SU LEE ON BEING MESSY SEXY, WHAT IT’S LIKE LIVING IN THE US, AND JUST BEING RELATABLE
Interview by Denise Mallabo
Korean musician Su Lee is finally free from her box, a.k.a. her room in Korea, only to be in another box, this time in the United States. She was describing her new home during a Zoom call with A Book Of and it was funny how she said that almost nothing has changed since she's still in a small space, using the same equipment, and writing her songs the same way, but somehow, there's a glint of hope in her eyes.
Su released her self-produced EP Box Room Dreams in 2021 and also toured for the first time as the front act for the all-female Japanese band CHAI. Messy Sexy is the name of her latest offering, her first album that everyone can stream in all major streaming platforms and she is just ecstatic. Su, who is as neurotic and charming as ever, updated A Book Of on her life since moving from Korea to the US, creating Messy Sexy, and meeting a South Korean pop rock band at a party.
I last interviewed you a year ago, but it was only via email. What would you consider a significant shift that occurred in your life in the last year?
Definitely the scale has gone up. It's strange that I'm still in the same kind of size of a room that I was in but now just in the States. I'm still pretty much using the same equipment, my set-up is still pretty easy, my process is still the same but I think the biggest difference is that there's a little bit of budget now and I'm working with more people. The parameters of my little artist world has been expanding and I think that's the biggest change.
You did a tour to open for the Japanese group CHAI in their North American gigs. How was that? Did you able to play gigs on your own in the US?
My tour supporting Chai was my first ever tour; it was my first time being on the road. Not gonna lie, I was kind of shitting myself, like about everything really as I always do especially the fact that I was touring with a group of girls that I really never met up, I really don't know anything about them, I'm like "what if they hate me? What if we don't get along? We're supposed to perform on the same stage every single night." That was one of the biggest concerns that I had and they turned out to be the loveliest, the most wholesome group of girls I have ever met. I'm not even sugar coating anything, they genuinely are the loveliest girls ever.
I had my own little set. After a couple of shows you'd think you'd get used to it, I'm like "I think I'm getting the hang of this" but I honestly don't know what the fuck I'm doing. One thing that I know for sure is that as much as it is nerve wrecking, I enjoy every single second of it. I enjoy the adrenaline rush. I can see why artists like Madonna has admitted that she's addicted to being on stage. I can see where she's coming from, especially with the kind of audience that she has, with tens of thousands of people screaming, dancing, and shaking their booties.
You were also a frequent Twitch streamer. What made you decide to go on that platform?
What made me be get on Twitch and start live streaming? Bluntly speaking my manager told me to. I said "Hell no! That's too much anxiety!" And he was like "No! You have to! You're an artist, that's what you do." I was like "Oh God, okay, fine!" I did. That was the reason and that's how it began and I had my journey of finding the right way of streaming. I tried all the normal things that people do while streaming like playing games, playing music live. It took me a while to find my style and what I'm the most comfortable with. But once I did, which was just engaging with people and talking, it sort of been a therapeutic for me. I heal, everybody heals, it's a wholesome vibe, and that's all that matters.
