Q. Please briefly introduce yourself.
ZEROWHO (hereinafter referred to as ‘Je’): Hello, my name is ZEROWHO and I play drums and produce.
Q. Drumming or producing, which did you start with first?
J: I played the drums first. My college major was also drums. I’m still learning about producing. I’m working hard.
Q. Then, I think there must be an artist who brought ZEROWHO into the world of music. I’m curious what artist made you start becoming a drummer.
J: Most other people have artists like that, but I don’t. Actually, I started playing drums thanks to my mother.
I go to church. When I was in elementary school, my mother told me to play the drums because there was no one at church to play the drums. At the time, I didn’t want to hit. At the time, I was a somewhat distracted child. Drums were so difficult and frustrating. But around middle school, drums became fun again. Then I ended up majoring in drums.
Q. You started out as a church drummer and then went on to major. So, I’m also curious about what kind of drummer you wanted to be. After I became interested in drums and decided to major in it, I think I had a vague idea of what type of drums I wanted to play.
J: At first, I thought I should do CCM. With the intention of continuing to play the drums in church. At the time, I only knew about CCM teams. I didn’t know any of the bands like AC/DC that my other friends were talking about.
Then, in my second year of high school, I decided to major in music and attended an academy. I often watched videos of my older brothers who were taking entrance exams at that academy playing drums to black music. That was very sensational to me. Robert Glasper plays the piano, and it sounds so good. Now I listen to it and wonder what the piano voicing is like, but at the time it was just nice to hear.
Q. If you look at the RSS radio interview conducted by ears mag, performers such as Robert Glasper, Questlove, and Clyde Stubblefield are mentioned. What do these people have in common?
J: To put it simply, I like a drummer who makes me dance. There are people like Chris Dave, Clyde Stubblefield, and Questlove who just play the drums so that their body moves on their own.
Q. After going through a lot of hard work, you entered Howon University’s Department of Applied Music, right? Has the way you approach drumming changed since you took those lessons?
J: It changes a lot while taking classes. However, I don’t feel like anything will change just because I follow what the professors taught me. Professors don’t teach the correct answers. For example, in the case of Professor Sangwon Han, he tells us to play the snare more like an animal or to play the hi-hat more coldly. Professor Jeong Won-young tells me to play a little warmer or to play less loudly. There was also feedback telling me to open up a space for others.
I also really remember what Professor Wonhyuk Choi said. This is something I’ve been thinking about these days. He sat us down as we were preparing for the freshman performance and asked us, “What music do you listen to first?” Of course we said yes. But the professor said, “No, you listen to music with your skin.” When I heard that, I wondered what it meant, but lately, there have been moments that resonate with me. Thanks to this, I think I rely a lot on my senses when playing.
Q. In some ways, ZEROWHO’s colors can be seen there.
J: That could be possible. And I think a lot about how my playing will sound to my co-players and the audience. Since I am a person who has to provide good sound, I keep checking it. After preparing for the entrance exam, most people focus on themselves. I played a lot of ensembles while going to school and performed a lot. Thanks to this, my listening ears have opened up a lot, and I think that has had an impact as well.
Q. Then, would you frequently film yourself playing drums and check how they sound?
J: When I was young, it was a practice I really didn’t want to do. I feel like I’m being stripped naked. Posting a reel on Instagram under the name
Q. I can see my perspective getting broader. So ZEROWHO, what role do you think drums play in music?
J: I think it’s about creating a flow. Drums are a rhythm instrument, and people say, ‘You have to play the rhythm well’ or ‘You have to have good rhythm.’ I was curious about what that meant, so I looked up the etymology of rhythm on Google. Rhythm comes from the Greek word rhein. It means flow. Then the rhythm also becomes a kind of flow.
Each performer has their own personality. Some people like to keep the music moving along in a flat manner, while others like to have good dynamics. I think drums should capture those things. Once the drums set the flow, other instruments play on top of it.
Q. I’m also curious about my friends and seniors and juniors from Howon University who I still interact with musically.
J: I’ll start by talking about the friends who worked with me on this album. If we look at track 1, we have Suyo, Noogi playing the bass, and Sangjun playing the percussion. GAMAAL on track 2, Chanhyuk who plays the keyboard, and Subin who plays the bass are all from the same school. In number 3 is Sangjun, who plays the guitar. Personally, I have a lot of close friends, but the closest ones come to mind are Soul Delivery, BROSTONE, and Jooseok, who plays drums.
