UM? TALKS DEBUT EP “too close to the sun” & MORE [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]
BY BRENESSA ROACH | DECEMBER 18, 2024
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UM?, an independent Korean-American artist currently based in Texas, navigating a transformative journey both in life and through his music. Working across alternative, pop, and folk genres, UM? is a multi-instrumentalist who incorporates various instruments into his work, including the cello. He not only writes and performs, but also produces his own songs for himself and for other artists.
He debuted on July 22, 2024 with the single “behaviors”, a pre-release track for his debut EP, too close to the sun, which released on October 14, 2024.
too close to the sun reflects UM’s experiences during his last 5 years living in Los Angeles before returning to his hometown in Texas. For UM?, LA is synonymous with sunshine and creative heat. “When I’m in LA, it feels like I’m really close to a lot of heat and sun. It feels good at first, and it’s really something to embrace, but after you’re here for a while, the burnout kicks in”, he says.
Overall, this EP captures specific moments and emotions tied to his time in LA. As UM? explains, “There are songs in this EP that have very specific pillars of my experience there. Additionally, it overall symbolizes the pressures I feel now at this stage of my life.”
After overcoming bad situations and being surrounded by negative energies, this EP offers a glimpse of UM?’s creativity, hinting that he will further showcase this creativity later on in his career.
During our interview, we asked UM? to take us through each track on too close to the sun. Here’s what he had to say:
Track 1: SEEYA
UM?: “It’s the beginning of the track, but it’s literally saying ‘see ya’ because I put out this album right before I left for Texas. This song is kind of my first way to just be like, ‘okay I’m about to be out, my two weeks are in.’ Through this song, I got to be more honest and just be who I want to be. And so that’s kind of how the EP starts.”
Track 2: behaviors
UM?: “This song is about how everyone can deal with things in their own ways. But you know, it’s just our abuse in self abuse, and what we do, whether it’s words, whether it’s substances, whether it’s being around the wrong people. And I just kept finding myself in these types of behaviors that I didn’t want to be in.”
Track 3: Lost
UM?: “This track is just saying ‘I am fucking lost.’ I thought I knew what was going on five years in to being in LA, but, no, I don’t know anything still even with some life shit, I don’t know anything. I’m starting to pay my taxes and I don’t know what’s going on still. So this song is just one that I’m sure people can relate to in their own ways.”
Track 4: look a butterfly
UM?: This track is love. It’s me being able to find some love out here, though, through all the potion, all the evil things, and the busy city that it is, I was able to find some real unconditional love.
This song also has an accompanying music video, which you can watch here:
Track 5: ONLY EXISTING
UM?: “ONLY EXISTING” is as the title says. It feels like I’m really just sitting here going day to day about what I want to do, and I don’t know if that’s how I want to live my life for the rest of my life.
Track 6: MAKE BELIEVE
UM?: This is the final song on the EP and it’s about a lot of the anger that I still have over things that were unresolved. Even though I handled everything as best as I could in these situations, there’s still a lot of resentment out there. It’s also a track that is kind of saying how there’s a lot of people who really are make believes, and they think they’re bigger than what they are. In LA, there are a lot of people like that, and a lot of people in the world like that in general.
This EP truly takes us on an emotional journey through UM’s past five years in LA, and despite the project coming straight out of his trauma and was a way for him to escape, we are so glad he was able to take those emotions and write it through his music, which many people will probably relate to.
When asked what colour he thinks best represents too close to the sun, UM? describes it as a fiery orange colour. He explains, “The EP is not a red hot, where I’m dying, but it’s getting hot like the orange colour.”
Through this debut EP, UM? wants to express how important it is to fly as close as you can to the sun. He says, “Go down the deep end and if you fall, just take the time to get back up. Sometimes it’s really worth it to step out of your comfort zone, pop out of your shell, and really just fly to something that’s giving you so much uncomfortability and heat, because that’s what this album is about. Through this EP I want people to understand that there are others out there feeling the exact same way in their own situations.”
This EP marks only the beginning of UM?’s musical career and we are so excited to see what comes next for him.
Special thanks to UM? for joining us for this interview.
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