I got connected with singer-songwriter Himang in 2021 through the Asian Creative Network. In the five years since then, Himang wore many hats between the United States and Korea while also growing his artist project. Every so often I loosely saw him on various spaces online, whether it was for The Halfie Project talking about his mandatory military service or on the Korean TV Show “I Can See Your Voice.”
Now back with a new song and an upcoming EP, Himang is ready to tell his stories.
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi everyone, my name is Himang. I’m a half-Korean, half-Indian, made in China singer-songwriter, and I make music about young love, self-discovery, and growing pains.
The Sound of Youth
How would you describe your music?
If I were to describe it using colors, I would use blues, greens, and hints of brown.
There’s a Korean word, cheongchoon [청춘], which means youth. If you look at the etymology of “cheong,” it literally means blue, and “choon” means spring. I feel like a lot of my music in this era is about living your truth and your youth
When I think of youth, I think of plants blossoming in the spring and little sprouts coming out of the soil. That’s the kind of mindset I’m in when I’m writing these songs.
The hints of brown are because there’s still an earthy humanness that I like to keep in all my music. Making my music relatable and resonant is a big part of what I create.
Who are your musical influences that guide and shape your artistry?
I have to start with my dad because that’s where I get my musical gene from. He is from India, plays the tabla, is a self-taught percussionist, and loves rhythmic music all around the world. He played a lot of reggae, Latin music, and African music in the house when I was little and that built a strong foundation in my listening to music.
That also led me to appreciating dance music. K-Pop and Bollywood are obviously both very dance-heavy, rhythmic forms of music that involve theatrics, choreo, and a narrative, and that’s something I try to embody in my artistry as well.
Stylistically, I also grew up really appreciating pop and R&B. More recently, from high school to college, I learned to really love nineties R&B and really talented virtuosic vocalists that do all these tricks over a really groovy beat. I think that is the epitome of coolness to me.
I grew up listening to a lot of great vocalists as well as just a great beat. And my taste is ever changing as well, depending on what I’m listening to at the time. Right now, I’m really into hyperpop and indie artists that are putting out really conceptual stuff that’s highly conceptual but also very catchy and different.
Music is just great and ever changing, and I appreciate all of it.
Behind the Song
“BIGKID” has both musical moments (whether in the chorus vocal arrangement) and lyrical moments. In particular, I liked the beginning of verse two: “Now that I’ve made it out these four walls / everything feels extra large.”
Between lyrics, melody, and a beat, which do you gravitate towards more? What comes first as a songwriter versus as a listener?
It changes per song but more recently, I’ve been going for the lyrics first. With the approach of setting down a concept first, recently I’ve been thinking like “Ooh, that’s something cool to write about” or “That’s a story I may be able to tell or no one else really talks about.”
If I’m coming up with a melody, I feel like I can almost hear the beat. I feel like in songwriting, especially from the many mentors and peers that I learned from, we always say that the melody is more important, especially in pop music. If I’m writing a song for someone else or pitching it, I feel like, yes, I would prioritize melody more.
But if it’s for my own artist project, what I’m saying and what narrative I’m presenting to people matters more. For that, the lyrical concept is a lot more valuable.
Are there any lyrical ideas or narratives you’re wanting to explore?
I want to do a project focused on my experience in Korea. I feel like there’s a lot of very relatable things that people of the corporate Korean world can relate to, whether it be commuting to Seoul or dealing with kkondaes [꼰대/ boomers]. It’s different but the same.
Having this unique experience of growing up in different places, it’s very important to represent because I don’t see a lot of third culture kids (TCK) like me in mainstream media. This is my gap in the market that I need to fill in terms of speaking on my experiences and I hope that people can relate, feel encouraged, and feel seen.
Overall, I do want to speak to multicultural or TCK listeners. I do think about ways that I can phrase things that are more direct to them. I feel like there are aspects that are globally translatable that I try to keep in there. Especially because we aren’t represented enough, I want people to feel seen and heard in my music.
Are there any possible plans to do releases that are in the different languages you speak?
I might be focusing on singles for a while, but I will be rolling out my Korean era songs which do incorporate a lot more Korean. As of now, most of my songs are mixed in Korean and English with one or two songs in Chinese. That might be for a different time, but there will be more Korean in the near future.
The Story So Far
Your intro for the Tiny Desk submission was “Himang is a Korean-Indian third-culture artist based in Boston.” Your identity has both impacted your music — by putting out a bilingual release (“Young”) — as well as logistics, like the languages you speak and serving in the Korean military. How do the layers of your identity affect your creativity?
