VASSY’s Latest Single “Oxygen” Is a Breath of Fresh Air

Originating from Australia, multi-platinum, award-winning artist VASSY has positioned herself as one of dance music’s most prominent and authentic stars. Knowing how to individualize herself with effortless dexterity as a singer, songwriter, and producer, VASSY’s music speaks for itself.

The powerhouse’s discography includes several, Global Chart-topping songs which have earned her multiple, number-one hits in over 30 countries. A mainstay in the EDM genre, VASSY has topped the Billboard Dance Charts and Dance Radio in the U.S. eight times with singles like “Trouble” and “Concrete Heart.” She recently joined the one-billion stream milestone with her song “Bad,” a collaboration project between her, Dutch EDM duo Showtek, and David Guetta.

Before the holidays, VASSY returned with a new single called “Oxygen” which was co-produced by Outgang of the Showtek brothers and DJ/producer duo TwoWorldsApart. This piece is a literal breath of fresh air for VASSY, who spent the majority of last year not only stuck in quarantine, but also healing from a foot injury that left her unable to walk.

VASSY took some time to chat more with OFM about “Oxygen.”

Hi, VASSY! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about your latest single, “Oxygen,” which came out right before the holidays. How has it been received by audiences?
It has been great! It has been very supportive, which I love. Fans are always so good to me, and then radio here in the U.S. jumped on board. All the dance stations are playing it, which is great. I never take that for granted, even though they have been so supportive of so many of my records, but you never know. I am very happy about it. It is doing well on the charts considering everything that is going on. “Oxygen” has been a bit of a blessing for me.

Can you tell us more about the concept and inspiration behind the song?
Absolutely. “Oxygen” is about a few things, but I was basically in a bit of a dark place last year. I had this really bad ankle injury, and I could not walk. I was in awful pain; it was miserable, and I got very depressed, and we were in the middle of the pandemic. I fell into depression, and one day I was on the phone with one of the Showtek brothers, the producers that I did the record Bad with David Guetta with, we were just talking about some stuff, and I played him this idea, and he loved it. I thought it was pretty dark; I am just in a dark place right now. He said he would like to work with me on it; then we created “Oxygen.”

Ironically, “Oxygen” was the song that the label got the most excited about and wanted to jump on the release. So, everyone loved it, and I said I wrote it because I was going through some stuff. “Oxygen” came from a dark place, but it literally felt like I was drowning at the time and needed to come up for air. It was a blessing in disguise for me because it got me out of my depression. It literally was my breath of fresh air.

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This song must really mean a lot to you.
It means a lot to me personally from a spiritual level because it helped me. Even though the lyrics are not specifically about that; no one wants to hear a song about depression, but you always have to make the lyrics something that fans can relate to. This one is about your desire to be someone’s oxygen, and people needing one another to breathe and exist in life. To be each other’s catalyst in life. There are elements of romance in there to make it a little more relatable, but at the time I was creating it, it was really coming from a very tough place.

You are a multi-platinum, award-winning artist. How did your passion for music begin?
At the age of 7, I was kicked out of school choir and told I did not have what it takes. At that age, I knew that I wanted to be an artist even though I didn’t even know what that meant. It was a bit of a calling I had from a young age. It has always been my passion, but I was not allowed to do music when I was a teenager. My father would not let me, and I had to promise him I would go and get my degree. So, I got a degree in architecture, but even though I finished my degree, I still got into music.

Now that I am doing it, I am fortunate. I always say, find a job that you love to do, and you will never work a day in your life. I found a job that I love to do, and I don’t feel like I work, but I do. There are pros and cons. If I am going to have a new job one day, it has got to be something completely different to music. I just like creating, and singing is my favorite thing to do. There is not much of that going on lately.

What do you hope audiences take away from your music?
The fans that really love me and follow me, God bless them. They are the reason I exist. I just love them so much because they are from all over the place, different demographics, but I just want them to feel my authenticity. I respect artists, too. I do not like when people try too hard or try this and that. I just love natural, authentic artists. You hear the soul in their voice, and that is what I am drawn to, and I want fans to feel that from my records. That I am being true to myself, and there is nothing being forced. It is very natural, and although my success has been in the dance space even though I actually enjoy doing more acoustic-type records, but because that is the genre that embraced me and broke me worldwide.

