"We're Sally, so are you": Sally Everywhere Discuss Their New EP

Written by Charity Lynn (@_charitylynn_)
Photo credits: Christian Mata (@chris_isu_m) and Sundry (@a_bin_sun.dry)

Sally Everywhere are a band who make music for those of us who don't want to grow up. Here, members of the garage-rock quartet—Wonjae (guitar/vocals), Kyu (guitar), Joung Keun (bass), and Choong Hee (drums)—tell us about their new EP, An Adventure to Chase the Light I Once Had, and their hopes of awakening the inner child.

Wonjae had long wanted to start his own band. In spring 2023, he posted an advertisement on the music website Mule with the tagline "Who Wants to be a Rockstar?" For member Kyu, that alone was enough for him to reach out. "I thought 'Yeah, I wanna be a rockstar.' After reading that Wonjae wanted to start playing gigs as soon as possible, I sent him an email in a hurry."

For Joung Keun, it had been a long time since he had been in a band. "Suddenly, I felt that I wanted to play again. After reaching out to Wonjae from the advert, we met and bonded over The Stone Roses." Choong Hee, on the other hand, playfully added, "I didn't really care about being a rockstar. I just wanted to play in a Brit-rock style band and got lucky."

For Wonjae, recording music was always something he wanted  to do. Before that, though, he wanted to establish Sally Everywhere through live gigs first. "I don't want our songs to be lonely. My initial goal was getting people interested in us at least once, whether they end up liking us or not. Just that one time is enough. 'We are here!' I wanted to say, and have them think 'Who are they?' and go see our shows. Then, the recording would naturally come after that."

Kyu's goal for the EP is simple: "I just want to be able to listen to our songs whenever I want." Joung Keun expressed, "I'd like to share our songs with many people. I want them to feel our music and live through our voices." Choong Hee hopes the EP "will be motivation for us to work even harder."

An Adventure to Chase the Light I Once Had, as the title suggests,is about reminiscing on our childhood and igniting that childlike light in our lives once again. "We're so hopeful and energetic when we are children," Wonjae begins, "but we've forgotten how to see the world through a child's eyes. I think the best way to live our life is to remember our hearts as a child, like Peter Pan. We should chase our childhood feelings again."

"There is a balance of fun and melancholy in our music—I want listeners to be happy, but at the same time have a cathartic release of their negative emotions." For foreign listeners, he urges them to take a look at the lyrics to get a full understanding of their songs' meanings.

Similarly, Joung Keun hopes listeners will grow a new appreciation for the little moments we often forget as children. "I want people to think back to their childhood, to those nostalgic feelings of running around, even if it's just for an instant. Those times in our life only last for a second, then we can never go back." Kyu endearingly stated, "I'm still a kid. I want people to listen to our songs and feel like a child again. But I'm always a child and want to make a lot of friends who are similar to me."

Some might say the band are inspired by Oasis, considering half of the band's name comes from the lyrics of Don't Look Back in Anger. However, Wonjae asserts that the band's musical influences stem from a variety of sources. "We took a little bit of influence from Oasis's spiritual messages, but actually, it didn't play a huge role in the sound. When I write songs, I don't recall any particular bands that inspire me. In a way, I could say I've taken influence from every band I've ever listened to, probably even from Disney songs too. I try to find my own good melodies, regardless of where they come from."

Regarding personal style, Wonjae mentioned he likes a lot of rock bands from the '90s and 2000s. "Some of my favourites are Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Weezer, Oasis, and Foo Fighters—a lot of rock." Kyu used to play a lot of jazz, but one of his first performances as a member of Sally Everywhere changed the way he played guitar. "I remember being shocked at the first gig we played at Club FF with the band Asianic. The guitarist's sound was so different from mine, which led me to change my style to better fit Sally Everywhere's sound. So, I want to say 'thank you, Asianic.'" Additionally, he highlighted Blur, Green Flame Boys, and Green Day as his musical role models. “And, of course, our own leader, Wonjae.”

"I'm inspired a lot by Taiji Sawada, the bass player from X Japan," stated Joung Keun. "His bass style plays a huge role in the sound of my own performances. My style is very simple, but there are some more exciting points that show through at times as well."

Choong Hee reminisces about his university days: "I majored in drums at university and played Motown funk and fusion jazz. Some of my favourites are Benny Greb from Germany, and Steve Jordan from John Mayer Trio." However, he is influenced the most by Will Champion from Coldplay. "He doesn't play drums, he plays music, which is the most important thing when playing in a band."

Choong Hee emphasised the band's care and attention to detail when recording the EP: "We put a lot of effort into making this EP sound the very best." Wonjae added, "We recorded for more than three months because our schedules were so busy. Even though we could only meet once a week, we tried to make the most of each recording session and make it sound as much like the live performance as possible."

The EP contains five newly recorded songs: Intro, Fly Away, Love&Love, An Adventure to Chase the Light I Once Had, and Growing Pains. Joung Keun and Choong Hee's favourites are Fly Away. "I have a lot of fun playing this song live," Joung Keun explained. "Also, the guitar solo and drums are especially good in this song," Choong Hee said. "It was the first song I heard and made me decide to join this team. It has that Brit-rock sound that I was looking for when searching for a band."

Kyu especially likes the chorus lyrics in Growing Pain: "I think Wonjae is really good at writing lyrics. There's one phrase in every song that I really like, but this is the one that resonated with me the most." For Wonjae, An Adventure to Chase the Light I Once Had,  is the most special to him: "It's the most fun song for me to play and listen to. It's hopeful and gives me a lot of motivation. Its message is really the core of Sally Everywhere's identity."

As our conversation draws to a close, I ask each member to share a message with their fans. Choong Hee opens with genuine warmth: "Thank you for always coming to our shows. I'm quite shy, so please say hello to me at our next gig."

Kyu keeps it simple: "I want to hang out and have fun with you guys forever." Joung Keun adds, "We want to make friends. When we play Sally's songs, we are one."

Wonjae delivers the most profound message: "Our motto is 'We're Sally, so are you.' The audience is so important to us—our shows are made together with you. I started this band to console people who are like me. If there's no you, then we cannot exist. I'm so thankful to anyone who listens to our music."

Sally Everywhere plans to have special EP release shows in both Seoul and Busan. Wonjae wanted to make it a point to have a show in Busan, stating, "I admire many bands from Busan, like Soumbalgwang, Seaweed Mustache, and Cheap.n.Sweet. I love the community there as well. So, I want to show our music to more fans and bands in Busan."

The Seoul show will be held on 25th July at Babydoll in Sinchon. The Busan show will be on 19th August. The venue will be decided at a later date, so please stay updated by following the band's Instagram for more information at @sally_everywhere_.