Q. People who didn’t participate in the album have now been mentioned, right? Did you meet these people through school?
J: No. I started seeing it here and there when I was around 21 or 22 years old.
Q. The reason I asked about Howon University is because of the ZEROWHO Universe. The members are mainly from Howon University, right? Please first introduce who you belong to.
J: ZEROWHO Universe is a team that shows my musical worldview. There are four main members: Chanhyuk on the keyboard, Subin on the bass, Yubin on the guitar, and me. Except for Yubin, all of them graduated from Howon University. When the situation is right, I invite other friends around me to perform as guests.
Q. I remember that parties were often held in the past. I’m curious if you created the ZEROWHO Universe while playing together at a party.
J: I started working on ZEROWHO Universe in 2021. At first, we performed under the name of ZEROWHO Band with the intention of playing in clubs among friends. ZEROWHO Band was not a full-fledged band with fixed members. It was like a team formed to play in a club. At the time, I had a goal of playing at the club every week. Thanks to that, I was able to perform at clubs with various friends. When I think about it now, the performance I played back then was a truly brave performance. (laugh)
Most of the current members of ZEROWHO Universe are friends who worked together on [It happens] last year. While preparing for [WYK?], I thought I should start the ZEROWHO Universe in earnest, so I decided to do it. These days, I’m working on a more dance music-based live arrangement again with Soobin, Chanhyuk, and Yubin. I’m thinking about listening to a lot of 80’s synthesizers and samplers, bringing them in, and creating fun live performances.
Q. I’m a little curious since it’s called 8090 sound. I would like to ask what kind of music you are preparing.
J: Actually, people our age haven’t experienced that generation. It was a time when you could only see highlights. I think it would be good to think of it as music made by people born in the 2000s who like and admire such things.
Q. I would like to say that they are a band that reinterprets the past in a modern way. You introduced that ZEROWHO Universe is meant to spread ZEROWHO’s musical worldview to the outside world, right? So I guess he’s some kind of producer. I’m curious what prompted you to start becoming a producer.
J: I think a producer is someone who creates a project and talks about it with people to bring it to completion. In my opinion, a producer is a role with a very strong human element. It’s about checking what kind of person they are and bringing in someone who can create good synergy. In that sense, I think I have been producing since the ZEROWHO Band. As a music producer, I learned the most from [It Happens] and can be said to have started from there.
Q. Apart from producers like Questlove who are former performers, do you have any favorite producers?
J: I really like a British producer called Inflo. I did it with SAULT, Cleo Sol, Little Simz, and the Michael Kiwanuka album. I’m just a producer who makes all the R&B that’s hot in the UK these days. Since I am a drummer, the drums are the first thing I hear. Inflo keeps running analog and vintage loops. And the rhythm is fun. Inflo’s unique device installed on the loop makes you shake your body while listening to the album. He’s the producer I’m most obsessed with these days.
Q. great. I’m also curious if there is any music you would like to embody as a producer these days.
Je: This is one of the things I wanted to implement in [WYK?]. I want to become a producer who makes albums that you can keep playing, rather than just turning them on when you think about them. When I listen to music on Spotify, I usually listen to one album over and over again. Otherwise, you will end up in the algorithm. That’s why I like the Inflo album. Even when the album is over, I don’t know if it’s over. Like a Möbius strip.
When SAULT releases an album, they first release the full 40-minute album on Band Camp, then cut it up and release it on streaming sites several times. When I thought about it in combination with other musicians, it seemed like Inflo wanted to make people listen to the album in its entirety. While working on [WYK?], I kept thinking about that and it left me a little disappointed. So, starting with the next album, I want to think of each album as one song and create albums.
Q. This reminds me of the discussion about the organic nature of albums that enthusiasts talk about. That’s an interesting perspective. How do you usually approach making music? Do you start with jam first? Or do you just take references and try to achieve that kind of sound?
J: First of all, I don’t start with a reference. Rather, there are times when while making music, another music comes to mind and I end up listening to that music in reverse.
