Phoebe Rings blend dreamy pop, Korean influences, and indie roots into something deeply personal
With celestial synths and heartstring-plucking lyrics, Phoebe Rings is fresh off releasing their long-awaited debut album Aseurai—a dreamy, layered journey shaped by everything from gentrification and grief to Stardew Valley and Korean city pop.
Led by frontwoman Crystal Choi and rounded out by a cast of indie heavyweights (Tiny Ruins, Princess Chelsea), the Auckland-based band has carved a niche with their lush soundscapes and magnetic live shows.
We caught up with Crystal to chat noodles, Nintendo, and how the band has come into their own as a creative force.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
CRYSTAL: Doing some interviews and performances with the band on a Friday!
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you live—what do you love about it?
CRYSTAL: I’m in central Auckland, and I love Dominion Road which has all of the great food spots – my recent favourite does really great biang biang noodles.
HAPPY: Congrats on the upcoming release of your debut album Aseurai! With the album announcement and singles like ‘Aseurai’ and ‘Drifting’ already out, how does it feel to finally be sharing the full project with your fans?
CRYSTAL: It feels really lovely, we’ve written the songs through 2022-23 and been really eager to put them out!
HAPPY: This album marks a shift from your solo project to a full-band effort. How did the collaborative songwriting process evolve, and what’s it been like seeing everyone’s influences come together on Aseurai?
CRYSTAL: I think it started off quite siloed with everyone writing their own song and arranging it individually, but the more we went along and got comfortable with sharing things with each other it became more collaborative – helping finish lyrics or contributing production or arrangement ideas to each others’ songs.
HAPPY: The title track, ‘Aseurai,’ is sung in Korean, which adds a personal touch. Could you walk us through how the song came together and its significance, especially with its connection to your grandmother?
CRYSTAL: It firstly was a light-heartedly written song, inspired by a Korean city pop song called ‘샴푸의 요정 (Fairy of Shampoo)’ and had no lyrics, but I finished it off around the time my grandmother passed away. I was reminiscing about the happier memories we had and wanted to celebrate her presence rather than to be too sad about it.
HAPPY: You mentioned that ‘Aseurai’ was inspired by a 90’s Korean pop band. How do you think your love for Korean ballads and pop culture shaped the sound of the track?
CRYSTAL: I think it affected the harmony of the songs to be a bit more of that time (city poppy?) and when I was writing the lyrics, the melody made sense sung in Korean.
HAPPY: Phoebe Rings has been dubbed an indie supergroup thanks to everyone’s backgrounds in bands like Tiny Ruins and Princess Chelsea. How have your previous musical projects influenced the sound and dynamic of Phoebe Rings?
CRYSTAL: We’ve learned a lot about how to run a band and coordinate four people with differing opinions from our other projects! Both Chelsea and Hollie are such bosses and so inspirational in their careers, it’s definitely an aspiration to have half the careers that they’ve had.
HAPPY: Your songwriting touches on personal stories and themes like gentrification. Can you share a little bit about your experiences with this theme?
CRYSTAL: Alex, our drummer, wrote this song when the house he was renting was put up for sale. It’s a common millennial thing to be kicked out of a rental property at someone else’s whim, and he wrote it while longing for a sense of a permanent home where you can feel safe.
HAPPY: With influences like Studio Ghibli, Zelda, and Stardew Valley, how do these cultural touchstones contribute to the atmosphere and energy on Aseurai?
All of those references have a very otherworldly and dream-like or calming quality that we like to convey in our music – I think “Goodnight” on the album is the culmination of that, with strings, omnichord, and lots of synth blips.
HAPPY: Given all the airplay and success in New Zealand and internationally, how do you feel about the growth of the band and the upcoming debut tour? You’ve got some exciting shows lined up, including with The Beths and you just played your first-ever show in Taiwan as well. What are you most excited about with these performances?
CRYSTAL: It was really surreal playing in Taiwan; that people outside of our home country had heard our music through the internet and had their own way of consuming it in their lives and through their culture. Honestly we were just so grateful for the opportunities that music has brought us being able to share and connect with different cultures around the world. The Beths crowds are just so lovely and welcoming to support bands too so those were super fun shows.
HAPPY: Your connection with video games is well-known, and you’ve mentioned Zelda and Stardew Valley as major influences. How has this passion for gaming affected your music and creative process?
CRYSTAL: Some of the best video game soundtracks have super simple musical motifs that can repeat endlessly without becoming annoying (see: Super Mario, and more recently Balatro), that’s something to aim towards. Also I feel like the melodies can straddle a line between classical and pop music where they’re really hooky but really musically interesting, that’s another thing we aspire to in our writing!
HAPPY: Looking ahead to your Aseurai album release in June, how do you feel about the journey leading up to it? And what are you most excited to share with your audience next?
CRYSTAL: It’s been so long since we recorded the songs but it’s been nice to think about the experience of creating them again, I think we’re learning a lot that we weren’t able to articulate at the time. Lots more live shows especially in Australia again soon we hope, and we’re also excited about working on new music together!
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
CRYSTAL:
– cats
– nourishing and delicious meals after exhausting days on tour
– receiving messages from fans
– getting a good nights’ sleep
– listening to new and exciting music
