Q&A: SOHMI Invites Us Into a Spring of Nostalgia with “Get To You”
HYPNOTIC AND FILLED WITH STUNNINGLY VULNERABLE LONGING — “Get To You” by Denton x SOHMI provides an unrequited love story just in time for spring. This dance electronic track shines with SOHMI’s unbelievable vocals and songwriting, as well as Denton’s instrumental genius. A name you should add on your list, SOHMI is a Korean-American artist who has a talent for producing dance electronic music with an R&B flare. Performing at Coachella this year, SOHMI is on the rise as the new “it girl” of the Los Angeles dance scene, and LUNA couldn’t love her more.
SOHMI’s background with music starts not in Los Angeles but 5,953 miles away in Seoul, Korea. At the age of three, she began her love of music by learning classical piano and singing. SOHMI is not a conventional artist by any means — she straddles the line of genres and even has her own record label. Not on anyone’s schedule, she sets her own tone of who she is as an artist and releases music on her own terms. If there's one thing we’re sure of, it’s that SOHMI is in a league of her own with the authenticity of her work.
Read below to learn more about SOHMI, as we sit down and talk with her about her song “Get To You” and what’s bringing her joy in 2022.
LUNA: Thank you for spending the time to talk with us today. I love to start at the beginning — how has being based in LA while having a cultural background of being raised in Seoul impacted your music?
SOHMI: There’s such a clear divide in my life with the center of it all being LA. Before moving out here six years ago, I’d always been a fan of music but my interests were more geared towards the classical genre. Stumbling into the LA rave scene was such a great way to find a different part of myself. The dance music world gave me a bigger outlet to feel seen.
LUNA: When you were first introduced to the dance music scene, did you gravitate toward any specific artist in particular? What was the big moment for you where you realized this music was another part of your soul?
SOHMI: That’s exactly how it felt — [like] unlocking my soul. I remember, specifically at my first Coachella when I moved out to California, I went with a friend and we ended up at the Sahara tent seeing Rüfüs Du Sol. That was it. I was standing among new friends and my soul was exploding. I had never heard music like that before. It was really paradigm shifting.
LUNA: This must be a full circle moment for you performing at Coachella this summer.
SOHMI: For sure! Maybe I’ll process it weeks after it happens — it doesn’t seem real. Preparing for Coachella, something I like to do is, depending on the city I’m playing in, I’ll make special intros for my set. Recently I had the opportunity to perform in Chicago, and I wanted to pay homage to the city so I made this Donda into edit after watching Kanye’s documentary, jeen-yuhs. While I can’t give anything away, I’m super excited about my intro this year for Coachella.
LUNA: Congrats on “Get To You”! I know you’ve collaborated in the past with Josh Butler, so how did this project come to be?
SOHMI: It came on the heels of the first collaboration we did together. Two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, I saw Josh post on his Instagram story looking for vocalists, and I thought it would be a longshot but I shot the high emoji in his DMs and “Sunday Sunset” was created. It went so smoothly and our music chemistry was so organic that we wanted to do another one right away, which became “Get To You.” This one was for an alias project that was more vocally driven and a lot more pop-based. I had so much fun creating it, but we ran into long-distance complications because of the pandemic.
LUNA: Sonically, what are your favorite things about the track?
SOHMI: The thing that drew me to the instrumentals to begin with was the chords. The way the track took form was Josh sent me a folder with different musical bits: some loops or chords, some were more flushed out, but I really loved this simple sample with just three chords. I loved that I could have so much freedom to create sound around them. The chords had this bittersweet happy/sad vibe to them. Happy/sad music is my favorite, and I could feel the longing and nostalgia through those chords that I could bring to the vocals. Humbly, I love how the vocals turned out and helped tell a story.
LUNA: What do you hope the listeners take away from the song?
SOHMI: On the surface, the song is about longing and having an unrequited love situation, but at the time I wrote it I was longing for a lot of different things. I was longing for my old life back, live music again, to see my friends and family, and I channeled that in this story. I hope this song gives the listener a sense of relief or courage to go out and achieve your dream.
LUNA: Something I want to talk about that I think is so awesome is that you have your own label. How has your label forged a new frontier for you, and what are your ambitions with your label?
SOHMI: The label, for now, is the vehicle for my releases. Down the road, I’d love to release music and champion other artists. Now, I’m honing what I want it to be. We all know as producers how frustrating it is to be at the mercy of other record label’s release schedules. You can have something written and not have it come out for two years, like “Get To You.” I wanted to feel like I could have control for when I could release my own music and what my songs would sound like. I didn’t want to change the DNA of my songs to fit the catalog of a label.
LUNA: Do you have any advice for artists starting out?
SOHMI: Be relentless in championing your vision. Don't cater yourself to anyone else. It’s so tempting to fall on the path of least resistance, and I can understand why. There’s so many paths you can go down, and the second you get recognition there’s going to be an abundance of interest, but make sure it’s the direction you want to go in. Don’t get swept away in what other people see for you.
LUNA: What’s bringing you joy in 2022? What are you excited for?
SOHMI: Having live music back! I know the pandemic isn’t over, but I’m happy we’re moving past lockdowns. I got started in 2020, and then the world shut down. I’m excited to get to operate in what feels like a normal year. I’m excited to release an upcoming song with a dream artist on a dream label for me. I have another track coming out with an artist in the UK. I love UK artists. I spent six weeks in the UK in college studying theater and going to what felt like a show a day. Most of all, though, I’m excited to learn more about myself as you always do with art.
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