An Interview with Artists PRAX & CHELLYX
Credits: PRAX & CHELLYX ‘Bleed Me Empty’ Cover & Press Kit
“Bleed Me Empty” is an intimate acoustic duet from emerging singer-songwriter CHELLYX and Brisbane R&B artist PRAX, blending soft guitar textures with vulnerable, late-night vocals. Exploring the quiet breaking point of love and emotional burnout, the track pairs CHELLYX’s raw storytelling, shaped by real-life heartbreak and experience, with PRAX’s atmospheric, emotionally charged sound. Backed by over 5 million global streams and Billboard-credited mixing, the song captures love, less and the weight of saying too much for too long.
Ange:
We had actually read and listened to a bit of your song, and it honestly sounds really great. Yeah, sounds beautiful. What exactly is this song about?
CHELLYX:
Okay, so I guess we're both going through a bit of burnout, and we both had some betrayals and stuff like that in the creative industry with some of the people we've worked with, or even not just that, just in general. And I guess it was based off feeling a bit burnt out and bled dry of all of my energy. We were all giving a bit too much trust and vulnerability and stuff like that. So it's about that and how we feel about that.
PRAX:
100%. I think the track represents both of our times in not just the creative industry, but just our lives and with people and experiencing burnout over time and just giving too much of ourselves without realising it.
Selin:
So, tell us everything that led up to this song, if you could. We were so interested. Obviously, there was a big move from Melbourne to Queensland. What's that process like?
PRAX:
So I started writing music. I started releasing music in 2019 when I lived in Melbourne. I've got a bunch of producers and a whole network down there, and I was with a producer who kind of mentored me at the time I released my first song. Then Chelsea and I met two years ago. So pretty much all of last year, since the beginning of last year, I've been mentoring her, and we've been helping her craft her sound and working on vocals, writing music, writing structure and how the software works and everything like that. So it's been a journey with this song, writing it, because we've been learning together as we go. But this song will be the manifestation of all the work we've put in for the last two years, and finally it's ready to show the world.
CHELLYX:
Yeah, it's been every day just crafting a different sound and writing all my emotions. It's been like therapy for me. It's been really nice. But this has been pretty much a nonstop year of me just writing music every day, and I've got a bunch of songs ready to come. But this was the one I felt the most vulnerable with to start out with. I felt like it would be a good place to start. I think all of my music and the stuff we write together is really emotion driven, so it's for relatability. We all have big feelings, and sometimes people don't have the words to put them into. So I create for that purpose as well. But yeah, it's been a really big process. And making the music video, I model for work, so visually I wanted to make a bit of a cinematic masterpiece if we could. But I think that's definitely one of our strong suits, being able to make some good visuals with it as well.
Ange: Even the fact that you're speaking about your modelling and how you place that within your music and your artistry, how exactly do you feel your modelling and singing influences how you want to be as an artist? Because it's two wide worlds that are colliding.
CHELLYX:
They are pretty vastly different, but I think because it's still both creative, I've had so much creative energy for the last six or seven years I've been modelling. It's been good, but I think there's only so much of a medium I can convey emotion through modelling. I thought this was a really good thing to be able to put these two together, because I've got all of these beautiful stories that I want to be able to show visually as well to these big feelings. So being able to put those pairs together is really lovely.
Selin:
Obviously, you guys worked on this song together. How does your relationship influence your writing and even the production of your music video and everything?
PRAX:
I've never written music with a partner before, so it was a first for me. Obviously a first for Chelsea as well. I think it was really good compared to other features and collaborations I've done in the past, because we're able to communicate so openly without any barriers. And if I'm not feeling a certain melody, I feel comfortable to just say it, and she trusts me as well with the music and what we're doing, because we've just been learning together.
CHELLYX:
I definitely trust his guidance. If he says it doesn't work with the song, I'm happy. I really trust the process with each other. I've not made music with anybody else, so I'm not sure what it's like, but I definitely really enjoy having someone else to bounce off. And if we have an idea in the middle of the night, we can just go to our little studio room, it's just a bedroom, but still, and write an idea down and run it. So I think that's the beauty of it. Whenever we have that spark of inspiration, we can just run straight there and get it done.
PRAX:
Yeah. And a big thing as well has just been how motivating it is for each other. Before we met, I was just writing music by myself all of the time, and you start to lose that energy and spark sometimes without that second person hyping you up or listening to the track as well and even singing on it with you. So it's definitely added a whole other layer of creativity to artistry for myself too.
Ange:
I think that sounds really great to have a partner to help you out with so many things, not even just in terms of a relationship but in terms of your artistry. So with this song, have you felt like there was any moment where what you wanted it to sound like in the beginning and what it sounds like at the end took a full 360 throughout the process?
