WILLOW Profile & Facts
WILLOW (윌로우) is a Korean-American singer under Inyeon Entertainment who debuted on January 2, 2021 with Let’s Just Sing
Stage Name: WILLOW (윌로우)
Birth Name: April Grace Paik
Korean Name: Baek Sun-min
Birthday: N/A
Zodiac Sign: N/A
Height: N/A
Weight: N/A
Blood Type: N/A
Nationality: Korean-American
Instagram: aprilgpaik
WILLOW Facts:
— Her mother studied classical voice at Seoul National University
— She has an older sister
— When she was a child, she usually sat under the piano when her mother taught her older sister. As she was too young to actually play, she only pushed the pedals instead
— She began playing the piano and the violin and started taking part in competitions, but later grew a dislike on the instruments
— As she grew up, she had little to no exposure to contemporary music. She was raised in a very traditional household with no cable or a computer, which made it very hard to find out new music by herself
— She says she has never felt comfortable attending a birthday party as she always had to play
— She stopped music during middle school, only to regret it. As she started high school, she joined the choir and the orchestra but still felt disoriented. She felt like she was slowly losing a part of her identity
— By then, she restarted playing a piano and found a teacher who got her competition, to the point that she was back to memorizing up to eighty pages of music and taking part in competitions
— During her sophomore year of high school, her friends introduced her to K-Pop. In particular, she was fascinated by ballads and was also drawn by IU
— At that point, she never had any formal voice lessons. Although she joined the high school choir, she was still scared at the idea of performing on her own until she decided to prepare a song for a school program
— Even though her expectations were pretty low, the audience’s reaction to her singing was positive, which surprised her. A teacher even asked her if singing was something she wanted to pursue
— She went on to start college as a piano major but, only a week after beginning, she had a bike accident which caused her to sprain her wrist, affecting her performing abilities. This, combined with other health issues, led her to withdraw from college
— After her piano career was halted by her accident, she reconsidered the possibility of becoming a singer, more specifically in South Korea
— Her parents, doubting her skills, decided to make a deal with her: if she managed to get the approval of the instructors at Berklee School of Music, they’d let her go to Korea. To test her, they signed her to a five-week summer program
— In her first class, she earned a rating of 3/4 for her ability. Due to the high level of her peers, who already had professional experience, she had to face an existential crisis. However, she managed to avert it by working harder; her efforts paid off as she was one of the participants who won a scholarship to attend Berklee
— Although she managed to go to Korea, she was deceived as she spent a whole year at a fake academy
— Thankfully, she still had Berklee. Studying there helped her as it somehow healed her both emotionally and musically
— During her studies, she auditioned for several Korean entertainment companies in the summer
— After being accepted at Inyeon Entertainment, she put her Berklee career on hiatus and moved to South Korea in late 2018
— Being in Korea caused her culture shock. Not only she had to adjust to that, but she also had to adjust the way she sang. The emotions she conveys in her singing changes depending on the language she uses. Because of this, her company’s composer suggested she wrote both in English and Korean
— Language differences also affect her personality, as she was more shy and studious in America, whereas Korea gave her a chance to reinvent herself as an individual, becoming brighter and more confident as a result
— She believes music has always spoken to her and makes her feel things, whether she wants or not
— At first, she didn’t think she was an emotional person. She used to hold onto emotions and only released them through music. She explained that, even though she’s good at putting a mask when she hears music, it actually affects her emotions
— Her decision to pursue a singing career made her feel freer to express herself since her job, especially as a ballad singer, is to express emotions
— She wants to help people through her music
— If her voice was a color, she thinks it’d be a creamy yellow as it helps soothe people
— She had a close friend who was “like a sun” to her. He believed in her singing skills before she did and helped her during hard times. Unfortunately, he passed away as of 2018. This motivates her to honor his warm spirit through her music
— She hopes that everyone can find an aspect of her music that can help them heal better
— As of late 2020, she’s doing the YouTube series Reading K-Pop Ballads, where she translates Korean ballads into English
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profile made by midgehitsthrice
(Special thanks to ashtree39 / Cold Tea Collective for the info)
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