“I was at sitting at home, daydreaming about beautiful sunny summer days, barbecues, gatherings of friends, and that song “My Life” came to me,” Leesun, a Canadian Korean British singer-songwriter recalls how wrote one of her most popular songs. In this chat with Stellar Woman Magazine she shares her inspirations and how her multicultural upbringing influences her sound.
You are a Canadian Korean British singer-songwriter. Tell us about your multi-cultural upbringing.
My parents are Korean and emigrated to Canada when I was just 5 months old. I grew up in Canada, in southern Ontario, attending far too many schools (11 schools between ages 4 and 17). My experience, like so many Canadians, was one of being non-white in a culture where somehow the norm seemed defined as white.
Being second generation Canadian meant that most of the time I couldn’t relate to the culture that soaked through every school lesson, everything in the media. Learning to speak English at age 4 when I started kindergarten was a memorable experience. So right from my childhood, my experience was one of being different.
I moved to the UK in 2001 after meeting a British man online, falling in love, and marrying him. And now I’ve been in the UK for nearly 20 years! I feel completely Canadian, but also profoundly connected to my Korean heritage, but I also became a British citizen in 2006 which feels right also, considering how a significant portion of my life has been lived in the UK.
What interested you to do music?
I grew up in the Christian church where singing was a huge part of worship. I loved singing, as so many children do, without really thinking about it. To sing felt as natural to me as reading or speaking. Then my mother signed me up for piano lessons when I was 8, and I continued learning classical piano all the way to university. I studied Classical Piano at UBC in Vancouver and started songwriting then. And that quickly became a passion, for so very many reasons, which I won’t go into this moment, but I will say, simply, it was like scratching an itch. Deeply satisfying, and irresistible.
What inspired and shaped your sound or genre?
Probably classical music and contemporary Christian worship music and hymns were a big influence, since I don’t really listen to music, but that was what I was exposed to growing up.
When I was at university, a boyfriend introduced to me a range of current music. He gave me a sort of brief introduction to various songs and artists and bands. And throughout the years this informal musical education has continued as friends send me songs to listen to from time to time.
Though I appreciate and admire a lot of these songs and artists, I very rarely listen to music at all, so I am inspired by lots of random things I come across, like books or encounters with people, or thoughts that occur while walking.
Your song ‘My Life’ is a beautiful ode to living authentically. What inspired the creation of this record?
I was at sitting at home, daydreaming about beautiful sunny summer days, barbecues, gatherings of friends, and that song “My Life” came to me, it was like a soundtrack to the daydream. Generally that’s how I write, songs and music start playing in my mind, and I listen and write them down.
When I heard “My Life”, I was deep in the feeling of celebration in my daydream. Celebrating being free, being with friends, sharing yummy food and being outside in good weather. The exhilaration of that. And the boldness of enjoying the moment, no apologies for anything, especially no apologies for being yourself.
‘Singing You This Song’ is about heartbreak. In what place were you as you created that album?
The songs on that album were drawn from a number of years of songwriting. So it’s not from one place, or one heartbreak. But it’s interesting you hear the whole album as being about heartbreak. I think you’re right, there is a lot of pain and suffering expressed in that album. And overcoming. A lot of those songs were written because I needed a way to process experiences that I found very hard. Writing those songs helped me get to a better place.
‘It Is What It Is’ is so captivating and has a deep and yet profound message for anyone who would like to learn more about acceptance and enjoying what life presents? Was this the intention? Please elaborate
Yes that was exactly the intention! I wrote that as a sort of homage to Jon Kabat Zinn who teaches mindfulness meditation. I got into mindfulness after watching his Google talk on YouTube. So many of his teachings have had a profound impact on me, and helped me get grounded.
One key idea of mindfulness is the idea of not striving, but observing and accepting everything that is in the moment. I love that idea, and in It Is What It Is, I’m trying to communicate that in a way that people can really get hold of.
