It’s a wintry January afternoon and sooyeon is in good spirits. She’s battling a cold but maintains a bubbly demeanour as she speaks to Mixcloud, unveiling the layers of herself that have led to her life as one of the most popular DJs around and a music star in the making.
From BBC Radio and Reprezent to Boiler Room Festival and Glastonbury, she has graced stages around the world with her Bass-friendly DJ sets, making her presence felt. Yet, 2024 marked a sea change; after years of going by Oh Annie Oh, the Korea-born DJ, producer, radio host and podcaster returned to her roots and changed her artist name to sooyeon, her Korean name. Not only that, but after years of toying with the idea, she released her own original music for the first time, dropping the Block N Delete EP. “I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery and my relationship to my culture and identity,” she says. “Now when I see my DJ and artist name…I don’t know how to express it. It just feels like a weight’s been lifted. Feels really right.”
Now, sooyeon is ready to unlock more chapters in her new journey. When we speak to her, she’s still awestruck by her successful headline DJ set at Barcelona’s legendary nightclub Razzmatazz last December, available to stream now on Mixcloud. We dug into her decision to change her name, her love of DJing and releasing music for the first time.
First things first, congratulations on your headline set at Razzmatazz! How did it go?
sooyeon: It was good! I was on at around 3am and by the time it got to 1am I had a cup of coffee and was like, ‘what is my life?’ Normally I’m in bed by 10pm! But it was wild, I’ve wanted to play that venue for years. It’s definitely off the bucket list of places to play and everyone was really up for it which is obviously what you want. Sometimes you get a crowd and you can tell that they want to know every track and you can kind of tell the type of crowd it’ll be. This crowd was really open to hearing anything so it’s more fun that way for me when I play.
How did you get started as a DJ and radio host?
I think I started DJing 10 years ago and I kind of fell into it. I was working in a bar and my colleague and I decided to promote a night in the bar together. Then I started learning how to DJ from there and I started putting on parties and DJing for brands. It all kind of snowballed and I was getting enough gigs to be able to go full-time. So I quit my job eight years ago and I’ve just been DJing since.
With radio, I can’t remember exactly how it started, but my first guest mix was at Reprezent. You had to have clean music and I just remember all my music at the time was not clean! I remember my first show at Rinse which was I think a year or two after that and that I was terrified. Then I was at Reprezent for three years as a resident but I actually finished doing radio last summer just when I was about to put out the EP. I just wanted to focus on production and take a break but I love radio.
What made you fall in love with DJing? How do you think your relationship with DJing has changed since you’ve been in the industry?
When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with music. I was on blogs all the time trying to find a weird remix to a song that I was listening to at the time. Just constantly searching for new music. I remember someone had a party and I brought along CDs that I burned. It wasn’t necessarily DJing because I had no idea what I was doing. But I always had this want and need to play new music and show that to people.
When I first started DJing no one knew that I was DJing. I wanted to play the good time slots at club nights but I had no profile. So I would put on my own nights and book myself to do the headlines. I was promoting parties for ages up until lockdown and booking other artists gave me the perspective of a promoter. DJing has given me loads of different insights as to what promoters have to go through, what they’re looking for when they’re booking a DJ. Doing radio has given me the insights on how best it is to send new music to DJs who have radio shows. Through the years it’s definitely given me a better outlook on how to approach relationships and how best to navigate the industry.
Let’s get into your new stage name. What inspired you to take the name sooyeon?
I was born in Korea but grew up in Toronto and moved to the UK. So that relationship to my identity has always been something that I’ve had to discover myself. When I started putting music out and then I was seeing my name Oh Annie Oh on streaming services, or if I got magazine writeups, I would always feel like something never felt right.
It just got to a point where I was like, ‘okay, I need to investigate why I’m feeling like this.’ I was toying with the idea of changing my DJ name to sooyeon, my Korean name. Annie is a name that I chose out of convenience, a lot like when I was younger and in school and felt I had to assimilate. At the time I was six and in Canada and I didn’t know English but I understood the complex feelings that I felt different. But I didn’t know how to navigate that space. Whereas now I’m an adult and I want to give that power back to my six-year-old self. I just thought I’m not doing this to myself again. I’m going to follow my gut and do what I feel is right.
You’ve previously said that using the name ‘Annie’ was like you assimilating to life in Canada. You’ve been in the industry for a while now, but do you feel you were being your truest self?
I would say I’ve always been the truest to myself that I felt at the time. Looking back I can see that releasing music under my old name wasn’t the right thing for this moment of my career. But it’s never really been an internal battle or anything. I think I naturally grew out of it and now I want to represent myself in the most authentic way. This is how I want people to think of me when they listen to my music.
So, what would you tell your six-year-old self now?
