Living in a world that pushes us to move at a break-neck speed, we’re in need of someone or something to ground us, to provide us a moment’s reprieve from it all.
We found that in South Korean indie rock band wave to earth. Comprising of members Daniel Kim, John Cha, and Dong Q, wave to earth debuted in 2019 with their song ‘wave’ and has since differentiated themselves from their peers. The band is subtle, temperate, and introspective, in character and in sound.
As for their reception, wave to earth are accomplished, to say the least. They’ve played in over a hundred shows located across the world, including the United States. And they’ve hit plenty of streaming milestones: their song ‘bad’ claimed a No. 1 spot on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 and ‘seasons’ reached over 500 million streams.
Since their debut, wave to earth has been a refuge for fans like us, and their new album bad pieces (released on August 7) is a confirmation that is not going to change despite the band’s experimentation in the studio.
“I feel like this [music] is closer to the essence of wave to earth than ever before. The vision was always that we would make our own music and contribute to the band…The songs that we each provide have their own distinctive characteristics.”
Daniel Kim about bad pieces in a press release
We got the chance to chat with wave to earth about their new chapter, starting with bad pieces, their bilingual songwriting process, and their upcoming tour!
Hello, we’re so excited to have you at The Honey POP! Can you introduce yourselves to people who might be finding you through this interview?
Daniel: We’re a band from Seoul called wave to earth. You may have come across our music online, like ‘seasons’ or ‘love.’ We’ve just dropped a new album called bad pieces. It’s an album that’s filled with our love and care, and hope you listen to it.
bad pieces
From the beginning, did the band approach bad pieces as a new chapter for wave to earth?
Daniel: We never sat down and decided to start a new chapter. We built a new studio, brought in instruments we hadn’t used on a record before, and the songs came out this way. Looking back, it feels less like a turn and more like arriving somewhere. To me, this is the closest we’ve ever sounded to what wave to earth actually is.
Dong Q: All three of us are getting close to 30, and it feels like the first part of our lives is quietly closing. That was in the room the whole time we were making this, whether we said it out loud or not. So it did become a new chapter, but not because we planned one. We just followed what we were going through and this is where it landed.
How did the group decide to release ‘heaven and hell’ as a taste test for bad pieces?
John: That one explains the album faster than any of the others. The Mini Moog, the keyboards, the amount of space we left in it; everything that’s new about this record is already sitting there. And the words say the thing I most wanted to say: finding the answer isn’t the important part, but living with love and humility is.
‘babo’ and ‘hyang’ are in Korean. Is the songwriting process different when writing in English compared to in Korean? How do you decide what language a song is in?
John: Daniel’s a magician with words especially in Korean lyrics—there’s a lot of layers to unpack in each of his lines.
Daniel: I think there is definitely a difference. Since Korean is my first language, I try to pack in a lot more meaning into each and every word, but that also makes it more difficult than writing English in a way—it makes me think more.
The Creative Journey
bad pieces is a musical shift from the rest of your discography. What elements does a wave to earth release have, regardless of era—what is your North Star?
Daniel: We always want to make something that’s easy and comfortable to listen to. On top of that, we really carefully craft our instrumentations—we’re a band after all. We try to let each instrument shine.
John: As long as we’ve got Daniel, our sound will stay true to wave to earth. (laughs)
DongQ: He’s our North Star. (laughs)
Is there a song from the LP that each member resonates or associates themselves with?
Daniel: It’s hard for me, because I was inside all of them for months. If I have to pick one, ‘hyang.’ It’s the song I’m most sure of.
John: ‘you.’ It has a texture we’d never managed before. Dong Q started it, and the three of us wrote the words together. When I listen back, I don’t hear myself in it; I hear the three of us. That’s rare enough that it’s the one I’d point at.
Dong Q: ‘sing it all again.’ Making this record meant looking straight at things I wasn’t good at yet, and that song is where that feeling ended up for me. It’s the one I’d hand to someone if they asked what this year was like for me.
During the creation of bad pieces, did you discover something new about yourselves or your team? How is that reflected in the LP?
Daniel: We’ve known each other for so long, since we were all teenagers. I don’t think we’re learning new things about each other at this point. That being said, working on this album did make me realize how good each of them are at their craft. I’m so thankful that I have John and Dong Q on my team.
the pieces tour
You are on the road (and plane) again in September to November for the pieces tour! What song from bad pieces are you excited to perform?
Daniel : ‘cherry flavoured love inside your heart.’ It’s an emotional song, I think it’ll be the highlight of every night for me.
Did previous tours, such as flaws and all and Play with Earth! 0.03, prepare you for the pieces tour?
John: They did, mostly in unglamorous ways. On our first run in the States, we didn’t have ‘calla’ in the set, and people kept shouting for it until we put it in halfway through the tour. The 0.03 run taught us what a longer stretch does to your body and how to keep something alive on the thirtieth night. This one is bigger again, so I’m sure it’ll teach us the next thing we don’t know yet.
Dong Q: Every tour showed me something I wasn’t good at yet, and I only got better by running into it night after night. Right now we’re rebuilding the older songs so they can sit next to the new sound, and there’s more taken away than usual while the show itself is the biggest we’ve ever put up. I don’t think I could have done that arrangement work without the last two tours behind me.
What are you looking forward to most during this tour?
Dong Q: Just being in the venues and meeting the fans again. My hands shake every time I come off stage, because I use up all my energy. But that’s what keeps me going and coming back for more.
Daniel: I’m really excited to see the reactions to our new songs. We’re putting in a lot of effort into not just the music but the show design as well. This tour will be a fun one.
John: See you soon!
Thank you wave to earth for chatting with us!
What song from bad pieces is your favorite? Are you going to see them on one of their stops? Let us know over on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, or in the comments below. 🐝
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