And the whole song is an invitation to just try it, try letting go of striving in the moment, just rest in the moment. “Nothing to fight or chase or try to change” for me beings such a sense of relief.
You seem to have a global audience. How has this evolved? Any key success factor?
Oh gosh, have I?! That’s news to me actually!
For my whole life since starting songwriting, I have mostly concentrated on becoming a functional adult, being able to manage my day to day life.
After that I focused on finding a way to create music and release it independently.
This year I am finally taking that next vital step, where I am reaching out and openly connecting with people with whom I can share my music. This is a huge breakthrough for me, and I am finding it really empowering! I’m not sure about my audience yet, but this year I am going to find them and connect with them!
My main strategies for that are continuous building, performing and engaging on Clubhouse, and also learning from Cheryl B Engelhardt who does brilliant coaching in this area for independent artists. I am a member of Cheryl’s music mentoring and mastermind program, Amplify, and am learning so much through that.
Lockdowns have been hard on artists and performers. How have you kept yourself sane and creative through it?
Lockdown has been a good time for me to really clarify what’s important to me. I ask myself questions like, “What is one thing that if I did it today and every day, it would change my life?” And if something is stressing me out in the moment, I ask myself if that thing is a life changing thing. If not, I leave it for the moment and go do something that is potentially a life changing habit. Like reading or exercising or learning something from an online program.
I think learning something each day has been the most important thing for me throughout lockdown.
And for the past couple of months, playing music live on Clubhouse and creating rooms for live performances of original music on Clubhouse have also been hugely important to my sanity and creativity!
What has challenged you most on your journey as an artist so far? How have you managed to persevere?
Generating funding to create music is an ongoing challenge. Thankfully there’s a lot that I can do at home, without funding. But there is also an awful lot that I want to do, which I don’t have the resources for. Like many artists, I have funded my music production by doing other work. But that takes up a huge amount of time and energy, so it’s tricky getting the balance right of having enough other work so that I can live and fund music production, without letting that take up all my time and distract me from my passion.
Are there artists from whom you draw inspiration? Please share and why?
I am currently so inspired by countless artists I have met on Clubhouse, and also the artists from my music accountability group. Because they are trying every day in every way to live their passion, to share their deepest truest selves, often requiring enormous dedication and perseverance and self belief, and they do that while bringing great compassion and whole hearted support to others.
If I were to make a list, it would be about 50 artists! And that’s probably something for another day, another place.
But for now, I will name one artist I met through Clubhouse, Caitlin Charters, as well as one artist not on Clubhouse (and not independent), Corinne Bailey Rae.
They both inspire me with their music, their tremendous talent, and their huge hearts. Caitlin hasn’t released any music yet, and I know that is the only reason why her music has not blown up all over the place yet. Watch out world, she is a force to be reckoned with!
What does the future look like for the LeeSun brand?
The future looks brighter all the time for the LeeSun brand!! The more I pour love into what I have RIGHT NOW, and the more I work with what I’ve got to create the things I most deeply long for, the brighter the future becomes for my brand. Because the future is built every single day in the here and now, using what we’ve got.
Right now, the future looks like a new album release within the next couple of months, of intimate acoustic piano and vocal performances, like the songs I perform on Clubhouse. And I am also toying with the idea of recording and releasing albums of affirmations, meditations, and soundtracks to help people fall asleep.
Any women who have helped you on your journey?
Many teachers in elementary school and university, who simply believed in me. And dear friends now who also believe in me. It makes all the difference to have people close to you who believe in you. Though of course the closest person to me is myself! So I need to regularly check that I am wholeheartedly believing in myself too.
What would you love to add to your life to make you feel more Stellar?
I would love to add a female one-to-one coach to my life.
What advice would you give any woman aspiring for a more stellar woman life?
Dream dream dream about your stellar self and your stellar life, and write down your dreams as though it was all true. Then read it aloud and enjoy the rush you get from that.
Dream with no limits and keep asking yourself what you truly want.