So!YoON!
Hello, I'm Hwang Soyoon.
You're listening to So!YoON!'s second full-length album
'Episode 1: Love'.
It's been 4 years since my second full-length album was released.
Just like last time, I was able to show you a commentary album.
The biggest difference between the last album and
This commentary album is that I wanted a more multi-layered
Conversation beyond music to be recorded.
So, people who are not just singers or musicians have
Participated in any production.
For example, I wanted to talk about this album with
People who worked with me in the process,
As well as music video directors, A&R, choreographers, and musicians.
I think that was the right thing to do.
Let's begin with it. I'd like to talk about 'IN (Void)' which is
An introduction to the album and a track that covers the entire album.
I wanted to talk to someone who understands So!YoON!'s music
As well as I do.
I'd like to invite kixxikim,
Who is participating in the overall planning
Of this commentary album, to talk about it. Hello.
Please introduce yourself.
Kixxikim
I'm kixxikim from Poclanos and
I do various things related to music.
So!YoON!
Nice to meet you.
Kixxikim
Nice to meet you, too.
So!YoON!
Actually, I'm the host, but I'm introducing you as the host today.
I thought it would be nice if you could you introduce this track.
Kixxikim
If you work in the music industry,
You can't help but know So!YoON! and
Thank you so much for choosing me and inviting me here.
So!YoON!
The honor is all mine, really.
Kixxikim
I think you said something important in the beginning.
In fact, just like the last commentary album,
I think the main purpose of this album is the same.
Now, there are many colleagues who collaborate
In expanding and evolving So!YoON!'s discography,
And the stories and decisions that they share are
Not just floating in the air, but the purpose of recording and
Releasing them and sharing them with listeners is the same.
But I think the biggest difference from the last album is the range.
I think an album goes beyond just music.
I don't think I can say there's a limit to it.
So!YoON!
I agree with you,
And that's why I started thinking that
I should deal with the story in a more three-dimensional way
With a more extended concept.
Kixxikim
In that respect, So!YoON! is
Now moving toward a kind of comprehensive art.
So!YoON!
I don't know if it's a little sudden,
But sometimes it's very tacky to explain
The inside story of all the works.
It's much more sophisticated to hide information at all,
But I don't know why I revealed all of this work by commentary.
Other projects that I'm working on may have a different nuance,
But I think the process of making So!YoON! would be more equal.
I think I understand how many teams are involved
In creating this piece and how their efforts and their ideas make it
More complete, this won't do them all the justice,
But I think the most sophisticated
Way to do so is to describe this album.
Kixxikim
There will be a project that stretches out
Like a pruning around the character Hwang Soyoon,
But to limit it to two things, 'SE SO NEON' and 'So!YoON!',
It is a way to reveal and introduce them.
There will be a difference in that,
And you said it was fair earlier, but in the end,
Fairness is also the fairness of acquiring information.
So, it can be said to be a kinder form of SE SO NEON.
So!YoON!
And as for SE SO NEON,
If I say it's a process of immersing myself,
So!YoON! is focusing on how to interact with
So many different people and create synergy,
So I think this commentary album will be a very
Meaningful album for the So!YoON! project.
It's like showing the development.
We hope that by releasing the blue print,
You can get a sense of how this building was built.
Kixxikim
You can understand and enjoy the building more
When you have the development diagram and blue print.
So!YoON!
And you can understand what intentions this
Architect had in making this building.
Kixxikim
I agree. I mentioned four years earlier but a lot has
Happened in Seoul and around the world in the four years.
So!YoON!
Time is a scary thing.
Kixxikim
Time flies, literally. So many things have happened to
So!YoON! individually and to the team SE SO NEON,
But today, this is a place where we talk about human
'Hwang Soyoon' and her persona 'So!YoON!'.
To sum up, the characters Hwang Soyoon and
Soyoon have all made progress and cause,
So how did that affect this album?
So!YoON!
So!YoON! is a project that exists because
There is Hwang Soyoon, so I think this existence continues
To change depending on how Soyoon changes and thinks.
What kind of time and life has Hwang Soyoon lived for four years?
As soon as I became an adult, I started my career as a musician,
And nearly five years have passed,
And I got to know myself through performances, albums,
Receiving support from people, agonizing and more.
Kixxikim
Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
So!YoON!
Neither. But I think I started to think about becoming
An adult by learning about the characteristics, customs,
Habits, inertia, and aspects of this character that others see
And feel through Hwang Soyoon looking at others. I'm at that age,
And I might think that I'm an adult now.
But then I suddenly thought that
I was getting sick of the emotions that I had since then.
Kixxikim
You mean, looking at yourself?
So!YoON!
It wears on you. It's not fun after some time.
Kixxikim
It's a bit embarrassing for me to talk right in front of you,
For example, but you've been successful,
And what happens in the process is, let's say inertia?
So!YoON!
Yes, I think it's time for me to know that
I'm going to do this without even realizing it.
I think it's time for me to know how much I move
On stage and how well I can sing and
What I'm good at and what I'm bad at I.
