Behind the Tunes with Zoe Ko

music /

Jun 23

“For me growing up, music was just always there whenever I needed it. So I guess I want my music to be the same for whoever listens to it.”

This past May, Nicole got a chance to sit down with budding pop artist, Zoe Ko (she/her)! A New Yorker at her core, Zoe is the quintessential example of an artist who “does it herself”. From hopping into the studio, to self-directing music videos, to being in charge of the creation of all promotional materials, to being the brains behind her release strategies, Zoe encompasses the drive that is absolutely imperative for any artist who is attempting to get put on the map while the industry continues to become hyper-saturated. In this edition of Behind the Tunes, Zoe Ko takes us specifically behind the music video of her newest single “The Line”.

Nicole: Let's dive in! Where are you from? Where'd you grow up? And what are you doing right now?

Zoe: I was technically born in Portland but I moved to New York when I was two. Just truly a New Yorker. Every time I go somewhere else, I’m like, well, I’m a New Yorker. I traveled from Queens to Manhattan every single day on the train for an hour back and forth. And that was like my little private time throughout the day, so I would just start writing, dancing, and just screaming while running around the train. It was like my playground and those were my little New Yorker moments as a kid.

I went to middle school and high school at the School of the Future. It’s on 22nd and Lexington.

I got early admission acceptance into Clive at NYU so I just have been there doing my thing. I took a leave of absence at one point and then started to come back during the pandemic… everything got a little hectic.

I have a lot of different interests and hobbies but music has always been the main thing that I've gravitated towards as a person. I started writing songs at 12. I actually wrote my first song when my grandpa passed away. I just think I couldn't process it in any other way, so I wrote a song about it.

I got to perform it at his funeral, that was my first public performance too.

It was so moving being able to connect with my family and everyone else who was there in that way. I think like, I don't know, something about that feeling, I was never able to let it go, so I have been writing ever since.

I would just write little songs and verses in my journals and my notebooks at school or on the train. I started professionally recording songs at 13, just to get the experience. I used those songs to apply to the FMM (Future Music Moguls) program at Clive Davis (NYU). This was their high school program so that's where I really got the full scope of what being in the music industry was like. I guess that proved to me that I really could go into the music industry. That was pretty cool. I decided I wanted to be an artist or a songwriter. I've just been writing and working ever since.

In freshman year of college, I got invited to come to LA and work with a co-producer there. Since then, I've been doing sessions to really try to find my personal sound and who I want to be as an artist.

Before the pandemic, I was doing sessions every day, just writing about a thousand songs. The pause that came with the pandemic itself allowed me to really look back at all the work I had done previously to figure out just exactly what I wanted to say ando overall who I wanted to be as an artist. After that period of time, I came back to NYU and started working more heavily with my co-writer and co-producer, Gerry Lange. We just went at it. We just made a whole bunch of songs and "Line" was the first one of those to come out. So that is kind of where I'm at now.

Nicole: Okay, sick. So you've been doing this for a long time! I love that. Was there anything in particular, like family influences or was it just New York that kind of made you gravitate towards music? Did you have any particular experiences from when you were younger that kind of put that bug in your brain?

Zoe: In general, my family is sort of musical. I think music was just kind of always playing in the background. Growing up, I was an only child so when my mom was out or working or whatever, I would just be home alone. I wasn't really allowed to watch TV and stuff so I would just listen to music. I would dance around and write songs over instrumental tracks on CDs that we got from the library. I think music has just always been there, kind of like my best friend or something that grew up with me. I've just been writing forever. I don't really know where it came from. I used to write poetry all the time to go to sleep with my mom and then eventually the poems turned into songs.

Nicole: That is so sweet. You've been recording for a very long time but "Line" is the one song that you've got out at the moment. What was your process of writing that song? Talk me through the “rebrand”.

Zoe: I've always been making music and stuff, but I never figured out what I wanted to do, or what my actual sound was. I just loved music and I made music all the time. But I think "Line" was the first song that I was like, “Oh shit, this is who I am. This is exactly me in audio form.” "Line" was just a gut instinct. I was like, this has to be the first song. This is me. So this is the first song off of the new project. I was into R&B as a kid, I made a lot of soul or blues-y music. Then I pivoted into this super pop, Julia Michaels-Taylor Swift thing which turned into more of a rock-pop thing, which just all blended into this kind of pop alternative vibe I have now.

