There hasn’t been a shortage of music to obsess over recently, but if JOSEON isn’t on your radar you are beyond missing out! Don’t worry, as usual, we’ve got your back. We sat down with the group and got to chat with them about their upcoming EP, upcoming performance at South By Southwest, and more! Okay, we could keep oozing about them, but we have so much interview goodness to serve up!
For new listeners, how would you describe your sound and the overall message you guys want to come across with your music?
We describe our sound as uncompromisingly stylistic. We take a genre-blurring approach in integrating familiar elements of 90s rock, 60s-inspired melody, and immersive neo-psychedelia into something that we feel is unmistakably our own. There’s a certain small-scale, picturesque order that we aim to maintain within the supermassive, hypnotic chaos of our sound that we feel is kind of trademark for us. I love the feeling of when you’re listening to a song, like a Tame Impala track, and can pick up on some new instrument or melody or vocal you didn’t notice in the mix before, so we try to incorporate that. But it’s crucial that the songwriting can still stand on its own two legs without all the bells and whistles. If you can get the song to work with an acoustic, beat, and vocal, then you know you’re on the right track. Emotion is everything in our music.
The message of our music has always revolved around freedom. To us, writing and performing JOSEON’s music is our way of being true and authentic to ourselves. It gives us an outlet to explore who we are and who we want to be, rather than who people want us to be and we’re forever grateful for that. If we had to distill it to a point, our message would be that if you feel something calls out to you, it’s up to you to go out there and get it. And go all in on it, too! We play every show with everything we’ve got because we feel like we have to. In a good way. We’ve had some people who have come up to us after a show and said they feel inspired to go pick up an instrument they haven’t played in years, or get back into painting, or photography. That’s the best feeling. If people listen to our music or watch our set and feel inspired to pursue something passionately, then we feel like we got our point across.
You’re about to play South By Southwest, that’s a huge deal! How do you prepare to play such a huge festival? What goes into the prep work?
We treat every show like it’s our last and prepare with the same fervor and attitude for every performance – SXSW will be no different. With every show, our goal is to feel like we’ve set a higher bar for ourselves walking off the stage. And part of our growth has been expanding how we can improve the set beyond the songs and the performance itself. That’s done with visuals, set dressing, and little touches that elevate it from a show to an experience. Beyond that, we’re so excited to be playing on the road. I think all the pent-up energy from cramming into the van will definitely feed into how intense and energetic our set will be.
What’s it like to be an all-Korean-American band in a genre that typically lacks Asian representation?
We played a concert at USC Village earlier in the winter and a Korean couple was sitting at the front with the biggest smiles on their face moving to the music. The guy came up and talked to us after and told us that he’s a guitarist and that he really loved to see “people who look like him doing this.” So when something like that happens, it feels really exciting. But at the same time, it can feel a little lonely. In our short career, we’ve seen some bands with one or two other Asian members, but never a fully Asian-American group. We’re proud to be a first mover in a genre that lacks our representation, but we’d obviously love to see more full Korean and Asian bands absolutely thrashing. Putting people onto K-Rock, K-Pop’s ugly stepsister.
How did you decide on your band name?
We’ve gone through a few iterations trying to see what stuck and also felt culturally relevant. From the beginning, we knew we wanted to pay homage to our Korean heritage and roots. The name came up pretty naturally over a few highballs just a couple of hours after playing together for the first time. We had to make some decisions about the spelling, and Chosun was a bit too close to “Chosen,” which felt a little presumptuous. So we went with JOSEON.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Our first songwriting love is definitely the Beatles; we draw a lot of musical inspiration from them. We’re also huge fans of the current and past alt-rock scene across a lot of different genres; I’d say parts of this project were inspired by grunge, shoegaze, and indie rock. For that, we look to bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, and Cocteau Twins just as much as Julie, Alex G, and Crumb. Sonically, it’s a pretty eclectic bag that we try to synthesize from. One of the many advantages of being in a band is that each of the three of us has different musical inspirations that we combine to make our soup of sound. A goulash, maybe.
Tell us about ‘FiENDS,’ how did that song come about?
‘FiENDS’ was the last song to be written and recorded for the EP. In that regard, it’s our first foot forward in a direction we’ve been exploring since we finished the project – melody-driven songs that don’t sacrifice the soundscape we pride ourselves on. It was written in an empty, reverberated room while I was moving out of my childhood home, that definitely fed into the emotion and feeling of the track itself. Like a lot of our songs, it has to do with people and what they’re expected to act like. Kind of a dichotomy between external and internal, and the disconnect that can be felt between the two. Once I had that first demo, we jammed it out for a day or two together and had the song as we know it.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue your passion for music as a career?
The three of us first jammed in a dingy basement in Seoul, Korea during COVID 2020. Brennan and I have known each other our whole life, but we had just met Jonah a couple of weeks before when he casually mentioned he played the drums. We played together for a couple of hours and when we came out, dripping in sweat and grease, the studio manager gave us a thumbs up and said we were playing “real rock and roll!” Then I had to tell him I broke a string on the guitar he let me borrow. It’s a funny memory, but it also really does mark the point where our love for making music buds from. It’s cliché, but I think we knew then.
