ID:Earth is an enigmatic and fascinating artist. Originally from South Korea, she comes across as a creative musician whose imagination is simply cosmic. When she debuted in 2019 with Egypt, a cross-genre Pop song, the singer quickly impressed those who seek rawness in music. With a few singles and EPs under her belt, the artist also recorded two full-length albums, including her latest one, Space Station. 

Since her debut, ID:Earth has constantly been producing beautiful sounds that reflect the vastness of the cosmos. And recently, we exclusively spoke to the singer and traced the footsteps of her musical journey, from childhood curiosities to the artist that she is now. We also discussed her early influences, familial connections, and the thoughtful moments that inspired a lifelong dedication to music. In addition, we discovered how the artist translates celestial wonders into harmonies and rhythms that recall the mysteries of the universe. 

View of the Arts: Before discussing your music, I would like to know: have you thought of pursuing a music career when you were younger?

ID:Earth: I think I was naturally drawn to music. I didn’t know that making music would become my job, but I knew that I had to live my entire life with music. My father dreamed of becoming a DJ, but he gave it up due to family opposition. My mother previously aspired to design clothes and is now a poet.

I used to memorise external sounds and play them for my parents. I loved how they laughed. This led me to learn piano and violin at the age of four. At the age of ten, I heard a strange orchestral piece in class, and it piqued my interest. Initially, it was scary but fascinating. As I began composing my own extraterrestrial music on my desk during class, I developed an interest in songwriting and started dreaming of becoming a composer.

When I was young, I travelled to China alone, where I had many opportunities to broaden my horizons through new experiences. Initially, I dreamed of becoming an interpreter, but upon returning to Korea, I attended an art high school, and later, I pursued studies in the composition department of a local university. During my university years, I learned the art of professional music production. In 2013, I had the opportunity to release my school album and recorded it with my own voice due to time constraints. As people became interested in my voice, I became a vocal guide and director. With extended musical experience, my voice was featured in films. This sparked my interest in film music, and I began preparing for my debut as a composer.

VOA: I would love to begin our conversation with your debut single, Egypt. It’s a truly mesmerising song that brings forth an Arabic-inspired sound that emphasises the melody and rhythm. What inspired you to dive into that sound, and what was behind the lyrics?

ID:Earth: I truly wanted to relish my freedom, so after graduating from school, I embarked on a trip to Europe with the money I had saved from working part-time in Korea. I visited England, Switzerland, Italy, and France. While exploring one of the museums, I encountered a mummy while examining works from Monagira to The Creation of Heaven and Earth, which served as inspiration for the song. On my way back to Korea, I recorded the melody on my phone and completed the song. To preserve the humming pronunciation, I delved into studying Arabic with a similar flow, and naturally, the miracle of Moses emerged.

VOA: On your second single, Olympus, you once again demonstrated your remarkable musical creativity, and the song was complemented by a music video. I’m keen to understand, as I explore both past and present music videos, how you translate your vision and the message of your songs into visual storytelling. I must acknowledge that they consistently exhibit a high level of artistry.

ID:Earth: Olympus led the Egyptian series. One night, I was looking at the sky and saw Orion. It’s the only constellation I recognise. It looks like a butterfly on each side, based on the three dots in the middle. When I reminded myself of the myth of Orion, I completed the song Olympus. Later, I learned that Orion was symmetrical to the three major pyramids. It started to feel strange. It was a coincidence, but it provided me with the opportunity to continue the story from then on.

VOA: In 2020, you released your first full-length album, BE, featuring a collection of ten exceptionally crafted songs. The album is a remarkable release, blending both English and Korean tracks; it also gives me Tori Amos’ vibes. I’m curious to know, during the creative process of making this album, what thoughts and inspirations fuelled your songwriting and music composition? Additionally, do you have a particular favourite among the songs on this album?

ID:Earth: I thought 2020 was the time when I became an adult. So, I wanted to release all the records. I used to collect songs that I recorded in my teens and organise them by age. I didn’t put them together this time, but I just felt that it was time to release some of them. The first song, New Revolution, conveys the idea that if purity is preserved, the world can change, including myself, in the future, and that was the main theme of the album. My favourite song is Prayer.

Those who have no religion also pray when they get desperate. And yet the opposite situation keeps happening, and the lyrics say to God, “I hope you die,” but later I realised that to say a prayer before you even go up the stairs, then you will be there to meet him. What you want before you even go up the stairs is greed. It’s the only song in the album that doesn’t lose its initial feeling, even if it’s live. If you listen to my voice, every track has a different sound. The quality would have been good if I recorded it again, but I just wanted to preserve those days.

VOA: You later released more singles, including Cave and The Seed. Then you released your first EP called Panorama. After that, you released even more singles, including Betting, Home, D.T.I, Escape, and Aliens. Looking at these releases, as well as your previous ones, how much do your personal experiences inspire your artistry?

ID:Earth: My personal experience has been that I have more internal experience than external experience over time; therefore, I started looking for more instinct.

Cave and The Seed are series about nature or instinct. Among the songs on Cave, Photosynthesis is my favourite, and it’s a mathematical song that has a connection between the Morse code’s hinting intro and the tempo that rises to human endurance. The Seed is about parallelism.

