Unmasking the Big Phony: Interview With Bobby Choy

Putting out a single album is enough of a challenge, what prompted you to release two albums simultaneously? How have the albums been received, in comparison to your other albums?

The electronic album was made mostly because it was fun to. I recorded one track and it was a lot of fun so I made more tracks. I released the polar opposite kind of album just to point out that I’m not switching genres as an artist. I’m still a singer-songwriter at heart, singing sad songs on a cheap guitar. The acoustic album is all home recorded on a Shure Beta 58A mic, which isn’t even a recording mic. It’s a bit still too early to tell how these albums are being received. I like the way they turned out. I guess that’s all that should matter really, for me.

When you set out to create a new album, what is your creative process like? Do you sit down to write all at once, or do you let songs acuumulate until you have an entire album?

So far in my career it’s been more of an accumulation of songs when putting together albums. Although, I always have more songs ready to record than what actually makes it onto the albums. I have tons of unrecorded material. I then have to choose what I want to proceed with. It’s usually just depends on how I’m feeling at the time. Not the greatest measure on picking songs for an album. I have lots of regrets.

You’ve been living in Korea for a few years now, how different is the music scene there for you as an artist versus here in the US? Do you feel like you’re having better success in Korea?

I’m in a similar situation in Korea in that I still live month to month and am technically still a “starving artist”. I’ve just had to adjust certain survival habits based on my new surroundings. Living in Korea, I can’t help but notice that I’m using different parts of my brain. I haven’t decided yet if that’s benefited me as an artist or not. Success for me is much different than what the world might peg success as. I’m just happy that I’m still growing every day. People in Korea are more attentive at shows (excluding expats). It can be nerve racking because they see and hear every mistake but it can also make you a stronger performer. I have to say that I sometimes miss playing at loud bars when hardly anyone is listening. I can appreciate both situations though.