Wistful romance and
introspective disillusion
p
Interview with singer and songwriter Hee Young
Interview by Esther Klung; Photos by Mijin Park
H
ee Young was born in Korea, Seoul, but moved
to New York, Brooklyn, to work as a singer
and songwriter. She released her irst album,
as a self-release, in 2009 and `Sleepless Night´, which
is her latest release in November 2013. Touched by
her beautiful music we decided to talk with Hee Young
about her music and inspiration. We highly recommend
listening to her songs if you enjoy lyrical music.
K: Describe your music in one sentence.
HY: I saw this phrase somewhere describing Francois
Hardis‘ music, and I thought this description would
work well with my music as well: ‚wistful romance and
introspective disillusionment‘.
K: When did you decide to become a singer and
songwriter?
HY: Once I discovered that I was capable of being one;
at the age of 16. I started combining bits of poems I‘d
writen in my journal to melodies on the piano, and
that was a new discovery for me that I could be a singersongwriter too.
K: Tell us about your latest CD, about the writing
process and how it feels being on stage with your
songs.
HY: It‘s a collection of songs I‘ve writen since the release
of my irst full-length album ‚4 Luv,‘ except for ‚Happy
New Year‘ which was writen before ‚4 Luv‘ came out.
For me the writing process is prety much the same with
any album; just give me some alone time with a guitar or
a piece of paper, and I‘ll probably write something. he
recording process was unique this time because instead
of recording at a studio, me and a couple of friends
took our recording gear including a reel tape recorder
to outside New York City for a week and recorded at a
rugged barn and an old church in Long Island. It was
a challenge because of the weather (heat wave) and
because we were out of our comfort zone, but the result
came closest to what I wanted, which was to have the
songs convey the intimate and honest sound they had
when they were irst writen. I love performing the new
songs from ‚Sleepless Night.‘ Every time I sing these
songs, they take me to the place the songs irst took place,
which makes the performance genuine and meaningful
to me, which I hope the audience feels as well.
K: Name three things, places, people or moments
which inspired you and explain what was inspiring
about them.
HY: New York City, especially Brooklyn - because that‘s
where I live, and the environment I surround myself in
always afects my writing.
Hank Williams - Subconsciously I think listening to
his music inluenced me with writing and singing the
songs from this new record. Elliot Smith was always
an apparent inluence with this new record, but very
recently I realized that Hank Williams must‘ve inspired
me a lot as well.
My friends & lovers - I‘m greatly afected by my closest
people.
K: Why did you decide to move to New York?
HY: It was either New York or Nashville for me because
17