Asian A.V. Club newsletter #14
It's issue 14 and we get to celebrate with Korean multi-instrumentalist Park Jiha on her feature original score debut for the sci-fi drama 'Foe'.
Park Jiha has been performing since she was 13. Trained in traditional classical Korean music at the National Gugak Center in Seoul, Jiha spent years perfecting the instruments such as the piri (double reed flute), yanggeum (hammered dulcimer) and saenghwang (mouth organ). But it wasn’t until after university did Park find the urge to create a sound that would express the musical emotions that felt true to herself.
Using soundscapes that incorporate modern sounds with her classic tools, Jiha’s beautiful atmospheric music has been hailed as post-classical to meditative innovation. Besides the release of her current album Gleam, Park is expanding her impressive career by working on her first original score for the film Foe.
Directed by Garth Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake), the sci-fi drama starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre, perfectly compliment Jiha’s ability to encapsulate the environments that inspire her music. We talked to Park a few days before she got to see her work on the big screen.
Asian A.V. Club: A lot of Asian kids were forced to learn a musical instrument when they were young and many, like me, never followed through as they got older. (laughs) Was there a moment when you were young that you realized you truly enjoyed playing music?
Park Jiha: I’ve loved music since I was really young and always felt like I wanted to be involved. But I was absolutely not thinking of any traditional instruments back then. When I was in middle school, I heard about a special program that was related with traditional instruments and I feel like that was the turning point. It was the moment where I wanted to go ahead and delve further into music.
Asian A.V. Club: That’s interesting that you were drawn to traditional music. Most young people would be listening to pop music or whatever is popular. What is it about traditional music that was so captivating? Was it the sounds of the instruments or the structure of the pieces?
Park Jiha: I was very much exposed to pop music and a lot of western classical. But there was an opportunity to try traditional instruments and it gave me the drive to play better and better. But funnily enough, the music I’m doing right now has got anything to do with traditional music. In fact, it’s very much influenced by classical and composed western music. I’m coming back to my initial musical influences right now. (laughs)
Asian A.V. Club: Because you trained in so many types of music, at what point did you start to feel confident in composing something original?
Park Jiha: Well, I got bored with the framework of traditional music and I started to feel like I could do my own thing. After I finished college, I started to create my own sounds and tried to record it. Little by little, I developed my own sort of music over the years.
Asian A.V. Club: When I hear your music, there’s this lovely minimalism that also sounds very full at the same time, how did you come to that place in the music you write?
Park Jiha: Well, that’s a bit complex to explain. (laughs) When I was studying traditional music, I was attracted by the more static, “Court Music” [a series of music played in the courts during the Joseon dynasty which utilized a fusion of ritual music and instruments] rather than the “Folk Music” which was a lot more rhythmic with strong melodies. And I felt like that was a way for me to explore something a bit more minimalistic.
Just by preference, I would rather play something that sounds beautiful, even by itself, and it doesn’t need to be artificial and helped out with a lot of elements. It’s also something that is also more in line with my personality and guides my choices in life as well. So, these choices can be reflected in the music I compose where there’s a ‘fullness’ like you said, but at the same time it’s streamed down to what is actually necessary to make the track beautiful.
Asian A.V. Club: I've seen performances of yours and I love the way that in some, you have all your instruments surrounding your immediate space, like a chef with all the ingredients handy. (laughs)
Park Jiha: (laughs) It happened progressively over time. At first, I was only using the Piri, which is the bamboo oboe, also the mouth organ called the Saenghwang. Only two instruments. But then I started to try other instruments to make sounds that would create atmospheres between the tracks.
Asian A.V. Club: How did you end up collaborating with composer Oliver Coates on the soundtrack of Foe?
Park Jiha: I had a concert a few years ago in Melbourne and a music supervisor named Jemma Burns, came to my concert. We chatted a bit and linked up. But then a few years later Jemma came back with this project. It was quite random in a way because I really never expected to do music for movies, but always wanted to. The film has lots of atmosphere and is very emotional as well, so it feels like a great fit.
With Oliver, most of the time, we composed things separately from the side, and then at the end, we’d gather up the compositions and try to help each other. Oliver works a lot with the cello, which gives a lot more depth on the bottom of the tracks, and my instruments are on the higher spectrum of the sound. So we can be good in complementing each other and we are quite happy with the final results.
Asian A.V. Club: In the film, Saoirse Ronan’s character Hen has a very close relationship with music. When you were writing the score with her in mind, can we hear something different than when we see the other characters?
Park Jiha: It’s true! When it comes to Hen, the music is very organic and pure. Garth [Davis – director] wanted something very earthy and grounded for Hen. So that’s how we approached her. But in general, there’s not a particular type of sound for the characters, it’s rather the situations and the tension at that stage in the movie.
Asian A.V. Club: I read somewhere that almost daily you take care of your musical instruments by spending some time cleaning them. What does that action do for you? Is it like meditation or does it inspire your creative side?
Park Jiha: It's not every day, (laughs) but it's when I feel like I need to. Honestly, it's a bit like when you clean up your environment because you need to get ready to work on something. Once things are cleaned up, your mind is clear and you’re now ready to focus on your stuff.
Asian A.V. Club: I guess I need to do some cleaning now. (laughs) Thank you! This was fascinating.
Park Jiha: Thank you.