Story / Christine Terrisse (@ms_terrisse)
Creative Direction: Justin Ayers (@justinnayers)
Photographer: Justin Ayers (@justinnayers)
Lighting Designer / Digi Tech: Mike Anderson (@msa_photography)
Photo Assistant: Jacob Telo (@jacob.telo)
Hair & Makeup: Leticia Llesmin (@leticiallesmin) for Exclusive Artists using Dior Beauty
Stylist: Aidan Palermo (@aidanjosephpalermo)
Stylist Assistant: Makayla Godden (@mak__godden)
Fresh off her <NOW> North American tour, South Korea’s acclaimed frontwoman finds peace and inspiration in L.A.
Soyoon Hwang pulls up, waving from the window of her sedan. It’s a rare rainy day in L.A., and the intensity of the downpour, even more rare. She finds parking and runs up, her delicate features enveloped in a hoodie emblazoned with her band’s name, SO SE NEON.
Soyoon, who styles her name So!YoOn! for solo projects, with her unfussy demeanor, could be a friendly neighbor talking about her garden rather than the leader of one of South Korea’s most successful rock groups, one who is at once, an intrepid solo artist, a consummate collaborator, and a killer guitarist.
Here, huddled into a nondescript diner in very un-rockstarlike Burbank, California, a “studio town” just north of Hollywood, she opens up about her creative process and building a life in Los Angeles. “I’m always just focusing on my present,” she says over the din of elderly men at a table across from us.
Lately,her ability to stay present has served the 28-year-old singer-songwriter well, both creatively and personally. She faced the challenge of moving from her bustling neighborhood in Seoul to Los Angeles with fearless flow, much like the way she moves between creative endeavors. “I have to see sunshine. I have to feel the breeze and see the trees,” she says, pointing out that she still wanted to be near people.“The decision to start living here didn’t scare me.”
In the first few months, she hopped around, staying with friends while exploring the city’s different neighborhoods. “It was really interesting,” she explains. “I still feel like I’m in a theme park. Every block has a different vibe. And it’s a whole different culture. Like Koreatown. I was kind of shocked the first time I visited there. It’s so different from the Korea I’m from.”
Eventually, she settled on the homey neighborhood of Atwater Village, which borders Griffith Park, an oasis of nature in the middle of the city sprawl.
jacket: diesel pants: dolce & gabbana (archive)
Soyoon rose to fame in South Korea over 10 years ago as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of SE SO NEON. The name of the group, she explained in an earlier interview, comes from a phrase meaning “new birds” or “new boys/kids.” Her earliest collaborators on SO SE NEON included drummer Ganto and bassist Fancy Moon, and in its later incarnations included bassist Park Hyunjin and drummer U-su. Today, she remains SO SE NEON’s one constant. Fluent in English, whether on solo or band work, she switches languages depending on what a song calls for.
In 2017, their debut EP, Summer Plumage, brought immediate acclaim. It was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2018 Korean Music Awards, the industry’s top recognition and won Best Rock Song for “The Wave.” They were crowned Rookie of the Year.
The following year, Soyoon released her first solo studio album, So!YoOn! expanding her artistic horizons to include pop, R&B, hip-hop, funk, and even visual arts–she received special permission from Australian artist Patricia Piccinini to feature her sculpture “The Rookie” as album cover art.
The same 2018 Korean Music Awards that put Soyoon and SO SE NEON on the map saw supergroup BTS winning Artist of the Year. Years later, a fateful chance meeting in a recording studio would bring Soyoon to collaborate with BTS’s leader, RM where the two found kinship as leaders of creative projects who were also balancing solo efforts.
In the organic, old-fashioned way, the two began to collaborate, resulting in the longing-filled neo-soul “Smoke Sprite” off her second solo album, “Episode1: Love.” Directing or co-directing all of her videos, for “Smoke Sprite,” Soyoon saw herself inhabit various female personas from a futuristic rock goddess to a huntress, from a sunburnt warrior queen to a mysterious golden-haired siren.
And although both Soyoon and SO SE NEON had already been acclaimed outside Korea by that time, the collaboration brought her to the attention of a new audience.
“People [may] recognize me from any random place, like, from BTS,” she says, “Or the alternative indie rock scene. The nice thing about me is that I’m the type of person who can exist anywhere. It means I have a huge boundary…even my environment– as a Korean artist who lives in L.A. and not…without a huge label here. I literally started living here by myself to figure out my career and my life.”
Last August, Soyoon returned to SO SE NEON and released a full debut studio album <NOW>. Which was born out of intense studio sessions in New York City. An only child from an artistic family, Soyoon first took up piano lessons but fell in love with the guitar as an adolescent. <NOW> is anchored in her relationship with her instrument and also gave rise to a renewed focus on staying within the present moment.
One of the highlights of <NOW> is “Remember!” inspired by her relationship with the late, great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who reached out to Soyoon years ago after seeing her perform on TV. “We had an interesting relationship,” she says of Sakamoto. “Because it wasn’t like a mentor/mentee…but I was so grateful [for the support],” she says, her eyes full of emotion. “Because I didn’t have any mentor or person who could advise me.”
blazer: saint laurent pants: r13 tee: world vintage shoes: dr. Martens
Soyoon wrapped up a huge world tour last fall, one that took her across the U.S. and into Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia, her new’ 70s-vintage Fender Strat in tow, bought after much thought before she left.
After the tour she cherishes time balancing work and rest. She finds comfort in routine, cooking pasta at home more often than going out. Always productive, she finds life in L.A. a little less fast-paced than in Seoul. This life feels like turning the page on a new chapter.
As a testament to the free-flowing nature of her pursuits, her latest collaboration is for the globally successful K-pop group Enhypen. On “No Way Back (feat. So!YoOn!)” from their Billboard 200-charting mini-album The Sin: Vanish, Soyoon’s voice gives a poignant counterweight to the group’s vocal trade-offs.
“I used to follow the rules,” she admits. “There are so many things I can do on a more personal level. What can I do? Even without music as a person, as an artist, what can I do, and what does it mean? I think this year I’m going to do more personal work, not only in music, maybe do more producing, or like a film story, or like any other projects. I’m interested in photography, so it will be really fun.”
One new project she is really excited to launch is SSN Books, a physical project where fans can sign up to receive slow mail from her every six weeks or so. “It’s not like a typical book publisher,” she says, “But a personal project of writing poetry.
“These days, she says people only use social media or TikTok, something really fast and easy…but that’s not my way.” Because she’s always traveling the notes can act almost like a postcard and perhaps one day, the writings can be collected into a book.
And what about performing? Will there come a time when she slows down?
“I want to perform in my ‘70s,” she says with a smile.
top: stylist’s own denim: ACNE studios (talent’s own) shoes: nike (talent’s own)
