"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
Araya’s debut album, Atlas, released in January of this year, leads you on a path of introspection, a winding road of questions and inner thoughts entering your ears through an R&B-pop-lo-fi-electronica-hybrid sound. Notes of the tropics and piano solos lay underneath the hearty, yet smoothe, vocals.
The young singer-songwriter always had music when he had nothing else, and it is this that led him to putting all of himself into music after working so hard as a fashion student. Atlas leaves us off on a song entitled “Eden," a musing track that questions religion. As he and his bandmates work on album 2, he finds they are following a narrative arc that continues this introspection and questioning. “I just want people to be excited for a journey. We’re in the long run, vibes,” he told office.
Check out our conversation below.
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I see that you’re influenced by and have a background in fashion. What brought you to music?
I’ve had an interest in music my whole life. When I was 12, 13, I got my first piano and played in my free time. After high school, not that music or my dreams of singing faded away, but I applied to FIT. I’d really adapted to a lot of creative outlets. Music was definitely the most vital, and personally validating, source of inspiration and expression for me, but going to college at FIT made me focus and see my design as a career and the fashion industry as a place that I wanted to be. It really inspired me and defined my aesthetic, so about senior year, a really crazy design/fashion opportunity fell through, and it humbled me. I felt like I had nothing, as cliché as it sounds. But when I had nothing, I felt like I still had my music. It was there for me. It was like this huge cushion. I really leaned into that to heal from the loss of that opportunity. It’s been there for me my whole life; it’s like that thing that no one can take from you. I think the fashion industry led me to beautiful people, like minded people who have an open heart, open mind, and if I was doing music or whatever, I would still be happy to be around those types of communities, doing what I’m doing.
How does your experience in fashion influence your artistry in music? Does one inform the other?
I think music and fashion are really similar in a lot of ways; beautiful things have a likeness to them. Once we decide they’re beautiful. Fashion, going to fashion school, that was kind of my mantra in that field. It helped me have a more beautiful experience. Adjusting my eye, my taste… When I started music, I kind of just kept the same mentality. It helped guide me. I think my time with fashion was a perfect precursor to what I’m doing now. It all needed to happen.
It helped you develop your voice in a way?
Yeah, definitely. It helped me develop my voice. When I went to FIT, I knew it was good enough for me that I felt confident in my skills and abilities and I was fine just being Christian Araya, which is my first name and last name. Going to FIT, being a designer. But then the industry, and New York, and that hustle, and that drive, and that hunger, made me want to be more. It made me want to be ARAYA and fall into this identity, this persona.
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Bottom right — Jacket SACAI, jacket DIESEL X DIESEL, sweater & pants HELMUT LANG, hat MONCLER, jewelry MARTINE ALI
How would you describe your sound?
I think my sound is like a modern sound collage. I think we’re in a musical renaissance. I try to be progressive and provocative and almost traditional in a way… I like that there’s a dichotomy to my music, like that traditional soul, that R&B sound, laid on top of these beats that kinda go against structure. That’s my goal. I wanna try to break down walls that exist in music. I feel that same way with my sound, our sound, our process. We’re always trying new things because the more you try new things there’s more opportunity, the more sounds you try, you’re limiting yourself if you’re not doing that. As long as it makes me feel good, and I feel comfortable, then I’m happy.
I think you accomplish that well; the classic R&B sound with a modern twist on the beats. What is your creative process like in terms of writing music and then recording it?
When I started writing music, it was just me. I’d write songs on shitty piano chords. That got tucked away, the piano got tucked away into the back of my closet, the songwriting book got put away into the desk. Then, like I said, around junior/senior year, I started writing music on type-beats of YouTube and BeatStars. Just getting my pen. Writing with intention. Writing as a more grown version of myself. A very different feeling and approach. My producer person, he really helped me translate my ideas into this medium that I didn’t understand as well as I wanted to. Then, when I met my band, which was, like, 6 months after I met Thadeus, they came and added that tradition, that real instrumentation onto these type-beats and these electronic sounds. That’s why I call it a collage. Some beats started as type-beats, and we cut them in half, take them apart, and put them back together. After we put it back together, cut it into pieces and then put a piano solo on it.
Right, very layered…
Yeah, that outcome couldn’t exist without, like, a 6 layered step of processes of people of relationships in between. It really is just, like, a shapeless thing.
You also are very much a part of the creative processes involved in your music, such as editing your own photos, creative directing album art, etc… How do all of these creative outlets come together and form your concept as an artist?
I think at FIT, I was so exposed to how purposeful and important it is to — if you’re an artist, your rollout, your design — that is so much as part of you as your music. The intention behind it. People will hold you to that for the rest of your career. It’s way more important than some people view it. Just being in the art world, being obsessed with all of these mediums of art, it helped me not have any biases towards getting my hands into everything. Getting my hands dirty. It made me understand the importance. I was like, there’s no way I could put this music out and not be a part of the rollout, as well. This shit all matters. I want this to be a part of whatever legacy I’m leaving.
