The continued rapturous reception of Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation films. K-Pop Demon Hunters was nothing more than flatulence. From landing Netflix streaming records To dominating the Billboard charts, The path to awards season seems to be on a golden path. And who would have known?
“Throughout this whole process [of creating music for the movie]it was really difficult to balance pop music and theater.” E.J.A.E.who is both the film's songwriter and the voice of Rumi, told Deadline. “We kept saying this is really hard, and if we could pull it off, we'd be geniuses. We joked, but that's what we said. And here we are, and it's incredibly reaffirming and shows that hard work pays off at some point. This whole project has been a really great example of collaboration. I can't stress that enough.”
Co-author Mark Sonnenblick also added, “This whole reception is inspiring. Behind this film is a city of artists and executives who poured their hearts into something that might have seemed obvious because of course K-pop is popular, but it wasn't that simple. It was such a labor of love for something that isn't much of an intellectual property, and to see the response it got from the audience and the love from the fans is the only reason we're even in these conversations, because of the way people have built word of mouth and formed relationships.” with the material, I have nothing but gratitude.”
Recently, K-Pop Demon Hunters received music nominations for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture at Golden GlobeBest song on Critics' Choice Awards and Best Soundtrack Compilation for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards.
Below, the songwriting duo talk about some of their biggest singles and reflect on their career paths.
DEADLINE: What was the first song you recorded together?
MARK SONNENBLICK: “How it's done.”
Answer: I think it was “Your Idol” because we were still working on the lyrics to “How It's Done.” “Golden” was the last song we worked on.
DEADLINE: “Your Idol” has a really cool, catchy sound. Let's talk about the composition of this track.
SONNENBLIK: This is our creepy track. We ran it Maggie [Kang, co-director] and Chris [Appelhans, co-director] to ask if this vibe was what they had in mind since they already had some Saja Boys character designs in demon form at that point.
Answer: The track had this dark sample of a choral sound, so I stuck with that, layered a bunch of melodies and freestyled it and said, “I'll be your idol.” And that line was a highlight because I was a K-pop trainee for a very long time, so I saw the dark side of K-pop and the idea of idolizing someone can be very toxic. So I added that eerie cathedral sound, the words “Pray for me now.” Mark started spitting out bars that also worked as double entendres, and we Frankensteined the melodies together.
SONNENBLIK: We really changed the workflow on this song. EJAE with a melody and concept that implemented everything the directors wanted: the idea of toxic relationships with K-pop groups and their fans. It was a song designed to stop the religious demonic phenomena that were happening among them. It also means checking that box for a toxic relationship with someone you potentially love. But the challenge was also to make it a popular song.
Answer: It's a song about taking souls and the extra layer of HUNTR/X brings people together through music, but Saja Boys divides people through music.
DEADLINE: What was the hardest song to write?
Answer: “How it's done.”
SONNENBLIK: Certainly.
Answer: We probably didn’t know how it was done, done, done then.
SONNENBLIK: This was especially challenging because it's the first song in the film, so it has to make you lean in and imagine the characters and atmosphere of the film.
Answer: There was so much pressure because it's the first impression.
DEADLINE: “Free” is a song I can’t get enough of. This is so cute. What was the composition of this song?
SONNENBLIK: This song was the first time I met Stephen Kirk and Jenna Andrews, and they had a sketch of a verse and chorus with this beautiful melody. So I started working on it with them and Maggie and Chris and realized it was more than a traditional love song. We were trying to show two people becoming increasingly vulnerable with each other, while simultaneously discovering in real time that they were both a little wary. They don't have many good reasons to trust each other, but they find that vulnerability heals them. This is more of a subtle love song than loud romantic duets like “Now We're in Love.”
It became a process of trying to tell the truth about the story, and the lyrics, for example, in another draft were: “What if we feel good standing right in front of you? What if we don't try to fight?” or “What if we don’t try to run away from it like we always do?” or something like that. But the difference between saying, “What if I think you’re standing right in front of me?” There's a suggestion in that, there's power in that, and then change it to, “Why does it feel right every time I like you?” It's something you can sincerely ask in the moment, like, “I don't fully understand what this is, but I'm healing by getting to know you. And I think we should do this together, and maybe I think you should learn this too, but I really don't get it.” And he says something back to her, like: “I don’t trust it, but I want it.” We wanted that tension and we had to learn to maintain it throughout the song.
DEADLINE: I love that line in “Golden” that goes, “Called a problem child because I got too wild, but now I get paid for it.” I'm curious: when did you start taking yourself seriously as artists in both of your careers? This industry is not easy to work in.
SONNENBLIK: I'm lucky that I've been able to support myself as a songwriter. It wasn't always this way, but I'm also a persistent person in my art, and that's led me to find opportunities that speak to me, and it's led me to find people I enjoy being around. I was a tutor and teacher and did other jobs to support myself along the way, but essentially I was lucky to have supportive friends and family who encouraged me to follow my dreams. I wouldn't say that's how songs are written if you asked me 10 years ago. I've played in bands and written a musical, and part of the beauty of it is that I'm an artist who is open to my path and embraces whatever comes my way.
Answer: I wanted to be a K-pop idol. So, I've been a K-pop trainee since I was 11 years old. [I did that for 12 years]and in the end they left me. But I never knew that songwriting would ever become a thing for me. It was never in the plans, but it still happened organically. I was about 22 or 23 when I got dumped and I was struggling to figure out what I should do. I started producing more – I was loving the Soundcloud scene at the time and fell in love with producing and making beats. Then I just realized what the people in that crowd were talking about. They said I needed to keep posting, I needed to get on YouTube because social media was a huge platform to try to get people to like me. And it was all so exhausting and I just needed to sort myself out. I don't have thick skin. I was hurt by my feelings when people talked about my appearance. So, I realized that my personality is not suitable to be a K-pop artist or idol.
So, I chose my mental health because I had friends in the industry who unfortunately committed suicide, and after seeing that, I thought it was a big sign that I needed to prioritize my mental health, saying that this path was not for me. And I'm really glad I did it because now I'm here as the singing voice of an animated character in a movie. But look, I'm 33 and I've learned my lesson.
SONNENBLIK: One of the most watched cartoons of all time.
DEADLINE: Was there anything left on the cutting room floor that you wanted to sneak into the film?
Answer: Of course, there are a lot of them. There was one for Rumi, and it was in a moment with Celine, right before “Your Idol.”
SONNENBLIK: It was amazing.
Answer: Rumi had a breakdown and needed to have her moment, so this was a ballad that she wrote while she was feeling broken. It was a really cool experiment, like 007's The atmosphere of “Skyfall” is very dark and gloomy.
SONNENBLIK: Very Imogen Heap.
Answer: We had Korean pansori and arirang, Korean folk tunes. It was a cool combination of pop and mantra, and I wanted people to hear it.
SONNENBLIK: We never hear the full mantra, but EJAE has this thing: “We are the hunters, the voices are strong” with these great harmonies.
Answer: There were fragments where Rumi said this phrase as a child.
SONNENBLIK: Perhaps in a sequel.
Answer: Let's see.
[This interview has been edited for length and clarity]
