In the vibrant confluence of technology, music, and visual arts, Soma emerges as a luminary, crafting narratives that challenge and enchant. Hailing from Daegu, South Korea, and now a global sensation, Soma's artistic journey is a symphony of innovation and cultural resonance. Her unique blend of disciplines creates an immersive experience, pulling audiences into a post-human world where the lines between reality and digital realms blur. Through her evocative music, profound visual artistry, and thoughtful engagement with technology, Soma invites us to explore the hidden facets of existence and the untold stories within the technological debris.

This article dives deep into the multifaceted world of Soma, exploring her inspirations, artistic process, and the cultural backdrop that shapes her work. Her story is a testament to the boundless possibilities of creativity and the enduring impact of technology on art.

Q: Soma, the first time we met was a beautiful and bombastic night. Your mix had blasted the entire space. I'd like to know, how did music happen to you?

Thank you so much. I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed my music. The audiences in India are so sweet and open-minded, it makes me want to come back. I've always enjoyed listening to music since I was a kid, I don't know if it was good or not, I guess I just listened to whatever I felt like listening to. That's how I became a clubbing adult. In 2016, BICHINDA, a female artist-driven DJ crew, held a one-day DJing workshop for women, and I joined out of curiosity because I always thought they were cool. I had no intention of becoming a DJ, but somehow it happened and here I am. I love listening, mixing, and creating, so it was a natural progression to make music. Now I can't describe myself without music.

What's the story behind the name Arexibo?

There’s a message called ‘Arecibo Message’ which was the first ever interstellar radio message to find another living thing in this universe as a part of the project ‘Active SETI’. When I started seriously being a DJ (also it was my last year in the university), I was really into that idea and concept. For me, all the tries and behind stories to find aliens are reckless and romantic at the same time. These are really humane and optimistic. Whether there are aliens or not. So when I chose my name, I just changed one letter, C to X. Idea from Arecibo but also good for the name because there was no search result on the web as ‘Arexibo’.

Soma, please talk about the influences and inspiration for your peculiar art direction. Since you are interdisciplinary but mostly working within technological mediums, how does this shape your art direction and narratives?

I've always been interested in the byproducts of technology, and I like to drag those crumbs out from behind the shiny, smooth surface that people always expect to see and put them in front of their eyes. Most of the things that people don't want to know and don't want to see are hidden, but the things that are there never go away, and at some point, they jump out. That's when the world gets shaken up. And it turns out that everything we see is a mirage. I think that's an important function of art. In the end, by intentionally creating errors and putting them in front of the viewer, I want to make them see beyond what's in front of them. Technology is a great medium to do that.

Let's get on your visual arts. How does that influence your other disciplines? Please take us through the ecosystem you tap into.

Visual art is the biggest foundation of my artistic mindset, as I originally got my start in art through fine art. However, I've always strived to present my work in a complex way, combining different mediums in a space, rather than using visuals alone to reach a sensory goal. I combine everything from spatial design to sound so that everything works organically. I call this an organic system I create "Attractions" of sorts. It's like a ride in a theme park, something that looks simple but can be very well designed to be fantastic. It's very physical and visceral.

I'd like to know your views about techno music that is not only shaping our culture but also our relationship with technology. What do you think is happening to our minds and emotions when there is also this blast of sensory overload in digital space?

I enjoy listening to techno music, but I don't know enough about it to have a confident opinion. However, I think it's natural for electronic music to be linked to contemporary digital sensibilities because it was born out of technology and evolved from it. Like how Dub reaches Brostep or Tearout or something like that. A lot of things in music have been fragmented, broken, inflated, or splintered. Sounds are ripped apart into units that cannot be played by human hands. I see excess in what many people see as simplification. Lots of the music can't be categorized as a genre anymore, and naming it becomes irrelevant a lot of the time. It's a mishmash of all these genres and disciplines, and that's actually how people feel in their lives. It's kind of confusing. From colonization and the Industrial Revolution to relatively recently, when we called it the global age, people believed in the infinity of the world and the scalability of technology. But now all the land is broken, and there's no land to go further without exploring the outside of the planet. We're not even sure about the infinity of digital space. We only get as much data usage from companies as we subscribe to. We're trapped. This sense of crumbling optimism is also felt in the music. But some artists dig into all these unnamable anxieties and all these constraints. They put on and take off the names they've been given, and they create more chaos in the world because that's the tool they've been given. It's kind of exhilarating, isn't it? It feels a bit end-of-the-century.