Your platform is growing. How does this allow you to discuss the current climate toward the violence and oppression in the Asian community?
I think it’s really important in general to speak up and be present and never be silent in a moment when any minority or any group of people are experiencing hate. As I was saying, like how important my community was to me in lifting me up, making me feel safe and never alone in what I was doing. In reflection, I feel like it’s my responsibility to do that for my people. With this happening, it’s really important to lift up the community and lift up voices that are speaking about the stigmas that are causing this violence. I hope to contribute to that as well.
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What can fans look forward to seeing from you in the coming months?
Definitely, I’m in A2 mode. Atlas was A1, we’re in A2. We went to LA in the hopes to create a 3-4 song EP and came back with 17 songs. There’s a lot of new music on the way. It keeps happening that way. We just go into situations and over deliver when it comes to this shit. It’s humble because it’s like, this is what we love to do. There’s things I love to do and the Universe or some energy in life stalls the process of things manifesting in front of me, and actually existing. So, I feel like just having all this new music is building up these assets that validate everything we’re doing. If it feels right, if I’m comfortable, if the people I love around me are smiling, comfortable, then I’m gonna keep doing this. Hopefully we drop 2, 3 singles in the next few months and then another album after that!
How do you think your process has grown since Atlas? Did you come to this next project with new knowledge or approaches?
Yeah, 100 percent. I think my biggest thing is to be a student. We’ve had the amazing opportunity to get into some rooms with really talented, experienced people. This album has been a personal act of breaking down this jadedness I had towards doing everything in-house with me and my homies. So we’ve let people in, and it’s been a really healing, beautiful work experience, work environment. Just allowing people to come into the picture and just really it being a kind of ritual of my trust being rebuilt back up by talented people who care and are passionate and are putting themselves into the work. Learning a lot.
The last track of Atlas is called “Eden”. I approached with the idea of wholeness of oneself and questioning religion. The next album kind of continues this story line, and I think it’s cool that we’re creating this narrative. I just want people to be excited for a journey. We’re in the long run, vibes.
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In his earlier work, like “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick” or “Outstanding,” you find a less somber note. But with his upcoming project, Do it For Demon, poetic verse sits pretty in his brother, T3's, crafted cocoon of beats. He raps in detail about the hardship faced growing up in Southwest Atlanta. On this album, SahBabii steps into an emotionally unguarded territory, with Demon Child, and the rest of his family, being the driving force behind it all.
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"My family are smart thinkers, we're open-minded people." This sentiment rings true, as the artist is known for working with his father, brother, cousins, and family-like group of friends. They seem to push SahBabii for the stars while simultaneously grounding him. "You go through stuff [as a family], and I'm the one that talks about what's going on while also trying to be diverse and versatile with all art mediums."
Jabari, basically a brother of SahBabii’s at this point, jumps in, giving his perception of what Demon Child was about. Through these conversations, we gain more perspective on whom SahBabii has molded into today. "We'd make money however we did, and he'd put it up for a studio; he always was workin' on songs or a tape," SahBabii says, explaining his first group, 1095. Staying with his uncle on Sylvan Rd when his family moved from Chicago to Atlanta, the rapper reiterates Jabari's words on his cousin always being the guy to be creating some sort of sound. As the men grew up and out of 1095, they aimed to expand their vision.
To make this new record, SahBabii let go of the microphone he used to record vocals for the last ten years—new equipment for a man trying to create new space to prosper. Creating out of his condo, SahBabii and his southern drawl elucidate the fact he gets in a zone. Though big on family and his people, it's just him when he goes to record.
An avid anime enthusiast, he takes on the leading character role when he makes his art. Fighting his past endeavors and regulating the setup for the future, his studio was built up from the ground up by T3 and him. He preferred his own familiar space to make the 20 or so tracks on Do It for Demon.
Though the album may shy away from more lackadaisical lyrics, the cartoon enthusiast Sah can still be found in the severe nature of Do It for Demon. "I always mention cartoons, or old shows, to get that nostalgic vibe," he says. A Pisces, he manages to reference shows like Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends in his masterpiece. "I like to remind people of their memories; people love to feel that."
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Keeping that elegant signature of his, SahBabii continues. "I'm pushing, man. I'm just really pushing positivity. Do what you need to do for your family."
The wisdom continues. "Stay doin' what you need to do, don't mistreat nobody. It'll come tenfold like that."
“There’s not much meaning in the name,” San continues, “We just wanted to be fun, and have fun.”
Balming Tiger, one of Asia’s most exciting rising music acts, is on their way to become bigger than Tiger Balm itself. Since they came onto the scene in 2018, every mixtape, music video and single release from the crew has garnered buzz, not just locally in Korea, but also throughout North America, Europe, and other parts of Asia. Last year, SXSW selected the co-ed group as one of four Korean performers for its first Virtual Showcase, and 88rising included them in its DOUBLE HAPPINESS Winter Festival alongside Anderson .Paak, Dumbfoundead and AUDREY NUNA.
