Korean-American Breaks Into US Market
Published on | Source
By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter
It is not rare these days to hear about a Korean pop singer performing successfully outside of Korea, thanks largely to the Korean Wave, or "hallyu".
However, it is still considered huge news if a Korean releases a record in the United States, the largest music market in the world, as there are not many Asian solo artists that have done so.
Korean-American Susie Suh, 25, became one of very few after music industry legends Charles Koppleman, former EMI president, and Don Rubin picked her up after listening to her perform songs she wrote the summer before her senior year at Brown University.
She released her self-titled debut album there in April 2005, collaborating with Grammy Award-winning producer Glen Ballad.
"I was really lucky to have the record deal despite not having live performance skills. I am very grateful to work with so many great and talented people in the industry", Suh told The Korea Times.
"It (my ethnicity) was never an issue. No one ever brought it up. It was always about the music. After the album came out, then it became a little bit more about my ethnicity because they were trying to figure out how to market me", she said. "Everyone has a different story. Regardless of stories, it is difficult to get a record deal".
She added that being a minority has both disadvantages and advantages: "Because when you hear my voice, I don't think you can tell what ethnicity I am. So most people assume I am white when they hear me. And when they see me, I don't look the way I sound so I think in some ways it helps me and in some ways it doesn't help me. It's good and bad".
Before the contract, Suh had to deal with her parents about her dream. Her parents, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s, opposed her pursuing a music career as they thought anything creative was merely a hobby. She started singing for fun in a choir at the age of eight, but things changed in her teens when she began playing the guitar her older brother gave her as a gift and she started writing songs.
"I sort of secretly pursued my singing career until a certain age when I had to make a choice. It wasn't completely secret but I didn't talk about it that much. We didn't want to talk about it".
The conflicts with her parents over her dream spawned the song "Your Battlefield", she wrote at 18, on the album. "Once I got my contract with SonyBMG, they were pretty happy. Now they are very proud".
Songs on her first album, mostly comprised of numbers she wrote herself, based on her experiences and thoughts, are basically folk scores spiced with blues and jazz flavors. Her rich and smoky voice in reflective tone, accompanied by a calm, clean acoustic sound is often compared with singers such as Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan.
"When you are an actor, you try to be the character as best as possible. To me, a song is like a person and I'm trying to make the song alive. When I am on the stage, I try to make that song come to life as best as possible and be full of color and emotions", she said.
The singer-songwriter, who is on a promotion tour in her parents' native land, debuted on the Korean stage last week, making guest appearances during new age composer-pianist Kevin Kern's two concerts in Seoul.
"It was really cool. I don't know how I can describe it. I felt a lot of different feelings but it is hard to put it into words", Suh said.
Suh will also be featured in the Ahn Trio's four concerts, starting Wednesday at Seongnam Art Center. They will perform on June 8 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
"They invited me to come to Korea with them", Suh said. "They read about me in a magazine and contacted me. We became friends and decided to collaborate. They recorded one of my songs, `All I want', on their album".
Suh seeks to work with more Korean musicians. During her stay until mid-June, she is scheduled to meet musicians of different genres to discuss future collaborations.
She said she heard about singer "Rain, or Pi, and his attempts to advance into the U.S. music industry. "I would love to work with Rain", Suh said. "I don't know enough information about him. If his English is good, then he has potential. I think it comes down to the language issue".
She plans to work on her sophomore album when she gets back to the U.S. and hopes to release it some time next year, although everything is in the air right now except one thing _ she wants to create music that transcends boundaries.
Staff Reporter
It is not rare these days to hear about a Korean pop singer performing successfully outside of Korea, thanks largely to the Korean Wave, or "hallyu".
However, it is still considered huge news if a Korean releases a record in the United States, the largest music market in the world, as there are not many Asian solo artists that have done so.
Korean-American Susie Suh, 25, became one of very few after music industry legends Charles Koppleman, former EMI president, and Don Rubin picked her up after listening to her perform songs she wrote the summer before her senior year at Brown University.
She released her self-titled debut album there in April 2005, collaborating with Grammy Award-winning producer Glen Ballad.
"I was really lucky to have the record deal despite not having live performance skills. I am very grateful to work with so many great and talented people in the industry", Suh told The Korea Times.
"It (my ethnicity) was never an issue. No one ever brought it up. It was always about the music. After the album came out, then it became a little bit more about my ethnicity because they were trying to figure out how to market me", she said. "Everyone has a different story. Regardless of stories, it is difficult to get a record deal".
She added that being a minority has both disadvantages and advantages: "Because when you hear my voice, I don't think you can tell what ethnicity I am. So most people assume I am white when they hear me. And when they see me, I don't look the way I sound so I think in some ways it helps me and in some ways it doesn't help me. It's good and bad".
Before the contract, Suh had to deal with her parents about her dream. Her parents, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1960s, opposed her pursuing a music career as they thought anything creative was merely a hobby. She started singing for fun in a choir at the age of eight, but things changed in her teens when she began playing the guitar her older brother gave her as a gift and she started writing songs.
"I sort of secretly pursued my singing career until a certain age when I had to make a choice. It wasn't completely secret but I didn't talk about it that much. We didn't want to talk about it".
The conflicts with her parents over her dream spawned the song "Your Battlefield", she wrote at 18, on the album. "Once I got my contract with SonyBMG, they were pretty happy. Now they are very proud".
Songs on her first album, mostly comprised of numbers she wrote herself, based on her experiences and thoughts, are basically folk scores spiced with blues and jazz flavors. Her rich and smoky voice in reflective tone, accompanied by a calm, clean acoustic sound is often compared with singers such as Norah Jones and Sarah McLachlan.
"When you are an actor, you try to be the character as best as possible. To me, a song is like a person and I'm trying to make the song alive. When I am on the stage, I try to make that song come to life as best as possible and be full of color and emotions", she said.
The singer-songwriter, who is on a promotion tour in her parents' native land, debuted on the Korean stage last week, making guest appearances during new age composer-pianist Kevin Kern's two concerts in Seoul.
"It was really cool. I don't know how I can describe it. I felt a lot of different feelings but it is hard to put it into words", Suh said.
Suh will also be featured in the Ahn Trio's four concerts, starting Wednesday at Seongnam Art Center. They will perform on June 8 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
"They invited me to come to Korea with them", Suh said. "They read about me in a magazine and contacted me. We became friends and decided to collaborate. They recorded one of my songs, `All I want', on their album".
Suh seeks to work with more Korean musicians. During her stay until mid-June, she is scheduled to meet musicians of different genres to discuss future collaborations.
She said she heard about singer "Rain, or Pi, and his attempts to advance into the U.S. music industry. "I would love to work with Rain", Suh said. "I don't know enough information about him. If his English is good, then he has potential. I think it comes down to the language issue".
She plans to work on her sophomore album when she gets back to the U.S. and hopes to release it some time next year, although everything is in the air right now except one thing _ she wants to create music that transcends boundaries.
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