30 November 2022 - 0 Comments

Hosted by DJ and music journalist Jess Fu, Amplified spotlights artists who use music to embrace, connect and explore their cultural roots. Over five episodes Amplified discovers the looping pop of Kōtiro, the joyful Samoan indie rock of Leao, the experimental hip hop of Phodiso, Samara Alofa’s soulful pop, and the electronic R&B of Imugi 이무기.

Through conversation with Jess, viewers will discover how each musician approaches their creative practice, revealing how identity is tied to, and reflected in their music. Kōtiro, Leao, Phodiso, Samara Alofa, Imugi 이무기 and Jess all speak to their cultural heritage, showing how it informs their artistic expression and music making.

Each episode of Amplified will feature unique live performances, deep diving into the musician’s mind’s eye and showcasing their talent in its truest potential.

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In EP05, Jess spends a day with Yery Cho and Carl Ruwhiu of electronic-pop duo Imugi 이무기to chat about escaping into the internet, world-building through music and remaining independent.

“Escapeism is a really big thing for both Carl and I," says Cho. "We’ve always been obsessed over things that can take you away somewhere else.”

Made up of vocalist Yery Cho and producer Carl Ruwhiu, Imugi 이무기 is an electronic-pop duo that Jess Fu describes as, “fiercely independent, making work that is bold and self-assured.” With roots in South Korea and Aotearoa, Imugi 이무기 explore complex, multi-faceted identities through a mix of styles from R&B to synth-pop, funk and spoken word.

Imugi 이무기 aren't signed to a label, but it wasn’t always the case: "Our journey has gone from independent to signing with a bigger label, to deciding we didn’t want to do that and we went independent again,” states Cho. Ruwhiu says, “we kind of realised that a lot of the stuff we would be handing over to the label for their help was kind of on the visual side of things like music videos, press photos, PR and the way that we were presented to the public. We came to realise that was all of the stuff that was part of the creative process for us anyway that we wanted to have control over and it felt a bit silly to give away that creative freedom to someone else.”

Photo Credit: Apela Bell

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