[Exclusive Interview] hongjoin on his musical journey, love and growth through his album ‘CLOCKWORK’

“Sawasdee krub!” A warm, casual greeting from hongjoin, the Singaporean artist-producer now based in New York. He is ready to officially welcome Thai listeners into his unique coming-of-age world. After six years of honing his craft and self-teaching production on a laptop right from his bedroom, he has finally released his debut full-length album, ‘CLOCKWORK.’ The record serves as a personal diary tracking growth, love, and relationships through 12 tracks that seamlessly map onto the 12 hours of a clock face.

The Noize Magazine invites everyone to get to know the artist behind the music—from his sonic identity that blends the intimacy of Asian pop sensibility with the openness of American indie culture, to his profound belief that raw human connection is the one thing technology can never replace in art.

The Noize Magazine: For Thai listeners who might be new to your music could you please introduce yourself and your journey in music to get here?

hongjoin: Sawasdee krub! My name is hongjoin, I’m an independent artist-producer originally from Singapore, now based in Brooklyn, New York. I started making music 6 years ago, kinda just teaching myself production from scratch on a laptop. I see my music as a diary, and it slowly became something I wanted to share with the world. I’ve put out a few projects over the years, Petrichor, F(OOL), KOMOREBI, and now I’m here with my debut full-length album CLOCKWORK. Most of my music revolves around me writing about growing up, about love, about the in-between moments that don’t always have words, you know the drill. I’m so happy to be reaching new ears in Thailand!

The Noize Magazine:  Who were your earliest musical influences, and as a producer shaped by global internet culture and bedroom creativity, are there any particular artists who inspired you recently and why?

hongjoin: I still remember watching Jeremy Zucker doing his production breakdown video on ‘Lakehouse’ and it was that exact video that made me think, hey I don’t need expensive gear to make good music. Till this day, I still use the same microphone I did when I first started recording (the AKG C214), and every single song uses that. I think what’s great about music production in today’s world is that it is so accessible. So yeah, I’d say artists like Jeremy Zucker, Dayglow, Charlie Burg of course.

The Noize Magazine: For this debut full-length album ‘CLOCKWORK’,’ where did you get the album title from? Can you tell us the story behind how the 12 tracks represent 12 hours on a clock face?

hongjoin: CLOCKWORK came from this feeling that so much of love and growing up runs on its own invisible clock. From the routines we fall into, to the way time speeds up and slows down depending on who you’re with, the almost mechanical way our hearts seem to repeat the same patterns even when we know better. The 12 tracks mapping onto 12 hours felt so natural once I saw it. You start somewhere, you move through joy, loss, confusion, acceptance, and you end up back at the beginning but changed. Like a clock, it keeps turning.

The Noize Magazine: Can you walk us through the production process? As an entirely self-produced project, how did the recording sessions for this album different from your previous work like ‘KOMOREBI’?

hongjoin: KOMOREBI was a deeply personal and largely solitary project for me. I was really sitting alone with my emotions and my instruments. With CLOCKWORK, I made a conscious decision to open the doors. I wanted collaborators, not just contributors. Some of my closest friends from college are all over this record, and because these are people I genuinely love, the process felt more like hanging out than working. I think that warmth ended up in the music itself. It’s still entirely self-produced in terms of creative direction, but having trusted people in the room made me braver. I took more risks, tried things I would’ve talked myself out of alone.

The Noize Magazine: Could you elaborate on this concept? How did you translate that feeling of time blurring—where past, present, and future collide through love—into the musical arrangements or the track sequencing of the album?

hongjoin: I think it happened more instinctively than deliberately. When you’re deep in love or deep in heartbreak, my brain doesn’t experience time linearly. There are certain things that bring me back five years, and some songs that make you feel something that hasn’t happened yet. I wanted the album to move that way too. The sequencing was really intentional, with sonic callbacks between tracks, little motifs that reappear. It’s pretty fun seeing the fans pick up on these small details. Hopefully finding these things will make them love the album even more. That’s what differentiates an album to just releasing singles in my opinion. It gives me the chance to be expressive in more sonical ways, and build a world around the music.

