Jihwan is an indie singer-songwriter who released his first EP ‘i’m no stranger to you’ at the end of January. He gave us some wonderful indie folk ballads that deserve a closer look. We were able to have a chat with him about his EP.
1. Tell us a bit about your first EP ‘I’m no stranger to you’. What type of messages are you trying to share with this release?
There is no particular message that I want to deliver, actually. I’d rather have people derive one of their own. All of the songs in the album were written over the course of the last 7 years. The oldest is ‘New York’, which was written in 2014 and the most recent one is ‘Dear.Yoonhee’, as it was written about a year and a half ago.
I only wanted to include songs that I wrote before the Yoo Jae Ha Contest because I think they captured the pureness and who I really am as an artist who just started their career. I didn’t think about how people would like it or not, but rather just wrote whatever sounded good to me. So yeah, this album gives people a glimpse of who I am, I guess.
2. You wrote in your album description that you were inspired by the film ‘Call Me By Your Name’ for the track ‘Later’. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
I wrote the first half of the song but then I couldn’t finish it because there was simply nothing more I wanted to talk about. I wasn’t in a relationship and didn’t want to conjure up old memories just for the sake of finishing a song because that just feels phony.
The title was originally called a ‘Lullaby’. But then I kept coming back to it as I really liked the melody and I was listening to Sufjan Stevens a lot that time around and it got me thinking ‘What if they asked me to write a score for CMBYN? How do I want it to sound?’. The idea started from there and as I already got the visuals from the movie, the rest happened very quickly. I wanted it to have a long outro with strings for the ‘sonic-aesthetic-purpose’, if it makes any sense ☺.
3. You have an instrumental track in your EP that was inspired by the film ‘Moonlit Winter’. Was it very different to create a track without lyrics?
It was actually written a few days after I’d watched the film. I thought it was so beautifully made but I didn’t really have any intention of making a song about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days so I just sat down and started playing whatever came to mind that would sound good if it were used in the film.
It was actually written in such a short time, I never thought it’d end up in the album, let alone be out as a single, but then I figured it’d bring a beautiful ending and changed my mind.
4. ‘New York’ has both a Guitar version and a Piano version. How did these two different versions come to be? How was working with Sagong?
‘New York’ was only meant to be out in a guitar version, as that was how I wrote the song. But the person I worked with played it on piano. I thought it brought a whole new vibe to the song so I decided to make two different versions.
I still ask people which version they like better and it’s always 50:50. And Sagong is really nice and sweet. We became good friends after it and I couldn’t be more thankful!
5. Have you been to New York since writing the song? Or is it still on your Bucket List?
It’s still on my bucket list, unfortunately!
6. What’s your own favorite track on the EP and why?
It’s a tough call but I guess I’ll go with ‘JFK’ as it led me to so many opportunities.
7. Tell us about the 2020 Yoo Jae-Ha Contest. How was that experience? Was it your first time joining such a large contest?
It was surreal. I didn’t go to music school or know anyone who went to music school so I had no prior knowledge or whatsoever until one of my friends told me I should apply.
Later I found out how many great artists joined the contest. I thought I’d have no chance at all at winning. I was still in suspicion that the world was playing ‘Truman Show’ on me even when I was up on the stage.
8. Can you tell us a bit more about ‘Love song’ as well? In the description you wrote that this was a love song to your parents. How did they react when they first heard it?
I’m pretty sure my dad’s still in the dark about what it’s about. I hardly ever share anything with my family not because they aren’t supportive but it’s actually the opposite. They’re overly supportive of what I do and it makes me feel so embarrassed. So I think they know what the song is about but they never talk about it in my face ☺.
9. What are some other messages you’d like to share with your listeners through your music?
Smile, laugh, cry, or even hate it. Do whatever you want with it, it’s yours!
10. Was music always a passion?
I always had a thing about singing and playing music but I think I was just as passionate as anybody else. But now it’s so deeply rooted in me that I can’t imagine my life without it.
11. Who are some of your music inspirations? I noticed a lot of Lana Del Rey covers on your YouTube channel, did she influence your music a lot?
I love Lana Del Rey, obviously. My musical inspirations go from Adele, Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski, Sufjan Stevens… the list goes on. I think I got the idea of “telling your own story” through these artists. I also found the joy of songwriting. Because of them, my idea of listening to music changed from ‘just having it on while I do other things’ to ‘letting it all out and living vicariously through them, or/and finding my own meaning’. I owe them and their music big time!
