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Eric Nam is an accidental K-pop star.
His music, imbued with his charisma and charm, has charted globally.
Charlie: You didnt intend to be a K-pop star.
How did it happen?Eric:No, I didnt.
Long story short: I graduated Boston College.
I was going to work at Deloitte doing strategy and operations consulting.
But before I started that, I asked for a year off.
And they came across my YouTube videos.
Hey, would you like to come out to Korea?
And I said yes.
I promised myself that if the opportunity to pursue music came about, I would take it.
Doing music is such a risk for anybody.
As the son of immigrant parents, its not even a question.
You dont even dream that dream.
So it was terrifying.
But I told myself, if Im going to do something for myself, then this is the time.
So I got on a flight.
Got into the top five of this TV show.
And then I ended up signing a record deal, quitting my job.
And I tried to make it as a musician in Korea.
And that was ten years.
So you get a shot at it.
So we get there, I start to take dance lessons.
I didnt even understand the lyrics.
It sounds like your schedule was pretty grueling.
In Korea as a singer, songwriter, K-pop star, youre not just one thing.
You are a multi-hyphenate.
I was the person there tosay hello and walk them through saying I love you in Korean.
And that was kind of how I, outside of music, became broadly known to masses in Korea.
But the music is performing well.
Like, your second albumInterviewgoes to No.
12 on the Korean charts.
Commercially, it was a very big success.
Theres a song, Good for You, on it that is probably my most famous song in Korea.
And theres nothing wrong with the song.
But I knew that I was writing it to placate a Korean audience.
It wasnt exactly like,I feel this in my bones.
Youve released your second album.
The music is performing.
The labels own you 360.
And that was music.
But you were locked into a record deal.
What did you do about it?I got to a point where I was just so burned-out.
I felt a lot of anxiety.
Like, my health has taken a nosedive.
And so there was a big breaking point.
And that was probably 2017 or 2018.
And I said from now on, music is the way that I want to do it.
Im going to write my own things.
So give me music.
Okay, so you get some creative control back, but the music is already doing well.
And also I felt like I sat in a very interesting space because I am multilingual.
Im a pop-ophile, if thats a word.
But heres the thing.
But theres no Korean person doing it.
And so I was like,Oh, let me just keep doing this.
Maybe I could become the Korean guy, the Asian guy that does it.
Youve got this new album in 2019.
Its your big pop album all in English.
And youre touring with it.
You make it to your last show in L.A. in March 2020.
And the L.A. show is not just any show.
Its supposed to be a big spotlight, but its March 2020.Yeah.
That show was supposed to be a showcase.
Do we pick them up?
Do we sign them?
Do we put out an offer?
And then, you know, we get to L.A. and everything shut down.
No shows, no gatherings.
The world shuts down.
I think if anything I had the luxury of time, to go slowly and build this gradually.
But the hardest thing is, how do we put out really good work and really quality?
It is literally me, my brother, and my other manager.
Its three of us kind of running the ship.
Its not easy at all.
You call itThere and Back Again, the record.
I think the title stands for itself.
You put out your first single, I Dont Know You Anymore.
There is a duality.
But at the same time, thats how we are as people.
Its like this constant high, low, high, low, high, low thing.
And so for me that is like a really great high where we feel good.
Like, the world is ours.
But for some reason in this album, it felt cohesive.
Ive kind of synthesized the chaos into something that feels good and generally uplifting.
Are you getting any indicators of whether or not this is working for you?
And that was my optimal choice.
And so whatever path that takes me down, the life that I have to live.
And then I just have to keep making it better.
Ill say that when it comes to being independent.
You were supposed to be a Deloitte consultant.
You bailed on it.
And now a decade later, youre trying to figure out logistics and finances.
Like, theres so many correlating cells and formulas, and Im like,Is this what life is?
Is this what being an independent musician looks like?
Have you quit K-pop?No, I dont think so.
People know me for different things in music.
Some people will know me for K-pop because thats where I started my career.
Thats where my career has derived from.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
