Singer-songwriter and “K-pop Demon Hunters” star EJAE has taken part in numerous interviews discussing the songwriting process behind the record-breaking animated film, as well as sharing stories from her trainee days at SM Entertainment. In several of these interviews, she also offered snippets of early demos for the songs she worked on for the film’s soundtrack.
In her latest and more in-depth interview with Daniel Wall, EJAE not only shared the full demo versions of songs from “K-pop Demon Hunters”, but also opened up about frightening personal experiences of being harassed by sasaengs during her trainee days. Here’s the full story:
In her latest interview with Daniel Wall on his Behind the Wall podcast, EJAE played early demos of songs she wrote and co-wrote for “K-pop Demon Hunters”, including “How It’s Done”, “Your Idol” and “This Is What It Sounds Like”. The singing voice of Rumi in the film went on to explain the writing and recording process behind each song, offering further insight into the behind-the-scenes work and how the tracks evolved into their final versions.
Before sharing the first demo of “Your Idol”, the host asked whether the lyrics were partially inspired by her experiences as a K-pop trainee. EJAE revealed that during her 11 years of training, she witnessed—and personally experienced—the darker side of the industry, particularly aspects of fandom culture, which went on to inspire the song’s dark and eerie tone and concept. “Your Idol” is sung by the demon boy group Saja Boys, in which they had the audience in a trance while performing in their demonic forms.
EJAE explained that the concept of idol never made sense to her, and spoke about the dangers posed by sasaengs, particularly those who are obsessed with the boy groups. “When we would leave the [SM building] after training at night, these [sasaengs] would throw trash at us. I remember one of us getting pushed, and they would call us really horrible names and curse at us. They even said things like, ‘You better not fucking mess with our boys or flirt with them, or I will kill you.’ That’s how bad it was,” she said.
The singer emphasised that she was only 12 years old when the incident occurred. “To hear a threat like that when you’re a kid is pretty intense. So, I didn’t think idolising someone was very appealing. That experience tied in perfectly with the song’s concept, because the Saja Boys wanted to bring out that dark, demonic side of you to their advantage,” she added. Unfortunately, many idols have had similar experiences with sasaengs, but this is likely one of the first stories we’ve heard of young female trainees being harassed so brutally.
Listen to the full interview or hear the story at 1:05:53 here:
Source: YouTube
