Soo’s Memory Fragrance EP.1

Friday, July 28th

Childhood is fragile at its core, and it’s also something that we hardly get back as we grow older into our adult years; where instead of throwing sand around at the beach, we’re staring at the lives of new tiny humans; watching as kids play sand monsters refusing their pb&j sandwich or witnessing new and old parents comforting the bouts of infant crying at your 9-5 office job. The messy toddlers over at table 11 in the restaurant you work at.  You can’t help but smile and think about the joys of being their age, forgoing all accountability. Unfortunately,  when we get older, we gain responsibility and, at some point, some moral code;  we can’t just let our bills stack up; we have to go to work and earn money for these kids to have a good life. We’re presented with the circle of life, we see children being cared for by their presumingly tired or anxious parents, who do everything in their power to ensure a happy kid, and that’s just it- we see and empathize. Our lives are not simple. They are the most complicated things we know as humans. 

This sentiment of a faded, lost childhood is riddled all over the digital markings of Memory Fragrance, the debut vocal focused EP from the producer turned singer-songwriter, Soo. Using this record to come to terms with his childhood, Soo finally feels like he’s ready to close that chapter of his life in the past, “ I’m very nervous for the future but I’m incredibly excited to continue to grow as an artist and person, “ he says. The 9 tracks on Memory Fragrance include two tracks that were original demo releases back in 2020, “  Soo says that they were never meant to be on the EP, but that it’s just how it happened, “ ‘ Dogwood ‘ and ‘ Vast ‘ were the first two original songs i ever wrote, “ he adds that those finely aged tracks , “ just naturally made their way onto the record,” he illustrates that there’s an underlying synchronicity between the two, “ they fit this idea of an A side/B side and just felt like they belonged. “ 

In the literal sense, memory fragrance is a term used by people when referring to a specific smell that sends them back into a distant memory or feeling. However to the Young Soo, it’s so much more than that, to him engaging in memory fragrance is a time to grow and accept. Realizing the lack of faith Soo had in himself The project itself became this theory of, “ facing and accepting the past for what it is, “ Soo says that this project is, “ a testament of growth. “He was driven during the making of this record, not with creative drive, but a self disciplinary war path. He was more concerned with who he was as a person and who he wanted to become–” I recognized my shortcomings and wanted to fight for the person I want to be.. I think people might be gravitating towards me and my music because of that attitude. “ There was no idea for Memory Fragrance in the early stages of Soo’s inner-discovery, his focus was on new material using his voice, “ ‘Reincarnation’ was the first song track written and produced off the record, “ he says that the name fit perfectly with what he was going through, “ the significance of that track was the rebirth of me as an artist and not just a beatmaker. “ 

It’s never been a problem for Soo to help his homies onto the stage and I don’t think that it will ever be, but it’s not easy looking at the stage of shows, while FOMO is poking your mental, looking for breaks and lapses of self-perservistic thinking, it gets to you and too many times people don’t speak up and let their worries stop them from performing.  These feelings were all too real for Soo, yet he didn’t let them stop him. Even acknowledging his fears, Soo, “had a sense of insecurity. “ ‘ What am I without production?’ ‘ Will there be a need for me and my beats?’ were the questions rattling around in the subconscious mind of Soo. These questions soon stopped after he started testing the waters of singing. After seeing the reception of his voice, “ Everything came together and my mind was set, “ he says. It was in the latter part of 2020 songs like ‘ Dogwood ‘ and ‘ Vast “ were written and the transformation really began, “ I felt like it was time that I could separate myself from just being a producer, I slowly became obsessed with this idea of going out of my comfort zone and betting on myself.”

 The creative process to memory fragrance was grueling, in our interview Soo mentioned the mental anguish he would impose on himself, “ this process of creating, releasing and now reflecting on the album has emotionally been exhausting, “ he goes on to say that he’s never fell this deep into a project before, “ I never experienced the type of emotional and creative frustration that I felt while making this project, “ the artist does interject and closes with this sentiment, “ however, I’ve never felt this proud of myself.”  The new and improved Soo feels more confident in his voice and still hasn’t stopped working since the initial release of the album, he even has some singles being prepped in the vault, “ I feel like I’m making progress every day.. I’ve been able to do some features for songs coming up, “ humbly Soo says that it feels different seeing his name and understanding  that, “ it’s not just my production that’s featured anymore.” 