When I’m working alone, it’s hard to jam, so I sit in front of the computer and take pictures one by one. But if I can use jam, I definitely use it. For example, I am re-arranging [It happens], which was released last year, in a live style. In these cases, I mostly jam.
Q. Conversely, it’s interesting that a reference comes to mind. Moreover, since he is also a drummer, I think he has different strengths from other producers I have encountered so far. What do you think are your strengths?
J: I think I tend to enjoy rhythm. When I write a song, I often think of the bass riff first. I hummed the bass riff and recorded it in a voice memo and filmed it in the studio. When I listen to it, a rhythm comes to mind. I think this is what creates my color when I write songs with the rhythm in mind first.
Q. Can I also import audio sources from Splice?
J: If you want to use it, you can use it, but the samples are often not satisfactory. I kept listening to loops from drummers like Clyde Stubblefield and Questlove, but when I came back to Splice, I couldn’t get the flavor I wanted.
Q. Listening to what you said, it seems like you are doing sequencing in parallel. There seems to be an element of improvisation in the fact that you are filming yourself humming with your mouth. Is there any synergy that comes from mixing the two methods?
J: When looking at the process of recording jam music, I often see post-production done to a minimum because they want to preserve the live feel. For example, after recording instruments in the studio, there is rarely a need to layer other audio sources. However, I tend to work by adding other audio sources to the improvised sounds. For example, when I was making [WYK?], I went to Sokcho once to write a song. I make a sketch in Sokcho, and when I return to the studio, I record myself playing along with the sketch. However, while working on “Elephant,” I felt like something was missing in the kick sound. In this case, I use a midi blending sub kick. However, I don’t use it much because I have to string it without damaging the unique taste of the actual instrument.
I’m not saying which is better or worse, but there are definitely differences from the MIDI-based producers you generally think of. For those who make music based on computers, it takes a long time to find a good source, right? But I spend a lot more time tuning the sound. I personally arrange for instruments that can produce the sound I want, and invest more in tuning them to achieve the sound I want. So we use different drums for each track, and the micing is also different.
Q. A much more diverse approach will be possible in terms of rhythm. If you shoot it with MIDI, it will be hard to beat, but the time is analog, not digital. A difference of 0.0001 seconds creates a different groove.
J: Even artists like Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder, who people call GOATs, don’t have a beat like a knife recorded with MIDI when you open the stem. Rather than just playing to a metronome, there is something we can do because we are humans. So, I’m not good at things like Park Tune. Even when directing, I keep thinking about what to do if something is wrong.
Q. great. I think it would be good to briefly talk about the EP [I t happens] that was briefly mentioned earlier.
Je: [It happens] means ‘that can happen.’ Maybe it’s because my MBTI is T, but I can’t empathize well. This is an expression used when trying to empathize when hearing something you don’t quite understand. It’s also a habit of speaking. I am a person who has received a lot of comfort from music, and I think music has always told me, ‘It is possible.’
When non-musicians see people who make music, they may seem romantic and think that they are intoxicated with the wind and the flow. I don’t think the life of music is that romantic. In reality, many musicians live very intensely within their own space. This is probably a feeling that many musicians besides me feel.
Many people have courses. After graduating from elementary, middle, and high school, you go to college, men go to the military, then get a job, and so on. I believe that there is such a course for musicians, even for young students preparing for practical music. However, going to a good university doesn’t mean you can be good at music; on the other hand, someone who didn’t go to a good university may be good at music. So, in music, college may be necessary, but it is not required.
I felt it myself while preparing for the entrance exam for a long time, and SHINDRUM, who was my drum teacher, also said the same thing a lot. Going to college doesn’t change your life; what matters is what you do after you go to college. So, when I took the entrance exam for the fourth time, I took it with the mindset that I would just do what I wanted to do. There is a trend that you have to play some kind of music to pass the entrance exam. During the last entrance exam, I just decided on the song form and played it almost like jam. Actually, when I think about it now, it seems like the entrance exam took so long because I only did what I wanted to do. (laugh)
Q. You really hit it the way you wanted to hit it.
J: Most teachers usually compose entrance exam songs. When I asked the teacher I was learning from at that time, he said, “Do what you want. You should do what you like. It’s your song.” Of course, if you play according to the teacher’s instructions, you will be able to demonstrate your playing ability and technical skills well. But at the time, I think my teacher and I thought that it wasn’t completely mine. It’s a test I’m taking, and if I’m going to show myself, I have to do what I like. I asked, “What should I do for the outro?” and he said, “I don’t know. Just finish when the professor tells you to finish.” So there were a lot of times where I hit him until he told me to end it.
