By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Nuran Sami from Egypt

It was by luck that I stumbled upon this band's latest self-titled album; I was lucky indeed. The pleasant mix of acoustic, electronic, folk and indie sounds alongside the cozy vibes this album carries are totally my cup of tea. The American duo started out their band, YOJA, in Incheon, with a mutual inherent interest in creating music, and of course, in Korea. Their most recent 14-song English album, YOJA, has three Korean songs as a means to pepper it with a taste of Korea; a place that inspired and interested them. The indie folk-pop duo write, record, and perform their own original music.

- How did YOJA start?
We first met in Incheon. During a night of impromptu jamming, we popped the question, “Hey, do you wanna start a band?” Since then, we both moved to Seoul and have been performing in bars, cafes, and festivals all over the city. For the name, we wanted something that sounded Korean but wasn’t a real Korean word. It turns out YOJA (pronounced “요자”), sounds a lot like “여자.”

- What topics or themes inspire each of your music and visuals?
Sometimes we write about love, loneliness, and the people in our lives. Some of our songs come from a very personal experience or relationship, and others just evolve out of a random jamming by the Han River. Our debut album has a few Korean songs in it and we wanted the cover to have some sort of Korean flavor to it, so we went for a vaguely Korean-style castle floating on a pink island in space.

- Please describe your feelings while performing.
With drinks and an interested audience, performing is easy. Once we ride the wave and feel the vibe in the room, the rest is just autopilot. Sometimes we get a little silly and sometimes we make a few mistakes but nothing beats seeing an old man cry in the back of the audience, recording us on his flip phone and then requesting to hear the same song again. When we perform we like to pretend we’re just practicing in our mom’s garage and all of a sudden “Woah dude, we have an audience.”

- How does the Korean community receive you as foreign artists?
Being two long haired foreigners, we immediately get a few double takes, but our Korean speaking ability isn’t as strong as native Korean performers so we’re working on that. Coming from the United States, our genre is a mix between folk, pop and Americana, sprinkled with some spacey electronic elements. It’s not something you find in Korea too often. We get a lot of people saying that they like our sound, even if they don’t understand our lyrics perfectly. Overall we get a very positive response from our beloved Korean community.

- Which musician/band do you look up to?
Nothing beats some good American classics like Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Credance Clearwater Revival, Hank Williams Sr., Townes Van Zandt etc. But, we also draw a lot from Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Iron and Wine, The Tallest Man on Earth, Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Coldplay, and Snoop Dogg.

- Do you have a favorite K-pop group?
We’re not into K-pop, but Seoul has a burgeoning indie scene filled with undiscovered gems. Our favorite Korean music is made by our friends and artists we’ve had close encounters with: Neon Bunny (야광토끼), Aseul (아슬), Airy (애리), and ADOY are all great names that deserve more fans.

- What are you currently working on? Are you touring soon?
Right now, we’re in the process of writing and recording our next album. Our first album was very barebones and intimate. Now, we’re hoping to make something with a bit of a fuller sound. We’ll be reaching out for some help on this one. We don’t have a tour planned but we regularly perform in bars around the Hongdae area. If you want to see us live you can find details on all our upcoming performances on instagram.com/yoja.band.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.