Panorama was a song in which I wanted to reach out to the public a little bit more about society. It’s an EP that also includes Betting and Home. The sound is both electronic music and Rock. It was about the crossroads of choice. It’s the direction that others suggest and the direction you want from within.

In regards to D.T.I, I focused more on electronic music. It was a topic of positive and negative impacts; a time for societal change. It was the year when Alien was released and when A.I., chat GPT, etc. began to be officially known to the public, and I wanted to capture that point in time. Originally, it was scheduled to be released from March to May. However, due to the adjustment of the budget and plans to express the song, it was delayed until July. I wanted to make good use of these developments to convey that it depends on the teachings of modern society whether the next generation will become revolutionaries or exploitative monsters.

VOA: You are also known for singing OSTs as well as arranging and composing music for OSTs. How do you feel about having your music associated with Korean dramas? What’s the process behind writing an OST?

ID:Earth: OST music, I think, is different from my own music. It’s the opposite thing that has to embody another person’s universe, that is, that person’s imagination. I get the screenplay or the synopsis, the reference they want, and then I have to make a theme that expresses the emotion and flow of the character, like an actor. When expressing one’s music, I think it’s a little uncomfortable to refer to the concept of reference because I don’t think it’s my music that’s intact. But when you have to figure out what other people want and what they feel, it’s often necessary because the standard of thinking is different. 

Music featured in movies and dramas also has a slightly different way of working. Scores are often used many times, so it is important to understand the entire drama. It needs to be versatile in order to be used in any section necessary, and it also needs to fully capture the character’s feelings. If you only participate in singing, it is best to express the composer’s direction well. It’s important to maximise a singer’s ability, but it is also important that the opinions of the composer, the music director, and the director are all unified. 

VOA: In December of last year, you released your second full-length album, Space Station. Can you delve into the creative journey that led to its making? The album shows a diverse range of music genres, with a blend so extensive that it’s challenging to enumerate them all. How at ease do you find yourself when it comes to delving into such a wide collection of musical genres?

ID: Earth: The theme of Space Station, my second full-length album, is time travel. I wanted to capture the proportionality of time and sound. For example (as shown in the picture below, made by ID:Earth), I think the period of time is like the “circle of fifths” (a musical term). As the ensuing scales repeat and pile up, harmonic parts are created, and as long as they don’t break, they’re like the universe. There’s a lot of music coming out so far, but it’s constantly coming out. People are also born constantly, and someone’s existence disappears, but it’s not forgotten. This album is just the first example of how each scale has a certain colour and a particular atmosphere. The first step in thinking of music as a language is that the scale is the alphabet. It’s an album that hints at the goal of what I want to achieve with ID:Earth.

VOA: When I listen to music, I see shapes and colours. What happens in your mind when you’re listening to your favourite tune, and how does it influence your approach to creativity? And is there a particular place where you feel most creative?

ID: Earth: The more unconscious I am, the more comfortable I feel. When music is referred to as nature, how can we understand nature? The more I capture the unconscious flow, the harder it becomes for people to understand. We have to feel, and those who evolve will analyse nature to learn and acquire knowledge for the future. I just want to stimulate everyone’s brain. I believe curiosity is the key to activating the brain. In the beginning, there were no equations. It was like analysing life to create equations, and it evolved into enlightenment, learning, and knowledge. It’s challenging for me to find inspiration in music. For me, exploration is the infusion of new experiences into the intricacies of music.

VOA: As songwriters, you must constantly write songs, but not necessarily all of them end up being recorded. How do you generally choose which songs you want to release?

ID:Earth: I genuinely want to create sensual music, but I’m uncertain. I believe sensual music is akin to beauty. It’s sophisticated and profound, and the contemplative life within it exudes a sexy vibe. There are moments when artists like Olivia Audigona and Rosalía convey this feeling through their music. However, I think it’s distinct from the atmosphere proposed, so I hope there will be a moment when it can be incorporated into a movie or drama.

VOA: Improvisation is a large part of the creative process for many artists. How strictly do you separate improvising and composing in your work?

ID:Earth: There are times when improvisation becomes a sketch, and there are times when improvisation becomes the entire art piece on the spot, and I think it varies from time to time. I just think the process itself is an art form.

VOA: When you are not working, what do you do to relax?

ID:Earth: I like doing different things, for instance, watching Animal Kingdom, movies, language studies, fashion runways, sports, etc.

VOA: Are there any particular artists or musicians who have had a significant impact on your musical style or career? If so, how have they influenced you?

ID:Earth: Yanni influenced me. It’s like my mindset when I perform live. The first live performance I saw was Yanni. It was a piece of music, and I cried. It felt like all my heart was healed. I wanted to make other people feel the same way. That was what influenced me.

VOA: What can your fans expect from you in 2024? 

ID:Earth: I want to be more comfortable and present a rawer version of myself to the public. I want to be an inspiration to everyone on Earth, and I want to capture people through my music. 

Note: ID:Earth’s first concert in 2024 will take place in Seoul on February 18th. 

Written and interviewed by Maggie Gogler

_{View of the Arts is an online publication that chiefly deals with films, music, and art, with an emphasis on the Asian entertainment industry. We are hoping our audience will grow with us as we begin to explore new platforms such as K-pop / K-music, and Asian music in general, and continue to dive into the talented and ever-growing scene of film, music, and arts, worldwide.}