Interview: myfi
The band myfi, from Sydney, Australia, just released their debut single, a Christian rock song titled '5D'. Louder Than The Music caught up with the duo, James and Guyeol, to find out how they started making music together and their plans for the future.
For those who haven’t heard of you before, can you tell us a bit about yourselves and how you got involved in making music?
James:
My parents immigrated to Australia from Seoul, South Korea, and I was born in Newcastle, Australia. My father is a Pastor of a Korean/Australian Church in Newcastle ever since I was a little kid. I grew up surrounded by music at church and became involved in our church band when I was 12, playing drums or bass guitar. After graduating high school in 2011, I moved to Sydney to study Biotechnology at a university, but after 3 years, I realised my passion was for music and this is when I changed my career path in pursuing the creative arts. I studied music and sound production at a music institute and also studied filmmaking. My cousin Guyeol and I began writing music together, and also found some local artists to produce SINGLES and EP’s for them. This is when we really started to develop our craft and our work processes more solidly together.
Guyeol:
Currently in Australia and born in Korea, my name is Guyeol Yoon. I came to Australia when I was in high school and pursued to be an engineer to develop tech. However, my dream changed when I finally met Jesus during university and that’s when we named ourselves ‘My Friends and I (myfi)’.
In Korea, I was trained in classical piano and I still remember turning up to piano lessons, where I could barely reach my foot on the pedals. Then in Australia, things turned out to be more serious. I was regularly playing piano in church and formed a metal band in my friend’s garage. I was always doing something with or about music. But then, ‘Reality hits hard after school’ my parents used to say out of concern for my future. So, I got into electrical engineering in my university. Try to live a normal life? No. I met Jesus and my cousin James, who pursued the same dreams. I wouldn’t say I regret going to university. From a classical piano background to electrical engineering, the experiences and knowledge I learned has strengthened my foundations as a synth-lover. This was God’s call. Definitely.
Tell us about your new single ‘5D’ and what the inspiration behind it was?
5D (5th dimension), is a reflection of how we feel when we worship our Father in Heaven. We wanted to write and produce a track with the aim of reflecting this emotion, as we wanted to share this God given feeling of overwhelming joy. We also wanted to share some of our thoughts and experiences with God that brought us comfort. Once your Spirit is with God, it has always been with him, knowing this gives us no fear, bringing us security as we know we are eternally with him, side by side.
Do you have any plans to release further music in the near future?
Yes, we have more songs planned and are producing at this moment! So please stay tuned!
What message would you like people to take from your music?
Hope, calmness, peace and clarity. We want people who listen to ‘5D’ to find security in themselves and in God, knowing and realising that God is always with us. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, we will spend eternity with him, and eternity means that there is no point in time that it is not true. Therefore, even when both the world begins and ends, we are with him.
How would you describe your style of music and what are your influences?
Alternative, Electronic, Popular Music, hints of psychedelic tones and a combination of art-noise and band music. Our influences include, Electric Light Orchestra, Daft Punk, Darlene Zschech, ABBA, & Tatsuro Yamashita.
If you could work with any songwriter, who would it be and why?
Darlene Zschech, her ‘Shout to the Lord’ album is one of our favourite albums of all time. We love her music and her writing. If we could work with any songwriter she would be on the top of our list.
How would you define success in your career as an artist?
We define success as an artist at the point where we can create an environment for creatives to build each other up through Christ, reflecting God’s will through all creative mediums.
What is your favourite album of all time?
ABBA - Arrival (1979)
You’re stuck on an island, it’s hot, you only have enough battery life left to listen to one song on your phone. What track is it?
Hillsong United - The Time Has Come (2006)
What does next year hold for you?
Writing and producing more tracks for myfi and other artists. We’re planning for an overseas mission trip involving myfi and other artists to help teach music and worship to local churches and communities.
