‘Never change who you are’: A SXSW Interview with venbee

Rising electronic artist venbee opens the SoundOn x TikTok stage giving aspiring artists some sound advice.

austin-woman-sxsw2023-soundon-venbee — Photo by Claire Heleniak

By Claire Heleniak

Rising electronic artist Erin Doyle, more commonly known as venbee, kicked off the SoundOn x TikTok Music Showcase on March 15. This event featured four artists within the SoundOn music community. venbee’s performance comes just 24 hours before the release of her latest single, “gutter.”

venbee performed at the 3Ten ACL Live stage, and it was not one to miss! She introduced herself to the crowd, sharing how it was her first time in Austin, and what a great first time to be in the live music capital. If you happened to look stage left during her performance, you would see two fellow musicians belting out the lyrics and lifting the energy in the room. “I’m so grateful to be here!" she said with obvious elation. "Thank you, TikTok! Thank you, SoundOn!” She performed three of her current singles and a few B sides. (The energy in the room reached a fever pitch when the bass dropped on “low down.”)

venbee knew at age 8 when she started writing music that this is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She notes Carole King and Alanis Morrissette as her role models in the music industry.

To other young women who want to be artists, she says, “Never change who you are. Soon as you lose that, you lose everything.” She goes on to say, “If Tiktok posts it and makes it successful, don’t flip out!”

When speaking about her song “low down,” she tells the crowd, “I recorded this in my mum’s garden. Only the chorus was written.” When it became successful on TikTok, now amassing over 1.8 million views, she had to finish the song. She attributes TikTok to the success of the song, saying, “I wouldn’t be here without it. In music, in Austin right now. I’m so grateful for TikTok.”