I would tell her that you don’t have to change for anyone. You’re not inconvenient and you don’t have to feel like you need to assimilate to feel safe. Even if you’re not bullied or no one tells you that outwardly, it’s something that you feel within yourself being a person of color in a Western world. You’re just constantly bombarded by information that’s telling you that you’re not enough or you’re lesser than. I would just tell my younger self that you are enough.
You recently released your debut EP Block N Delete, how did that come together and what does it mean to you?
You always remember your firsts. This project actually came into fruition from a really bad dating history. Like, six years worth of it, and I just had enough and I was like, ‘Okay, that’s it. I’m blocking and deleting every motherfucker and I’m just not going to date!” When I stopped dating, I was like, ‘hey, I have loads of time and head space.’
So I had an idea to base a few songs around that concept and create the journey of what I was going through. From bad dating to blocking someone! I would say there’s kind of a mix of genres in the EP. There’s Techno, Bass, UKG aspects to it. It means the world to me. When I put Block N Delete out I was doing the creative direction for a photoshoot and thinking of ideas to post about on socials. It really opened up different ways to be creative that I hadn’t had a chance to with just DJing. This is a complete new chapter for me and it’s just super exciting.
Was music production always something you wanted to do?
When I was 16, I was playing around a little bit with production. If I did have a regret in life, it would be that I didn’t continue on that production journey. But it’s fine. Everything happens for a reason.
What do you think making music brings out of you that DJing, podcasting or radio hosting doesn’t?
I guess it’s just a different way of expressing myself. Don’t get me wrong, DJing’s great and I will DJ for the rest of my life. It’s so much fun and there’s nothing like it. But creating music and sounds is just tickling a different part of my creative brain and it almost seems a lot more limitless. Then the possibilities of future collaborations or even taking a song that I like and reworking it to sound completely different or turning a Pop song into a club banger. That’s what’s really exciting about production to me.
“I want to give that power back to my six-year-old self. I’m going to follow my gut and do what I feel is right.”
What are some of your favorite tracks to play when you’re doing a DJ set?
I always pick the first one or two tracks to start off with, and they’re usually quite clubby and fast to set the pace. Then sometimes if it’s a closing set or something, I’ll pick the last tune. It’s hard to say what my favorite tracks are because they change all the time. But there’s a guy in America called Villager and I’ve been playing his music a lot. Even in the Razzmatazz set I played his track first and I knew I was going to play it just because I’m obsessed with it.
What are your golden rules for preparing for a set?
Like I said earlier, always know the first one or two tracks you’re going to play. Even though I’ve been DJing for so long, I still get really nervous. I think if you have the first couple of tracks known then it just takes that element of anxiety away and once I start playing, the nerves kind of dissipate. Another one is to really know your tracks. If you’re going to play a new song, definitely listen to it a few times so you know the structure of the track and how you can blend it.
Always carry two USBs. Two or more I would say! Have fun: sometimes you can take a set so seriously and then you’re like, ‘wait, I chose this life because I wanted to have fun.’ I have to tell myself because my face when I DJ is sometimes so serious and it’s like, ‘I’m trying to work!’ But you want to look at a DJ and see them having fun.
What do you think your podcast ‘Don’t Call Me Exotic’ has added to your career?
The podcast was and is a passion project and I’m going to bring it out again. I just felt really strongly about the message. During lockdown, I was searching for a community and trying to feel less alone and I just felt like I needed to create something and put it out and that was my way of processing things. The best way I could do that was to connect with someone else who is from the creative industry, a person of color and I could speak to them about their journey. It was a really therapeutic way of creating something to put out so that maybe one other person felt less alone just listening to it. Something that I wish was there for me maybe 15 years ago.
“Always know the first one or two tracks you’re going to play.”
Which moments in your career are you most proud of?
One that was amazing was when I played at Drumsheds last December. It was for the Squid Game launch party and Peggy Gou was also playing. When I moved to London, there wasn’t love for Korea the way there is now. It was my first gig that I did with my name change. Now that I’m DJing, being able to play at one of the biggest clubs in London with a Korean superstar DJ at a launch party for one of the biggest TV shows in the world that happens to be Korean was incredible. It was quite meaningful for it to be in London and it was almost like acceptance. Not that I needed validation for my culture or anything but to go on this journey of self-acceptance and my relationship to my heritage and culture was a big moment for me.
I would say definitely releasing the podcast was a highlight. Obviously putting out my EP and being able to release music. I’ve played Glastonbury two years in a row, closing a stage in Shangri-La and then Rum Shack last year. To get the closing slot on a stage is amazing. It was magic honestly.
What’s next for sooyeon?
More music. I’ve got a few exciting releases and collaborations coming up for the beginning of this year. Hopefully I get to play more shows and do some shows in Asia. But putting out music is my priority.