Singer-songwriter Anthony Russo recently joined media personality Racquel Goldy for an interview about the creative process behind writing K-pop songs.

Russo got involved in writing K-pop through fellow producer Jamil “Digi” Chammas, who is credited on many K-pop hits such as EXO’s “Tempo”. Through Digi’s South Korea connections, Russo attended a songwriting camp in 2018, where he wrote many cuts like CIX’s “Movie Star”. Ever since, he has written more songs for CIX as well as songs for many other K-pop artists including EXO, Kang Daniel, NCT Dream, and The Boyz.

Check out the full interview here:

Goldy asked him what it was like working at a songwriting camp, pumping out a lot of music over a certain amount of days. Russo replied, “Harmonies, adlibs, stacks, like everything is done and mixed to the point where you could take it to the label tomorrow.” He described the camp as a race where every producer is working on something different and then reaches the finish line together.

As Russo worked with Kang Daniel for his upcoming April 13 album ‘YELLOW’, he added, “I just think [Daniel] has this really malleable kind of brand identity where he can kind of go wherever he wants and still make it him." While describing the stylistic choices made in Kang Daniel’s song “PARANOIA”, he explained what makes writing K-pop so different and exciting: “There is this larger-than-life thing that you can do with K-pop records that is really cool, where you can add things outside the realm of music, things like screams and artificial sounds that accentuate what you’re saying.” 

He mentioned he enjoys working with rookies and up-and-coming artists: “I can’t resist the opportunity to be a part. That’s why I did all those CIX projects and continue to work with CIX. They’re just down to experiment and be weird and trust the process.” He briefly talked about having a working session with Mark Tuan, who recently returned to the States, and how he wants to help artists bridge the transition between K-pop and western music. 

Goldy and Russo concluded the interview with a discussion on K-pop acceptance. Russo commented, “I think our vision to begin with was, ‘How can we get K-pop to be loved, appreciated immediately?’” Goldy quipped that they hope it will get there and why she started her channel to introduce new people to K-pop.

Russo also previously posted footage of a songwriting camp in Korea on his YouTube channel which features the making of demos for songs such as CIX’s “Rewind” and The Boyz’s “Salty”:

Meanwhile, Anthony Russo recently collaborated with inverness and Kang Daniel on a Monstercat release titled “State of Wonder”. He will be releasing his first single on April 23 for his ‘Blue’ four-single July project.