AAA is the collaborative album between Seoul's HYUKOH and Taipei's Sunset Rollercoaster. For both bands, the project marks the beginning of a new chapter after four years away from the limelight.
In early 2020, HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster members briefly chatted while passing through Tokyo. Their evening of mutual affection led to featuring on each other's upcoming projects, but the longing for something more integrated remained. It wasn't until 2023 that they took the time to participate in a one-of-a-kind songwriting camp in Gapyeong. Both bands sequestered themselves from the outside world, and participated in long sessions of jamming and improvisation, letting their creativity flow and following whatever path the music led them down. The results were AAA, later refined throughout the year across Seoul, Jeju Island, and countless email threads.
AAA is a soundscape of wild experimentation. Melodic vocals and psychedelic instrumentation gracefully weave in and out of the eight tracks. For both bands, it was vital to be unshackled from anything linear. Instead, the project communicates the ineffable nature of feelings, bypassing cultural contexts and the limitations of language. As a self-described troupe of musical wanderers, the collective spent the last two months completing its first tour to bring their music on stages across Asia.
Below is our interview with OHHYUK (HYUKOH) and Kuo (Sunset Rollercoaster) about AAA, first impressions, and the process of collaborating.
Eastern Standard Times:
How would you introduce yourself now? What is the most important thing to know about who you are today?
Kuo:
I'll introduce myself as a lead singer, guitarist and music producer from Sunset Rollercoaster and the owner of my label Sunset Music.
OHHYUK:
I'm OHHYUK from HYUKOH and I play guitar, sing, and I am also the producer for HYUKOH. While he (Kuo) owns his own label, I’m on the label DooRooDooRoo and I mainly focus on the creatives.
Eastern Standard Times:
What were your first impressions of each other?
Kuo:
Shy, but still brave. He does things. Just in a shy way.
OHHYUK:
Very clever and talented, and very smart. When I first met him, I immediately realized he’s something really different, and he does his job very well.
Eastern Standard Times:
Both group’s last releases were in 2020. Why did this feel like the right comeback project?
Kuo:
It was really exciting. From the beginning, we didn't expect that we were going to do such a big project.
We just thought we were going to just make some music, maybe two songs, three songs, a small special EP. But slowly the ambitions started growing during the process.
OHHYUK:
I remember from 2017 to 2018, suddenly there were so many collaborations happening. I wanted to collaborate with the other musicians, but I didn’t want to make just one single or one track, and when I asked him (Kuo) to make an album, he agreed. I think it’s a very interesting collaboration, and was something I was waiting for.
Eastern Standard Times:
Did you feel nervous about releasing music again?
OHHYUK:
Are you nervous?
Kuo:
No, not really.
OHHYUK:
Yeah, me too.
Eastern Standard Times:
What are your memories of the first songwriting camp at Music Village 1939 in Gapyeong?
OHHYUK:
Uh, the food was… bad.
Kuo:
It's a small town. And I think we didn’t expect we were going to have really good food over there, but in the end, we found that we were eating the same food over and over again during the whole week. But I don't care about the food because we somehow still made really good music. So even though the food was bad, I think it was still worth it.
Eastern Standard Times:
What is the process like creating music with ten different musicians? Did you approach every song in the same way?
Kuo:
We created four songs in our jamming sessions in Gapyeong. And the other eight songs we created on the internet, file swapping. We also went to a friend's house, and he had tons of synthesizers set up, so OH and I just jammed over there and finished the arrangement of 'Antenna' (also listed as 'Aaaannnnteeeeennnaaaaaa'). I would say we had a lot of different approaches to making the album.
Eastern Standard Times:
How did traveling to Seoul and Jeju Island influence the songwriting process?
Kuo:
When we went to Jeju Island, the album was almost done actually. We somehow agreed to make one more song over there, but we still don't know what to do with it yet.
OHHYUK:
The trip was actually a vacation. It was snowing, so we were stuck in the Airbnb, but there was a pool, and nobody was swimming. So we just used the pool as a reverb hole, and we were recording in the swimming pool and some other rooms. It was really fun.
Eastern Standard Times:
What does ‘AAA’ mean to each of you?
OHHYUK:
Something good.
Kuo:
Something reliable, trustworthy. Your time is guaranteed.
Even though English is not our native language, somehow we still make music in English. We love the way we approached it and tried to build a space for all our written lyrics. We tried to describe a situation so it isn’t a narrative and everybody can project their own idea about the music or the album.
I think AAA has multiple meanings and everybody can put their own idea into it. That’s how we interact with people.
Eastern Standard Times:
During an interview in 2020, Kuo talked about music being its own language that connects people. Why does this idea resonate so much with both of you?
OHHYUK:
Because we are from different cultural backgrounds, even though I can speak Mandarin, we still have little differences. But music is really simple. If you play something, then you know whether it’s good or bad. I think this kind of approach makes everything easier.
Kuo:
I think music is a language for sure. It‘s even built into our genes or animal instincts; when you hear something, you will get emotional feedback from it. So it's a certain kind of communication, subconsciously, I would say. So that's why I think everybody has this ability to communicate, even through music or frequencies.
And I think that that's why we have this bond to make music, I think our frequencies somehow match together.
Eastern Standard Times:
How are Australian audiences different from other crowds?
Kuo:
We’ve been to Australia before. And I think in Asia, our fans are usually more quiet, but every time we go to Western countries, especially Australia, people get more excited. Australia is kind of special because it's mixed with Western countries and Asian countries, but I can tell people get more excited.
I think people move their bodies with the music more. In Taiwan, people just sit there and it feels like they're judging us. They're happy inside, exploding inside, but the way they enjoy the show is by staring at us and judging us, and that’s how it is.
Eastern Standard Times:
Where would you love to perform next?
Kuo:
Antarctica. Play to some whales.
OHHYUK:
Actually, India.
Kuo:
Oh yes, he wants to go to India.
OHHYUK:
I’ve never been, so I really want to have a show in India.
Eastern Standard Times:
What’s something we don’t know about each of you?
Kuo:
My and OH’s birthday is only one day different. Mine’s October 6th.
OHHYUK:
And mine’s October 5th.