HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster
By Diem Nguyen
In May 2023, HYUKOH and Sunset Rollercoaster teamed up for a one-of-a-kind songwriting camp at Music Village 1939 in Gapyeong to kick off a musical collaboration.
During the making, the musicians tentatively called the project AAA, which was the name of the car insurance company that Sunset Rollercoaster took out during their first tour in the States; it is also the grading standard to evaluate qualified hotels and the best water quality; and, too, an abbreviation of All Areas Access.
You share a long friendship and have worked together before with ‘Candlelight’ and ‘Help’. Can you talk about the collaborative process of creating AAA? Were there any unexpected challenges in bringing together two different groups?
OHHYUK (HYUKOH): I think from the beginning the whole journey was very smooth. The only thing were cultural differences. We are both from Asia, but still, we have different cultural backgrounds. With the communication, we had a little difficulty, but now it's all good.
Kuo (Sunset Rollercoaster): I can explain more in a little bit of detail. I think in the Korean way, the way they work, they really follow the protocol. So they need to work step by step. The decision making process is step by step. But from Taiwan's side, we are more random. We are more like ‘I want to do this now!’ But they need to communicate in a more detailed way. So, I think there's a certain point that we all feel like we have already decided on Taiwan's side, but we need to wait for their reply. And sometimes they will give the Taiwan team the answer, yes, but a few days later, the answer will be the opposite. And a few days later, the answer will be the opposite one more time. But I think that's because the way communication works is a little bit different. But now, since we know each other's working methods, we all have this kind of patience to wait. So everything's good now.
While working on AAA, did you discover anything surprising about the other or learn anything new about yourself and your approaches to music making?
Kuo: After working with OH, I do have more confidence about my singing. I think in the future in Sunset Rollercoaster music, everybody can hear my vocals a little bit more.
OH: And I actually learned a lot from Kuo, but mainly how to treat people, cause he's a boss.
Kuo: And you're a boss too actually.
OH: Yeah, just a tiny boss. My label is called DooRooDooRoo, the DooRooDooRoo boss really respects him as a musician and a businessman. So a lot, but mainly how to treat people and how to communicate with the people and how to respect your team.
Do you have any plans to create another collaborative album? If you do, how do you imagine the second album would look, feel and sound like?
Kuo: I think so. But after this tour, I think we are going our separate ways first. We are going to just finish our own music and after that, maybe we'll come back. We've been talking about it, because even though AAA is an album and a two band collaboration, in the future we want to make it into a collective group, so we can invite more people and more artists to come in, and we can work together on new stuff. Maybe in the future, it won't be the typical band stuff. It could be something else, but we'll see how it goes.
Music can transcend the boundaries of language, and it acts as a glue and connector. What excites you the most about bringing the AAA Tour to global fans?
Kuo: I think we can show the possibilities of music and the possibilities of these kinds of creative ideas. And even though we are still an indie band, we are already exploring something else. And in the future, I think we'll explore more. So I think it's about this kind of courage. If you want to do something, you definitely can and you definitely need to work hard, but somehow you can conquer it.