Spotlight.
Fiona Soe Paing
INTRODUCTION
Fiona Soe Paing is a boundary-pushing singer and music producer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Her debut track, sung in Burmese, was selected by the late BBC broadcaster and world music champion Charlie Gillett for inclusion on the Warner Music compilation Sound of the World 2007, alongside artists such as Tinariwen, Gotan Project and Juana Molina. Her work bridges contemporary performance, electronic composition and traditional Scots song. She has produced two critically acclaimed albums and solo shows – Alien Lullabies (2015) and Sand, Silt, Flint (2023), both of which were selected for Creative Scotland’s Made in Scotland Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (2016 and 2026).
Sand, Silt, Flint was sparked by Fiona discovering a family connection to ballad singer John Strachan, who was recorded by folk historians Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson. Notable performances include Auckland Fringe Festival, Summerhall Festival in the Edinburgh Fringe, Sound Festival Aberdeenshire, and live sessions for BBC Radio Three and Radio Scotland. Fiona is a recipient of the PRS Foundation’s “Women Make Music” award, 2026.
INTERVIEW
How did you get into your creative practice? What initially inspired you?
I initially got into the performing arts when I was a student at Aberdeen University I was studying languages and psychology, and signed up for the Students' Show as an extra-curricular activity, I enjoyed being in the show so much more than my coursework though! So much of my time when I was in the library, instead of studying German literature, I was finding out where I could study Performing Arts instead I stuck with my uni course for a year before switching to the first ever Performing Arts degree Course in the UK at Middlesex. It was a very broad degree, in dance, drama and music, and although I did a little bit of music on the course, I didn't really get into music properly until me and a few girlfriends formed a band together, since then I've always been making music and singing, trying to develop my own style and sound. But before that, it was a really great English teacher we had at school, who organised a school trip to the Edinburgh Festival. It really blew me away, and after all my classmates had gone back to Aberdeen, I stayed in Edinburgh at a friend of my mum's house, going to see heaps of shows and soaking up the atmosphere. Crazy to think that all those years later, I'm doing my own show in the Fringe this year!
What themes do you tend to interrogate in your creative practices?
I think it's how your identity is shaped by language, and exploring roots and heritage my first album "Alien Lullabies" was sung in a mixture of Burmese words read out from a phrasebook, and improvised gibberish that was a subconscious attempt to explore my Burmese roots. My current album "Sand, Silt, Flint' is exploring my Scottish ancestry, and uses Doric, which my mum and granny always used to speak. I think a sense of "belonging" really comes through language, common accents, vocabulary, for example kids who moved around a lot are good at picking up on accents as a way to instantly "fit in" When you speak in a different language or accent, it somehow really channels another sort of personality!
What is your favourite project you’ve ever worked on and why?
My favourite project was being in the band with my girlfriends it was fun, empowering, exciting, scary, everything all at once. We met loads of great people, had so many laughs and adventures Because it was a collective thing, there was a whole extra energy that formed when we were out together, much more than the sum of its four individual parts it was truly Girl Power, before that was even a thing.
What advice would you have for creatives of colour looking to get into your creative practices?
Do what makes you feel good, what gives you a buzz, don’t wait for permission, or the right time, or until you have the right equipment or space. follow the glimmers.
What are you currently working on?
I'm presently deep in the admin side of prepping my show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Thankfully I have funding from Creative Scotland's "Made In Scotland" scheme, so that takes a lot of the pressure off, but there's still heaps of work to do. But because it’s for my own show, it doesn't feel so bad, but I need to make a "note to self" to prioritise actual creative stuff too, just for fun and sanity!