9 minute read
NIJUU / SEOUL
NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
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WITH nijuu
INTRODUCTION
Korean indie dream-pop artist nijuu, aka Yujin Jo, has just releases her second EP nijuu in the forest, out now via The state51 Conspiracy. nijuu explains that the nijuu in the forest EP represents a natural thematic evolution from her first EP nijuu in the sea, embodying her heightened confidence and sense of self. After living in the UK for several years, nijuu has now moved back to her home city of Seoul, and here she gives us a guide to some of the best local places..
CAFÉ
My favourite cafe is Unplugged in Seoul, in Hongdae. They also have a gig space. On the first floor is a cafe/ bar and underground is a live venue. The owner, I call him Kang PD, loves musicians and is very supportive. If you want to play guitar in the cafe, there are some guitars that you can play. Also they got 2 kinds of coffee beans and some great beers as well.
RECORD SHOP
Gimbap records. They have lots of new and unique LPs and Tapes. Actually I don't really know
about record shops in Seoul as so many of them are gone. Gimbap records is a small place but they always have some records that I want to listen to.
RECORDING STUDIO + PRACTISE SPACE
Molstudios - they are so good. I recorded there and I wanted to come back! They are in the basement but the air and equipment and everything is great. Also, Byulnamu practise space - I always have rehearsals there!!!
MUSICIAN FROM SEOUL
Puer Kim - She's been my role model since I was in high school. Especially her first EP mom and sex and Korean EP are so great.
PARK/GARDEN
My favourite park is Seoul Forest. If you've ever been to Seoul, you might know that Seoul is a very urban city. But if you go to Seoul Forest you might feel like "How can this forest be in this city?" It’s huge and I love it. There are so many trees! But interestingly, around Seoul Forest, it's just a really cool city. So if you have any chance to visit Seoul, please come and check out Seoul forest.
FAVOURITE VENUE
Prism Hall, I feel grateful for them. Because I had only one show there in May, and they've got a huge space and equipment. Through the Covid19, lots of live music venues were closed. However, they are still doing gigs and are very supportive to artists. I really respect them.
GALLERY
Whanki Museum. One of my favourite places in Seoul. Whanki museum was made by his wife Hyangan Kim. They were both great painters in Korea. So Hyangan Kim made a museum for young artists and to remember her husband’s art as well. The museum is in a very calm space, surrounded by mountains (you should walk up them as well). But it's really worth visiting there. They will lead you in peacefully and calmly.
QUIET/CALM PLACE
For me, Church. When I get busy and stressed I really need to talk about my situation. I never really want to make people get bad energies because of me. But when I pray or go to church it makes me calm and I feel like God says to me "It's alright, it's not your fault, you can do better, you will be fine" and I get inspired there as well.
nijuu's second EP 'nijuu in the forest' is out now on state51 conspiracy. It is the follow up to her 2020 debut EP 'nijuu in the sea'.
TOOLBOX PASSIONATE ABOUT SONGWRITING
WITH BEACH RIOT
So this might come in useful for anyone trying to dig their way out of a songwriting rut right now, or anyone who is simply interested in the subject of songwriting in general. It’s something I’ve always been very passionate about. So I hope that even if you don’t agree with me you can enjoy reading as I relish the opportunity to talk about it.
My name is Jim Faulkner. I’m one of the songwriters in the band BEACH RIOT and it is my job to bring raw material to the table ready for working on. We have a very Beatles type dynamic in that respect. And if we’re using that analogy I guess then that makes me… Paul?
Ok, before I begin I have to point out that the entire song writing process in regards to this particular band rests on the very fact that these vital elements are already in place:
• There’s a sh*t hot drummer (Jonny Ross) already on board and able to play and develop any concept that gets thrown at him.
