Live Shows in Seoul, South Korea
I started performing around Seoul in January, 2023, which has been a year now. I did a
little bit a recap of this year, and found out that I’ve been on exactly 20 stages to perform.
Some of them were very small and in an intimate setting, and some of them had a fairly big
crowd. I remember how nervous I was the day I had the first open mic stage. I sang 3 songs of
mine, and it was only 15 minutes long. But that was the most nervous I’ve been the whole year.
After that I started looking for more opportunities and started getting invited to perform from
different places. I got to meet many new people. New audiences, new staff members, and new
musicians.
“That’s the power of music, we connect through music and become friends.”
I love performing live especially because I get to sing my songs in front of new people
every time. I always talk to people who stayed through the whole set because I am truly
grateful. And just knowing that someone heard my music that has my life in it, makes me feel a
lot closer to the people even though we just met. I think that’s the power of music. We connect
through music and we become friends.
I remember after a few shows, I got a lot more comfortable singing in front of people.
The best thing about it is that now it is possible for me to focus on the song I’m singing. And
when I’m singing, I’m not just singing the lyrics. I get to fully experience the time when I wrote
the songs. This allows me to realize the reason why I started writing songs and how it makes me
digest the emotional times through music. Since I always have very personal stories behind my
songs, singing my songs to people is like sharing what I have been though.
Knowing that there are people who are listening to my story makes me feel heard, seen, and understood. That gives me comfort. I once got very curious about why I feel very fulfilled and grateful after a show, and I thought it was just because I get to feel the love from the audience which is truly amazing. But I realized there’s a little more than that and that was the comfort I get from sharing my story with people I love.
I mentioned earlier that I had 20 performances in 2023. 20 might not sound like a huge
accomplishment to some people, but it definitely was for me. I received tremendous amount of
love I feel like I don’t deserve, and my songs were also loved and that healed me inside. Some
might say it’s not important to have live shows in terms of career or growing fan base, but I just
love how I get to connect with people in deeper level. It helped me grow personally and
musically, and that what made this year for me. I will be singing somewhere in Seoul next year
too, even when there’s only one person sitting, if that person is there for me.
You can find Hani’s first Artist Diary in our annual magazine here.