Of course, I still have a long way to go,
But I'm just putting it out there flatly.
It's the same in life and it's a way of life.
I can't always think negatively about when I like something,
When I feel comfortable and when I feel stress. Rather,
I think it's very important to get to know yourself.
But looking back on myself as an artist or a musician,
Instinctively I realized skepticism thinking that
I could castrate myself or maybe realize
This is what being a grown-up is all about.
Kixxikim
There are about 50 crayons in the
Life of musician Hwang Soyoon,
But somehow you're only using about
20 colors by custom or experience.
So!YoON!
People usually choose colors as they go,
And if they continue to draw, they'll say,
'What's 20? Now I can narrow my color to less than 10.'
So I thought, 'So!YoON!, you're boring.
You need something.'
The first thing I thought about was finding out what I was afraid of.
Kixxikim
The process of objectification.
So!YoON!
I tell myself to do what I know I'm afraid of doing.
And on the other hand, I also do what I am most confident about.
The two simultaneous utterances produced So!YoON!.
I think it's the creation of the present So!YoON!.
Kixxikim
Now there are many things that you've been wary of and
Haven't done. Maybe it's the grammatical part of genre music,
Borrowing a lot of lyrics in English,
Or something with a lot of English lyrics,
Or something visual, but in retrospect,
What was the highest obstacle for you?
It must have been that much more thrilling.
So!YoON!
Actually, everything you listed is shown on the outside.
For example, visual, I'm going to show you different personas...
Kixxikim
Six personas at that.
So!YoON!
Yes, I've become six So!YoON!s and there are English lyrics.
But the most thrilling part for me is actually not shown.
It's just passion.
Each person has various forms of desire and we feel it through life.
Kixxikim
Instinctively.
So!YoON!
Yes, but lighting them up,
I think I was the type to solve those desires animalically
Without simply verbalizing or visualizing them.
It's expressed on stage, and other than that,
I was a person who used to suppress a lot of my energy.
Kixxikim
Can I express that as a form of self-restrain?
So!YoON!
I started lighting up the So!YoON! without restrain and
Performing various forms of my desires, feeling,
And experiencing things in the album. But it could be
Lyrics, visual, artwork, or music video.
Kixxikim
Or it could be the body language.
So!YoON!
It could be a movement or an expression.
I thought waking me up in various forms was
The most necessary thing for me.
If I've been expressing it only with the stem of SE SO NEON
As a single stem, I look into them with a magnifying glass
And look back on what I've missed, saying, "Oh, right."
Kixxikim
And that's how to you discover the desire that's been inside you.
So!YoON!
That's right. So in the end,
I've become more colorful now and as ironic as it may seem,
I've become more balanced now.
Kixxikim
In terms of balance, as you mentioned earlier,
Buildings are actually supported by several pillars.
It's that kind of sentiment.
When you look at the emotions between the tracks,
'Till the sun goes up' has a very direct and direct desire,
And 'Smoke Sprite' has a very realistic and unrealistic feeling.
So!YoON!
Unconsciously.
Kixxikim
That's unconscious desire so when you
Look at those emotional things,
It's not just a flat type of desire,
But a variety of forms of desire now exist like pillars,
So that's why you feel balance, don't you think?
So!YoON!
You're right.
Kixxikim
I wonder if I put that right.
So!YoON!
I think I keep saying yes, but that's right.
But it's also 'Episode1: Love'. Love and desire really
Seem to go back to the 80s, but it's bound to be one.
The reason why I didn't do 'Episode1:desire' is because in the end,
It's love, so I think I expressed it like that
Because it was love in its ultimate form.
So I didn't know that I would choose something
Too straightforward and simple,
But I think this album is really about love.
Kixxikim
There's nothing clearer than that. If there is no alternative,
Is there a reason to go around it? It's so nice.
We've talked about the keyword 'desire'.
The other day, I remember you telling me that
When you made this album, you brought all the things
That were scattered all over the place together
And that it was desire. Please talk about that to the listeners.
So!YoON!
The reason why I described this album as
Performative is because, as you said,
This album was not planned. As I said before,
I'm going to do what I'm afraid of and I'm going to
Do what I can do best. I've worked on it simultaneously
With this keynote. I put my faith in fate, or my colleagues,
Or I've been working on this album without knowing
If it's going to be easy, and I think there were various
Types of starting points. I lived with that mindset and
Made music with that mindset, so I came to that conclusion.
I didn't mean to. The reason why the intro track is
'IN (Void)' is because I wondered, 'Where am I from?'
Kixxikim
The most fundamental question.
So!YoON!
Where do I come from? Usually, people want to
Run in the opposite direction from where they came from.
The people I've met, at least. If you're born in blue,
There's desire to run towards red, and if you're born in red,
Then towards blue. If you are in a space, such as a square,
You may want to move from one vertex to another.
There's usually a direction in which you want to go.
Kixxikim
Do you think I'm that nature too?
So!YoON!
'Why don't I have a direction?' Scarily enough,
That makes me someone who has nowhere
To go to or be able to go anywhere.