CHELLYX:
Definitely. For me, it always sounds like night and day, the difference between the demo and the final product, because obviously the mixing and mastering has a lot to do with it as well. But for us, it was just learning how each other's voices worked and sounded together as a duet, because there's a lot of harmonies and layering with the song. So we didn't rush the process at all. That's why it's taken how long it has for her debut track. But we're really happy about it because we're both perfectionists, and we both keep listening to the track and trying to find better melodies or better ways to sing it.
Selin:
So would you find that music is a form of outlet for you guys?
CHELLYX:
100%. Any emotion, if I'm feeling happy, sad, angry, whatever it is, I get over there and I'm like, I've got lots of energy and feelings right now. And we just write stuff, even if it's silly. It's just get it out. Try it. Why not?
PRAX:
I've been releasing a lot of emotional type music since 2019, and one of my tracks is called ethanol. It blew up and it's got over 4 million streams now. A lot of kids in Eastern Europe really connect to it. I love Lil Peep and other artists like that over there, they can get into their feelings. I had a lot of people messaging me at the time and being like, your music really helped me or helped save my life because I was feeling so alone, and it helped me connect with it. And that's the feeling that we're trying to bring back again and again each time.
Ange:
So with Prax, as you mentioned, you find a lot of inspiration from Lil Peep. Do you feel like there are other artists that significantly influence how you want your music to sound, or the sort of voice that you want your music to have?
PRAX:
Definitely, yeah. The Weeknd has been one of my main inspirations since before I even started writing music. I connected with it emotionally so much that as a teenager, I just couldn't help but want to do it myself and write music. So that was one of my main inspirations. I've been playing guitar and busking since I was nine, so there were lots of other artists and other 2000s bands that I was listening to as a kid. But The Weeknd is probably my biggest one.
CHELLYX:
Yeah, The Weeknd. I liked Pink. She's always, ever since I was a kid, just like a badass. And I always loved that about her. She was always very emotionally forward. So I guess I go with that. I struggle finding a person to put me in the same bracket as because I'm not looking at myself in that light yet. But I wouldn't really know who I want to sound like, to be honest.
Selin:
Obviously you guys are now Brisbane based. How different is the music scene across cities or even countries?
PRAX:
I think it's really different, Brisbane compared to Melbourne. I might be biased because my whole network is down in Melbourne, but I found that Brisbane is just a lot smaller. It's maybe a bit quaint. It's quiet, not too many people trying to make it big necessarily. We've got some friends in Melbourne, they're doing big things, making it to the Billboard charts and things like that. We've all come from the same place, so it's really inspiring and motivating seeing your homies do huge things.
Ange:
Was there any sort of advantage or maybe a disadvantage in terms of what specific roles you take when it comes to making music together, or just creating with someone that you love?
CHELLYX:
Honestly, because we create at home, we have that freedom to just choose either way. We both help each other along the way with the process of writing. In my mind, he's melody king and I do lyrics, but he fixes my weird lyrics sometimes. So everything is intertwined together with that. I think it's pretty equal.
PRAX:
Yeah, I think we bounce off each other a lot. Whatever I'm lacking one day, she'll probably have that, and then we'll be able to bounce off each other. Mainly motivation wise. She motivates me a lot to get back in the studio and keep doing things. Even after a few years of doing it, sometimes it can get tiring or burnt out. But I just saw so much talent in her when we started seeing each other, and I wanted to get her back in the studio and creating, because I saw how happy she was when she was singing. And I just love that. So we got in there and started pushing for more.
Selin:
You guys are such a cute couple. I love it.
PRAX:
Thank you. I love him. He's the biggest fan.
Ange:
So one of our last questions, we just wanted to ask, where do you see yourself going, and how much more do you guys want to expand in terms of the music that you make, or even going towards billboards like your friends?
CHELLYX:
Yeah, billboards for sure. I'm aiming big. I'm aiming to be like a superstar. But in terms of what's to come, I don't think all my genres will be the same. As I said, emotionally led music, genres mixing that is very us.
PRAX:
Definitely expect to hear some pop punk vibes in the future. We've got some R and B. There's more indie stuff, acoustic. I think this year we're going to focus on just releasing more singles, try and get some shows, potentially maybe a festival spot. We just want to expand and keep building her artistry and discography, because this is just the beginning. This will be the first track, and all the fans will flock to see what else is happening. So we just want to keep providing the visuals and the cinematic music videos so that they feel like we're filling up their cup. I really aim that everyone can connect to a song, even if it's not every song, just one song, because we've written so many. I can't wait for you all to hear it.
“Bleed Me Empty” is out now on all streaming websites! Go & give it a listen right now!