Written by: Viktoria Ngô
Originally from Los Angeles, CA – artist Mad Tsai is making his way up to pop stardom! Mad started writing songs in his bedroom, using it as a way to express his emotions. Once he started posting his music online in 2020, he was quickly met with internet fame from his first single “Boy Bi.” Since the release of Boy Bi, Mad has evolved his sound and messaging further, aiming to “push the edges of pop music”. We sat down with Mad today to talk about his quick rise to fame, the release of his newest singles “BITE” and “HOUNDSOFHELL”, touring with Hannah Bahng, and so much more.
Starting the interview, we asked Mad about his key influences and music he has been loving lately. Mad cited his favorite artists of all time are Lorde and Rosalia. “They are two artists that are so different from the music I make, but I believe have really pushed the needle of what pop music should be and that is something I love doing with my music as well.” As a huge fan of pop music overall, he loves so much of what is currently going on in the pop space and is constantly inspired by those in it. He also cited Doja Cat and Ariana Grande as key influences in his music as well.
When asked about his rapid rise to fame from social media, Mad stated that he had mixed feelings surrounding it. He discusses how he was always grateful for the platform he was given via social media, but also at times felt boxed in because of it. “I felt like I had to appeal to internet culture and do certain things in order to continue a career in music and promote my music online. But also through social media, Mad discussed how it really helped him re-discover himself and what music he wanted to create. My first project was a lot of me figuring out what music I wanted to make and who I am as an artist, my second project I made in the middle of me graduating from college and another layer of me discovering myself. Now that I have graduated, it helped me figure out that I could be able to do what I want and release music the way I want to release music, but still market myself on the internet and have fun with it.
Spending many years of his life as a student at UCLA, Mad cited that these years were formative to shaping the person he is today. Through communicating with people my age, being independent, figuring myself out and moving out for the first time, it very much felt like growing pains of turning into the person that I know that I should be.
From the concepts to the choreography, we also got to touch on Mad’’s single “BITE” and the process for creating the video corresponding with the release. Mad is extremely hands-on with the creation of his videos and has always loved creating the treatments and concepts for the video before taking in any producers or directors. Creating the visual world behind his music quickly became one of his favorite parts of being an artist, and has become a strong part of Mad’s artist identity as well. Mad stated that creating the video for “BITE” was particularly ambitious for him. “I feel like I was really ambitious with the music video for ‘BITE’. There was a lot of stuff happening and I wanted to bring so many ideas into the video as well. In this video I was dancing for the very first time and had to learn in a week how to dance, which was really frightening at first. I had to figure out how to fit all of these concepts into a greater world and love being as ambitious as possible and seeing how much I can achieve.”
When asked about the writing session for his newest release “HOUNDSOFHELL”, Mad said how the session felt extremely cathartic for him. “I took this experience I had with a fellow artist at a Lunar New Year show I hosted and vented to the producer and the co-writer, and thus the song was born! I came into the session with the line ‘I’m going to drag you through the hounds of hell’, and the writing process felt very natural through me trying to get all of my emotions out about this person.
“BITE” and “HOUNDSOFHELL” have introduced a new era for Mad! He expressed how after releasing his last project Teenage Nightmare, coming from an extremely vulnerable album for him, he wanted to be able to experiment with his sound more and write fun pop music. “I really just wanted to have fun during this era and be able to have a party for everyone when I perform my music live as well. I never want to just stay in one lane. I don’t want to just stick to fun pop music or stick to just emotional, sad songs; I want to be able to have my mix of both.”
We had the honor of getting to photograph Mad’s set opening for Hannah Bahng on The Misunderstood Tour. After wrapping up his very first tour run, Mad reflected on his time on the road. “Before touring with Hannah I didn’t really have much touring experience and didn’t know what was really going to come out from these performances as well. I was able to fully lean into performing naturally and people really liked it! The reception from the audience was so comforting and watching it back, I learned a lot about myself as an artist and a performer as well. This tour really gave me a strong passion and love for performing, and made me excited about the possibilities of performances to come in the future.”
With what is next for Mad, he is so ecstatic for his upcoming releases. “I am so excited about the music that I have and will be releasing soon, I am so excited to be on stage again, I’m so hungry as an artist again and so ready to push myself more! I love being a musician and have such a strong passion for music, I can’t wait to give the fans more in the coming year!” We are so excited to see what is next for Mad Tsai and what’s to come for him and his budding career as an artist.
Presave Mad Tsai’s upcoming single “STRAYS” & “HOUNDSOFHELL” is available now. Watch the music video for “BITE” out now.
Follow Mad Tsai on all social media platforms!