HEYOON

Hi! I’m in Seoul. I moved back here from LA two years ago and spend most of my time here now, even though I still get to travel around here and there. I try to get back to LA whenever I can since I lived there for about seven years in my twenties, but South Korea is where I was born and raised. Today I’m just doing a bunch of interviews and meetings to promote my new EP. I am slowly readjusting to life after years of living in California.

Seriously Unserious came from being such an overthinker in every part of my life. After experimenting across different sounds and genres and working on many kinds of music, I had this happy accident — I got to feature on another artist’s track and completely fell in love with electronic music. From there, I kept writing. I wanted to put out an album that reflects who I am right now and where I’m at these days: I don’t want to overthink anything or take life too seriously. I want to enjoy it and have fun. I think you can really hear that energy throughout the EP. It’s made for people to let go, move, and just enjoy themselves. I made it so people could party to it. Think less, party more. Last year I got to spend Christmas in Paris and I did a deep dive into European electronic music and did my own research on YouTube. I listened to a lot of Fred Again.., I’m a huge fan of his. That led me to making my own sound and now we have an EP!

I tried not to lean on too many different references. I genuinely showed up as myself and that’s what makes this project feel so special. I’ve also been dancing my whole life and that naturally shaped the writing process too. When I was writing these songs I was constantly asking myself: can I groove to this? Would I dance to it in a club? A lot of it came from my own experience — how I move, the way I dress, how I experience music. The album very much reflects who I am right now.

That’s a fun question! I do think my dancing style has evolved a little, it’s a lot more free now, because both the music and the story behind it feel more carefree. When I dance, I try not to think, it’s all freestyle and wild movements, jumping around. So yeah, I’d say it’s definitely more wild.

It’s interesting because this is a genre that I only truly fell in love with last year. It started while I was experimenting with my voice and different effects. Hyperpop has this heavy use of tuning, filters and almost distorted vocals, and that’s what I really connected with. It fits my voice tone in a really natural way. Especially on moneyyyyyyyyyyyyy(monitor).wav, the last track on the record — that one was so fun because I got to use my voice as more of an instrument, rather than approaching it the way I usually would in my other songs. It’s a hard techno kind of song and I love that.

In many different places. Mostly at my studio here in Seoul, but switchhhhhh.v2.wav I actually got to record in the Alps. I wrote it with Jimmy James, who’s an amazing UK-based producer, as well as Fast Boy and Blaise Railey. We were high up in the mountains in this isolated place, jumping around and it all came out naturally because we were having so much fun. I think you can feel that in the song because the energy transcends the music. I actually stopped eating meat after my time in the Alps because I got to hang out with so many cute baby cows and that changed me for life.

Being in Now United taught me everything about being a performer and an artist, but also about who I am as a person — it truly shaped me. I got to travel and see the world, experience so many different cultures and was constantly surrounded by such a mix of different personalities. I would say that’s why I’m able to understand and continuously connect with my global fans on a deeper level, and why I can put out music that feels true to me. That is, I was born and raised in Seoul but I’m a little bit of everything now and I believe that reflects in my sound and music overall. I got to step into a solo career out of that experience and for that I am incredibly grateful. I’m now based where my family is, I get to see them more often and I’m making music that feels authentic to who I am — and that feels really good.

Brazil and my fans there have always been my day one. I met Lou last year when I was visiting São Paulo and we clicked right away — she’s such an amazing, incredibly talented human being. I had played her a few different songs but she loved Swipe and hopped on it right away. She genuinely brought that effortless, sexy Brazilian energy to it that completely elevated it. There’s a real culture of knowing how to party and living in the moment over there. She also taught me a lot about the club culture in Brazil — in the music video, I’m waving a hand fan, which is iconic in Brazilian nightlife. People there have connected with the track and I’m so happy with how the fans are responding to it.

Naturally, the first instinct would be the club. But personally, I love jumping in the shower and playing the craziest techno club music while I cleanse off my energy. I would say that it’s perfect for whenever people are stuck in their heads and overthinking things. I think it’s a very refreshing EP to put on when you need to reset and get out of your head. You can run to it, work out to it — it’s great for whenever you need a little boost of adrenaline. You don’t even have to be at the club. Wherever you happen to be will become the club.

It’s really exciting! Another Brazilian DJ, CDC (Carlos Do Complexo), did a baile funk remix of aiaiai_(monitor).mp3, the first track. The fans are going to go crazy with it, I know people are going to dance to it! All the other tracks have sped-up and slowed-down versions, so it’s a completely different vibe throughout, each song gets reimagined in its own way.

To me, fashion and music go hand in hand and are different forms of expression. For any artist, it’s such an important part of your identity and journey. I love Rihanna, she’s my queen and my ultimate style icon! A lot of the time, when I’m getting ready to go to the club or out with my girls, I’ll ask myself, what would Rihanna wear? I also love doing my own makeup. Like today, I did my own smoky eye, bleached my eyebrows and went all in. I wanted the fashion to reflect the EP as well. It’s honestly really me, I dress this way all the time and I wanted to create an EP that feels like that too. One word to describe my style would be ‘contrast’: I love mixing feminine and masculine elements, textures, and colours. I think everyone has so much duality in them, and that shows both in my music and in the way I dress. I want to show that softer, genuine side of me, but also the fierce, powerful performer that I am.

I’m already working on what’s next, of course — I’m always working on more music. I’m also hoping to do a little tour and more shows in different countries. I want to go back to Brazil again. It’s been two years since I embarked on my solo journey and honestly the fans that I had from the group experience have continuously connected with me and been so loyal. Back then, and now as a solo artist, I’m so much of a performer and dancer, and the fans can really connect with that naturally. Overall, I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have such a global fanbase. Coming from such an international pop group, I’ve been able to connect with people all over the world — and it’s such a blessing!