Q&A With Breast Cancer Survivor, Army Brat, and Israeli Dream Pop Star Totemo Ahead of Aug 11 Gig

From her upbringing on an army base, to her struggles with a life-threatening disease at an early age, Israeli dream pop artist Totemo’s life story has had many an unconventional and dramatic twist and turn. She tells us about how those moments have shaped her art and her outlook, ahead of her Aug 11 show at Omni Space.

Aside from being a talented musician, you also have an eye for design and fashion. What inspired your use of makeup on the cover art of Desire Path, which takes on Japanese elements? Or how about Hits? Its cover art has you posing with what looks like eyeshadow smeared to resemble a black eye.
Well, actually – the two are very much intertwined. The black eye on the Hits cover is not makeup at all – it was taken during a time when I was hospitalized, because of an infection which was a side effect of the chemo treatment I was undergoing. This picture was taken before [the follow-up EP] Desire Path was beginning to form. And when Hits came out I thought it would be a good representation and a reminder of that time in my life. For the cover of Desire Path I wanted to preserve this feeling – it's a "different me" but it's still me. When my mom saw the cover of this album she said I looked sick, but I think it's pretty, and I think that for me it means that pretty things can come out of bad, sick situations. 

Tell me about your decision to tour even after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy in 2014. Was performing and writing music cathartic during that period?
Music has saved my life more than once, that's for sure. It is a balancing force in my life. Creating and making music never really felt like a choice, I think – not before nor during my cancer period. It was something I felt like I had to do. And I'm glad I did. During that trying time in my life, it gave me purpose and something to look forward to, something that would fill me up with meaning about why things happen. And I still feel that way to this very day.

That passion is evident in your writing. I especially enjoy the lyrics for "Heavy As My Dreams", including lines like "your request is as heavy as my dreams." The wording and language is very specific, and yet at the same time, it also leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Who are some of your biggest lyrical influences? 
First of all – thank you! This is something I very much enjoy hearing – that my songs speak to someone, but also leave enough space for their own words and experience to "fill in the blanks." My biggest influences in terms of lyrics are probably Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, Fiona Apple, and Joanna Newsom, just to name a few. They've definitely broadened my vocabulary and my way of thinking about lyrics and words in music in general. 

"Seesaw" has one of the prettiest melodies I’ve heard in ages, and it reminds me a little of traditional Japanese music. What inspired it?
I am naturally attracted to pentatonic scales, as I believe a lot of people do. It sounds not sad, not happy, but something in the middle. I think that the way I compose is very influenced by that – a lot of what I do sounds like children's songs and nursery rhymes at first, and I'm not sure why, but Japanese and maybe Chinese music as well is very prone to that scale. The guzheng is a good example for that. So maybe that's the reason it feels similar.

I've read that you spent much of your childhood on a military base, because your parents were in the Israeli Air Force. What aspects of that still loom large in your memory, and how might that upbringing have affected you or shaped you as an artist?
That's a very good question, but I find it difficult to answer. It was all I knew, and I have no way of knowing how things would have turned out if it were different. I think I have a tendency to rebel, but just a little bit. Staying in line most of the time, but wanting to break out. I think that might originate from my early years, seeing a lot of military and discipline but still growing up in a household that was very liberal and open-minded. So I think that dualism must have shaped me in many ways, my music included. 

Totemo will perform at Omni space on Aug 11. Tickets are RMB 80 presale, RMB 120 at the door. The opening act will be much-loved Beijing alt-rock veterans Residence A. For more information, click here.

Photos: Huffington Post, Totemo's Bandcamp, beehy.bp, Youtube