Love X Stereo - FUTURE UNKNOWN
Exclusive interview with the duo Love X Stereo, consisting of ANNIE KO and TOBY HWANG, for their new single “FUTURE UNKNOWN“.
In line with the release of their single “FUTURE UNKNOWN“, the electro duo Love X Stereo, made up of ANNIE KO and TOBY HWANG, granted us an exclusive interview!
Could you introduce yourselves and your group?
Hi. We are Love X Stereo. We’re an electro duo from Seoul, Korea. Our music is mostly influenced by the 90s. We write songs together, and we try to incorporate both digital and analog elements into our music.
ANNIE: I’m the vocalist and synthesizer player.
TOBY: I’m the producer, and perform guitars, bass, synthesizers, etc.
What genres of music do you specialize in?
Even though we label ourselves as an electronic band, we mostly function as a normal rock band. One of our biggest influences is New Order, and both of us enjoyed rock music when we were growing up, so we tend to prefer having a full live set including a drummer on stage. Our electronic music heroes are Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Underworld, etc., so anything that screams 90s big beat, we dig them.
Tell us about your musical journey. How did it all begin?
TOBY started doing music in the 90s actually. He was in a punk rock band called 18cruk when he was in high school. He started his own band called Skrew Attack, Korea’s very first sk8 punk rock band in the late 90s. Meanwhile, ANNIE was supposed to be a r&b singer in the early 2000s, but due to complicated reasons, she was dropped out of contract. Both met through mutual acquaintances. TOBY was looking for a female vocalist at that point, asked his friend Sungwoo Lee (NoBrain) for reference. Annie at that time was looking for a rock band, and Baek Kyung Song (1TYM) introduced her to Sungwoo, which eventually she got introduced to meet TOBY. Both started Love X Stereo, which is an electronic band that has a punk spirit, in 2011.
Where do you see your career heading in the next few years?
Love X Stereo was created because the band wanted to start something fresh, new and fun. Love X Stereo from the beginning was all about trying new stuff, and collaborate with others, hence the ‘X’ in the middle. And from then, we wanted to reach directly the audience overseas, 95% of the lyrics were already written in English, and the band felt more at ease when they were performing outside of Korea. Before Covid, the band tried to perform overseas at least one time a year (which they achieved to do so since their showcase kickoff at CMJ Music Marathon (NYC) in 2013.) We’ve recently finished our album and tour journey with DA1SY DØØM (from USA) at Music Matters Live (Singapore) and just came back home. We have many upcoming collaboration projects on the way, many more albums to come, and hopefully, many more shows in the future.
Do you have a favorite track you’ve created? Any songs you wish had more spotlight and would like to recommend to our readers?
We believe our most known song is called “Hide and Seek”. It was on our album “We Love We Leave, Part 2”, which is one of our favorite albums so far. The song has been featured in the K-drama series “Cheese in the Trap”, and got a bit of attention. But we think, the best intro song to get to know us, would be in that same album called “Beauties Die Young”. It pretty much sums up our style, and what are mood is all about. Or better yet, listen to the whole album if you may.
Can you provide insight into your production process? Any memorable stories to share from behind the scenes?
When we write songs, we start from a basic idea. A guitar riff, an arpeggio from one of our synthesizers, or just from a melody that pops into our head. We try to use real instruments, which we are kinda addicted to, especially analog synthesizers. Probably the most memorable recording days are actually when we were recording the aforementioned album “We Love We Leave, Part 2” : We just got selected to work with Adrian Hall, a UK producer, thanks to KT&G, and for 4 whole days, we recorded 5 songs in a row like maniacs. Adrian knew exactly what we wanted, and was so attentive in terms of what we were trying to achieve sonically, and emotionally. We still treasure those days as one of the most magical times of our lives.
What inspires your creativity when creating new songs?
Love X Stereo tends to talk a lot about what is happening now. We watch a lot of news, and really pay attention on what’s going on with the world. And we never look back. But also, we love gears. We’re pretty much gear nerds, and the sound itself that any instrument can make inspires us.
Are there any ongoing projects or collaborations with other artists that you would like to tease?
At the moment, we’ll focus on more songwriting/producing new music and preparing our future album. Our remix for this amazing artist named MAUVEY just dropped and we think it’s gaining momentum. We met this amazing artist at last year’s Music Matters Live in Singapore. He asked if we could do a remix for him, and he gave us the option to choose any song from his latest album. We instantly fell in love with the song “ON THE 14th“. There is no beat in the original, but we heard a beat in our heads and ran with it. On his Instagram post, he kindly mentioned that he almost crashed his car when he heard it for the first time. As compliment goes, it doesn’t get better than that.
Could you tell us more about your new single?
We just released this single called “FUTURE UNKNWON”. We’ve performed this song in advance at KOBA show (Seoul), MU:CON show (Seoul), and Music Matters Live (Singapore). It’s very rock spirited anthem for sure. Something that we wrote during Covid. Inspired to find light in the darkest times.
How has the group evolved since your last album? Were there any significant shifts in your musical approach or team dynamics?
Compared to our last album “/ 안녕 ÄNɎƏŊ /”, which was quite a melon collie journey for us, this single’s sound is way more aggressive and relentless. Never thought about it deeply, but our band might be on this vicious cycle of being super mellow, and then all of a sudden being super aggressive. It’s just who we are, I guess.
Lastly, is there a message you’d like to convey to your fans, especially to those in France and Europe?
We never performed in France before, and France is definitely one of our next destinations for sure. We love French music, and it would be a huge honor if we can tour France and furthermore, Europe in general. Until that day, please love and enjoy our music, show us your love, DM us, like us, spread the word, and hope to see you soon in person!
Journalist: Leo
Translator: Leo
Source: KSTATION TV
Photos: FA TAL DOPECHILD, Manchul Kim
