time I was on a beach during a family vacation. I actually couldn’t swim during the trip because I got bit by a lemur (it was mating season and I wandered too close to his girlfriend. Lemur pee that rained from treetops was also involved but I don’t want to get into it 😭). I ended up just sitting around people watching while my arm throbbed for the most part. So maybe instead of reliving that series of unfortunate events, the song “Iced Tea” is a fantasy of what could have been. I guess the process of creating this song went a bit like this: 1) get peed on by a lemur 2) get bitten by another lemur 3) stare out at the Indian Ocean and be sad about not being able to swim it and wonder if I might have rabies 4) ??? 5) “Iced Tea”.

You’re releasing your debut album later this year. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Yes, I’m about to release my first album “The Water Knows” later on this year. It’s going to have a mix of the familiar dance / pop sound of the singles I’ve released so far and other material I’m excited to have people hear. It’s a side of KICCC that hasn’t been shown to the world yet. There are a couple ballads, a chill R&B type song, and something a bit more experimental. I wrote the album and arranged the track listing to tell a story. Creating the album has really been a reflective and healing process for me and I hope that when people listen to it they are able to get a sense of the journey that I’m on, the struggles that I’ve dealt with and stuff that keeps me looking forward.

What made you want to transition from acting to making music?

When I started working professionally as an actor in Asia, I struggled with feeling heard because there was a firm mold of what people wanted me to be especially as it was a more commercial, conservative market. I love being on set no matter what role I was given but I didn’t feel like I was managed properly and utilized to my fullest potential so I became a bit disillusioned. When I decided to take a break, I started experimenting with writing music and lyrics as it was something that I always wanted to do. It felt good to be able to put my own thoughts into song and create narrative concepts. I felt the creative challenge and that really inspired me to pursue it deeper. I don’t think of acting and music being that different because both rely on creating a point of view and channeling personas. I would love to act again if there’s a role or story that I can really resonate with but for now I’ll stick to acting in KICCC’s music videos :-)! Shout out to Riun Garner and Mark Chisholm who directed my first two videos (“Here” and “Control”).

How have you been staying busy during these truly unprecedented times?

When I’m not working on what I can remotely (I’m updating my website because the merch I’ve been working on for the past year is finally ready :-D), I’m usually at my computer playing a video game with my friends online or trying out new recipes (I made clam chowder from scratch the other week).

Although I miss my friends/family and can’t wait to get back into a studio, I understand that physical distancing is what will keep others and myself safe so that things can return to “normal” sooner rather than later, we really can’t rush it and let our guard down. I want to offer my thanks to all the essential front line workers who are taking care of the sick or making sure that necessities are still available; I am grateful.

And finally… what’s your favorite tea flavor? (Personally I love passion fruit green tea!)

Passion fruit green tea (!!!) or anything else tart like lemon green tea with pearls is my go-to bubble tea order! If we are talking about non-dessert teas I really enjoy chamomile lavender blends with a spoonful of honey! It’s the best thing for my throat and makes me so relaxed and sleepy 😪 so I really like it at night.

And that’s the tea!