There’s a new debut in town with singer-songwriter Gloomy and his debut album ‘Guilt Protocol.’ We spoke about this new release and its themes with him.
Gloomy
1. You wrote that you wanted to “create musical experiences that resonate on a deeper level.” What inspired you to chase that connection?
There was a time when I went through a very dark and difficult period. Strangely enough, it was during those times that I felt a strong desire to create. That naturally shaped the emotional tone of my music—it tends to be melancholic. I wanted to share these feelings with others who might be going through something similar, to let them know they’re not alone.
But like everyone, I have many sides. Once I get close to someone, I enjoy joking around, and I love going to electronic music gigs. Over time, I started to feel that it would be wonderful if people could experience a wide spectrum of good music together. For me, music is a way to release my sadness, but also a signal to communicate with others. It’s my language for sharing a wide range of emotions.
2. Can you tell us a bit more about your UK DJ experiences?
I didn’t actually DJ in the UK, but I started DJing based on UK electronic music styles. A DJ named Coziest encouraged me to give it a try, which led me to start studying the craft.
I was deeply influenced by genres like UK Garage, UK Bass, Jungle, Drum & Bass, 140, Grime, Hard Techno, and UK Funky, and I’ve mainly played those sounds during my sets. I began DJing about 1 year and 9 months ago. I filmed a session at SCR and even hosted a rave party under the name Gloomy in 2024, inviting Kirara as a guest artist.
From 2025 onward, I’m focusing more on live performances and releasing my own music.
3. How did you come up with your name Gloomy?
One day, a friend listened to one of my demos and said, “I don’t know why, but this makes me feel sad.” That’s when I realized my music had a dark and emotional quality.
At first, I thought of the name ‘Gooreumy’ (which means ‘cloud’ in Korean) because of my curly hair that reminded people of clouds. But since there was already a well-known producer using the name ‘Cloud’, I wanted to avoid overlap. That’s how I ended up combining the meanings and sounds of ‘Gloomy’ and ‘Cloud’—and the name just naturally fell into place.
4. How would you describe your own music?
I usually introduce myself as an artist making electronic music-based alternative R&B, but at my core, I’m a storyteller.
I enjoy creating my own worlds and writing songs from the perspective of characters who live in them. I want to become the kind of artist whose albums feel like reading through different fantasy novels.
5. You just debuted, how did you experience your first-ever release?
It honestly felt like a dream come true. I first started using Logic Pro X in 2021 while preparing for music college entrance exams, and I began producing in earnest in 2023.
The album took about nine months to complete, including everything—mixing, shooting the music video, designing the cover, and taking profile photos. There were many challenges along the way, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of KT&G Sangsangmadang, Kirara, who is my mentor, and many more others who were willing to help me with the process.
Even doing this interview now feels surreal and incredibly meaningful. From here, I plan to gradually release the demos I’ve been building up since 2023 and continue growing as an artist.
Guilt Protocol
6. What inspired the album ‘Guilt Protocol’?
‘Love’ has always been a recurring theme for me—something I constantly yearn for. When I was 19, I wrote a song called ‘Real World’ that imagines a scenario where ‘I’ commit an unforgivable sin against ‘you’ in this world, and then cross into another world to atone and define that new place as the true world where perfect love is possible.
I’ve come to believe that every beginning of a relationship is an intrusion, and humans—especially those in love—inevitably hurt one another. In that cycle, I found a recurring sense of guilt, a kind of original sin.
That led me to create an album themed around love, original sin, and guilt. I was also inspired by the biblical story of David and Bathsheba, particularly David’s repeated repentance. The album consists of 12 songs in a looped structure, expressing how guilt feels like an endless cycle.
Love, in this album, is not salvation—it’s the very thing that gives rise to sin. Originally, I wrote 24 tracks, but I narrowed it down to 12, which coincidentally is a number that symbolizes completeness in Christianity, adding another layer of meaning.
7. How did you connect guilt with the idea of an algorithm?
As I was building the album with 12 deeply emotional tracks, I realized that guilt was the one emotion that tied them all together.
People often find themselves stuck in guilt—repeating the same regrets and unable to break out. That repetitive emotional loop felt a lot like an algorithm to me.
In the last track, ‘Where’, there’s a repeated line: “I don’t know where to go now.” The sound from the first track returns at the end, creating a loop. It represents someone who has become aware of their guilt, yet can’t escape from it. Plus, The café I was working on at the time was named “Protokol,” so the phrase “Guilt Protocol” came to me naturally.
8. Can you tell us a bit more about the visual story of the music video for ‘Chain’?
‘Chain’ is like a fragment within the ‘Real World’ universe. The video follows a man who tries to retrieve a woman through a floppy disk that stores her memories. He attempts to bring her into the real world by materializing her from memory, breaking the boundary between illusion and reality—but ultimately fails.
There’s a scene in the ‘Real World’ music video where someone runs through a tunnel wearing a special helmet ventilator—that moment is shown in more detail and slow motion in ‘Chain.’
The title ‘Chain’ could suggest restraint, but life doesn’t stand still—it keeps moving even when you think you are tied down to something. So I wanted to portray a human being who keeps living and moving forward toward their goals.
9. Can you tell us a little bit more about the track ‘Dream’?
‘Dream’ was inspired by my struggles with insomnia and nightmares. If I don’t take sleep medication, I end up having vivid, almost real nightmares.
Sometimes I’m the main character in the dream, and other times I’m being chased or harmed by someone. I actually wrote this song in the early hours of the morning when I couldn’t sleep—terrified of what dreams might come.
In the album’s narrative, it can be interpreted as a dream haunted by guilt.
10. What inspired the story behind ‘Real World’?
It was inspired by the multiverse theory in the film ‘Interstellar.’ I started wondering—if another world exists, would there be another version of me living in it? And if so, which world is the real one?
That thought became the foundation of the track, which follows a build-up and drop structure.
Some people have asked if ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ was also an influence, and I can see why.
11. What do you want listeners to take away after listening to ‘Guilt Protocol’?
I hope people feel that this is the work of someone who’s thought deeply about their emotions.
If listeners think, “I didn’t know music could express emotions like this,” or find themselves relating to the feelings I portray—that alone would mean so much to me.
My ultimate goal as an artist is to share emotion, and in doing so, create resonance through empathy.