The last time I took the test at Howon University, I took it in an angry state. I was having an interview at the test site, but he was still eating without looking at me. As I watched it, I thought, “I think this is the last test, but they just eat like that without looking at me. Today, that person is making me take the test.” Thanks to this, I think I played with more confidence as my nervousness turned into anger.
I think the idea of showing oneself was stronger at that time. My stance was to just be myself, not who you wanted me to be. I think music always told me that it was okay to do that. Then, in 2023, we performed with the lineup of SHINDRUM, Holy Grail, and ZEROWHO Universe. The dopamine I felt at that time was truly shocking. It was so much fun, and I kept thinking about wanting to do it again. I thought I needed to have my own music to do this, so the very next day I called my friends and suggested we make an album. That’s [It happens]. When we first started, there was no album title or anything. (laugh)
Q. Personally, my first impression of [It Happens] was, “It’s like a youth drama.” Would you say that he looks like a youth who is anxious but is running forward? It feels a bit like that from the beginning of the album. How was the work process?
J: I’m anxious, but I think it’s perfect to say that we’re moving forward. When I was working, I was completely on the bare ground. At that time, I didn’t know how to do anything. I needed to write a song, but I didn’t know how to write it. So I asked all my friends.
Track 1, “WELCOME,” is a song I wrote together with a friend named Yubin, whom I met at a practical music academy. I have a friend who plays guitar and we used the same studio for a long time. Yubin is crazy in a positive sense. Among Korean guitarists, Yubin really likes Hong Jun-ho. When a song he participated in came out, I would go to Melon that day and copy it and play it right away.
At the time, I was crazy about old soul music and funk music. At that time, when I went to Yubin and told her about black music guitarists, she had no interest in it at all. Still, it was fun when we were together, and we became very close, talking a lot about music and life.
When I went to school after four moves, Yubin went to the military. I don’t know what kind of confidence it came from, but I told Yubin that I would make something fun for you to do after you get back from the military. Coincidentally, when Yubin was discharged from the military, it was time for me to release an album. At that time, Yubin said that she was into analog music and couldn’t play without an amplifier. Then I became interested in the music I was listening to. The song we created together like that is “WELCOME.”
When I sang the melody with my mouth, Yubin added various chords. That worked for part A, but there was no part B. However, Yubin said there was a melody she wrote while in the military, so she added it to the B part and it was completed.
Q. Are there any episodes involving other tracks?
J: Track 2 was created during sound check. “Game Of Choice (with TIVE, Graffitifilm)” was created with Jin Kwan (TIVE). Neither of us had many friends, so we talked often and became close friends. I played around with the bass and came up with a riff, then developed it and made it. A producer friend named Graffitifilm also helped us a lot with “Game Of Choice (with TIVE, Graffitifilm).” That friend gave me a lot of ideas about the B part and the overall texture of the song.
“Chill ROAD” was created while jamming.
“Cherry Talk (with Suyo)” is a song I made while jamming in my studio. Chanhyuk apologized for being a little late and bought some cherries from the cherry truck in Yeonnam-dong. While eating that, we had a drink and chatted together. At that time, I remember talking about a topic that felt a bit like the perilla leaf debate. It was a moment when I felt that we were different from each other, but also thought it was really fun. Then, “I drank some alcohol, so should we have some fun?” And it was created.
The day I recorded that song was the most impressive to me. [It happens] The recording was conducted at the RSS House recording studio, with lodging and lodging for three days. That was the last night? I turn off the lights and jam… Would you say it feels a bit like a campfire?
Q. Did you feel a little overwhelmed?
J: I cried. My feelings at that time… I think I can feel it again. That roughness… I think there are sounds that only people who are making music for the first time and who are new to music can make. I felt that way while recording “Cherry Talk (with Suyo)” at that time. Music is a very mysterious thing. It was the first time I realized the professor’s words about having to listen to music with one’s own skin. So I like this song the most. I did everything I wanted while recording at RSS House, and it was a dream-like time. There aren’t many environments where you can record every day or even wake up and record.
