Heidi Li: “My Passport Cannot Define My Identity” [Interview]

Interviewed + transcribed by Naomi Tang [April 27, 2020]

Heidi Li is a Hong Kong born Jazz/Soul singer composer who grew up with a Cantonese opera background under her parents’ influence. At the age of 11, she won a Cantonese Opera singing competition on TVB, the most important TV channel in Hong Kong. After having lived in Canada, the UK and France, she has been living in Italy for more than 8 years where she completed a degree in Vocal Jazz Performance with the full marks of 110, studying with some of the finest Italian musicians including Diana Torto and Stefano Battaglia. She has also participated in various Jazz workshops and has the chance to have studied with Jeff Ballard, Theo Bleckmann, Miguel Zenon, Kenny Werner and Jen Shyu etc.

In 2016, she published her first EP “Third Culture Kid” with a team of Italian musicians, which includes 6 of her original compositions written in English, Italian and Cantonese. She has also been active on YouTube, singing folk songs in different Italian dialects. In October 2016, she was invited by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to sing at the States General of the Italian Language in the World in Florence where the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella was present.

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Heidi, you have such an international worldview and so many interesting experiences. What started this process?

I remember clearly the first time I went to the U.S. when I was around ten years old. I had the chance to meet kids from other countries. From then, I was trying to figure out ways to study abroad. I looked for different opportunities and that’s how I found the UWC [United World Colleges] scholarships. I think the moment I had the most exposure to an international environment was at Pearson [College UWC, Canada]. As long as I was trying new things, I was happy.

After Pearson, you studied Political Science in the UK, and then 10 years later you received another degree in Jazz in Siena. It’s quite a shift from your roots in Cantonese Opera. Why did you make that leap?

Although I loved and still love Chinese opera, I never really took its training very seriously to be honest. My parents both sing Chinese opera, so I grew up in that kind of environment and went naturally into it. When I went to Italy after my degree I found a job and, at that time, I wanted to do something as a hobby. I was in a small city called Perugia, which hosts a large annual festival. Slowly, I got to meet many jazz musicians. Since I lived next to a jazz club, I started to go there too, and that’s how I started to sing jazz.

Did you know from the beginning that you didn’t want a “9 to 5” sort of life?

At the beginning, I was a little bit lost. Like many of my friends who studied political science, I wanted to work for the UN. That’s also a very “UWC” thing [students from there often do]. I tried to apply for some internships, but I never really pushed myself hard for it. In Italy, I took the first job I found. I didn’t really know how things would turn out, I just knew I wouldn’t stay there long. Because the job gave me some flexibility, I could go back to school and study jazz.

Your EP “Third Culture Kid” has songs in English, Italian and Cantonese. How was this concept born? Did you just know it was something you wanted to do?

Yes, definitely. It was my intention [to have songs in different languages] because I wanted to bring that side of me into the music, my journey and everything.

How do the songs describe a part of your life?

The title track “Third Culture Kid” actually talks about how my passport cannot define my identity. It also describes the moment that I saw my parents again after a long time studying abroad. I just wanted to give my dad a hug, but he was so shocked because it’s not as common [in our culture to do that]. The lyrics are quite autobiographical.

You’re always involved in the whole creative process. What does it mean to you to be overseeing the production every step of the way?

For my album, I was writing all the music. That way, I felt like this was my baby, though other musicians helped to record also. I love playing music with others, but I also want to have the knowledge of how to do everything by myself. Now I’m in Hong Kong [because of COVID-19] and although I can still collaborate with others in long distance, I’m taking time these months during the lockdown to learn what I’ve always wanted to learn: to produce a music track entirely with the computer.

Your songs talk a lot about themes of identity and self-discovery. How do you approach that idea of identity? What aspects of different places in your life influence your identity?

The country that influenced me the most is Italy, because I have been there the longest time. Before, I was always just a student living abroad, but I experienced Italy as an adult - I bought my own car and paid taxes. I lived with Italians, so I was totally immersed in the culture all the time. Even Italians find me very Italian! Whenever I come back [to Hong Kong], I always bring back a lot of cheese, coffee and salami. I feel very attached to the culture in general.

Is it difficult to sing in dialect?

Singing in the dialects is not that difficult because I learn the song and that’s it, so it’s not like I can really talk in dialect. Maybe I know a bit more of the Perugino dialect because I used to live there. Actually it’s very funny because I learned Italian by speaking to people and I “grew up” in Perugia [Laughs], so some words that are actually in the dialect I thought were in Italian. I realize only when I speak to people from outside of Perugia and they ask what [certain words] mean.

A lot of people want to make an impact in the political sphere. But I think that you are a changemaker in a different way as an artist, in terms of how you connect cultures and people together. Do you feel the scope of your impact?

Well, I try to bridge different cultures together in a different way. I’m actually very happy to have that project of singing in different Italian dialects because I have had the chance to collaborate with Italian consulates and cultural associations. So in a way I feel like a cultural ambassador. When I was younger I thought that I would love to be a diplomat; now I feel like I’m some sort of “freelance diplomat”, promoting Italian and Chinese culture without going through any bureaucracy - so it’s even better!

Is there a place that impacted you the most during your travels?

It would be India, although Bhutan is also very nice. India is so interesting, and I was lucky enough to have visited three times. They have a great culture, music and lots of history and art. At the same time there is a lot of poverty and not much infrastructure in places. They have a good railway network, but all the trains are running at 50km per hour. In a way, it’s like going back in time. It’s interesting because you see how people can have such different lifestyles. In India, even in some slums, I found that people were always smiling. They didn’t look miserable, I mean mentally. In other big cities, people often have so much but they’re never happy. It seems that they’re always so stressed out or pissed off. That’s one of the important impacts travelling has had on me.

So how do you carry that understanding with you?

We can definitely do with much less. That’s why I am very committed to living a more flexible and free life. I don't want to stay in an office. It is important to have a good work-life balance. I think I would always want to find a way to earn enough money to live well and still have enough time dedicated to my family and myself. Time is so precious.

It seems you use social media quite a lot to do outreach. It doesn’t feel like you’ve been driven by commercial success, but genuinely because you want to build a connection between yourself and the audience. Why is that?

When I made my album, it was a milestone for me personally. I didn't get a record company to distribute the album. I just sell it when I am touring around or doing concerts. I want to be relatively economically stable to allow me to make music freely. When you don’t earn enough maybe you need to think about taking that gig, even though you don’t like the music that they want you to sing. If I have a decent income, then I can decide to do what I’m truly interested in.

In Hong Kong, does it feel like the art scene is missing something?

In Hong Kong there are not a lot of places for jazz, and with the coronavirus it’s going to be even harder and harder to find these places. These days I'm brainstorming all the ways I can build a sustainable career with a mission I’m passionate about.

What projects are you working on now?

I am thinking of what kind of projects are interesting for the audience, and also for me. I want to promote jazz in Hong Kong and Asia. Right now, there are very few Cantonese jazz songs. I think writing Chinese lyrics to jazz songs would be something new and quite interesting for the audience. I am also contacting some universities to do jazz vocal workshops. This is one of the biggest things I’m now working on these days. I never really considered teaching before because teaching it is hard, since it’s quite abstract that you don’t see the instrument in front of you. I’m offering some vocal lessons online and I quite like doing that. When things get better, I'm definitely going to organize workshops and offer courses. I can’t stand still!

Visit Heidi Li's website here: https://www.heidili.com/

Listen to Heidi Li's original song "The Other Side": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI7lEPcQag0