Interview with SOOJUNG
Written by: Stephanie Cherng
SOOJUNG is a Korean-American singer-songwriter from the American Southwest and has a background in theater and poetry. Their theater and poetry background has seamlessly transitioned into music to express themes of simple longings such as grief, fate and yearning. Their EP Unbloom is currently available to listen on streaming services. Their nostalgic sound is accompanied with breathtaking visuals that emphasizes the feelings of grief and yearning. Their music video for Baby's Breath is now available on their Youtube channel!
A photo from of the EP Unbloom photoshoot by SOOJUNG
Stephanie: How are you? How were your holidays?
SOOJUNG: I am good. My holidays were a lot. I feel like, I don't know if you feel this way, but I feel like it always just comes with seeing family, everyone's kind of stressed out. I feel like a lot of my friends have been going through it the past month. I know 2024 was, oh my God, the very end of it was insane.
Stephanie: What are your resolutions that you have for the New Year? Musically and personally?
SOOJUNG: I think musically, my resolutions are to just be more focused. I think last year was really great for me creatively in terms of learning. And now this year I'm kind of like, okay, let's apply what we learned. Let's really lock in.
Stephanie: When I first heard your songs the words “heavenly sadness” came into my mind? How would you describe your music?
SOOJUNG: I would say that it's kind of a quiet desperation. I feel like there's a lot of longing in my music. I feel like in my music, that's my outlet for all the things that are dark. So I think my music is really the innermost parts of myself, and it's like if you would try to just say it out loud, it would sound so weird and awkward. I feel like my music is a good outlet for me to express myself in a healthy and safe way.
Stephanie: How did you come up with your style of music?
SOOJUNG: So growing up I listened to a lot of eighties music, which my parents listened to. So the eighties was all about big declarations and very dramatic in the storytelling. Very sincere. And I think that that's kind of at the root of what I do, which is not being afraid to express those big emotions. And then also, I worked in musical theater for a while, so I think that plays a big part in at least how I craft melodies. And then I also grew up with a lot of Christian music because my mom played piano in the church. And then when I became an adult I started listening to K-pop, so I really liked that electronic sound. So I think it's a combination of all those different influences.
Stephanie: What is your creative process like for creating a song?
SOOJUNG: It usually starts with lyrics. So I'll just word vomit on a page and then I'll either pick up my guitar or sit at the piano and just start banging out chords trying to sing it. And I'll record it and then go back and see if there’s anything there? Sometimes when I want to, I'll start making an instrumental or a beat in logic, and then if I like it I'll go back into my archive of unused lyrics and I will look for lyrics that might suit the beat that I made. I then try to create a melody singing over that. But that's usually how it goes. It's slightly different every time, but I think usually I do start with the lyrics that inform the sound of the song.
Stephanie: Do you play instruments?
SOOJUNG: I play enough to write. My mom was a piano teacher, but she did not try to force me to learn. I studied piano a little bit in college, so I know very basic piano playing. I can accompany myself. I'm actually taking guitar lessons right now because it’s so much easier to lug a guitar around than a piano!
Stephanie: What/who inspired you to pursue music?
SOOJUNG: Myself.
Stephanie: I love that self-driven prophecy!
SOOJUNG: I was working in musical theater but it just made me so sad to not be able to be in control of my narrative or be in control of what people thought I should be cast as and that sort of thing. I was already writing poetry and performing my poetry so I'll just start writing my own songs and see how that goes. I ended up really liking it and wanting to continue working with this medium for a while.
Stephanie: Who are your musical influences?
SOOJUNG: I would say a big one is Mitski. When I was eighteen she saved me. I love her lyrics, I think they’re really great. I really like SZA and her form of songwriting too, how it's just so straightforward. She says what it is. I don't really write like that, but I really admire it. And I love the melodies that she creates. Another big one is Rachel Yamagata.. She was kind of part of that indie folk rock scene in the early two thousands but she has a lot of really gorgeous songs and lyric writing. I go back to her a lot just to listen and she does a lot of Korean drama songs now. I think that's where she makes the big bucks.
Stephanie: In your song The Man of 3000 Years you sing in both English and Korean? What is the significance of singing in Korean in some of the lyrics?
SOOJUNG: The man of 3000 years is based off of this Korean folk tale about this general who did not want to die. So he's running away from the death gods. He goes to his house and becomes surrounded by orange trees. The orange trees keep out the death gods, but the death gods look around and see a peach tree there. Since silver wards off the death gods, he puts silver nails in his floor and in his head so they can't collect him. So The Man of 3000 Years uses some of that imagery. He ended up living for 3000 years and avoided death. So that song to me, I thought, if I'm going to use this Korean folk tale, I should sing some of the lyrics in Korean. Amber Lee helped me with the writing of the Korean lyrics too.
Stephanie: I loved the music video for The Man of 1000 Years. The color grading is gorgeous but what caught my eye was the orange. What does the orange fruit symbolize?
SOOJUNG: So this is my answer because I feel like the director Bao Ngo would probably have a slightly different answer because it was her idea. But to me, at the beginning, me and Yves, we share an orange slice and then it shows the orange being destroyed as the music video goes on. It kind of represents a relationship or a bond. It doesn't even have to necessarily be romantic, but just something that you cherish and share with another person. Those hands that we're sharing are now the ones that are changing the shape of it. So it's not necessarily destruction but it's just making it something different than it was before. I think about the symbol of the forbidden fruit too, in the way that there's something that you want and a desire for. I really liked the fact that it was an orange because they're really easy to crush in your hands compared to other fruits. Like you said, the color grading against the blue of the ocean in the sky is just so beautiful. I think Bao did a really great job.
Stephanie: Any more music videos in the future?
SOOJUNG: Actually I worked with a Phoenix based director, Gayle Tomimbang. We did a music video for Babysbreath off of Unbloom, so that will be coming out very soon.
Stephanie: Can we get a little sneak peak?
SOOJUNG: There's these traditional Korean folk masks so I made one that's also inspired by a cat mask and it represents the bride in the story in the traditional folk shows that they do. So that's me representing different feminine archetypes. In the domestic space, in the wilderness, I become a vague spirit creature in it. So it's very different from the Man of 3000 Years. I wanted something that was rooted in my heritage. Something that spoke about my relationship to womanhood and being socialized as a woman. Especially regarding the cultural expectations that come with that and how it can crush you spiritually.
