Hey junni, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today. Could you tell us a little known fact about yourself?

A little fun fact is that I actually have three degrees. Two are from undergrad, and one is a Master’s that I received this past December. I love learning and always expanding my skillsets because there is no limit to how much you can grow as an individual.

‘loml’ is such a heartfelt debut. What inspired you to write a love song for someone who doesn’t exist yet?

Haha I love this question! It was initially a challenge for myself to write a song on piano since it’s not an instrument I naturally gravitate towards. Around the same time, my cousin’s fiancé at the time had asked me to make a wedding song for their first dance, which I immediately said yes!

I tried to tie their story into the song as I was creating it, but I couldn’t really put myself into the shoes of a woman marrying a man. The song really started to take shape when I kept on imagining all the feelings that came with me having a wedding and a first dance with my future wife. I have a complex relationship with weddings that always leaves me feeling sad about the possibility of ever getting married to a woman coming from a traditional Asian and Catholic household. It’s kind of a sad reality to think about the possibility of your own family not showing up to your own wedding.

Although the lyrics are gender neutral and apply to any form of romantic relationship from any perspective, everything in this song from the lyrics to the instrumentals is a reflection of how my heart feels to marry the love of my life that doesn’t exist yet. This is my official manifestation song for my future wife haha.

What does writing that kind of love song mean to you as a queer artist?

I think it’s so cool that I get to make songs about love from the perspective of my queer experiences. When you zoom out of the queer spaces, you realize how little representation there is for music in our community. Being able to now release music like this heals a big part of my inner child. Little me would be proud of where adult me is now.

You’re a true bedroom producer, so can you walk us through how you typically build a track out on Logic Pro?

I don’t have a standard template each time I build a song out, but I record a demo that consists of just vocals and an instrument to lay out the skeleton. From there, I’ll start to build from the demo file by adding layers of instrumentals and re-recording vocals until I’m satisfied by what I’ve created. This isn’t happening all within a day though; sometimes I might absolutely hate what I’m making. Other times, the ideas fall perfectly in place to keep on working on the song. The max I work on one song per day is three hours; I always come back to it in a couple days to allow space to be excited about it again. I’ve learned that giving songs time really helps me to not hate the song by the end of the process haha. Ultimately, creating music should be fun and enjoyable, it is the time and space for me to let my mind roam free without any parameters like how my day job is so it is a must that it is an enjoyable experience.

You’ve cited artists like Sara Bareilles as a key influence to your songwriting style, so who else impacts your sound?

I feel like I’m a big sponge that’s always absorbing bits and pieces of what I vastly enjoy so it really depends on the song that I’m working on. In the case of making loml, I really thought about Sara Bareilles’s ability to convey raw feelings with just her voice and piano. A great songwriter can create and evoke emotions with the barebones.

Lynn Gunn from PVRIS is another role model that I’ve admired since I was 15. Although she doesn’t make indie pop/rock music, I’ve always admired her ability to break through barriers and not stick to one sound. Making music is all about experimenting what works and doesn’t work until you’re satisifed.

How does your identity as an Asian lesbian artist shape the music you want to make and share with the world?

I got the blessing/curse of being Asian and a lesbian so there are many complex layers that come with my experience that I’m excited to share as more releases come out. I hope that other queer people of color can relate to my experiences more than anything. Like I mentioned earlier, representation is so important in this day and age. The world is a different place than it was 10 years ago, but we really need more queer people of color to take up space unapologetically and be the representation for the next generations to come.

What’s next for you?

I have a couple singles that I’m planning on releasing in the next couple of months. You might also see some music from my other music project “the other women” as well.

Follow junni on Instagram.