Q. What did you feel through [It happens]?
J: At first, I thought I could produce an album, so I made [It happens]. When I actually started working on it, it was very difficult and took a lot of time. So I put down my pride. I told my friends, “Please help me because I can’t do it. I need you,” and I received help. Your friends probably learned those things too. Musicians have strong pride and are firm about what they like. But when we work together, we have to give up some things.
I think accepting other people’s things is easy in words, but in reality, the process of communicating with each other and combining each other’s things is really difficult. While making [It happens], we learned a lot about how to give up on each other, and in the process, I also learned how to end the sentence with ‘It can happen.’ Even if I can’t lead it in the direction I want, that’s okay. Even if I can’t do everything I want to do, I can do that. In doing so, I learned how to give space to the people I was with. At the same time, I think it was only then that I learned a little bit about how to convey the sound I wanted to make, how to work with the people around me, and how to treat people as a producer. Things like how to make those people make good sounds. So, this is an album that taught me a lot and makes me feel like I have finally become a musician.
Q. great. After that, [WYK?] was released a year later. I was most curious about what the title meant. What does it mean?
J: It means ‘What’s Your Key?’ I’m asking what your key is. This is what I say to myself and the question I ask my listeners.
Q. How should I approach ‘key’?
J: It is the key to resolving the difficult emotions we encounter in life. It’s closer to an attitude toward life than a method. When faced with a difficult situation, we talked a lot about how we would view ourselves in that situation. From an experiential perspective, it’s about the keys I can give myself in difficult situations I’ve encountered. This is not the level of thinking that this will solve the problem. If you looked at the same problem this way last time, I ask you to think about it this way as well.
Q. The album cover is expressed as if stained glass was taken with a fisheye lens. Who created the cover?
J: Mr. Hojun is the person who created the album cover for GAMAAL. I am a friend of Jongbin (GAMAAL). You do design. You’re not the type of person who mainly does artwork like this. I did it because of a friend’s chance.
Q. Is there a reason why the album cover was expressed like this?
J: From the moment I made the album, I thought it would be a good idea to include stained glass on the album cover. Places with stained glass are usually places like churches and cathedrals, right? The feeling I got from this album was love. That love was not between opposite sexes. When I thought about where the most perfect love could be found, I think it was a place like a church or cathedral.
And the stained glass is a bit of a vintage style. I pursued that kind of sound in my music too, so I was obsessed with that. As for the fisheye lens, I came up with it from GAMAAL’s album cover. GAMAAL also used that expression. It is a form of sending a message on top of the picture, ‘What is your height?’
Q. Could you please explain in more detail?
Je: [WYK?] is not an album where the flow of the album is important. The messages each track speaks are very important to me, so I compiled them into an omnibus format. Then you might say that it can be released as a single. There is an outline that shows when those messages are gathered together. That’s the keyword ‘love’ that came up when talking about stained glass.
In the end, what I want to say is to love myself and love those around me. The intention was to capture the necessary information for each track and deliver it to people. So, ‘Look Around’, ‘Open UP!’, ‘Visiting me’, and ‘Elephant’. To put it simply, let’s love, but in today’s society, love seems to only reflect one side. Of course, romantic love is necessary, but I think what we need in this era is a slightly broader range of love. love your neighbor Of course, this is an adage that I am not good at putting into practice.
Q. So do I. (laugh)
J: And I filmed a documentary while making the album. I’m editing it now. It’s about chasing after the love I received. The person who gave me the most love was my grandmother, right? To capture that, I filmed myself going to my grandmother’s oxygen.
When I started producing albums and documentaries, I thought I was a person who showed enough love to those around me. But after finishing producing the album and documentary, it wasn’t as good as I thought. That’s why the album ended with the conclusion that I need love. So, in a way, it can be seen as a message to me.
Q. I also thought that the mood was different from the previous work. If [It Happens] was like a youth drama, [WYK?] was a youth drama with the text “5 years later” appearing in the last episode and a scene depicting the protagonists becoming more mature. Is there a reason for this change in atmosphere?
J: This album had a clear message of what to say. I also had a strong desire to say this through music. In short, [It happens] was made with the intention of making an album, but [WYK?] is an album made to send a message. Actually, it’s an album that didn’t need to be released, and I had no intention of releasing it. Actually, after releasing the album last year, I was very depleted both financially and physically.
