Congratulations on your brand new release! “Sakina” connects to so many different genres: afrobeats, mariachi, Middle Eastern-inspired guitar, Bollywood and more.
How did you pull them all together to make something that still felt like Ki!?
That is my thing: taking inspiration from all over the world and putting them together in a weird and ‘Ki!-esque’ concoction. I love music so much, and I love the diversity that music can hold. Until now, with the exception of AI, music has been played by people, and people are not so different from each other.
We all want the same thing, so blending genres isn’t really that difficult if you appreciate the best elements in all of them. I see it as my interpretation of people coming together in a multiethnic society that thrives and draws inspiration from one another.
You describe “Sakina” as “peace transformed into a dancing female being.” Where did that image come from, and who is the titular Sakina in your mind’s eye?
Sakina is my vision of what peace can be under difficult circumstances: a shadow that moves unnoticed around people, spreading peace, with the healing power bound to music. I know it’s a utopian thought that music can heal challenging circumstances, but music has always been a helping hand in tough situations for me.
That’s why the music at times sounds chaotic and wild, but a soothing voice appears and whispers ‘Sakina.’ In my video, Sakina is played by an actual nurse, which makes her a perfect match for the song and its meaning.
The “Sakina” music video brings together Korean director Gun Kim and Danish director Tine Reingaard Solkær.
How did you pick those directors in particular, and what was it like being able to bring them together for the visual language of this project?
It was by coincidence that they ended up working together on this video. Gun Kim directed the Korean Tourism Office commercial, and Tine was traveling with me to document my first encounter with Korea. They ended up connecting on a professional level and decided to make two music videos together, one being ‘Sakina.’ The video is a one-take, one-shot piece with no editing:their joint creation.
The second video is a beautiful piece about my relationship with my dad as a boy, shot in Busan where I’m from. It’s about a father who becomes estranged from his son. Gun Kim and Tine have captured it beautifully, and I can’t wait to share it with the world after the album’s release.
Your last album was named Yong-Gwanglo – “melting pot” – and now “Sakina” pushes that cross-cultural approach even further.
As you’re developing this new album, what can fans look forward to?
I think this album concludes very well what the previous albums started in terms of a multiethnic melting pot. This one explores genres even further: it will take you back in time, forward in time, to all kinds of locations around the world, and maybe even beyond Earth. I’ve taken risks with both vintage and modern genres. Some of the inspirations are obvious, others less so, but they’ve all entered the melting pot on this one.
Your music is instrumental, but there is so much storytelling behind it. How do you create a narrative in your music?
Thank you! Whenever I’m composing, recording, mixing, or even mastering songs, I always have pictures or a movie playing in my head. If the composition doesn’t connect with those images, I write something different. When I’m recording, I also strive to match the pictures in my head. For example, if I’m recording drums and bass and it takes me directly to 1960s Detroit – not that I’m comparing myself to the legendary Motown musicians – then I know I’m on the right path.
Sometimes when I’m mixing, I even put on a film or surround myself with pictures that give me a sense of what the song is and could be. I don’t consciously think about storytelling, but I believe that’s where it comes from
Your work has been described as a “melting pot” before. How do you feel being Danish and Korean – and all the complexities connected to that – has influenced your musical choices?
I strongly believe my Korean heritage has a big influence on my Danish upbringing and life in Denmark. I’ve lived my whole life in Denmark and only recently returned to South Korea to experience my heritage firsthand. Growing up looking different from everyone around me, I always looked outward to the world for answers and inspiration.
As a child, I was inspired by American action and sci-fi films. In my older years, I’ve looked very much toward Africa and Asia for inspiration: both in life and in music. I think my ‘rootlessness’ has defined who I am as a musician and composer, alongside my deep love for music and people.
You were born in Busan and adopted to Denmark as an infant, and this year you returned to South Korea for the first time.
What surprised you most about how it actually felt to be there, compared with whatever you might have imagined beforehand?
I don’t think I experienced many surprises: certainly none negative. People are so nice, humble, and polite. The bowing greeting, which we certainly don’t do in Denmark, struck me as a particularly beautiful gesture. Being surrounded by people who looked like me was a profound experience. I’ve spent my whole life looking different from everyone else in Denmark, and during that trip, I didn’t.
Korea is such a beautiful country, and I got to see many different places while filming a commercial with Park Bogum for the Korean Tourism Office. It was quite an adventure.
Was there a particular moment, sound or place during that first trip when the reality of “this is where I was born” really hit you?
I was filming a music video with my friends Gun Kim and Tine Reingaard in Busan. We visited many locations in and around the city for filming, and ended up by the waterfront for the final shoot. When we finished, the sun was setting, and the city looked so beautiful. It’s hard to describe, but in that moment I felt the profound sense of being back where I came from: almost a feeling of coming home.
You travelled across Korea for Begin to Hear Korea, which is specifically about discovering a country through its sounds. As a musician experiencing your birth country for the first time, what sounds stood out to you the most and why?
In Seoul, the sounds that really stood out were the melodies that play when the subway train approaches: two very uplifting pieces, one played by trumpets and one by marimba. In Denmark, we have a simple bell sound when the train arrives, so the Koreans have made it far more musical. If you travel the subway frequently, you can’t help but feel in a slightly better mood because of it. In the countryside, I was drawn to the quietness.
Coming from the noisy city, everything seemed so peaceful. But you could hear the wind in the trees, a car or tractor driving in the distance, and the rice plants waving in the warm breeze. I would say the natural sounds in those quiet surroundings were extremely inspiring. For me, it’s not about the particular sound itself, but where it’s placed and how it resonates with its surroundings.
You write, record, mix, produce and are deeply involved at every level of the creative process. Is that level of creative control about being able to replicate precisely what is in your head, or do you simply enjoy being able to be involved in every aspect of it?
I’ve been in countless bands where differing opinions and feelings hindered the creative process and the final result. That said, ‘Ki!’ started as a producer project where I wrote songs to help me practice making sounds inspired by records I love. I did it all myself and never expected it to be published or get any attention. Though it happened by chance that I ended up doing everything myself, I probably prefer it that way. I love spending time in the studio trying to recreate whatever is in my head, at my own pace and without interference.
Horns and strings are among the few elements you bring other musicians in for. How do you find this modifies your process and do you have any interesting anecdotes from such a collaborative aspect of the work?
To be honest, I write out such detailed scores for the horn section and strings that it’s impossible for them to deviate from my vision. That said, they know what I want, so besides being extremely talented, it’s very easy to work with them because of our strong understanding of each other. For instance, my girlfriend plays all the strings on my records, and we know each other very well: maybe sometimes too well (laughs)!
Your work references everyone from Fela Kuti and George Harrison to Motown… so many! What’s an influence in your music that you think listeners might not guess at first listen?
I’m not entirely sure. I think I’m quite obvious in my references, and I’m certainly not afraid to show them. But one thing that might not strike people as a major inspiration is everyday life. I draw so much inspiration from things outside music. Some of my songs come to me while walking on the street, being at the hairdresser, or driving in my car. It’s often a picture in my head that forms from what I experience in everyday life: something in the news that provokes or inspires me.
I was once at an Egyptian hairdresser that inspired me to write an Egyptian-style song. The list goes on. Since I also produce music for other artists, I often tell them when they have writer’s block: stop writing and do something else. Get inspiration from somewhere other than your piano, pen, and paper.
“Sakina” is out now. Ki! can be found on Instagram here.