Q&A: Personal and Musical Evolution With PRYVT
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ WORDS BY GIGI KANG ☆
☆ PHOTOS BY AIRIS ENCARNACION ☆
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
BACK TO REALITY IS A UNIQUE CAPTURE OF THAT PIVOTAL MOMENT—in an artist’s career when it starts to get good. The reward of dedication is thrilling. It is eagerly awaited and invigorating. But as Hanuel and JT of PRYVT illustrate on their sophomore album, it can also be disorienting.
Vancouver-based PRYVT ideated most of BACK TO REALITY while supporting Canadian-Korean artist slchld, then South Korean indie-rock band Wave to Earth on the road in 2024. Having never previously performed live as a duo, touring was an immense adjustment for Hanuel and JT.
“In a way, I was feeling kind of empty, but also trying to figure out why,” Hanuel describes.
The result was a creative release that became BACK TO REALITY, released on November 14. For instance, “MAYBE I’M RIGHT” voices doubts like, “Giving all I had, was it good or bad?” The title track similarly asks, “Was it enough that I gave all I had?”
Hanuel and JT evidently reflected on their journey as a band so far and generated something great out of it. The willingness in their lyrics to face the sour parts of an otherwise sweet experience pierces through the heart because of its honesty. To admit struggle and grow from it is an act of courage. With BACK TO REALITY, PRYVT take the brave step of putting their truth into their art.
But the album is about more than tour-life. It is about romantic crushes (“PALETTE”), memories and accountability (“WONT YOU”), attempts at letting go (“NEXT TO ME, AGAIN”), and much more.
It also showcases PRYVT’s instrumental capabilities like the barely-there keys on “MAYBE I’M RIGHT” which cleverly lead the track, quiet yet central to the contemplative tone of the song. There is a satisfying guitar vibrato on “CROSS MY HEART” and abrupt drums on “ANGEL” that would make for an energetic live performance.
All in all, BACK TO REALITY is an emotive album that presents a refined PRYVT. A variety of themes makes it inviting to diverse perspectives, and it feels like a significant moment in the band’s evolution.
Read our conversation with PRYVT below.
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
LUNA: Is there anything you find yourself reflecting on as release day approaches?
HANUEL: It’s a lot of excitement to see what the fans will think of the album. It’s definitely different from our first album when it comes to how we wrote and produced it.
JT: It’s almost like a victory lap, wanting to get it out and having the people enjoy it.
LUNA: How was the response to the singles?
JT: Better than we expected! Like Hanuel was saying, the sound is similar but it’s also different. It seems like the fans are taking it well.
HANUEL: We weren’t too sure what to expect right off the bat. In a way, it’s scary to show new sounds, especially so soon after our first album. I’m glad that the fans really like this.
LUNA: One of the singles was “PALETTE.” I love the lyric, “I see color for the first time in my life.” When I was just listening to the song, not watching the video, I was thinking about love. Of course, as implied lyrically. But then the video made me think about music. The way the actors get happier the longer they have the headphones on—it made me think about how music has the same effect on us as love. It makes us brighter. How would you say music has brought color into your lives?
HANUEL: Music has definitely changed a lot of things in my life. Personality wise, I’m very introverted and not really good at talking to people. Through music, I’ve learned to put myself out there more. It has definitely opened up a lot more perspectives for me which is something I’m very grateful for because I think it’s not easy to do that with other jobs.
LUNA: It’s a space where you can be very experimental. For the sake of music, you try new sounds, but underneath that you’re also experimenting with who you are and the messages you want to put out into the world. There’s an interesting overlap between personal and professional.
JT: Music has given me a purpose and confidence. This is who I am, this is what I do. I really love doing it, so I’m really unapologetic about it thanks to music.
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
LUNA: Another thing that stands out on “PALETTE” is the guitar, which is significant throughout the entire album. I’m curious about your approach—is it instrumental first for you? Or, do you get a theme down first, or lyrics? Is there a general pattern you tend to follow in your process?
JT: Specifically with “PALETTE,” we were at Hanuel’s studio and had another friend over. We were doing a styling fitting and decided to jam. We came up with the chord progression first, then Hanuel started toplining over it. For the next hour or two, we fleshed the whole idea out and recorded it. We pretty much had most of the song done within those two hours.
For most songs, we’ll do it together or Hanuel will start the idea by himself and send it to me. I’ll work on the instrumental, send it back, then we’ll meet to work it out. It’s like that with most songs.
LUNA: A big theme throughout the album is cycles. In “WITHER&DIE,” you say, “Some days you want it all / Some days you fall.” There’s a balance between change and hanging on which can be very difficult to navigate in any area of life. Can you say more on that theme?
HANUEL: Most of my lyrics and ideas came from when we were on tour last year. It was a crazy time and it went by so quickly. There’s always the highs and lows of being on stage and coming off stage. It was almost like a loop in that situation. In a way, I was feeling kind of empty, but also trying to figure out why. That line you mentioned in “WITHER&DIE,” I was talking about myself. “Some days you want it all” is me being on stage and making music, but then other days, I have my doubts. Being on tour, I realized how much I appreciate and miss being home—family, friends, just everything that is back home. That’s where most of this being stuck in a loop [idea] came from.
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
LUNA: Now that you have a deeper understanding of tour-life, is there a new approach or mindset that you’ll implement going forward?
HANUEL: For previous shows, it was just me and JT. Now we have a full band which we’re very excited about. Also, technical stuff, our main focus is trying to give the best show we can because it has been a while since we’ve had our own show.
JT: I just try to be healthy because you play, you get on the road again, and there’s a lot of being on the go. Making sure to take care of yourself is something we learned.
LUNA: Speaking of being inspired by tour experiences, the concept of BACK TO REALITY comes from pulling away from fantasy and grounding yourself. I think that can be applicable to any area of life that may need grounding and it could inspire that reflection in listeners’ lives. Do you have any hopes for how listeners might digest this album?
HANUEL: I realized with our past releases that it is very fascinating to see their perspectives and how they personally take in each lyric and song. I’m very curious about what they will say, what their favorite song is, or what they relate to the most. I can intend it one way, but in the end, whoever listens to it will understand it how they want to understand it. That’s something that is interesting to me in a very good way.
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
LUNA: I read that sometimes you write about things using romantic imagery, even if romance is not what you’re exactly talking about. That helped me have a better understanding of the album. The video for “NEXT TO ME, AGAIN” has that white ghostly figure which could be romantic but it could also be grief, perhaps.
HANUEL: It’s definitely one thing I always look forward to when we release a song or a project. I write these songs in my basement that people around the world hear and understand and digest. I’m very grateful for that aspect of music.
LUNA: I know you have been making the live shows a big priority. Is there anything you can say about what people can expect and the work that has been going into it?
HANUEL: We are fine-tuning what we learned from our past shows, technicality wise. We’ve invested a lot of time and money into our gear to make it the best we can. Overall, it will be a better experience from our first tour because that was literally our first ever show we did together. It’s going to be fun and hopefully sound very good too.
JT: We have a new creative team as well. They’ve been investing a lot in stage visuals and the whole design, so people can be on the lookout for that when they see us!
Photo by Airis Encarnacion
