“Swipe” by NCT Taeyong & TEN, “Baddie” by IVE and so on. Behind the K-pop songs that heated up 2023, there was always this person, Alawn. We looked into how the multi-platinum producer ended the past year and welcomed the new year, 2024.
1. [RSK] Hi Alawn! It's been over a year since our last Interview. Please tell me what you've been up to lately?
Hi! It's so great to be here with you again, I can’t believe it has already been a year since we last spoke. This year, 2023, has been an amazing one for me. I went on my first US Tour which was such an incredible experience, performing in 9 different cities while playing all of my favorite music. It was great to be able to connect with my fans in person.
Apart from that, I've been keeping busy with writing, producing, and mixing K-pop songs as well as working on a lot more J-pop projects such as INI and Moonchild which has been super fun.
I absolutely love traveling, so I also spent some time exploring new parts of Mexico, Guatemala, South Korea, and Japan - not to mention, visiting my family in Paris, France. It's been a fantastic year!
2. [RSK] What has been your biggest achievement in 2023?
I’m extremely grateful for the wonderful things that have happened to me this year! Experiencing my first US Tour, landing 3 more Billboard #1 charting records, joining The Recording Academy and being a part of the launch of a brand new soju brand called Hello Soju with my team here in the US (you might have seen it at Coachella!)
3. [RSK] Is there any plan for 2024 that you can only tell RSK?
Of course, you will be the first one to hear it! I’m actually planning my first trip to India sometime early 2024 as I’m taking on a new challenge of working with Indian pop artists as well as gearing up to work on a new boy band project in partnership with a major label over there. I’m also excited about a few writing camps that are being set up right now in various parts of the world. Nothing beats traveling to a new place to create music!
4. [RSK] Do you have any plans to work with artists from other countries other than K-Pop?
Certainly! I am currently collaborating with some incredible artists from Thailand which I’m really excited about. Moreover, I have a few more projects in the works in Japan and China.
As I mentioned earlier, working on Indian Pop music is going to be an exciting challenge for me and I am eagerly looking forward to it in addition to working on more projects in Europe and here in the US.
5. [RSK] What's your favorite song you've worked on this year? Why?
There are a few records that I work on every year that really make an impact. For me, this year's stand out track was “SWIPE (Prod. By C-Young & Alawn)”. It was particularly special because I loved the first season of Women Street Fighter, and having this record on Season 2 with my name in the title was really exciting. When I was writing the demo with my great friend Benji Bae, we had NCT in mind. So, we were over the moon to find out that TEN and Taeyong would be the ones performing the song. I also must mention “Baddie” by IVE. Working on the mix for this song was so much fun, and as soon as I heard the demo, I knew it would be a hit.
6. [RSK] Thank you for the interview. Lastly, please say something to RSK subscribers.
First I’d like to thank Rolling Stone Korea for doing this second interview together. We had a lot of fun during the photoshoot in Seoul. Subscribers, I hope you enjoyed the interview and learned a little more about me. Please stay on the lookout for my upcoming releases in 2024 and keep supporting RSK!
Alawn’s various pictorial images and full interviews can be found in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone Korea 12th issue.
Photographs by JK
