“Not A Second Glance” begins with a haunting piano solo that slowly transitions into a finely-calibrated ballad. The vocals come in and completely blow me away, their sultry and melancholic, yet full of emotion and truth. “Not A Second Glance” is raw and emotive, it teeters on the line of sadness but remains reminiscent and fairly light-hearted. Jenny’s vocal register and harmonically-rich production is musical brilliance. She pours her heart and soul into this track and we can’t get enough. The power and meaning from beginning to end are both inspiring and galvanizing in today’s music industry. Jenny J Nam has done a fantastic job conveying her emotion through poetry, matching that poetry with expert musicianship and exuding a spectacular vibrancy. We can’t wait to see what she delivers next!
If you’re new to Jenny J Nam’s work, “Not A Second Glance” is a brilliant spot to start. Jenny was born and raised in South Korea and has found a new home living in Los Angeles as an award-winning composer, experienced songwriter and brilliant pianist for a variety of genres and music producers. Working for over a decade composing and arranging several pieces of music for Samsung, LG, Coway, The Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korean Government commercials along with arranging songs for K-pop artists like Jung-hoon Kim and Crazy Milk. Jenny has performed at the Valley Performing Art Center, the UCLA Fowler Museum and was a semi-finalist at the Songstar song-writing competition Nashville in 2017 as well as receiving a second place at the US Song-writing awards in 2019.
Check out “Not A Second Glance” here and read more below in our exclusive interview.
Hi Jenny J Name! It’s such a pleasure to have you back on BuzzMusic! We’ve been following your recent releases closely and we’re captivated by “Not A Second Glance”! What can you tell us about this project?
Hello, BuzzMusic! Thank you for having me again! Yes... I finally decided to release this very personal song to the world. The main song which I wrote was in 2006, So. Korea. and after moving to the U.S, I've met my super talented co-writer, Carly Lyman at the school, we started working on English lyrics and changing melody lines in 2016. And the whole music production progress is done in late 2017. It took me quite a long time to grab my pencil to write out my personal story into a new body of the song in English. Well, a long story, in short, it's OUT TO THE WORLD. The official MV will be released soon! We just had the first shooting day for MV. I can't wait to share the beautiful story in the visual media soon.
“Not A Second Glance” is incredibly uplifting and powerful! What inspired you to originally write this song?
Simply put, I was not happy when I was in Korea. Especially, this song included my early 20s thoughts, a depressed period which I went through. In general, I was lost. I felt I was not welcomed, I felt that I would not make my dream in Music ever. I was so overwhelmed by the very competitive atmosphere in Korea. People were cold, people always searched for something, people always discouraged me so I had to shut my mouth always to keep myself reserved. At that time, I felt really empty and small. The motive song in Korean included this kind of emotion in 2006. Still, every time I hear this song, I feel very heavy and it reminds me of what circumstances I had, where I used to be in Seoul. Those gray-colored-memories are still waving to me. "Not A Second glance" includes my hope for the bright future for me and the audience who may have similar experiences as me in the past. In the lyrics, at the first verse, there's Han River, where refers to Seoul, So. Korea and Union Station refer to LA, USA that I moved here now where I want to belong to, where I am chosen to be. I wanted to tell not only myself but also you that "don't look back. I can see the bright light now"
Another one of your releases this year was “Noho (North Hollywood)” which we thoroughly enjoyed! With a slew of singles released in 2019, can your fans expect a longer project or upcoming album release?
Yes! I have a longer project. Actually, "Not A Second Glance" is part of this project. There's gonna be another personal-story-related song that will be released in the early next year. That song would be connected to "Buried Dream" - "Not A Second Glance" - (future upcoming album in 2020) as a trilogy of my storytelling in Music and the Visual Arts (Music Video). At the same time, I'm planning to keep releasing other single albums too. One song, within this year, you can hear a cute love story song around December. :)
How have you honed your songwriting style over time, and what do you think are the main qualities that make a song truly connect and last in the long-run?
Making a strong whole body structure is the key to success. I don't like the instant style of life. I don't like instant things in general. It's not my cup of tea ever. So when I write a song, I put a lot of energy and time to create the core essential part which can relate to the audience well-rounded with the high-end quality. Literally I put meanings into every note, every chord progression, and every single word. No matter how long it will take, I'd rather make the best quality production.
How would you say your music now compares to the music you curated when you first started out in the music industry?
Wow, it's been so much transformed! I can tell very well when I hear my songs in the early 20s, mid-20s, and nowadays? my writing style has been developing a lot. The more I write, the better the results I have. This new LA environment gives me a lot of positive creativity. LA is the place where you want to be? then you can be. So, this kind of vibe has given me a lot of inspiration as well as broaden my perspectives. If I were still in Korea, my music may haven't been updated so much.
Thank you so much for chatting with us once again! We’re huge fans of you at BuzzMusic! Can you tell our readers what the future has in store for you artistically?
I keep on writing and playing around as a pianist/composer/producer :) One future news I can tell you is I will prepare my showcase in the next year. It will be tentatively middle of 2020. So, I'd like to show my artistries in Music, Visual Arts, Performances via multiple platforms soon. It's being in progress thoroughly. Lastly, thank you for having me again! Love you guys incredible support :)