📸: @meghan.marshall
assist: @chloedugourdphotography

Nicole: I love it. Especially the video, it's just so New York. So, what is it about New York? Is there an influence that New York has on your sound? Why did you choose New York and the subway for this setting of "Line"?

Zoe: I think New York has always just felt like home. There's such an acceptance where you can just completely be yourself and it just doesn't matter. No one is gonna judge you. You can see someone next to you in their underwear, and you're like, “hey, how are you doing?” I think I’ve always felt so free to explore anything and everything here. In the same way, there's something about New York that because it is so public, it's incredibly private. It's like your own little special, safe place. That's kind of like the subway as well. I was the last stop on the R train and it would get completely empty for like the last 10 stops. I was on this incredibly public, scary exposed train, but it kind of just became a little fort-esq place or something to myself. So I think that's kind of like how I've always seen it. It's so public, and it's so big and scary that it's just actually not big and scary at all.

**we both laugh**

Nicole: What was your experience putting together a video and deciding to create something visual for a song? Why is it important for you to have a visual aspect to your music?

Zoe: Throughout my whole project with my team, any creative aspect of it, I've always kept those parts very close to me and with close people that I know. I usually make things with other students or young people. I made the music video with my friend Benjy Berkowitz, who's a DP and a colorist. My friend Jane Tung helped out on set, she held up the phone to play the music.

**we both laugh**

I directed it and edited it. It was just us and that's pretty much gonna be the same thing for the next multiple videos. You know, just keeping it super small, organic, and close to home. That's kind of like how NYU has been for me. I just work with my friends. I think that's really special to work with people your age, being in the same mental and physical space.

I always want to make a music video for every song. That's why keeping it really low budget is really important if I am going to make some sort of visual for each song. I really want to create a world within my brand that intertwines my community and music. I think you can't really do that too well if you don't have visuals, so I’m definitely creating a vision. That world is important to me.

Nicole: It's awesome to hear that you're so motivated and focused on those aspects too. It is a lot of work, but you are doing it!

Zoe: So true, you really have to do all the legwork.

Nicole: It’s nuts. But it's exciting that you're tapping into the hungry New York network as well.

Zoe: I also forgot to mention the whole reason for "Line" being in the subway and everything. So I told you a little bit about how I would song-write on the train, that was my safe space. I wrote "Line" in a studio, but I definitely finished some of the lines on the R train which is the route I always take. I also recorded the R train sound and used it in the song. There’s the little ‘bing bong’ of the doors closing in the beginning and there's the “and the next stop is” at the very end of the song which is just super cute. One of the lyrics in the pre-chorus is “we were riding on the subway line, when you said it doesn't change things.” I’ve had so many interactions and conversations on the train and that was just kind of that moment. In general, the entire metaphor of “are you willing to ride my line” is just you know, are you willing to accept all of me and go down this crazy path? I thought it was cool to reference taking a train line to the very last stop.

Nicole: Obviously, there's just so much music out there right now but who are your biggest influences, current or past?

Zoe: I think my absolute biggest inspiration most recently has been Holly Humberstone. There’s something about how real and timeless her music was, it really touched me. I love Baby Queen, Girl In Red… Lana Del Rey has always been a big influence for me. Gracie Abrams is a huge favorite. I love Wolf Alice and Sunflower Bean. And of course, Olivia Rodrigo.

Nicole: A good range! We love it! Could you describe your aesthetic or your style in three words?

Zoe: I'm gonna go with alternative, thrifted/up-cycled, and moody.

Nicole: I do want to say, congratulations on all of the amazing playlists that “Line” has been put on!! Fresh Finds?? That's insane. Insane! And I know I keep mentioning that the market is really saturated. For any kids out there that are also trying to do this, what was your experience getting playlisted? Was it submission based? Was it conversations through words of mouth? How was that process for you and what was your overall experience?

Zoe: It was a whole bunch of things. It was one of those perfect storm moments. I think the song just fit the bill of what they were looking for, during that particular curating time. In Spotify, specifically, not any other platforms, they have a Spotify editorial playlist application thing on the Spotify For Artists website. There you can choose to pitch your song but you should do it 2-4 weeks before the actual song is out. So you need to have it uploaded to distribution and everything before that. It’s just a 500 character description about the song but I was editing it for 6 hours. I truly treated it like a college application.

Nicole: I was just going to say!

