Name: Lim Kim
Nationality: South Korean
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Lim Kim will perform at 2024's Reeperbahn Festival. For more information about the Korea spotlight of the event and for buying tickets, go here.
Recommendations: Recently, I went to Do Ho Suh's exhibition in Seoul and thought it was brilliant. He creates architecture and installations that ask questions about the enigma of home and identity. His artwork made me think about something that I hadn't thought about.
Also I’m listening to Aaliyah’s music recently. Her music and visuals really inspire me in many ways.

If you enjoyed this Lim Kim interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

When I’m making music I listen to it with my eyes closed. When I close my eyes, I can feel the image. I try to express it with the music more vividly.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

I think I am most drawn to the energy of it. I think it’s something that makes me react instinctively.

When the energy and whole vibe are really strong, I’m drawn to it instantly.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I think it was some kind of escaping to another space. I used to listen to a lot of neo soul, R&B, and pop music while walking around the streets and it made me feel something else from what I see everyday.

But now it’s became more like an outlet of my expression. When I started making my own music, I deep dived with what I really wanted to express and that changed my perspective on music.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

I think I’m proud of the track "바람아" which was the first time I wrote the topline and lyrics myself. I think I really went with the flow easily and it was fun to actually make music.



I'm also proud of the GENERASIAN project because it was the first album that I made it for 3 years independently.

What is your current your studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

I think when I’m creating I need a space that makes me feel chill and comfortable.

So I try to make it cozy rather than looking like a studio.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

I released a single in February and me and my producer started working on it 2 months before. It was originally a demo from Generasian project which had been written about 5 years ago. When we listened to it again during a session, it felt good. So we decided to build from there.



Ejae added toplines , No-identity arranged the beat and I wrote lyrics. We finished it in 3 days which was a crazy schedule. But it was a fun experience.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

I think routine is quite important to me in daily life. It makes space for me to think creatively and bring energy. I feel like it’s one of the most important things to keep me going.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

Yeah I think I try to maximize some parts of my personality through music. I think I have a rebel side of me and I express it quite strongly through my music sometimes.

Sometimes people are surprised by it because I don’t look that way in daily life haha.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

100% agree with her. As a musician, I think, you get to choose and express what kind of music you want to make and show to the audience.

There are so many ways to do it - and it could be anything.

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

It could be. But it doesn’t have to be. If I have a strong will to talk about societal purpose I can do that. But it’s not because I have to.

I think it’s really about who I am at that time and what I want to express through music.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

I think everybody has a different take on everything and I respect that. Even if I try to persuade people to hear it in a certain way, it doesn’t work like that.

So I just let it go after I release it.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I think every sound has the potential to be musical. You could sample them somehow.

I love being in the woods, with the cicada singing around me. Also the sound of fireworks makes me feel excited.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I think it’s about how you see everything around you and how much it inspires you. I think there’s always some kind of sound that could be turned into inspiration.

But on the other hand, when there’s absolutely no sound and silence comes in, I get to focus on the sound in my head. So both have different roles to me.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Well, I think when I’m making music either it could be created just naturally - without trying so hard to express something - or by really focusing a specific  expression and trying hard to realise it into its best possible form.

But on my current projects, I was the latter one.I think it takes time to digest all the thoughts that are in my head and make them clear. I think it happens when I have certain themes that I want to express at that time.

What is a music related question that you would like to ask yourself – and what's your answer to it?

As a listener, what are the elements that makes you think a great track or an artist?

For me, I’m attracted to an artist and their music when the world they show with their music is vivid.

It’s really interesting that I could experience their world through music because it’s a perspective that I never thought of.