What’s your dream festival or music venue you’d love to perform at one day?
Grant: Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Jonah: Rock in Rio
Brennan: Lollapaloooooooza
Assuming you’d have time, what’s one band or artist you’d love to see at the festival?
We’d love to catch The South Hill Experiment and Wilt at SXSW. They are two Los Angeles-based acts that we got to experience live in the past few months and we’re beyond excited to see them do their thing in Austin as well. The artists of the LA circuit are some of the most talented and inspiring performers on the planet and we’re happy that they’re gaining a lot more recognition. We’re an LA band through and through who’s proud to be a part of the scene and to call ourselves fans and peers of innovative, progressive acts like S/H/E and Wilt. We can’t wait to discover other artists in Austin and become new fans of some of the coolest rising talent in music today!
What are some things you hope to achieve this year as a band?
We’re excited to really dive deeper into being an artistic collective and opening up the world that extends beyond the band and the music. Bringing the vision fully to life in facets like visuals and merchandise so our audience can have more ways to interact with our world is important to us. Obviously, continuing to release new music and hopefully, one more full-length project before the year’s end is a big goal of ours. Writing new material and feeling like our songwriting and sonic identity are becoming more realized and impactful is definitely paramount to us as artists. Other than that, we hope to be playing alongside some acts that we find to be really inspirational and getting on the road more often. Consistently would be best, I think. That’s why supporting a tour is near the top of our list. We love playing in Los Angeles and it will always be home to us, but having more options cross country (especially New York) would be amazing. We’ve got a lot of fans, friends, and family over there who are eager to see us!
And lastly, since this is The Honey POP, tell us something sweet about your fellow bandmates!
Brennan is extremely thoughtful and caring. He is always looking out for his friends and family and is there for you whenever you need him. His warm and calming presence is always a pleasure to be around, and his genuineness is authentic and grounding. He never puts anyone down and is always there to offer a helping, uplifting hand whenever and to whoever. He is so gifted and talented in his musicality and craft, but his stand-up character is what really shines through. His open-mindedness, breezy attitude, and love for music really breathe life into the room. He’s the soul and spirit of the band. We admire his ability to balance so much on his plate while giving everyone and everything the utmost effort he feels they deserve; he truly is the perfect collaborator and friend. Always humble and true to himself, we look up to Brennan as someone we want to be more like every day, and we’re so lucky to share this friendship with him. We would not be the people we are without him!
Grant is such an amazing person and a blessing to have as a friend. He is someone who exemplifies integrity and is guided by his strong morals. His heart is always in the right place and he’s unwavering in his loyalties to the people closest to him. We can come and talk to him about anything, and he will be there to help in any way he can. His sharp wit, winning smile, and natural charisma ease anyone who interacts with him. These facets bleed into his candidly sincere songwriting and his empathetic personality makes him an overall joy to be around – you will never be able to escape an interaction with him without cracking a smile or giving a hearty chuckle. He’s the passion and heart of the group. Grant is who we think of when wanting to be the best version of ourselves and gives us the motivation and confidence to pursue that. He is extremely talented at what he does and never shies away from any opportunity or task at hand. A blessing to have in our lives, and we’re so grateful to call him our best friend and family.
Jonah is the best listener that we know, well outside the music. He has a special talent for making everyone around him feel safe, heard, and appreciated. Jo’s got one of the biggest hearts out of anyone we know and always works selflessly towards what’s best for those around him, not himself. A hard worker, with an easy smile and laugh, and an attitude that lights up whatever room he’s in, he makes friendship feel very simple and easy. Jonah is free in character, unwilling to compromise his true self and his authenticity, and any person will walk away from him inspired by his expressiveness. Not to mention his incredible talent for music and rhythm – he’s developed an individualistic style and placement with his drum work to the point we could never imagine someone else playing drums for JOSEON. He’s the love and connective tissue of the band. We’re honored to call him our best friend and would gladly lay down in traffic for him.
JOSEON is family to us. As a group, we’ve always said that JOSEON is friends first and collaborators second. However, this group of friends feels more like family now. These are the only people in the world I would want to embark on this journey with, and more importantly, the people I trust the most. We feel driven to work hard and be better versions of ourselves every day because of each other. To be able to bring out the best in others is a powerful and unique gift, and this group has exactly that. Even though at times it feels like it’s us against the world, I know we have everything we need in this group to go where we want to go and be who we want to be. When I am with them, I feel special and lucky to be around people that understand me and will always have my back. I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without either of them. This friendship and bond has become deeper than I ever thought possible, and I am extremely thankful to be a part of the JOSEON family.
Wow – thank you again to JOSEON for taking the time out of your insane schedule to share what makes your art ooze passion the way it does! That last question even got us tearing up a little bit. We love to see the love! It’s safe to say we have a new obsession and new music for our playlists! And so do you, you can thank us later, honey! Are you seeing JOSEON at South By Southwest? If you are let us know in the comments below! And you can let us know your favorite JOSEON track on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook!
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