Zoe: You definitely have to be really specific. You have to talk about how you’re going to market it, talk about how the song’s gonna make someone feel, and exactly what genre that fits into. You have to get so specific, like exactly what experience a listener is gonna go through on top of all the business stuff for release and then the song’s description. There are also checkboxes you have to click through. One of them was “can you scream in your car to this song?” So be the most specific you can be, but then also be broad enough so you aren’t pigeonholed, you know? Work your ass off on the pitch. Don't submit it later than two weeks and maybe something will happen. It is my first song. Until I got playlisted, I had like 400 monthly listeners. I don't know what happened. I cried three days in a row. I sobbed so hard when I saw the Fresh Finds Pop and then THE Fresh Finds. And then the freaking New Pop Picks and now Young & Free which has a home there at least a few weeks or something?! I don't know how it happened, really.

Nicole: It's so cool! Congratulations!! A lot of people aren't aware of how to get your foot in. You can't just put things out there, you have to put in the work. You have to really think through why you're being an artist and why the things you're saying matter. I think that it’s so sick that you got return on that.

Zoe: So, yes I did the little Spotify pitch but up until then, I was asking every friend to put it on repeat. I was showing random people that I bumped into on the street or at a concert and asking them to listen to it. I think without all of that and without the good visuals to match it, without the Spotify profile being fully packed with images…it all just has to be there. You just don't know what is really going to do it, some people go viral on TikTok, some people get on Fresh Finds. You have no idea. It’s just about putting every foot forward just to give yourself a bajillion chances. And I think that’s definitely what happened for me.

Yeah, I don't know, but I will say, it's absolutely insane. It's been five days. So many people have reached out and I actually feel like I have a shot at this crazy career just because Spotify put me on this one playlist. Genuinely my entire life has been changed because of this. I just think that's amazing that they even have that power. It's really crazy. Like wow, Spotify people are my religion now!! The Spotify gods are what I believe in!

**we both laugh**

Nicole: AMEN! It just takes one moment, you know, and it takes the right person reading your application at the right time as well. The stars aligned. I’m so excited for all the things that you're gonna do.

You've clearly got a fire in your belly. You are in school for this. This is your passion. This is what you want to be doing. Has your approach shifted, changed or morphed in the last year? What are your ultimate goals for the end of this year or for the next few years? What should we be expecting from you?

Zoe: I was just on this crazy grind of doing so many sessions and not really focusing on exactly what I wanted to do or what my path was. When the pandemic happened, my mom temporarily moved us out to Pennsylvania. I literally went from the big city to going on a leave of absence from school and then living next to a horse farm in complete silence. It was a complete shell shock of just having so much silence and time with myself to just reflect on who I wanted to be.

The process in which I wrote songs completely shifted. I used to start with a beat from a producer or come in with nothing and we just start from scratch there. But now, I usually write acapella or just a few chords on a guitar. Really stripped down. I hone in on a concept or a verse and a chorus before I go in. For "Line" I came in with two verses and the chorus fully fleshed out already. I think that's how I'm gonna really try and do it, just writing stuff super stripped down then going into a session to take it to that final step to see where it can go.

What's coming? So "Line" is part of an EP that's coming out that I haven't really talked about much. The next single is called “Til U”. It’s coming out in July. And that of course will also have a music video! I don't know when that will come out either. It's just going to be part of the first EP and after that, I'm definitely not stopping. There’ll definitely be another project. I'm really excited to start performing live more. I've started busking a little bit, which is kind of incredibly fun and also very New Yorky. I have a Breaking Sound show on July 6!

Nicole: Anyone coming to listen to Zoe Ko, what do you want people to take away from you as an artist and your music, or find at least in the space that you're creating musically?

Zoe: Good question. I'm not gonna answer this perfectly right now but I think what I try to be is just 100% real and myself. I just want everyone to feel safe and accepted with the music. I just want it to be this safe, happy place where you can just feel every emotion ever. My little slogan- wait don’t say that I said slogan

Nicole: Your tagline -

Zoe: Yeah, my little tagline for my music is…. it’s music for when you feel like shit! This community, my shows, this music is for you whenever you need it. So, for me growing up, music was just always there whenever I needed it. So I guess I want my music to be the same for whoever listens to it.

CHECK OUT ALL THINGS ZOE KO

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS:

Directed, Edited, and Styling by Zoe Ko

Director of Photography and Color by Benjamin Berkowitz

Special Thanks to Jane Tung

(Song released May 6, 2022)