But I think this is a bit of an addiction. When it’s over, I want to try this too. I want to try that too. (Laughs) Actually, I thought I should take a break after finishing [It happens]. When it was over, I said, “Do you think we can do it again? Then, should we get it together again?” Even now, I’m itching to try something.
Q. Perhaps by coincidence, the track list was also interesting. In [It happens], the instrumental song came out first and then the vocal song, right? But [WYK] goes in reverse order? Is there any other reason for choosing this configuration?
J: First of all, I often listen to vocal songs. In fact, I couldn’t listen to the music well. People have said that I have matured, but other people have also said that my music has lost its power in a positive sense. I think the compulsion to play a certain way has disappeared. And with the album, the stubbornness that “my album has to be like this” has disappeared.
Q. It became ‘that’s possible.’ (laugh)
J: I see. (Laughs) So, to explain it a little further, I thought that since I am a performer, my album should definitely have instrumental songs. However, this album was made with the approach, “I can’t think of a song right now? This vocal and that vocal come to mind. That’s why I want to do it with these people.”
I thought I should complete ‘LOVE’ by taking the first letter of the track title of this album. So, there were a lot of songs that we had written, but there were only four that could be used in the album. And I structured the album like this because I wanted it to resonate strongly with people from the first track. Last time, I started off calmly, but this time, I added “Look Around (With Suyo)” as the first track because I wanted people to feel like they could dance as soon as they heard it.
Q. What did you want to show musically?
J: I think ‘It happens’ is included in the production of this album. These are songs that I produced according to my heart, abandoning any sense of duty. Actually, there is nothing you have to do when making music. All of the things I’ve been thinking, “I guess I should do this?” are actually things you don’t have to do. Of course, someone would think there is such a thing. And you might actually need it. For example, when you first learn to play drums, you are taught that you have to follow the metronome, right? But Stevie Wonder’s music doesn’t fit the metronome. Looking at things like that, I think that in the end, no one knows whether it’s really true that something has to be done. It just has to be good.
Actually, I think that’s where black music started. Resistance. They told him to play it slowly because white people had to dance, and he said, “You don’t like it?” and bebop came out. He said, “Hey, this is how jazz should be,” and Herbie Hancock said, “You don’t like it?” and something new came out. I think new things come from “I don’t like it?” I think I like that kind of music because I am that kind of person.
I always wonder, “Why should I do that?” If you can’t answer the question, “Why does this have to be there?”, I don’t think there’s any reason to include it as an intro or outro. I wanted to make [WYK?] honestly, and if it falls short, I think I can feel it and try different production on the next album.
So, in a way, [WYK?] is an experiment. Will people like it if I make it this way? If I make it this way, will people respond to my message? Of course, I made it thinking there would be a response. But you don’t know how people will react. You said earlier that there are a lot of vocal songs, right? I think that’s a success. “It’s a performer’s album, so why are there so many vocal songs?” You might be thinking that. But I think it’s okay for a performer’s album to have a lot of vocal songs. Why does a performer’s album have to have a lot of instrumental songs?
Q. Actually, there is no need for that. It wasn’t decided by anyone.
J: So, I think I tried something and rebelled. It’s a little strange considering it’s about love. In the end, you have to rebel against something that isn’t right. I made [WYK?] that way.
Q. Well, it could be a rebellious love. Now, shall we talk about track number 1, “Look Around (With Suyo)”? What kind of love did ZEROWHO think it contained?
J: I think people who love and have love look around them. These days, I think a lot of people, including me, are going through things with narrowed perspectives. But it’s not because they want to narrow their view, it’s just that there are too many factors that block their view. They keep turning their gaze to one side, saying, “You have to do this,” or “You have to do this now.” But if you love yourself and the people around you, you will be able to look around.
There was a time when I was living with a narrow perspective and when I looked around, I thought, “This is better than I thought? I guess I don’t have to live like this.” And when I look around, I think the reason people are having a hard time is loneliness. Society is changing on an individual level, and the picture of people coming together and fighting together is disappearing, so we often see pictures of people looking forward alone. I lived like that too.
