NAU NUA: ENYANG HA

A brutal cuteness

Enyang Ha is an artist of the sound. Her creations go through the audience emotions searching for new boundaries to cross. She expresses herself through a continuously evolving language in multi-dimensional forms by combining techno-influenced experimental sound elements and rhythms with nostalgic melodies. Her lyrics written in English and Korean, her background from different cultures from east to west, and his experimental spirit make his artistic project a fascinating journey to our emotional universe in connection with the rest of the public. True live art.

Currently she is presenting an electro-accoustic collaboration with the musician and performer Angela Chambers, a new videosingle titled Easelle.

What does it mean to you to express yourself artistically?

The performance including my vocal, my gesture, my eye contacts and my sounds will deliver my message at least 1000000 times better than me talking politely to a crowd. It’s my most powerful communication method that I am fluent in.

What do you look for with your sound creations?

My sound selection is what reminds me of cartoons and computer graphics in trance music concept. This combined with harshly banging tribal-like percussions. I go for telling a story and go through different chapters in sounds.

How is your creative process because it is obvious that for you the live experience is very important?

Even from producing music, I already visionate how this should be performed live. I enjoy singing and there are lots use of modular system including patching. So I like to keep these in mind that there are rooms for these to be performed.

Could we say that your art is always alive, like one piece always evolving?

Once my music is made and out, I let it go. It’s its own thing and has its own spirit this means it will be perceived differently by each audience. It will be continuously evolving every time it meets a new listener.

How important are your corean roots in your creations?

My sound selection often have cartoon and computer graphic textures. This influence probably comes from my root. Something cute but brutal at the same time. So lots of things such as musical influence or even my looks are rooted from this culture but then I turned it extremely into my own individual style after I left Korea as 14.

In 2017 you released an EP called “Nature Matter”. Nature as an inspiration but also a claim of the importance of the environment. How important is nature for you?

Nature is the neutral truth. Everything else we built ourselves such as cities, society, internet, etc. provide us diverse perceptions, which are very necessary too. However the values of these perceptions can be often systemized or programmed by the big stream of our society. I then go out to the nature where these values aren’t valid anymore - it’s neutral. And I ask myself my very own value. Nature is where I can be empty to confront my true self.

Now you are presenting the single “Easelle”, a collaboration with Angela Chambers. How was that experience?

Two people means double the inputs and double faster working time. We both share similar visions that’s why this was possible. I had the song written but the second half was still open for more. When we started to try things out with vocals and flutes, it naturally started to flow and build up very fast. When I first wrote the song it used to be 6:07 and it later became 7:18 with Angela. Every single second of this extended part is so precious to us.

What are your future projects?

I have a split EP with Demian Licht coming out on Phantom Limb on March 13. And I am currently working on an album for System Records which should come out in the end of 2020. It’s a label that I and my good friends are doing. Each one of us is putting his or her individual talents in. Everyone is musically brilliant and has a different professional skill at artisan level including photography, graphic designing, PR, mixing and mastering. It all started as we were hanging at Funkhaus where our studios are. I have a studio here where I produce music and master audios. I am a full time audio mastering engineer. I take both producing and mastering music very important as these two activities bring me to balance. So I will be analog mastering my own album too which doesn’t often happen in the industry and I can’t wait to share this.

Could you explain us a dream you had while sleeping?

I used to be afraid of height so I back then had many nightmares of myself endlessly free-falling from the sky or I am on an elevator or on a roller coaster and it’s shooting me into the sky with no end. One time I decided to let go. Of course I was free-falling heavily in the beginning. When I got quite close to the ground, a tree caught me. And it bounced me gently that I don’t fall directly to the ground. And when I was landing back onto the tree, I tapped on the tree this time. Oh my god I could fly as if there was no gravity. The moment I tap and fly over, everything was like a slow motion since there was no gravity. I was then jumping to the next tree. Tapping. Softly flying onto the next tree with no gravity. And jumping to the next one... If free-falling was to learn how to let go, flying over trees was to explore the world “finally” with no fear. From this point I am not afraid of height. I am playfully enjoying the world :))

An interview by Juan Carlos Romero

Photo courtesy of Enyang Ha