Why HOHYUN Wants To Be an Authentic Superhero
In a new interview done in collaboration with KOHAI, the singer-songwriter considers why he’s drawn to superheroes and how a determination to succeed has fueled him since he was a teenager.
Photos by Andrew Nguyen
HOHYUN gets his determination from his umma.
Late Sunday night, after he played his first show on JUNNY’s null tour, I was practically sprinting after HOHYUN’s umma as she raced through a barren parking lot – in heels – lugging her son’s large suitcase, once full of plushies, shirts, and photocards. Throughout the night, she continuously restocked our merch booth, gamely set up a second make-shift merch booth outside the venue after the show, and then made us a delicious late-night meal in her hotel room. As we talked over gopchang and rice, she told me that determination is divinely inspired. “It’s from God,” she said simply.
Like her son, she is singularly focused and razor sharp when given a goal. “You should ask me to do more,” she said to HOHYUN at one point in the night with a laugh.
I don’t think HOHYUN would be the person he is today without her model of perseverance and self-reliance. Up until we began working together in 2024, he had no professional support system beyond himself. But that didn’t stop him from learning how to direct, shoot, and edit his own videos; self-produce his music; create merch, and continuously advocate for himself. While I’m his manager, we always say that our roles are equal. HOHYUN still likes managing many things on his own. But we’ve accomplished a lot together in the last two years, including two headlining shows and now our second JUNNY tour. Kohai, HOHYUN’s booking agent, has also joined the team, and together, we’ve been able to move at a faster pace, marking off more goals.
In the spirit of Lunar New Year’s Year of the Horse, which symbolizes strength, independence, and ambition, I talked with HOHYUN over a stacked meal at Smashburger about how he embodies these qualities so well.
Q: You’re in the middle of a busy month. You played two festival dates for Asia Times Square’s Lunar New Year Festival, and now you’re on the JUNNY tour. But I want to roll it back to when you were nineteen, in the suburbs of Houston, releasing music on your own with no support. What would that version of you think of this year?
HOHYUN: I always held high expectations for myself, so I think I would have been like, “Hell yeah. I expect nothing less.” I would have been really happy that it happened, but I wouldn't have been surprised. It’s not like I would’ve been like, oh no way, because I think I always imagined myself doing big things. I probably would have just asked, “How long did it take?”
Q: You obviously had a big vision for yourself at 19. Does it feel validating to see all of this come into fruition?
HOHYUN: Yeah, it’s validating because I always knew I had it in me. It was more surprising when things wouldn’t work out. But I think 19-year-old me would’ve been really, really excited to hear about this. I think he would be surprised, though, at how scrappy it still is. I think if he heard what we were doing, he’d think we have a whole team. He’d ask, “How’d you get the plushies made? How’d you get the photocards?” But no, dude, I just figured it out. We have Michael now, but it’s still just us. There’s no crazy big team. I think he’d be very surprised by that.
Q: I remember back then, you thought you needed to be on Antenna with Sam Kim to succeed.
HOHYUN: I used to think you needed a big label to do anything. But now I can do pretty much anything I want with a very small team and limited budget. And now we’re here, on our second JUNNY tour. We actually didn’t expect to get this tour. I’m the only artist on this tour that he doesn’t have a personal connection with, and I was also on the last tour. So I really didn’t think it would be possible to get on this tour because why would they pick me? But I’ve just wanted to use this as an opportunity to meet as many fans as possible.
HOHYUN taking a break and meeting fans.
Q: I know in the past you’ve struggled with feeling accepted by other artists in this scene. Does it feel affirming to succeed without being one of the “popular, cool” artists?
HOHYUN: Yeah, because a lot of those artists have given up. They’re not in it for the love of the game. They’re in it for the clout. And when that ends, they quit.
Q: If there’s one thing I admire about you, it's your perseverance and passion for music. You might get knocked down, but you get up again, and you figure out a way forward. That’s something I think we do really well as a team. We might be sad for a day, but then we hit the reset button.
HOHYUN: Yeah, we never let anything hinder us from moving forward because that would be worse if we let a setback stop us. That would be a shame.
Q: Today, we walked around, and you introduced yourself to people before the doors opened and sold merch. I remember you saying that you have no ego doing this because you just want to meet fans.
HOHYUN: Yeah, half of the people who are buying today don’t even know me. (Laughs) I’ve never been able to convince people to buy merch before I perform. But a lot of them were already fans, too, because of the work we did on the last tour. They’re here now, and they’re ready. And people who don’t know them see the people who do know, and they think, well, that must be something important.
Q: On this tour, you’re wearing a custom-made, screen-accurate Spider-Man outfit. Why is that an important part of your identity?
HOHYUN: Because superheroes are ordinary people who become extraordinary when they put on the suit. It’s a rare thing for an Asian guy to talk about mental health or his feelings. But I feel like when I’m on stage, I become my own superhero, the kind of guy I wanted to see when I was a kid, and who is rarely seen in Asian America.