The Noize Magazine: The focus single “Universe” draws inspiration from the classic tale of ‘The Little Prince’, positioning yourself as the Prince who falls for the rose. What made you choose this specific story as the gateway to the entire album?

hongjoin: The Little Prince is one of my favorite childhood novels. There’s something about that story that captures this particular heartache of loving something so much that it almost undoes you, and still choosing to love it anyway. And surprise! Guess who relates to it, haha. The Prince and the Rose are one of the most honest portrayals of first love I’ve ever encountered. Universe” felt like the right entry point because it sets up the emotional premise of the whole album: finding love, losing it, and slowly finding your way back to it again. That’s the premise of CLOCKWORK. The Little Prince just gave us the most beautiful language for it.

The Noize Magazine: This album beautifully highlights accountability and the courage to admit mistakes. Which song on this album is your personal favorite, or perhaps the one you feel is the most honest, and why?

hongjoin: It changes a lot, depending on my mood, but right now probably “Surprise,” the closing track. I wrote it on Christmas Eve in Singapore, just with a keyboard and a cheap microphone, being back home around things from my childhood. Something about that environment stripped everything back and reminded me why I started making music in the first place. It’s full of little easter eggs and callbacks to older songs. 

The Noize Magazine: How has your journey influenced your sonic identity and helped shape the unique coming-of-age world we hear in ‘CLOCKWORK’?

hongjoin: Growing up between Singapore and now living in Brooklyn has given me this dual perspective that I think shows up in the music without me always trying to put it there. I’ve experienced such different cultures and ways of life, so rather than feeling torn by that, I’ve learned to treat it as a kind of richness. My sound is honestly just the sum of everything I’ve absorbed. I like to attribute it to the intimacy of Asian pop sensibility and the openness of American indie culture. CLOCKWORK is the most complete version of that so far, and I’m really happy that it’s the first record where I felt like all those parts of me were in the room together.

The Noize Magazine: Where do you see “hongjoin” five years from now, both musically and in terms of the impact you want to create?

hongjoin: Musically, I want to keep growing as a collaborator and as a live artist! I have a headline show coming up at SCAPE Ground Theater in Singapore that feels like a real milestone, and I’m going with my first tour opening for EJEAN. More stages, more cities, more genuine moments with people who’ve connected to the music! Hopefully once I call it a day with my artist career, I can contribute to the future generation of artists.

The Noize Magazine: Your music embraces reliance and dependency as profoundly human traits. As the music industry continues to change with AI and social media’s algorithm, how do you plan to keep your music “human” and authentic?

hongjoin: As much as AI is taking over the world, I strongly believe that music and art is the only thing that will not be replaced. Honestly, I think the best defense against all of it is just to keep making music that only I could make. AI can approximate a lot of things, but it can’t approximate the exact feeling of being 18 and going through your first heartbreak. The more particular and personal the music is, the more irreplaceable it becomes. I also take a lot of comfort in real community. Can AI artists play shows and talk to the fans that actually support them? I don’t think so, and that human connection is something we will crave and actively seek no matter what.

The Noize Magazine: From your bedroom studio to amassing over 10 million streams, what is the best piece of advice you have ever received about being an artist?

hongjoin: Probably from my dad. This wasn’t about being an artist, but I’ve applied what he told me in my life and I think that guides my direction in what I want to be as a person. It was something like, “Split and share the big parts of the cake with others. You might eat less now, but what you give away will come back to you in the future tenfold. Life is more fun when you celebrate it with everyone.” 

The Noize Magazine: What message would you like to share with your new listeners who might be discovering “hongjoin” for the first time?

hongjoin: Hello to all my listeners in Thailand! I hope something here makes you feel a little less alone. Romanticize your life to this album, and let the pains of growing up feel beautiful! I hope to visit your country one day!

Stream ‘CLOCKWORK’ from hongjoin here: https://sndo.ffm.to/bqj60nl