CPICA, I still want to be a little stubborn.

[Seoul = Newsis] Reporter Jaehoon Lee = The music of electronic-pop artist CIFIKA (Cho Yoo-seon) is not simply electronic sound. She appeared like a thunderbolt on the free global music sharing platform ‘Sound Cloud’ in November 2015 and has been unfolding a different dimension of electronic music with a worldview that encompasses humanities, philosophy, and science.

The proof is the regular album ‘ION’, which was released last March and showed ‘resilience’. Examining the duality of emotions through a crossbreeding of fantasy and science. By linking the ever-changing nature of entropy, the music erupts in dissonance and then digs into the balanced harmony of life. Capturing the harmless value of life through conflicting terms. This is a place of awareness that CPICA presents to us through music.

CPICA also showed this scene at the ‘DMZ Peace Train Music Festival 2023’ held in Goseokjeong, Cheorwon, Gangwon-do on the 2nd. He was bold and kind enough to take off the t-shirt he was wearing and throw it to a fan who remembered the song he first uploaded to SoundCloud. Her inclinations were very similar to her own music. The following is a Q&A with CPICA that we met just before the performance that day.

-This is your first time appearing on DMZ Peace Train. It is a festival with a different flavor from existing festivals, so it suits Mr. CPICA better.

“There aren’t many festivals in Korea that perfectly match my musical style. DMZ Peace Train had a very interesting lineup. I really liked the fact that artists of various ages participated, so I really wanted to participate.”

-What makes it interesting that different age groups come together?

“Usually, music events held in Korea seem to focus on young people. But DMZ Peace Train has a wide range of visitors, from the artist line-up to the audience. It’s an atmosphere where people all hang out and have fun together. Upon arrival (at the entrance to Goseokjeong), there is a fountain. I came to see the scene in front. It was impressive to see not only young people, but also children and local elders dancing together (to the music played by the DJ). It was a sight that could not be seen in Seoul, so I felt very good. The performance was impressive. “I haven’t even started. Haha.”

-You performed in various spaces, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Hyundai Card Understage, and Daehakro Theater Quad. There were many comments that the Quad performance (a black box theater) was very good.

“I really like the format with no back and forth, so I want to do it again. The sound resonance in the space was captured well, and the engineer did a great job. The stage itself, with no beginning and end, was also very interesting. So, I just walked around during the performance. The audience “It was very fair because you could see not only the front of the artist, but also the side and back, and the sessions that were on stage together looked at the spot from each angle. I hope there will be more stages like that.”

-I think you will worry more about the three-dimensional effect of the sound in an open space like a festival.

“For this festival, I prepared for the previously released song by making the spatial system a little wider and adding effects to create an atmosphere that resonates further. Rather than making the sound sharp, it has a lot of resonance, making it look like an echo. “I wanted to give it to you.”

-I think architectural structure is important in electronic music.

“I’m not the type of person to compose in a structured or calculated way. But it’s important to know the structure of space. Gangwon-do is inside a mountain. So I wanted to make it sound like a mountain sound or an echo.”

-That kind of energy is also in line with the entropy you conveyed through your masterpiece ‘ION’, which was released in the first half of this year.

“In fact, thermodynamically, this space can only expand. So it has no choice but to spread out. There are not many buildings, so there is nothing to bounce off in the middle.”

– Mr. CPICA has consistently had an interest in physics, chemistry, and astronomy, and has reflected this in his music.

“I watch related documentaries or read science magazines. The most impressive thing I read recently was the James Webb Space Telescope (humanity’s largest infrared space telescope). Watching news about ‘what materials are made of galaxies that we haven’t seen?’ I love it so much. I don’t have any professional knowledge, but if I had been more interested in studying when I was young, I probably would have become an astrophysicist. But I like music so much… haha. So I try to relate the universe to music a lot. Lyrics Additionally, when composing music, I often set the background to space.”

-Is there a reason why you are so interested in the material universe and nature?

“It’s a very easy subject to get inspiration from. Since nature is infinite, you can get infinite ideas. In some ways, I think it’s not because I like nature so much, but because it’s the fastest, easiest, and original way to get inspiration from nature.”

-Is it related to efficiency?

“Yes, it’s efficient. You can get inspiration quickly. Since even a single leaf is different, it’s easiest to get ideas from nature.”

-Since you value diversity so much, be flexible about collaboration. You recently worked with Red Velvet’s Seulgi, and previously worked with Hyukoh’s Oh Hyuk and Shin Hae-kyung.

“I don’t have any bias towards genres. I’m the type of person who just decides to work on something if I like the music, the musician, or the idea the musician brings.”

-I think the basis of that decision is purity.

“Actually, I am losing my innocence little by little. I am trying my best to keep my innocence, but there are many things I have to give up to maintain my innocence.”

-Domestic popular music tends to lean in one direction, so I think it won’t be easy to achieve that balance. I think Mr. CPICA can definitely create songs that have commercial appeal.

“I tried to make music that was popular, but that wasn’t the path I wanted to take. So that’s always something I’m worried about. I was thinking about it today too. Making money by making something that people will like is very different from the meaning of when I first started making music. “I do receive commercial offers. Obviously, if I work with an idol production company, my name can become known quickly. But that’s because I participated in idol music. It’s not under my name. I still want to be more stubborn (in this direction).”

-Then, when has it been the most rewarding time to make music in the direction that Spica believes in?

“It’s when artists I’ve always wanted to collaborate with willingly agree to collaborate or make suggestions first. I feel like it’s rewarding to have come this far while continuing to protect what I have. And actually, I feel it even more when I go abroad. The atmosphere is good and the response was really good. It’s calm. I would say it feels like they’re supporting the path I’m making.”

-The appeal of Mr. CPICA’s music is that it combines auditory and visual elements to provide synesthetic imagery.

“Yes, to me, the auditory and visual are as attached as the body and mind. It’s a bit funny, but even if the musical perfection is a little less, the visual can make up for it. When the music is too difficult or strong to understand, the visual is the way to go. Parts can be alleviated. So hearing and vision are complements that balance each other. In fact, I studied art longer. (Cipika majored in advertising art at an American university.)

-The main message of your second full-length album ‘Eon’ released last March was ‘Resilience’. What did this album mean to you?

“First of all, I spent a lot of energy recovering. I put a lot of effort into restoring my sanity, which had collapsed over the past few years, and this album feels like I’m giving it back to the people who have been waiting for my music, so it’s really full of energy.. In the previous album, I revealed my tastes more. I said, ‘I like this kind of thing, and I think this way.’ But this time, I focused on conveying, ‘I was like this.’ So, before, it was a future If it was oriented, this is a past-tense album. Before making this album, I experienced frustration for the first time. I think the biggest inspiration for this album is my mental strength that I was able to recover. The source of that mental strength in recovery was in the past. That’s right.”

-As many other people have mentioned before, Mr. CPICA’s music is multidimensional. I have high expectations about what level the future project will take.

“First of all, there are two projects I want to do. One is an EP with ‘Hyper pop’ influence. The other is called Choir Music, which combines choral music with ambient and electronic music. Choir Music is a foreign music genre. I took this idea from the fact that when performing in a remote location, the sessions cannot always be together. I started with the idea of ​​having several people copy me and saying, ‘Let me do my session.’ But this also has to be solved visually. So, we also created things like holograms. “I’m planning it.”

-It sounds like a lot of fun. Mr. Sipika, I think you are really full of ideas.

“Because it’s my job.”

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