A Quick Chat with Paisley Heart

Written by: Susie Kim Photo: @lexil0vesyou_

Mirror Whispers is about heartbreak after deception – was there a moment when you knew this story needed to be a song?
It started as a poem. I wrote it when I realised my inner voice had become so negative. I was repeating the same criticisms my partner used to say. His voice had become mine. He was my mirror. I did it to try to get his voice out of my head.

You reference control, push-pull dynamics, and the addictive nature of toxic relationships. What was it like sharing something so personal through your music?
Creating it was cathartic. Like scratching an itch that therapy couldn’t reach. But sharing it? That’s been harder. Sharing this with others was so so vulnerable. I lead workshops on boundaries and healthy communication, and here I was, trapped in a relationship that broke every rule I teach. There’s shame in that, but also liberation in telling the truth.

Do you think we sometimes stay in painful situations because part of us is drawn to the pain?
Absolutely. Pain can feel like home when that’s what love looked like growing up. I saw my dad in this person. And I stayed, because part of me thought that maybe this time, I could rewrite the ending.

How did you navigate the confusion or shame that can come from staying with someone who kept hurting you?
Through friends who loved me when I couldn’t love myself. Through dancing until the mascara tears started to fall. Through therapy. And through writing music that captures what I can't express with words.

What did your heartbreak teach you?
I’m still learning. It’s humbled me. I’m just trying to stay as present as I can with myself and the world around me.

You talk about the dance floor as a place of healing. How has that featured in your own life?
I decided to end the relationship in a trance on the dancefloor at Club 77. That moment of clarity came rave. When I let myself fully drop into the music, something divine speaks. Raving can be deeply spiritual. It cracks me open.

You have an event called “Bleeding Hearts Rave” coming up that is a “space where bodies move, release, and alchemise”. What does alchemising on the dancefloor mean?
The world’s on fire—wars, hate, stolen rights, political shit shows. Sometimes it feels indulgent to rave amidst it all. But to feel grief and joy at once is radical. That’s alchemy. It’s not escapism, it’s transmutation. We dance to survive, to feel it all, and to come back with fuller hearts.

If you could whisper something to anyone experiencing heartbreak & deception right now – what would you say?
Take it to the dancefloor. Bring the ugly. Bring the beauty. Let your community hold you while you fall apart and come back together.