eundohee finds the light

By Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Photography by Chris da Canha (@chrisdacanha)

Regular readers of Platform Magazine will already be well aware of our deep-seated love of eundohee. Since our early days, we've been praising the music of this enigmatic singer-songwriter. Her varied back catalogue has seen the artist's work jump from genre to genre in her brief 5-year musical career. With a refreshingly bright new sound, her upcoming EP, Kookaburra (out May 17), will continue this shapeshifting pattern. In an exclusive interview for Platform, we talk to her about growth, optimism, and meeting your heroes.

Calling eundohee a folk musician doesn't do her music justice. Her most well-known songs feature a minimalist folk style but scratch beneath the surface, and there's a flood of other genres and influences. "I've made folk music, trip-hop, indie, post-punk, and more," eundohee tells us. "Actually, I think my approach to songwriting more closely resembles punk," she explains, "it's very simplistic."

Her new EP, Kookaburra, sees her take her boldest new direction to date with five songs that are actually quite cheerful. Relatively speaking. The EP's title and references to birds on tracks like Hummingbird fittingly represent a sense of exuberant freedom. The indie-pop aesthetic and forward-looking lyrics offer an interesting dynamic, contrasting with her trademark sombre-sounding voice. While tracks like A Ha Ha shine for their sunny-side-up style, there is still plenty of emotional grit and confessional lyricism here, especially on EP closer, Surrender. 

There's a simplistic directness and even a sense of confidence to Kookaburra, a clear sign that eundohee is enjoying herself, something that hasn't always been true. "I tried to be more optimistic on this release. After (previous album, 2021's critically acclaimed) Unforeseen, I fell into a deep slump. I was suffering really bad from depression. I wanted to change things, though. I wanted to use my music and songwriting to feel better."

One of the hardest aspects of this difficult period was a discomfort towards her older music. "I couldn't do anything during that time. I couldn't listen to my voice, my songs. I hated them all." Until recently, eundohee had suspected that her depression was directly related to the music she both creates and consumes. Recent trips to the doctor, though, have changed this perspective. "I'm not sure where my depression comes from, but the doctors have told me it's physicological. My brain doesn't create enough serotonin, which makes me naturally disposed to feeling depressed. I always thought that, because I listen to quite sad music and make quite sad music, that it was related to that. But the truth is, I love making music, especially these days. I'm constantly working on new things."

There's an idea among music lovers that poor mental health and genius are linked or that suffering can lead to creativity. For eundohee, though, it's not like that. "It was so insufferable for me," she says. "I didn't want to write any more. It was all too difficult. Things are not perfect now, but I am in a better place now and want my music to reflect that."

Kookaburra isn't the only release that eundohee has planned this year, though. In the second half of 2023, she will release something that will sound closer to Unforeseen than her new optimistic style. "The second EP of 2023 is completely different to Kookaburra. It's electronic, for one. Also, the lyrics are darker and focus on my difficulties and negativities. In a way, I used Kookaburra to try and get past my anxiety, but for the next one, I just channelled all my anxiety into it. Kookaburra is like medicine, and the second is a symptom."

One thing that both EPs will have in common is that they both give eundohee an opportunity to reflect on her familial relationships. She & I is a loving tribute to her mother and reflects the feelings of abandonment they both felt after eundohee's parents separated. "My parents got divorced when I was 18, and I stayed close with my mother. We have a good relationship, although I don't see her as much as I would like. I am always extremely cautious about talking about my family in such a public way. I feel nervous about my mother finding out how I feel. But," she adds with a smile, "fortunately, she can't speak English well and hasn't heard the song. I will tell her about it one day, but who knows when."

Her scattershot approach to genre reflects eundohee's varied musical loves. "When I am writing or recording, I often listen to other artists, and they affect whatever I am working on. For Unforeseen, I was listening to a lot of trip-hop. For Kookaburra, I was listening to people like Foxwarren, Conan Mockasin, Hayley Heynderickx, and Big Thief. I was lucky enough to meet Big Thief last year. I was shaking. I was so nervous. But they were really lovely."

Another artist who eundohee admires is Stella Donnaly, who she opened for late last year in Seoul. "I still feel like I'm dreaming. It was an incredible experience. When I was writing Unforeseen, I was listening to so much Stella Donnoly, and my track Time is very inspired by her." It was also one of her most enjoyable performances to date. "I'm usually so nervous before I play, but I didn't really feel that way for this one. Maybe I think because I was so excited to see her performance, so I just focused on that."

While eundohee clearly feels an affinity for English and American music, she has a lot of love for homegrown artists, too. "There are a bunch of musicians who I love. I'm a big fan of Min-whee Lee, Lang Lee, Gwac, Honnip, and Playbook. I also recently met Dajung, who I really love. We talked about music and life. She really inspired me creatively and made me think about my own performances."

Kookaburra was released on Beeline Records and was recorded at Union Studios. Learning to collaborate with others has been a fresh challenge for eundohee, but it's one she has enjoyed. "It's been great to work with Beeline. I was initially worried about collaborating with them because I like to keep control over my music to myself, but they have been really important in shaping the new EP. Like, the song A Ha Ha, which is probably the happiest song I have ever recorded. That song came about when Jin from the label said that one more upbeat track would work well. So I wrote A Ha Ha, and now it's my favourite song on Kookaburra."

The album is produced by Brad Wheeler of Union Studios, who eundohee is also eager to praise. "Brad is a really interesting person. He is very open to new ways of recording. The musicians in my band appreciated that about him. Some of the engineers I've worked with in Korea are reluctant to try new things, but Brad loves to experiment."

At some point between the release of eundohee's two 2023 EPs, she plans to make a drastic life change as she will move to the UK to study music composition. But if you think that means that eundohee will slow down on releasing songs, you couldn't be more wrong. "Apparently, I have to record one new song every week for my master's degree. I'm not sure how many of those songs will see the light of day, but hopefully, some of them will be good enough to release."

Intercontinental travel, signing to a label, the release of two new EPs and stronger mental health than she had in years spell an incredible 2023 for eundohee. As she continues to grow as an artist, she has become more comfortable in her own skin. It's a beautiful thing to see, and something that we hope continues in the future.

For more information on eundohee, follow her here.