Q&A: HOHYUN Opens Up About His Mental Health Journey on “FLAWED”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY IVONA HOMICIANU ☆
“FLAWED” OPENS THE DOORS TO UNSEEN BATTLES—With the new single off the album Petrichor, HOHYUN infuses the listener with encouragement over receiving help for mental health issues. By admitting loud and clear that he is struggling, but he is working on getting better, he makes “FLAWED” a lighthouse in the midst of darkness.
HOHYUN is a Korean American, New-York based artist who began by sharing his vision with filmmaking, before venturing into music. He gained traction in 2022 with his single “SUNSET BOULEVARD” and has been curating his identity as an artist since. He released his debut album DRAMA. last year, and is now unveiling his cinematic project Petrichor.
“FLAWED” begins with soft vocals that lead us into the honest lyricism of HOHYUN. The track is inspired by his struggles with depression and comes as an aftermath of his decision to get help. The production elements fit perfectly with his vocals, as they both build up towards a cathartic moment accompanied by electric guitar, followed by a moment of silence and slow earnestness.
The single is expansive, mirroring the cinematic dimension of HOHYUN’s newly released album Petrichor. The project surrounds rain, and the metaphors that ensue. The artist puts his multi-disciplinary skills together with the visual album accompanying the music. With this project, HOHYUN reveals himself as an artist who isn't scared to show the intricacies of their mind.
Read below for more information on HOHYUN and his new single, “FLAWED.”
LUNA: What inspired “FLAWED”?
HOHYUN: “FLAWED” was inspired by the story of my mental health journey, and it follows directly after the song before that called “Tomorrow.” That song was about getting help and getting encouragement to go get that help. “FLAWED” was the after of that story. It's about the journey after getting help, and how it's not a perfect road to being better, it's got ups and downs and everyone's still flawed. I was still feeling like it's not a perfect solution. That's what the song was about.
LUNA: You also said that it's to break the stigma in the Asian American community. Was it difficult to put out such a song that's so vulnerable and talks about your mental health?
HOHYUN: For me, not really. I've always created work that was very vulnerable. Even back in high school, I was expressing myself through film because I didn't have anywhere else to say those things. For me, it was a natural extension to say these things in lyrics. I didn't think about what it might entail, it's just like, I have to do this. It was never really a thing I was worried about.
LUNA: There's a moment in “FLAWED” that feels like catharsis. Does writing help evacuate these emotions, or does it make them even more present in your life?
HOHYUN: I think it helps ease the pain a bit. It's like going to a friend and talking to them about it, because I get to create something and I get to express what I'm feeling instead of just bottling it up. There is definitely a catharsis from making this stuff. I get to escape the emotions when I'm creating, because I get to separate myself a little bit from what I'm feeling.
LUNA: You released a few singles last year, and then two this year. Are they all part of your upcoming album?
HOHYUN: I guess it's a complicated thing with this album, because it's not direct singles that are being released, some of the songs were actually released last year on the the other album, and then there's another song that came out as a single after the album that will also be included. “FLAWED” will also be included. There's a few more unreleased songs, so it's hard to say, but I guess the only one that won't be included is “AEIOU,” the remastered version.
LUNA: How do you think you've grown since your first project to this one?
HOHYUN: I’ve grown so much since my first EP. First of all, my sound is way different. Back then I was imitating the people I really looked up to and admired. But even as a lyricist and an artist, there was so much that I wanted to say but didn't know how to say. You can see glimmers of my expression and the artistic layer that I have today, but you can see how much it's grown over the years. I feel like I have much more control over how I articulate my thoughts.
LUNA: I noticed that your previous songs are a lot more soft spoken and generally happy, I would say. What made you want to explore these new emotions with “FLAWED”?
HOHYUN: At first, music was a different path for me, something new to explore. I would always put those vulnerable emotions into my films, so that was already there. Music was like, “Let me try something else. I can just write songs that sound good to me.” A lot of those were love songs, because I was also younger and going through romantic crises. As I started to grow as an artist, I realized I want to bring back some of those vulnerable emotions and put that into my music as well. That's always where I was headed.
LUNA: What inspires your sound and songwriting?
HOHYUN: A lot of my songwriting and the sound is inspired by how things look to me. I approach things very visually first because I was a filmmaker, so a lot of my music is very cinematic because it's almost like I'm scoring a film that's in my head that doesn't exist yet. A lot of my sound includes swelling synths or strings, there's lots of dynamics, and there's always a big climax like you would hear in an OST of a movie.
LUNA: There's a visual album coming with this next album, right?
HOHYUN: Right! Over the past year and a half, I've been filming music videos for every single song in the album, so every song on the album will have a visual and I'm going to be screening them across the states so you can watch the entire album.
LUNA: That's incredible. Does it have a narrative line, is it connected?
HOHYUN: There's some parts of the music videos that are directly connected. There's two of them that are the exact same series of events. Overall, there's a theme that follows throughout, the theme of rain, which is why the album is called Petrichor, so all these music videos kind of include ideas about the rain.
LUNA: What song on the album you're most curious about for your listeners to discover?
HOHYUN: “Tomorrow” is probably my favorite song off the album. It's still unreleased, but I've been playing it in person and I've gotten to hear a lot of people's stories about what that song means when they hear it. I'm really excited to see what my fans think of it once it's released publicly, and what it could mean to them.
LUNA: What does it speak about?
HOHYUN: “Tomorrow” is that song I spoke about earlier in the interview. It's the song that I wrote right before I went and got help from my mental health. It was me at my lowest writing about my depression but also there's a glimmer of hope, because I'm like, I think it's time to go and get help. It was a light at the end of the tunnel for me, and I hope that maybe for other people, it could be that as well.
LUNA: What is the best advice that you've gotten that you could share with someone who is also struggling with their mental health?
HOHYUN: I don't know if I've really gotten much advice from people, to be honest. That was part of the problem: I didn't really talk to people about it. I guess any piece of advice that I would give somebody is, no matter what, things will get better, so just hang it there. That's the most important thing.
It's tough to get help, but I think the most important thing is just to keep moving. Eventually you'll find your way.
LUNA: I feel like a lot of people when they’ve experienced depression and anxiety and other stuff, when we're in an episode, we don't like hearing that things will get better, because depression really latches onto you and becomes part of you— but it does. Life is just highs and lows all the time, so it does get better.
HOHYUN: It always feels like it's never, ever going to get better. But then you stick around, and then you're like, “Oh!”
LUNA: My last question is, what are you planning for this upcoming year when it comes to this new album and this new chapter of your career?
HOHYUN: I have a couple of performances coming up. First, I have a festival in Arizona in November, and then I'm going on tour with one of my really good friends, Sarah Kang, and I'll be playing the album on that tour in December. Once the album is released, I'll be doing the screening tour for the visual part of the album in around January-February, so that people can go and watch all music videos together in person. I'm excited to see it too when it's ready because I haven't seen them all together, so once I put everything together, it'll be surreal to watch it.