It allows me to look at this from more than one angle. I’ve been surrounded by people that listen to different types of music and it allows me to think from different perspectives. Because I have so many different people in me, I mentally compartmentalize into different things to tap into and combine identities.
Even with “BIGKID,” sonically, it consists of a lot of different styles. It’s all different moments and I like having it go through this plot arc, if you will. Having this vast exposure to different cultures allows me to tap into multiple sources.
I like to add personality to my music. Anyone can write a great pop song, and I really appreciate people who write a good standard pop song because it’s not easy. People have a misconception about writing pop, but it’s very strategic and very formulated. If I were able to do that well, I probably would because it sells and resonates with a majority of people.
But for my own artist project, it’s just a lot more fun and important to me to add my own personality to it, which consists of this vast exposure to different identities.
Recently, you were living in Korea, completing your military service and working in a Korean office. How did your time in the country affect your creativity and your artist project?
I actually think I wrote some of my best songs when I was in the Korean military. Only one is released at the moment, “Shooting Stars.”
I expected to feel very uninspired because I’d just be doing the same thing over and over again, but in fact I was a lot more creative because I felt so trapped. I was in an escapist mindset just imagining what was going on outside or what I could be doing.
That being said, I actually quite enjoyed gundae [군대/ Korean mandatory military service]. I’m not trying to bash on the experience, but it can feel very repetitive and redundant at times. Through that, I was forced to be more imaginative.
In general, I wouldn’t say I’m a wildly imaginative person, but being in a limited, restricted space has allowed me to tap into that more. I came up with a lot of cool ideas and songs that are in the works now and I’m excited for people to hear them
I think restrictions actually allow for a lot more freedom. Even in songwriting classes, we’d be given so many different prompts and rules while writing, but it forced our brains to have a new approach and think about how I can be creative with what I’m given. It keeps you on your toes.
Looking Ahead
Are you thinking about changing your color palette in the upcoming era?
Yeah, definitely. “BIGKID” is like a chapter from my journal. As much as I’ve waited to put this out and I’m also ready to close it at this point.
I’ve written these songs from my freshman year of college into recent times, and they reflect on my upbringing. It only makes sense for me to start with explaining my narrative and then telling the story of where I am now and what I’ve been through in my adult years.
In the past six years I’ve been a student, a soldier, a corporate worker, a club performer, an occasional tv personality…I’ve played a lot of different roles in the past few years and I’ve lived many lives. Eventually I’d love to focus on stories from those individual lives and perspectives as well.
Do you have a particular release strategy for your music? For example, “Shooting Stars” came out a year before “BIGKID;” was there a particular reason for this?
“Shooting Stars” felt appropriate to put out first because the song talks about limitless possibilities. I felt like that was an appropriate message to present after my many years of absence in releasing music. My last release was “Young” in 2021, five years ago. I wanted to say that I’m back and no one knows what’s about to happen, including myself.
And then I put out “lexi” which is reflecting on my high school days and reflecting on the person I was back then. And it just so happens that Euphoria 3 came out this year, so I felt like it was an appropriate time to put that out, too.
With “BIGKID,” it was a way to compare the person I was with the person I am today.
Next up will be the full EP!
You’ve done assorted performances whether while at Berklee, for Lunar New Year, at different venues in Korea, or for the Korean show “I Can See Your Voice.” Is there an ideal future you have as an artist?
In terms of where I want to be, it doesn’t really matter. I will be relocating to Korea soon, but in terms of what I see for myself, I would love to play a festival like Head in the Clouds.
I’d also love to be part of a project that really embodies the TCK experience. I feel like there hasn’t been something like that for people to watch and resonate with. When I watched BEEF on Netflix, it felt really nuanced and like it spoke directly to a certain demographic of Asian Americans, and I feel like it’s really cool that it hit a lot of marks for people.
I want to be part of something like that but for TCKs cause it’s so niche and we just aren’t talked about enough. It pushes me to educate people more about us, but I want for us to be more normalized in a way where we don’t have to do so much to explain ourselves
Do you have specific plans in Korea?
I’ve been in the States since 2024, and at this point I’ve spent almost equal amounts of time of my adult years between Korea and the States.
I do miss my family in Korea. My brother is a lot younger than me and he is in high school now.
I also do feel like there’s more opportunities for me in Korea at the moment, and I’d like to make use of them, whether it be going on more broadcasting [Korean TV shows] or performing locally at different events.
I want to explore what Korea has to offer for a bit and then I’ll be looking at potentially coming back to the States in a couple years.
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Ashley J Chong
Ashley J Chong writes and listens to music. She claims the American Midwest, Montreal, and Seoul as different shades of home. You can find her at @ashley.assorted.