Shortly after the Berlin Music Video awards nominated Balming Tiger’s “Kolo Kolo,” frontman rapper Omega Sapien’s “Serenade for Mrs. Jeon” made Colors Studio’s music of the day. All of this happened over the course of one year, and during the pandemic. The collective/label has been lauded by artists like Charli XCX, HYUKOH and Yaeji, and most recently collaborated with Baauer.
The crew consists of nine likeminded performers and producers who flexibly juggle group and solo activities. There’s San Yawn and Omega Sapien, singer-songwriters sogumm, Mudd the Student and wnjn (read as “Won Jin”), producers Unsinkable and Abyss, video director Jan’ Qui, and writer Henson. While they don’t attach a label on their musical style, they call themselves an “alternative K-pop band,” taking inspiration from a range of genres as diverse as their backgrounds. They cite everyone from K-pop idols Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 to Rick Rubin, Diplo, Michael Jackson, and ‘90s Japanese hip-hop trio m-flo as their influences.
The members, who range from ages 21 to 38, are an unlikely bunch. They mostly met through mutual friends, or via San’s beckoning at parties or on Instagram. But it wasn’t always the nine of them -- some early members have left the group, and Balming Tiger remains as an open-ended platform where new members are always welcome. “We are a management label, a creative production agency, and the artists themselves, all at the same time,” San explains. “I don’t think we need to define our exact format.”
Being an alternative K-pop band means that they aren’t constrained to any one style of music, either. They’re free to be hip-hop, R&B, EDM, rock, jazz and pop, and they are all of it and none of it at once. Their sound is an amalgamation of genres that span different time periods and cultural borders, resulting in an alluring hybrid that’s both new and nostalgic. Adding to this is their flexibility and ambiguity with words; those hearing Balming Tiger’s songs for the first time might not even guess that they’re from Korea. Much of their singing and rapping is in English thanks to Omega Sapien, who grew up in Dalian (China), New Jersey and Tokyo, and fluently switches between different languages, sometimes even rapping in Spanish.
When they do sing in Korean, it often doesn’t sound like it. While female vocal sogumm’s distinctive and sultry voice has earned her a solid fan base, her experimentalism has also received some criticism. “It’s really difficult to decide the kind of music I want to pursue,” she tells me. “I’m a very impressionable person, and I constantly change my mind. I realized that the harder I tried to make good music, the more wishy-washy it sounded. So I just decided to convey my confusion and emotions honestly in my music. I want to turn that natural process of regret and excitement into a learning experience, and hopefully grow from them.”
Just as unexpected and original as their sound is their look. They’re raw and off-kilter, with no dolled-up, polished look of K-pop to be found. Whether it’s Balming Tiger’s music videos or live performances, there’s always an element of rebellion and grit, even shock and disgust. Omega Sapien, who calls his hair color “2040 Silicon Valley green,” has said that his goal is to release a music video with more than 30% of “dislike” votes.
“I started working with Balming Tiger on their ‘Chef Lee’ music video,” tells Jan’ Qui, the group’s visual director who filmed the viral video of Keith Ape’s “It G Ma.” “Whereas I used to really improvise and work with my instinct, I’m much more intentional and thought-out when it comes to Balming Tiger.”
Throughout their three-year journey, one of the band’s biggest propellers has been “Joyful Delivery,” their ongoing series of local club parties that’s given them solid street cred. The members DJ their own sets, invite other performers, and party right alongside their fans. Rather than being mysterious, elusive or exclusive as some K-pop acts can be, Balming Tiger interacts with and touches their listeners directly, and brings that same party spirit to the bigger stage. “Our most memorable performance was at La Magnifique Society music festival in Reims,” Omega Sapien says. “It was our first time in France and no one knew who we were, but the audience started a mosh pit to ‘POP THE TAG’ and ‘Happycore.’”
“It was hundreds, if not thousands of people,” continues San Yawn. "It was the most touching and ecstatic moment of my life.”
Their pit stop in Reims was part of “The Tiny Tour in Europe,” where Balming Tiger also swept Paris and London, selling out both shows. When they couldn’t continue their Tiny Tour last year due to the pandemic, they took it online with Seoul’s iconic Han River as their backdrop. “We took over six months to prepare for the live performance,” says Henson. “We were super happy with the result, and got quite emotional at the thought of showing off the beauty of Seoul to the world.”
What’s next for Balming Tiger is all up in the air, but anything is possible. Besides aspiring to collaborate with the likes of Slowthai, Frank Ocean and Bong Joon Ho, they have their sights on publishing a book this year, and heading to the GRAMMYs in the future.
Whatever they do, rest assured they’re having fun, just as they intended.
Balming Tiger’s Korean music recommendations:
