I saw through Meejah‘s Instagram that they were going on tour in South Korea playing alongside some of my favorite bands. What I didn’t know was that they would release a new music video from their 2021 album, Queen of Spring.
The music video was created by Alex Bosserman and is quite the visual and audio experience.
Today at 6 pm Korean Time 12 July 2023 Danish-Korean band Meejah is releasing their new music video for the track “Jing (Thunder)” at Poclanos, in collaboration with American and Seoul-based digital artist Alex Bosserman.
Mai Soon Young Øvlisen, from Meejah is a Korean adoptee. The band is playing their first 5 concerts in Seoul right now and has prepremiered the video at a gig in Euljiro few days ago, when playing with Platform Magazine and the Korean bands OH CHILL, Beacon and Tierpark.
The lyrics in Jing (Thunder) are written as a comment on hypersexualization of Asian Women in the West – and how to “take the gaze back” and tell your narrative and form relations from a must deeper level than the surface level. In a well-balanced and attuned community you can play with your differences in an equal way, where the integrity is maintained.
Alex Bosserman about the artistic collaboration with Meejah:
“I felt connected to the song initially based on its sound – dark and brooding, slightly haunting and aggressive. It felt like a lot of the work I’ve been making related to it aesthetically, but I was pleased to find the lyrics connected on a deeper level too.
The first line “People stare at me” conjured a strong visual image of a large eye taking in a scene. When I moved to Korea the first thing I noticed was how out of place I was, largely due to the stares I’d be getting whilst on the subway or the street. I didn’t necessarily mind it as it’s natural for people to be curious and notice abnormal things around them, but it definitely made me think about how I was perceived and how I’d fit into life here.
And while Korea watched me I watched it, falling in love with this “city of pollen.” Every spring winds from China carry over yellow dust that blankets the city.
The lyrics about harmony between nature and humanity guided a lot of the visuals. Blankets of plastic drape over floors of greenery that’s sprouting out of the concrete, robotic arms “Jing open” and manipulate synthetic sculptures of the 3 bandmates Daniel, Andreas & Mai, while many natural elements swirl around each scene”.
Mai about finding and choosing Alex Bosserman for this new music video:
“I found Alex’ work and was instantly intrigued – since it feels like his work is interpreting his Korean experience through art – in an active way. Like a need. That he needs to do so, in order to be, to exist in the Korean context.
Our entire album “Queen of Spring” is trying to integrate the Korean and the Nordic – as a conscious or spiritual way as well. It came out of a similar need to grasp and be intimate with the concept of – what it means, to have transnational roots. And try to translate over and over again, what my relationship to Korea and “my koreaness” means to me.
When we first talked we found it funny, that I also write about the experience of being Korean/Asian looking in Europe – and he tries to grasp what it means to be American/foreign in Korea. So we have the same experience but in opposite worlds”.
From Press Release
If you’re in Seoul, I’d highly recommend checking out Meejah live during one of their remaining shows.
July 13 – Pet Sounds with Nar0tic & Meejah
July 14 – Nodeul Live House with DANakaDAN, Jacquelyn Wells & Meejah
July 15 – Strange Fruit with Wings of the ISANG & Meejah
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Chris P
Korean Indie owner and Editor at Large. Constantly looking for new music and working on library parity on Spotify and YouTube Music.