A lot of the time, my fans love all my dance productions, but they also like my acoustic stuff. I just want them to embrace me for how I feel like being at the time and be forgiven for it, too. Some fans can be very critical and expect you to just deliver the same thing that they are used to, and other fans let you grow and be your own person. That is what I want my fans to do. Let me grow and have them grow with me. You are a real human being, you are going to go through stuff, and it is going to come through your art.

The bottom line is, it is not about me, and that is why I change a lot of the lyrics in my songs to not make them too directly personal to what is going on in my life. I just want my fans to feel good. If the song inspires them in any way in their life and it makes them feel good, that is my number-one goal. It is really about them. I want to please them. I know I cannot please everyone, but if I can please five out of 10 people, then that makes me happy.

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You have become a mainstay act at major EDM festivals around the world, and as you mentioned earlier, “Oxygen” has been doing well on the charts. It quickly gained traction. Why do you gravitate towards the EDM genre?
I wrote an indie record, and I got a remix of it because it was big in a lot of the Pride festivals and things like that in Hollywood at the time. I was doing a lot of gay clubs and things like that. The clubs, they all have dance music, so I thought, let me get a remix/dance version of this song. That was my very first dance release besides my first track in the dance space that I worked on and released through Ultra Records called “History.” Then, my follow up was that. I put it out and it went number one on Billboard dance charts across the U.S., and then from there, it was like the universe was rewarding me, or listening to me. I don’t know, but pretty much after that, I had written a song, it was for myself, but it got in the hands of David Guetta.

I ended up doing my song with him; we put it out, and it became a huge hit. It went platinum 17 times around the world; it had over a billion streams, and that song literally put me on the map globally. Originally when we did it, it had more of a dance production. What happened was, at the very last minute, he got Showtek involved, and they gave it an EDM production. I was not too happy about it at the time, but when the record came out, it just went nuts. The EDM community went ballistic over it, and it was a huge hit.

From there, bang. I was completely immersed into the EDM scene, and the fans started to embrace me. They are so loyal and loving. Right after that, not even a year later, I basically had two of the biggest EDM records with two of the biggest DJs in the world. The timing of it was quite interesting. I do not know what was going on, but the universe was shifting. Before you know it, this became my world. My base, my fans, everything. It kind of organically happened, and I was not planning it.

In addition to creating “Oxygen,” what else were you doing to cope through lockdown and quarantine, and how were you staying connected with fans?
With the fans, I did lots of Instagram Lives, and I did some unplugged stuff where I am singing. I was very present on social media. I was miserable at the time because I could not even walk, so I was really stuck at home. I was depressed and did not feel like looking cute. It was not like I was out and about getting content to post. No one really was because nothing was happening.

On top of that, with the pain in my foot, it was hard, but I did lots of Instagram Lives. I just connected with friends, and they all really enjoyed it because I think everyone was depressed. Everyone was going through it. Eventually, I got through it slowly when I was able to walk again and do stuff. Man, I just wanted to be outdoors in nature and not be inside. That was my escape and how I got through it. While I was outdoors in nature, I would Instagram Live or take pictures and post stuff so my fans could see that I am out and embracing nature. Everyone was kind of doing a similar thing because there were no parties going on. Nothing was going on due to the pandemic.

What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform?
“Oxygen” is still thriving. We recorded the acoustic version, which we are going to release this month. After that, we have remixes coming that we are going to release. We are running a remix competition as well, for the fans. So, right now, my focus is “Oxygen.”

I have made a commitment to myself to do more acoustics for my fans and post them. People who really like that want to see them. The touring thing is going to take a minute to pick up, so I am going to focus on living life and trying to be happy. That is very important. The platforms allow you to stay connected with your fans, and they are so loyal, so posting can be your way of saying hi, I am here, and the love you get from them is priceless because you think, how am I important to this person? They make time for you every day. They want to see what you are doing.

Before we wrap up, are there any upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for? Anything else you would like to mention or plug?
I do have a song ready to go after “Oxygen,” a new single that I will be putting out through my label, Robbins Entertainment. I am going to try and create some new records, and I am also going to start volunteering and teaching orphan kids, teenage girls, in a safe house. I am going to be running a music workshop for them. I used to do it, but now, with no touring, I have the time to do it again. I will be running these music workshops, and I think we are going to try and launch them online as well.

Follow VASSY on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to stay up-to-date on the latest news and projects, or visit her official website.