We’re happy to see you back #SoundLovers!
Today, we want to introduce you to a K-Indie artist from South Korea who makes l alternative (rock and hip-hop) sentimental, emotional music in a mixture of Korean and English. The talented K-Indie artist Lewis Park creates music that shows his own original sound by fusing heartfelt lyrics connected to captivating tunes that fall within the K-RnB, K-HipHop, and K-Indie genres. We recently connected with Lewis Park, who talked to us about his music journey, inspirations, and the new song "Last Scene." We also bonded over our mutual love for The Rose, DPR LIVE (also known as Hong Dabin), and more! Check out our interview with Lewis Park below to get to know him better, and take a moment to let us know what you think about "Last Scene."
Please introduce yourself briefly to our readers who might be meeting you for the first time.
Hello, K Fuse readers! Glad to talk to y’all. My name is Lewis Park. I am an independent artist from South Korea. I make alternative hip-hop and alternative rock music, and write lyrics by blending Korean with english. Basically Korean alternative music which is regarded as a sub-genre of K-Pop.
Your music is unique and could be classified as alternative with influences from various genres, such as rock and hip-hop. Is there an artist who has had a significant impact on your personal style? What do you admire about them?
I have been influenced by a variety of artists from both alternative rock and hip-hop such as Juice WRLD, The Rose, and many more. I love and respect all of them. But I would say that the artist who has had a significant impact on my style is Post Malone. I really admire that he amazingly mixes many different genres into his style and makes great sounds and meanings. I believe that’s why his music is called a melting pot of country, grunge, hip-hop and R&B. Must love, Posty!
Could you tell us more about your musical journey as an artist?
Hmm, where should I start? First of all, I started making music comparatively quite late when I was about 23, or 24, I guess. At that time, I really had nothing. No knowledge, no mentor, no musical equipment, or instrument… But I have the biggest passion and love for music. Ever since I was a little kid, I have been a huge music fan in general. I have always emotionally relied on music whether I am happy or sad. Music has been the happiest thing to me and accounted for the biggest part of myself. I just freaking love it for no crazy reason like I cannot explain it well, verbally. I believe this is why I make alternative music like mixing my favorite genres instead of defining me as one genre musician.
Your songs are a mixture of both Korean and English. Do you write your songs in both or write one and translate later?
Whenever I write my songs, I always write them in both languages. Honestly speaking, right now I’m pretty much semilingual – someone who mixes the vocabulary, grammar and meaning of two or more languages. Actually, until a few years ago, my English was so bad that I could not even talk in English at all. To inject English into myself, I tried my best not to use Korean for years, which is kind of interesting if I look back. The crucial reason why I tried that hard was because I had to survive in the American school that I went to.
Your new single is called “Last Scene.” Can you talk more about the inspiration behind it and the creative process?
Yeah, sure. I made this song with producer Dollarsignpark and another music artist SEMEIK. So this single has two different names: one Korean name”” and the English name, “Last Scene.” The Korean name stands for the story that is supposed to end. The English name, “Last Scene,” means the last scene of the story before it has to be over soon.
The inspiration behind the song is a simple idea that we all live within relationships. Such as relationships with friends, family, lovers, or even ourselves. And these relationships are our story. People want to stay in good relationships where they are happy. They’re often scared of losing the relationship, and think they would be miserable alone. In this song, we see through the eyes of a person who just had a once happy relationship come to an end, and we are able to feel their current emotions through the music.
Personally, I used to have someone who I had a special relationship with. Sadly, I couldn’t continue to have a connection with this person anymore, so I had to end the relationship. Since I was the one who destroyed the relationship and cut the person out of my life, I was struggling very much with a lot of guilt for a long time, so I added the feeling and emotions I had back then into this song. I wanted to have a song for people who are in a similar situation to my previous relationship to hear a message that says, “You’re not the only one.” I wanted to create something that they could relate to and hopefully receive some comfort from when they hear it.
What do you hope your listeners take away from your music?
I would say there are three (3) things that I want them to take away from my music. Empathy… Comfort... Entertainment... All three things that you might want to share with others. When I started pursuing music more seriously, it was because one of my biggest values in life is the happiness I feel from sharing my stories and passion with other people.
You sometimes share music covers of popular songs on your social media. Is there an artist you would like to collaborate with?
I would collaborate with anyone whose sound and stories mesh well with that of my own! Everyone is welcome! One of my biggest goals is to collaborate with Post Malone, The Kid LAROI, and The Rose one day. I love Korean hip-hop artist a lot, too, such as ASH ISLAND, Leelamarz, Sik-K, DPR LIVE (currently, Hong Dabin), and many more. There are so many talented and awesome artist in the world 🙂
What’s currently on your playlist?
Legends Juice WRLD
Me and You Cold Hard & Lil Peep
Falling Down Lil Peep & XXXTENTACION
Time The Rose
Sorry The Rose
Paranoid ASH ISLAND
Black Rose ASH ISLAND
Jasmine DPR LIVE
All songs from Post Malone’s albums “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” and “Beerbongs & Bentleys” along with several other Post Malone songs.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music?
Believe it or not, I love cooking! I am not super good at it, but I love doing it for my people. I think I need to make some cooking content lol. I am also a fashion lover. I love clothes shopping, but the problem with that is I take too much time choosing clothes haha.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our K Fuse readers (#SoundLovers🎶)?
Thank you so much for reading my interview. I truly appreciate it. I hope you all enjoy your music life and furthermore, your life in general :) If you like alternative emotional music, I highly recommend my new single! Thank you and have a nice day~