But when I stopped and looked around, there were people waiting for me. There were so many different people, including family and friends. At that time, I thought that maybe I couldn’t see them because of my greed. Even now, when times like that come up, I keep reminding myself to stop and look around. In a way, there is a feeling of ‘Take it easy’.
Q. I feel like there’s something else there, so look around a bit.
J: I really like the animation
You were already where you thought you were, but you kept wandering around looking for it. I was also a person who had many ideals of wanting to be like that. It seemed like a life where I could be satisfied with just what I was given, but I wondered why I kept looking for more. This is a track that says that to myself.
Q. great. Hyunsik Park did the arrangement and keyboard, Noogi did the bass, Yubin did the guitar, Sangjun did the percussion, and Suyo did the vocals, right? Is there a reason why this team was formed to produce track number 1?
Je: Noogi is a really good musician and a warm person. So I thought I would really like to try it together at least once. But while writing this bass riff, I thought of Noogi. I think it’s a very difficult riff, but it seemed like Noogie was the person who could play it well.
This song is Afro Beats, right? Since it is a song with strong rhythmic elements, I thought it would be good if the keyboard understood this well. Hyunsik hyung is a perfect fit since he is in Windy City. It also helped me a lot in terms of arrangement. He taught me a lot about things like dub, British music, and reggae music. Because I learned so much, I even included the name in the arrangement. The ideas my brother gave me and the music I played were a great help to me.
Sangjun, who participated as a percussionist, is a classmate from school. When you talk together, there is someone you end up revealing everything about, right? A bit like a confessional. Sangjun hyung is exactly that kind of person. When I was going through a difficult time, we talked a lot about various things while drinking. He is someone I personally really like, and he plays well. So I asked for it. Yubin spoke at length earlier, so I’ll skip it for a bit.
The reason I brought Suyo in was because he is a vocalist with a voice that is simple yet makes people feel good. At the same time, he has his own style as a vocalist. It’s not easy to do that. While producing this song, I thought it would be good if no one stood out. I thought that the person who could understand me when I said this was Suyo. So I asked, and as expected, he was very nice. Actually, I think that doing something with demand is done because of demand, not because there is any big reason. He is a very good person as a person, and someone you can trust and work with.
Q. It feels like we have formed a team of people who can best understand ZEROWHO’s direction. I’m curious what message you were trying to convey with “Open UP! (With GAMAAL)”.
J: This song came from the idea that people would talk to each other instead of fighting. I like Pyeongyang cold noodles. Last winter, I went to eat at Eulji-myeon Ok and witnessed a protest scene. Watching that, I thought it would be better if we opened our hearts, ears, and talked to each other rather than being divided and fighting like that.
“Open UP! (With GAMAAL)”, “Look Around (With Suyo)”, and “Elephant” are songs I made while staying in Sokcho. I stayed for a week with the goal of living a primitive life. If you want to sleep, sleep, if you want to eat, eat, if you want to get up and work, if you want to work, work. But once you’re there, there’s nothing to do. So, I lived like I would take a walk and work, and when I got hungry, I would go to the market and buy food and eat, then take a walk again and then work. But it was so good that I wished I could live like this for the rest of my life.
Q. It was a work that came out in a relaxed state. I wonder if that was reflected in the work process as well. What was it like when you sent it to GAMAAL before recording?
J: I made it in Sokcho and immediately sent it to GAMAAL. I think I learned how to let go of my greed at that time. Even if it doesn’t come out, wait until it comes out. I also think it is a very necessary skill as a producer. (laugh)
I am very close with Jongbin (GAMAAL). It’s safe to say that we were best friends for all four years of school. So, we both know better than anyone else that we are narrow-minded people. Thanks to this, I think I was able to talk about the topic of “Open UP! (With GAMAAL)” more happily.
It’s just my opinion, but ultimately, I think the reason people these days are divided into left and right, generation, and gender groups and fight is because they don’t listen to each other’s stories. Because they shut you down and claim you’re wrong. All I could say there was to suggest that you open your mind. When you share your thoughts with each other, there are parts you can acknowledge and parts you can assert your thoughts on. But if we don’t listen, close our hearts, and just insist that each other is wrong, we can’t have a conversation.
It’s all my opinion. In fact, the other person’s story may be different from what I understand, and when I actually hear it, their opinion may be better. So, I’m trying to live with the mindset of being open to everyone. I think that when you live like that, you can love someone.