Living in his childhood home alone with his brother was a huge pillar to the Memory Fragrance project, “I can still see where my granddad would sit, where my family would play games and whatnot… that’s why I really liked the idea of the cover art being in the house.”  This is when Soo cuts deep, “ Life has drastically changed for me and my family, “ he says that the artifacts of that childhood solely belong to that house. “ As a child, young Soo had a good life, he was brought up by his mother and father.  Of an, “ odd cultural blend,” that he loved growing up as a kid. His mother’s family is from Kentucky and he describes her as, “ a very southern and country type of person,” while his father was an immigrant from Seoul. Soo strongly speaks up about his upbringing and says that, “ Being raised with a mix of traditional Korean standards and then just [the] rural American lifestyle was pretty cool to me…I remember we used to have chickens and me and my friends would have to go chase them whenever they escaped..  It was a fun time being a kid.“ A part of that fun soo experienced as a kid was from his love of sports like wrestling and football. When we got together for the Memory Fragrance Promo shoot, he showed me a collection of near mint WWE and WWF action figures, some still in the box. “ I remember loving Sean Taylor and Jeff hardy,” and even though the actions of Jeff and Sean were, “ super exciting to watch,” Soo finds it difficult to prove how they’re a great inspiration to him today, “Whenever i think about how that guy[Jeff Hardy] has inspired me today I sort of find it difficult to make the connection. “ Though by Soo’s preteen years he truly found his love of music, “ I found the music of people who changed me from a sports kind of kid to a music kid, “ the artist goes on with a list of different artists like Frank Sinatra and Chet Baker who helped Soo find his love for  jazz. Soo also mentioned some notable producers such as Elijah Who, Jinsang,  and Limes who he admits has continued to inspire him to this day. While Soo considers the reality of personal preferences, he mentions that for some people, “ it takes a lot longer to find what your tastes are, “ for Soo himself he says that it took just a little bit longer. Soo even asked his mom about his childhood musical tastes, she mentioned to him that he “ loved Coldplay and would sing songs like ‘ Fix You’ all around the house, “ Soo was always a music kid. 

Post high school was a time that Soo used to blend harsh reality with soft, seraphic tones that describe the essence of his discography. In previous years he’s worked with close friends Dale Richman and Maz; the three started a group called Wet Snare Club. Their works together include an EP, “ Live From Nowhere!” an upbeat, cypher-styled project in which Dale and Maz spit rap about race, religion, and ideologies across the world, “ I’ve honestly only ever made music with my good friends… I don’t sell my beats or anything, I like to make music with people who care about music and are just good people, “ reflecting on  the relational transaction between friends who create together, “ Dale was my first collaborator… he’s the reason I even got into making beats, “ it’s not everyday that you’re working with someone who’s as passionate as you, and Soo is humble enough to recognize devine partnering, “ I feel like i’ve been blessed to have had someone like him to lead me in the right direction, “ this wasn’t a feeling meant only for Dale Richman but  also the  other close friends that he’s worked with in the past, “ Heeliz, Maz, Spirit all great personal friends of mine that I talk to all the time, “ even on a professional level– it’s not just about the music, there’s has to be some good vibes to go along with the good tunes, he says, “ these aren’t just people who care about the music but they also care about our friendship.. I really appreciate them. “ 

 Apart from his collective works, Soo crafts up some wizardry in his at home studio. Every Wednesday you can expect something new from Soo via his YouTube account, Which is just titled soo but I always have trouble finding it, so the link is attached. Take a scroll all the way down his page and you’ll notice Dogwood was a 45-second clip posted on youtube back in 2021, but originally released as a demo on SoundCloud and Youtube in 2020 approximately 9 weeks after dropping his first youtube beat at that moment. ‘Vast’ was also dropped in 2020, but eventually taken down after about a day, Soo remembers that he was just, “ so anxious with it being out there, “ well here we are now in halfway into 2023, and Soo has close to five-thousand monthly listeners on Spotify, a cover of Haley Heyndericx’s ‘ The Bug Collector ‘ reaching a massive 2.1k views on YouTube-As this platform grows for him, allowed for some non personal friends to enter the frame of his work, “ Now my YouTube has been getting attention from people I don’t personally know and that’s helped me meet some really cool people, one that I honestly and so happy to be working with is CJ the Prince, “ the Drill Rapper has amassed a total of 2.7k subscribers on YouTube, “ he’s so talented and just down to Earth,” says Soo. Could CJ the Prince be one of the artists Soo has features with? It would definitely be interesting to hear the externally lowkey and quiet at heart, Soo is breaking his limits on a drill type of beat, nonetheless the producer, now singer-songwriter is proving that he too, belongs on the stage.