[INTERVIEW] Neon Bunny - Part 1

Neon Bunny [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

What does it feel like to receive attention with your debut album? Neon Album is the name of Lim Yoo-jin's solo project, who was formerly in charge of the keyboard for indie artist The Black Skirts. Yet she received the spotlight after being introduced on major portal website Naver in two weeks of releasing her first album "Seoulight." To new artists who need selling points, having a defined identity can be useful yet unnecessary. So the reason Neon Bunny is interesting is because whether it will be good or bad for her, she has not become bogged down by this easy-to-understand definition. 10Asia met with this Neon Bunny who simply worked hard at making the music she wants to do.

10: I guess you feel very awkward with photoshoots. You looked quite nervous earlier on but you're smiling so well right now. (laugh)
Neon Bunny: I don't find myself getting used to it, no matter how many times I've done them. I used to like to have my photograph taken but it feels very awkward now... Maybe it's because of the people who'll see them.

10: You looked nervous for your showcase on April 2 as well. But it's different from how you seemed when you stood on stage as a member of The Black Skirts.
Neon Bunny: I don't think I was nervous at all when I was The Black Skirts. But the pressure is different now that I'm the frontman. Really, I was so nervous. Nervous, nervous, nervous. I need to fix it. (laugh)

10: Well it hasn't been long since your album was released but I've already heard a lot of good things about it. Is this the response you were expecting to get?
Neon Bunny: Not at all. I'm just amazed. My friends have told me, "I heard your song on the street, your song was on 'We Got Married,' but I'm just amazed when I hear such things.

10: Have you tried looking up yourself, as Neon Bunny, as well?
Neon Bunny: Yes, of course. I do it everytime, before I go to sleep. (laugh) And I'm happy when I read good comments but become sad when they're mean ones. (laugh)

10: There is a very distinct style to your album. Is that what you had been going for from the very start or is it the result you got after trying a variety of arrangements?
Neon Bunny: I think it's the product that came from the various attempts. What I hear the most often these days is that is sounds like music Kang Susie and Ha Soo-bin did which I had not expected at all. Only after I released my album did I realize that my melodies are sort of in that style.

10: I think such response is more in reference to your sound. The vocals too sort of sound like music you'd heard in movies from the 1980s. So I've been curious whether this is your style or if it ended up like that because of the arrangement.
Neon Bunny: It's nothing I intended on in particular... I think that's just who I am. It's how my music came out. But I think artists usually don't have a lot on their mind when they start working on an album because singer-songwriters in particular write songs as if their entries in their journals. The same goes for the lyrics. In my case, I'm constantly writing new songs which I'll work on if they turn out to be pretty good or throw out if they're not. There's nothing I worked on with a particular style in mind.

10: How did Cliff Lin end up producing your album when he's in the U.S.?
Neon Bunny: We exchanged emails. I was going to go to the U.S. to work on my album although I didn't get to. But the world has developed so much that I could do everything over email. When I put in an order with Cliff and send him my demo, he'd put the sound onto it. I decided on things such as what more needs to be added or the overall vibe of the song.

10: Why did you choose to work with him? It's definitely not easier than working with someone in Korea.
Neon Bunny: Cliff is a friend of Cho Hyoo-il's of The Black Skirts so he introduced me to him for this album. I had listened to all of the songs he had worked on and I had liked all of them so much. There was this pop-like vibe to it that couldn't come from a Korean. So after thinking that it might be fun working with the guy, I gave him one of my songs which came out great, so I decided it would be okay for me to leave my entire album up to him. I've actually never met him in person yet though. We've only exchanged emails. Maybe it'll turn out that he's just a computer. (laugh)

10: Well people may have sound you sound like Kang Susie and Ha Soo-bin but there's also a Olivia John Newton vibe about you. Do you like her style of music?
Neon Bunny: I like synth pop and styles from the 1980s and 1990s. But what I've felt is that musicians have a hard time pointing out a particular musician they like. I think it's because we're also listening to so much different types of music.

10: I had also been curious of how you've grown as an artist. The music you did with The Black Skirts was Cho Hyoo-il's music so I'm wondering how you came to start up Neon Bunny. There's also a very distinct style to your music so I wanted to know if it shows all of who you are or just part of you.
Neon Bunny: I played jazz piano when I was younger. But not out of my own will. My dad said it would be nice if I became a jazz pianist. My dad is a fanatic when it comes to jazz. But I think jazz wasn't for me. I majored in jazz in school as well but it was tough for me to handle.

10: Did you think it was not for you because there were other genres you liked?
Neon Bunny: I loved American indie rock when I was in school. But my piano teacher was such a devout Christian that I'd be told I'm listening to Satan's music when I listen to rock. (laugh) But it was the music that fit me. I became happy upon starting to listen to The Strokes and The Libertines.

10: Well you went to Berkeley although you thought that jazz wasn't for you so what is it that made you keep going? Had you decided that it was what you have to make a living off or had you told yourself that you're a musician?
Neon Bunny: I was just somehow forced into it. At school, it seemed like I wasn't allowed to do non-jazz music. Everyone practiced hard, practicing because we had nothing else to do, practicing after work and practicing when it snows. That's how I was somehow forced into it but it wasn't like I was good at it either. I practiced hard but wasn't good. And I'm still not good. But not once have I thought I'll give up on music. I don't know exactly why.

10: Now that you've released an album, do you now think you are and should stay a musician?
Neon Bunny: I do now. After releasing my first album. Many times had I thought I'd be sad if nobody responded to my album. But I've become confident after releasing my first album. Not because of how they've responded to it but because I've completed it. I'm confident that I could do a better job with my second album based on how I've done with my first album.

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Reporter : Kim Hee Ju fifteen, Wee Geun-woo eight@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@