Q. “Open UP! (With GAMAAL)” features Chanhyuk on keyboard, Subin on bass, Yubin on guitar, and GAMAAL on vocals, right? Is there a reason why the team was formed like this?
J: ZEROWHO Universe did it together. I wanted to have a track I could make with my friends. I wanted to capture a vibe that could be created between close friends. The work was also comfortable.
Q. Somehow the sum was really good. Now, let’s move on to track number 3, “Visiting me (With YUJIN KIM).” Yujin on vocals, Minjun on keyboard, Hwansu on bass, and Sangjun on guitar, right? It feels a bit like the Avengers. Why did you form these members?
Je: When I wrote the code for “Visiting me (With YUJIN KIM)” and created the instrumental, I thought of a forest-like sense of space. I feel like I’m wandering in the forest looking for myself. What came to mind at that time was an American jazz singer named Gretchen Parlato. He’s a singer I really like, and while watching him live, I thought he was so elegant. At the same time, Eugene also came to mind. Then, I wondered what it would be like to work with a jazz musician, so I thought about a team.
But since I happen to be in Okoye, I often play together with Sangjun and Hwansu. So I asked for it and he gladly accepted it. We recorded it at RSS House. It was a challenging song for me, but I think it came out well.
Q. What did you want to include in terms of message?
J: It says that you have to look into yourself and that you have to love yourself to be able to love others. Until now, I have avoided looking at myself because I don’t want to face the negative side. It was especially so because I am a person with strong ideals. But I had to face it to gain true confidence. I have to continue to face it, talk to it, and look at my shortcomings while still loving them. If I keep doing that, I will see people who love me despite my shortcomings. I felt that was a really big love. This song has a slightly deeper message compared to other songs.
Q. “Elephant” comes right after that. It was interesting that after looking at the surroundings, opening your mind, and looking into yourself, a song with the theme of an elephant appears. Is there a reason why you included an elephant as the last image?
J: First of all, I really like elephants. Even my studio wallpaper is an elephant. Elephants are kind. In particular, your eyes are really good. It’s healing when I look at it. When I looked up elephants, I heard that they wait for someone in the herd if someone gets hurt. If you fall into a puddle, we surround you and wait for you to avoid being attacked. I think this is what our world needs right now. I don’t think it’s visible that way. When elephants cry, they cry “Puu-”, right? So I thought it would be good to include wind music.
Q. that’s right. Samsoo’s saxophone was really fun. I think Minhyuk’s synth was trying to express that kind of texture. I’m also curious as to why they gathered such members for this song, including bassist Jobas.
Je: I really wanted brass, so I brought my brother Okoye with me. Minhyuk and Jovas are younger than me. One of the things I wanted to do by bringing people together for this album was to connect across generations. There are not many people in the current performing scene who act as bridges between generations. We don’t often run into each other, and even if we do, we only say hello and there are few opportunities to play together. I think we need to continue to create positions for people who can create such opportunities. There are many people who actually make them.
In that sense, there are many cases where musicians my age or younger learned from musicians of the current Hwansu generation. It’s really cool when an album shows a teacher and a student playing together. From the perspective of the circulation of performers, I think that such musicians should continue to appear.
Q. In this way, in “Elephant,” there is a message to connect generations and come together, and the first letter is completed with “LOVE.” great. Now there are only closing questions left. Do you have any album-related activities planned?
J: First of all, there is a live film that arranges several songs from [It happens] and “Look Around (With Suyo)” into instrumentals. We are trying to greet you more often with other content, so please look forward to it.
Under the name ZEROWHO, I am trying to differentiate between the music that can be heard on music sources and the music that can be enjoyed offline live. At the concert hall, we are arranging the music in a way that makes it more fun and exciting. I would appreciate it if you could listen carefully to the sound source.
Q. Do you have any final words?
J: First of all, thank you for reading the long interview. Every time I make an album, I hope that it will help the lives of those who listen to my music. Of course, I have a desire to have many people listen to it. But before that, I want to play a role in giving strength to more people. I often think that I hope my music can become people’s friend. I hope that this [WYK?] can also have a positive influence on those who listen to it.
Q. Well, we will end the interview here. Thank you for your hard work.
J: Thank you.