Kixxikim
Naturally, now we can talk about track 1. 'IN (Void)' can be
Translated directly into a huge empty space or emptiness,
But I think it's a journey to fill in the questions
That started from the source and
The 'IN (Void)' one by one and finally reach the answer.
So!YoON!
So when I started making that album, I had this thought.
"Where did I come from? Then I can go anywhere,
So let's start now. Let's decide where to go." I thought,
"That's what So!YoON! would do," and
Even with the track 'IN (Void)' I thought,
'I'm going to tell this story. From now on,
I'm going to build a pillar one by one in this empty space.
At the end of the track, it became a huge building.
For some reason, I keep comparing things to a building.
Kixxikim
If 'IN (Void)' is a vacant lot, that metaphor would be more true.
If you fill in the components,
You can be a fellow musician, a lyricist, or a listener.
That could be me.
So!YoON!
I think that's also a reason
Why persona is split up in so many ways.
Kixxikim
In a way, the emotional aspect of the album
Now goes back and forth between reality,
But in a different way,
It's also quite an autobiographical album.
So!YoON!
That's right. So I think what this album
Suggests is not just about relying on
Something visual or sensory,
But also about how I was influenced by
My autobiography in my individual performance.
This commentary album itself.
Kixxikim
The intro, 'IN (Void)', is a very emotional soundscape.
There's a very mysterious and fairytale soundscape.
You can say that it's thanks to artist Kim Doeon,
Who collaborated with us.
I think it'd be good if you could talk about this briefly.
So!YoON!
I think there's a musical part and a certain emotional part.
To explain it musically, I don't know if I can say it simply.
It could be a shocking statement.
I actually like electronic music more than band music by instinct.
Kixxikim
Hwang Soyoon's fans are confused right now!
So!YoON!
I usually enjoy electronic music a lot,
And I'm the type to respond easily to the aesthetic parts
That electronic music gives,
And the aesthetic parts that come over and over again,
But there's not much to solve.
So!YoON! will actively do electronic music.
I like electronic music. I had this thought, and it was a year ago.
I met Kim Doeon, communicated with him,
And I participated in his album, and he also participated in my album.
When I first heard the draft of 'IN (Void)'
I kept saying instinctively, because I'm an instinctive person.
I instinctively thought that this track
Would be the key to this album.
Kixxikim
And that's why you've boldly
Laid it out as the first track of the album.
So!YoON!
I thought it must be the key to opening the door.
I placed this album in number one and
Then I started thinking about other tracks.
On the emotional side, when I heard this track,
The tale Wizard of Oz came to mind first.
Kixxikim
When you heard the first demo.
So!YoON!
Yes. For some reason I felt like I could transform
When I listened to this track.
It looks like a consistent track, but it keeps changing.
At some point, it's like an electric guitar,
But the synth is sporadic, and then the scene changes
As the guitar comes out. When I listened to the track,
I was reminded of things that change and widen,
Narrow, go up, and go down.
Kixxikim
The best person to implement such a thing was Doeon.
So!YoON!
That's right. I think I felt his unique solemnity
Kixxikim
All right. We've talked about the whole album and the key track,
'IN (Void)'. Then I'd like to ask you one last question.
How do you want this commentary album to work for listeners?
So!YoON!
When I hear the question,
There are two metaphors that come to mind.
An A4 paper description that describes between works.
Kixxikim
Sure.
So!YoON!
I'll just call it an explanation.
No one can understand the whole A4 paper
Page no matter how many times we read it.
Kixxikim
It's unreachable.
So!YoON!
I think I want it to work that way.
When I see a work, there is a certain psychology
That the work gives, but I think it is also important
To explain the intention and time of the person
Who performs the work. In that sense,
It could be a musical explanation or an emotional
Explanation or a kind of explanation
For how these times have been recorded.
Kixxikim
Like evidence.
So!YoON!
Yes, clues. I hope they're enough to make it possible.
Kixxikim
I hope they get through to people.
So!YoON!
I hope so too.
Kixxikim
Let's wrap this up with impressions of each other.
So!YoON!
This cooperation was done with every single person
As an individual and not a crowd of people like a song camp.
That's what I think real collaboration means.
The things I learn from it I'm very grateful for
And fun as well as hard work. Whenever I do this,
It feels like my life expectancy is
Going down but I learn a lot from people.
Kixxikim
It's a journey of learning and collaboration.
Yes, that's not only an album but also a commentary album.
So!YoON!
Attitude is really important.
In order to meet people and do something with them,
You have to exchange more energy than you expect,
Look into the eyes, and have a conversation.
I think I feel it more clearly in this album after the last one.
Kixxikim
Life isn't about living it alone.
So!YoON!
No, you can't.
Kixxikim
We're finishing off with a really free topic.
So!YoON!
But I bet when you reach the tenth track,
You'll think Soyoon and Hwang Soyoon are really crazy.
Kixxikim
Thanks for coming out to talk.
Let's wrap it up for the day.
So!YoON!
Thank you, goodbye.
Kixxikim
Thank you.