By: Jamie Steinberg
Q) Leo, your music is a bit K-pop, a little alt-pop with some rock. How would you describe your sound?
Leo: My musical roots actually stem from 8 bit video games. As a kid, I spent hours on classic consoles, some with really crude soundtracks and effects. If you think about it, video game music genre-wise is really everything. It’s just the limitation of the tech at the time that made them sound chip-tuney. I didn’t have anything to make the kind of music I heard in games, so I started playing any instrument I could get my hands on. K-pop in itself is a bit of everything, so that worked out for me.
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
Leo: Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, Prince, Muse, Nirvana, NIN, Tupac, Timbaland and Toshiki Kadomatsu to name a few.
Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Still Here.”
Kyra: I like to think of “Still Here” as kind of the closing chapter to the stories I’ve been telling through my music so far. Our first song together, “Mute the Beat,” was about a girl in denial. She knows she shouldn’t, or at least she believes it’ll complicate her life, and it’s a whimsical, city-pop-inspired, playful kind of denial. February came next and it’s that point where she realizes she’s already fallen. The month has that built-in irony (it’s supposed to be romantic) but she just wants it to pass uneventfully. She feels guilty, like she’s led someone on just by existing too warmly near them. I think that tension between affection and exhaustion is something a lot of people understand.
Strain happens post-relationship and is purposefully a bit immature. It’s a song about that strange post-breakup disgust (the “what did I ever see in you?” moment [laughs]). I never say it outright in the song, but I’ve always thought of it as being about how we repaint the past as ugly so it’s easier to walk away from. That instinct to villainize what once felt good can be a coping mechanism and I wanted to explore that because it’s something many people expect or even rely on to move on. And so “Still Here” is more about acceptance: it’s the same girl (the one from February’s cover) but she’s a bit older now and learning that sometimes the people from your past are folded somewhere in your memory and don’t fully leave you. If “Strain” is about resistance, “Still Here” is about acceptance. You never really leave your past behind; you’re the sum of your experiences and the people who’ve shaped them. Sonically, “Still Here” also marks a shift for me. It moves away from my earlier “Anri meets K-pop” sound and leans more into indie rock. I don’t think it’s fully my sound yet, but I like that. It feels like growing into something new while keeping a bit of where I started.
Q) Leo, how did you come to feature Kyra Jun on the track?
Leo: The song wasn’t for her originally. I was thinking of trying something more industrial rock (like NIN) to sing myself, but I came up with the hook melody that sounded more feminine. That’s when I decided this might actually work for Kyra and started writing in that direction. I wrote the lyrics too, but based it off a continuum from our previous releases (detailed in Kyra’s response above).
Q) On the flip side, Kyra, how did Leo pitch the song to you?
Kyra: He brought me the guitar track and I just thought, “Damn.” It was cool, (really cool!) but I wasn’t sure it was for me. I remember thinking, “I don’t know if I can handle something this rock-y.” But then Dad gave me this little pep talk about experimentation and I was reminded, yeah, music is all about experiments. So, I changed my mind completely. Honestly, I’m so glad he didn’t hand the idea off to someone else: what came out of it was such a fun, organic collaboration.
Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?
Kyra: Sonically, it’s a fusion of K-pop, synthy rock and indie. I think that mix resonates because it bridges generations: younger listeners who love K-pop’s dynamism and older fans who find nostalgia in the sound textures. A lot of people have described it as a K-pop version of the “Arcane” soundtrack, which might’ve helped too. (I’ll happily take that comparison!)
Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?
Kyra: Lately I’ve been really inspired by eclectic, almost Cobra-style art (think Karel Appel). I do like how messy and surreal the style is and for the album art/visual wanted to channel that energy visually. The central figure is this girl who’s apathetic and still in the middle of chaos: the world’s burning down behind her, but she’s still there (or still here [laughs]), caught between not wanting to be tied to her past and still being shaped by it.
Leo: Right. My initial cover art direction was not that. [laughs] I’m glad I let Kyra do it. It came out great.
Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
Kyra: Sometimes! It depends on the project. If it’s more of a sonic experiment (like this song), I’ll start with soundscapes, specific instruments/beats and build from there. But if I already have a story or emotion I want to explore, I’ll write melodies and lyrics together since they tend to grow hand in hand. My dad usually starts with instrumentals, but for me I’m a fan of crafting melodies that give the story structure first.
Leo: I write non-stop, so it’s whatever hits me at the moment. What’s been constant for me is that I tend to be inspired musically by non-musical sources like movies, manga, light patterns I see when I drive though a tunnel at night, etc. I record notes and ideas all the time on my phone and even use napkins to jot down musical ideas when I need to.
Q) Leo, you wrote and produced the track. Why was it so important for you to have such a heavy hand in the music you make?
Leo: I wouldn’t say that it’s important for me to control everything, but this track was kind of like that because the music was finished before I asked Kyra to sing it. Every collab is different and this one just flowed that way naturally. Having said that, I do tend to be a bit of a control-freak when it comes to producing for my other electronic focused project, uberLAB, largely because they tend to be instrumental and each instrument contributes to the telling of the story in the songs.
Q) Any chance we could catch an Edge of Silence with Kyra Jun live performance of “Still Here?”
Kyra: Maybe! We’ll see! I’m kind of busy as a college student doing a double major, but I’m sure it’ll happen someday.
Q) For both of you, are you currently working on an upcoming full album or EP?
Kyra: An album would be amazing someday. I’m not working on a full one right now, but I’ve been writing a few songs that I could definitely see living on it. It’ll drop when it’s ready.
Leo: I’ve been stocking up on songs. [laughs] Let’s see if Kyra can handle them this winter break when she’s home again.
Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?
Kyra: I’ve always seen myself more as a recording artist, but that changed when I started college and made friends who loved performing. We ended up forming a super casual band. Only covers for now, but it’s such a fun way to destress. I perform a lot with my band Invasion on campus, which I love. It’s less about the venue and more about singing songs with people I really care about.
Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?
Kyra: What a great question. I honestly don’t know! I’d love to collaborate with Ichiko Aoba. I sleep and bathe to her music.
Leo: Recently, I’ve been obsessed with BIBI and OOHYO’s vocals. I do like collaborating on the production side, too, which I’ve done with the likes of UZA (now known as TOVA OH).
Q) Leo, your music was recently featured on “XO, Kitty,” which is incredible! For both of you, is there a show you’d love to see your music featured in?
Leo: Yeah, it was amazing to see my work integrated perfectly into the scenes! I’d love to see my work appear in future seasons of the show, too.
In the early days of my musical career I’ve worked with some amazing people on film scores. I don’t think I understood the amount of work that goes into that at the time and was ignorant-brave. I feel better prepared now to take on something like that and would love a chance to bring things full circle to work on video game music.
Q) What artist/musician are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?
Kyra: Oh goodness, I can’t choose just one – Feist, Magdalena Bay, Kings of Convenience, Orion Sun and Yamashita. They all write beautifully. Each has such a distinct vocal tone and a mix of calculated yet organic instrumentation. And for Mag Bay especially, the production is just so cool. I love music that feels both nostalgic and new, so I draw inspiration from lots of eras. A guilty favorite is fakemink (great for hyping yourself up before a problem set).
Leo: HEALTH, Camp Lo, Rakim and Teddy Pendergrass
Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?
Kyra: Love you so much, mwah. I’m deeply grateful to anyone who’s heard one of my songs and connected with it even for a moment. I will drop more music. [smiles]
Leo: I love how we can reach you through our music and hope it helps make your day just a bit better.