Meet Eden Lang, the Zimbabwean Indie Songstress

Meet Eden Lang! A singer-songwriter who plays guitar, produces her own music and animates her own lyric videos. Eden’s music is infused with heartfelt melodies and powerful vocals, it evokes a whirlwind of emotions in her listeners. Eden paves her way to stardom with her captivating lyricism, soaring guitars, delicate falsettos, and pulsating drums which create a rich soundscape. Much more than just a musician, she is a storyteller at heart. Her music delves into the complexities of human experience, drawing inspiration from both personal struggles and boundless imagination.

What initially sparked your passion for singing?

I’ve been interested in music and singing since I was about five years old. My dad is a musician as well, so I learnt guitar from him. I just started writing songs and playing the guitar from when I was a young kid.

Could you just give us who your musical influences are that have shaped your life apart from your dad?

I grew up listening to Lauryn Hill, Tracy Chapman, and listening to bands that had a story to tell. And I think that’s why my music is very storytelling and lyric focused. Currently, my influences are probably your main pop girlies, like your Taylor Swift’s, your SZA’s. I just find influence from artists that really take their pen game seriously, and I hope to be one of those artists.

Can you describe how you come up with songs? How do you write your songs, your songwriting process?

My songs are usually inspired by conversations I have with people. I hear a really interesting phrase and I say, “Wow, that should go in a song.” and then I just put it in my phone… or sometimes I’ll just be showering, and I get a lot of shower thoughts. Sometimes I’ll be sleeping, and I wake up having dreamt a song, and I’m grabbing my guitar and just quickly recording before it disappears. In short, it happens spontaneously. I find that my best songs always come organically and not when I sit down and say, “I need to write a song about this.”

What have your challenges been? What are the challenges that come with writing songs?

A major challenge has always been trying to figure out how to be authentic but at the same time relatable. You wouldn’t want to just be in your closet writing songs for yourself – I mean, it’s great and I enjoy it. I also want to reach people and tell them my story. And so I’ve just been trying to hone in on my craft and relate with people more that way.

What’s been your most rewarding experience?

I love, being able to do what I love, especially when things are not… Can I talk about the country? Am I allowed to talk about the country? Yeah, girl. We’re not naming names, but yeah, you can. It’s a privilege in our society to be able to pursue something that doesn’t benefit you financially straight away. And I’m so grateful that I get to do my passion even in a place where it’s not really fruitful and sustainable.

What are you working on currently?

I’m working on a couple of collaborations, a few more singles and an EP hopefully dropping in at the end of this year.

Do you have any dream collabs? Like anyone that you’d want to, dead or alive, that you want to work with or would have wanted to work with?

Oh, gosh. Okay, starting with internationally, Noah Kahan, hit me up! I’m a huge Noah Kahan fan. Olivia Rodrigo. That could be fun. I feel like I’m the Zimbabwean Olivia Rodrigo. Locally I would say I’d want to work with… Nutty O – a fave! Winky D as well. I really respect his pen name as well. He’s a storyteller for sure.

What’s your favourite song to perform live?

My favourite song to perform live would be “Glitter“. It’s just a really fun song to sing.

What album is that on?

My first album, “From Ashes to Beauty“. No, Keith is going to see this. My favourite song to perform is “Maiwee”. That’s my favourite song.

What are the most memorable interactions that you’ve had with people who are a fan of your work?

Just people that come up to me and say like, “Wow, the story in the song really spoke to me.” When people value my lyrics over everything else, over the flashiness and the performance and all the stops and whatever people pull, that really speaks to me so much, and I appreciate it so much when people love my song or its lyrics.

Maiwee is actually doing really great. Did you expect that it would do as well as it’s doing or is it a surprise to you?

It’s kind of a mixture of both because I felt like at the same time I felt like it was going to do well. I also felt like maybe people were going to hate it. Like I thought like you can’t mix indie rock with traditional and like what are you doing this abomination like this Frankenstein of a song. But people love it and I think because it’s so unique, and they’re getting like used to my sound, that’s probably why it’s doing so well. Yeah, it was meant to be.

What advice would you give aspiring singers and musicians?

My advice would be you can still be yourself. You don’t have to compromise who you are, but you should also try to reach the people because at the end of the day music is a service. That’s why music itself doesn’t make any money or anything. It’s like a service and if you’re not serving people then just do it as a hobby or like to stay in your bedroom.

Okay, this is an extra. This is actually from my brother-in-law. He said why do you go through so many breakups or how do you go through so many breakups? Or is it just like one, and then you’re like I’m just going to capitalise on this one and write all this music.

Well, you know I’m a very emotional person and like I haven’t been through that many breakups actually and not like that much drama in my life. But I take like the smallest thing, and I’m like this is a song. I’m going to blow this into a song and an album you know. So I think I’m just like a dramatic person for sure. It’s working. It’s clearly working. Like if someone hurts me, even a friend, if they backstab me I’m like right, lyrics. That’s it!

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