Let's get onto your singles and EPs. What went into making them? What inspired you?

I never really learned how to make music in earnest, but with the help of my friends, I was playing around with DAWs and making things when CHINABOT offered me a release. It was an area I had never ventured into before, and it was a time when I was seriously thinking about doing music, so I accepted. After that, I just started making music without knowing what I was making. I didn't know what kind of sound I wanted to make that would be me, so the gap between the direction of each song widened, and I found myself trying to find a balance between them. The EP <카운터!(Counter!)> is a reflection of that process and attitude. Since then, I've been approached by various labels and friends to participate in compilations, and each time I find a sound based on my state and attitude. Most of the time I use synths or layered effects to create unique textured sounds and layer other sounds on top of them. Most of the time, serendipity takes me to the sound.

Let's get onto your artistic struggles and challenges. Is AI helping enough? What goes into your creative process, and how does AI make it better or limiting?

In my latest Sonic game project <Martha(2023)>, I actively utilized AI technology. The conversational AI works like a Fortune Teller. When I'm creating something and I'm technically stuck, I also ask for the AI search function. In this sense, I feel that the rise of AI in art is in many ways similar to the rise of photography in the past. Some people say that AI will ruin art, but I think it will just change art. Sometimes it will be a tool, but sometimes it will be a medium in itself. Of course, AI is being monopolized by big corporations and big capital, bingeing on data online and reproducing wrong data and unethical content. It's also problematic that the discussion about protecting individual rights like copyright and ethical use of AI hasn't progressed as fast as it should have. I think it's urgent to have this conversation.

Let's talk about your social background and the captivating culture of Korea. Please take us through the memory lane of your developing years and how that shaped you and your art the way it is today.

My hometown is not Seoul, I was born and raised in a city in the south of Korea called Daegu, which is a very conservative city, and I remember feeling a lot of confusion, injustice, and loneliness before I learned the language of "woman" and "queer". I probably felt similar feelings everywhere I went in Korean society, but my hometown was all I knew at the time, so I have a love-hate relationship with it even as an adult. Fortunately, I grew up in an era where the internet was widespread, and I was able to see and hear things outside of the space I lived in. I was exposed to fashion, music, art, etc. from Seoul, Tokyo, London, New York, Paris, etc. through the internet. That's what rounded out my childhood tastes. I scraped together something from somewhere other than the ground I stepped on. Korea is a very strange place for me. It's fast-paced, it's a mix of aesthetics and cultures from all over the world. Ironically, it lacks diversity, as evidenced by the K-pop industry. There's also a lot of gentrification. I've often thought that maybe Korea is a kind of passageway. It's not a place where something stays for a long time, and no matter how hard you try to stay, it keeps pushing you away. This society, coupled with the environment I grew up in, has naturally made me a person who acquires and expands on many things simultaneously rather than digging deep into one. When I listen to music and perform, I mix dozens of genres. I now have an understanding, forgiveness, and love for my country that allows me to tell a richer story. I wonder if I would have been able to do this if I had been born and raised somewhere other than Korea. I can never fully love Korea, but I can be proud of myself for growing up as an artist here.

What are your intentions with your craft? What are you looking forward to achieving and excited about?

There is always a vague goal of wanting to rock the audience's world. I think it's like an attitude, and I think that's what keeps me going. I'm the kind of person who thinks that attitude is the most important thing in life and in art. So my smallest and clearest goal lately is to make music that I'm really happy with, even if it's just one song.

Top tracks in your Spotify playlist? Do you want to shout out to unknown underground artists?

I don't use Spotify, I mostly use Apple Music and Bandcamp (haha). It's always fun to introduce my favorite artists, it's what I do for a living. The most listened to music in the last month is Yetsuby - Poly Juice, Minor Science - For Want Of Gelt, and HWI - 543 Village. All three songs are really good, and I recommend you to listen to the whole album. Especially the album with HWI's music, 'SCA2', is a compilation released by the Korean electronic music label 'Sound Supply Service', and they always introduce fresh music. I'm a big fan.

Last but not least, what's cooking next? Any underdeveloping projects you'd like to discuss?

I have a very small music release planned for the end of the year. I took a break from producing music for a while. But this year, I've been lucky enough to travel to a lot of cities and I've gotten a lot of good inspiration from that. And now I feel like I want to make music of a really good quality, that I'm really happy with, and I want people to hear it. So I'd like to build on that and do a solo A/V live set later in the year or early next year if possible.