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‘Many of My songs are about My daily life. the lyrics are inspired by spontaneous feelings, rather than daydreaMs. i tend to write songs about My experiences, such as feelings of void, loneliness or jealousy.’ yukari 67 Groove Korea: how would you describe your sound? Yukari: Mellow and dreamy. how old were you when you first started creating music? When I was in college, I majored in electronic music and that is how I got my start making music with computers. Be- fore studying music, when I was younger, I used to make piano-based music for my personal practice. Where did you play your first live show? When I was majoring in music at university, there was a freshman performance at school and that was my first pub- lic performance. My first performance after the release of my debut album was in February 2013 in Hongdae, Seoul. I made many mistakes because I was nervous and I didn’t know how the audience would receive my music. Howev- er, I was really excited when my music was introduced by the renowned YouTube channel Eat Your Kimchi during their Korean Indie Playlist segment; this video has now had more than 25,000 views. Do you write often? Would you consider yourself poetic? Yes, I spend most of my days making sketch music. I love reading poetry and write it as well, but it is hard to say if I’m a poetic person. Maybe I am just a sensitive girl. What types of things do you sing about? Many of my songs are about my daily life. The lyrics are inspired by spontaneous feelings, rather than daydreams. I tend to write songs about my experiences, such as feelings of void, loneliness or jealousy. tell us about your seven-track album “echo.” My friend took the album cover picture and designed the album jacket. All of the rest, the writing, recording, mixing and mastering, I did myself. have you faced any challenges as an independent elec- tronic musician in Korea? We don’t have many chances to play electronic music in Korea, compared to rock or club music. However, electronic music is becoming more popular and I believe that it will con- tinue to gain popularity. how has your music developed and changed over the years? My debut album, “Echo,” is my first, and since I released it I have mostly focused on music for my live performances. Currently, I haven’t completed any new tracks, so you will have to wait and see. Which artists inspire/influence your sound? Bill Evans, Portishead, Lali Puna and many, many more. What are you listening to at the mo- ment? I am listening to a song by Tim Hutton called “Colors.” My top three songs right now are Bill Evans’ “Waltz for Debby,” Jo- anna Newsom’s “Peach, Plum, Pear” and Rachel’s “Last Things Last.” Do you have any other creative endeav- ors or hobbies? I spend most of my time listening to mu- sic and I love to read, too. Right now I am reading “Status Anxiety” (2004) by Alain de Botton, which touches on love, poetry, mystery, psychology and philosophy. Your name is Japanese; are you Japanese? I am Korean; I just borrowed my name from the eucalyptus plant, which koalas like to eat. I really like koalas, but the name has no special meaning. have you found success in both Korea and Japan? I only just recently released my album “Echo” in Japan, and I hope that the album will be successful there. What do you have planned for the future? I am planning to rest for a while and then I will focus on producing a new album. And possibly, I would like to be able to have a live performance outside of Korea. More info Website: yukari.bandcamp.com