• None of us are afraid to put in hard graft practicing individually at home to fully understand and interpret/ embellish our parts in the song. (We are not a band that spends a lot of time rehearsing jamming in studios, as much as we’d love to. But we do fly-test a song in a room once we’re all confident we have our individual parts locked)
IN THE BEGINNING
My particular method to starting songs up in the demo process is to not be precious and just make as many as possible. All in one burst of energy. Doesn’t matter what I’m feeling, I just grab a guitar or bass, plug into garage band (cue boos and hisses from the crowd but I lovvvve garage band IOS), I might try a few of my fuzz pedals in the chain too for chaotic wonkiness.
For every 20 demos, I make there’s typically one or two that go on to become a proper fleshed-out song. It’s just a numbers game. It’s kind of inevitable you’ll strike gold with that ratio. I’ve always hung on to something I once read that either Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen said (I forget which… LenBo?) - they would write 20 or 30 verses of a song just to get the best 3 or 4. Mind - blown!
GARBLED NONSENSE BECOMES SONG
With my 1 or 2 best demos from the pack I then get heavy into trying to decipher the strange jumble of vowel and consonant sounds, I was making in order to get the guitar parts down (I should have mentioned I record a mic on a separate channel at the same time as the guitar). I know this was Kurt Cobain’s method of songwriting. I really like it. A magical thing happens where the logical part of your mind begins to make sense of what your subconscious mind poured out. It sounds random and like it shouldn’t work, but I’ve found it the most effective method to get a song that doesn’t have all those horrible forced words ‘just because they were what you wrote as poetry so they must be good!’ If it sounds jank then that’s cos it is jank. If you’re keeping an open mind and asking the right questions of the tune then a story, vibe or theme soon comes to the surface. Much like the Room of Requirement in HP. It just turns up when you need it most.
Sometimes you might want to keep it more abstract with the phrases you write, like with the scrapbook method. This particular writing process lends itself well to having a less dictatorial delivery of words and opens up a more playful, interactive use of language: internal rhyming, word plays, juxtaposing opposites etc. It becomes its very own selfcontained puzzle you have to solve. I absolutely love that about songwriting .
THE BEST CRITICS
Once you’ve got your wee babba tune standing up on its legs and walking, you now have to do the hardest bit… send it to the rest of the band for criticism. This bit is probably the hardest for any artist as we’ve already invested a lot of time into it and put much of our more vulnerable self into a track. The idea that it can now instantly be torn to shreds by other folks that weren’t there at the birth and early development stage puts many people off going further, but you absolutely must! It’s the most crucial part of the process. Again, if you are churning out fifty-odd songs a month then this bit shouldn’t hurt so much. You’re going to get constructive feedback from the gang no matter what. It is, after all, them that will ultimately have to play the finished product live, so just hand it over and walk away for a while. Then, once criticism comes back you try to interpret all the points suggested. It’s like swapping to a finer grit of sandpaper so you really start getting a finer finish on your track. We repeat this back and forth, sometimes recording on top of each other’s demos like a bunch of sonic vandals and refine until it feels done.
I guess that’s it really. Rory (the John to my Paul) and I often write our best demos right after a good gig. Something about that sensation and the lingering memory of the night before. We want to make a track that will make that crowd go totally nuts or feel all the feels. When you get the ‘person at Reading Festival sitting on someone else’s shoulders’ vision as you play your demo back in your living room you know you’re cooking up something special. You can just feel it!
IN A NUTSHELL
I’m in love with the art of songwriting. It’s an essential part of who I am by this point. I’ll never stop learning. There’s always a new discovery or breakthrough even after all this time. Not many other things in life feel quite as satisfying. That’s nuts when you think about it, as it’s effectively one the cheapest forms of entertainment. A used guitar is £50 upwards (I use a squier bronco mustang that cost me £68). Garage band is free on an iPhone. An interface is £70+
That’s the same price as a few beers and some grub in town!
Hope this has helped you in some way. I ain’t saying my advice is relevant for everyone. But if it is… GO FORTH AND SMASH IT! Write me a banger worthy of Mordor.
Jim Bassy shouty singy guy in Beach Riot standing at the back x
