- Hey, this is Eric Nam,
and welcome to my WIRED Autocomplete Interview.
[upbeat music]
ASMR. [paper crinkling]
"How does Eric Nam make music?"
How do I explain that?
I tend to jump into a studio or a session with a producer
and we just talk about our feelings.
We get really emotional
and we always latch onto a word like Lost on Me,
which happens to be the name
of my new single from my new album.
But it's like phrases that we use in everyday vocabulary.
And we're like, "What is not lost on you?"
And then we started talking about relationships
and love and like breakups
and how we can just kind of weave
that into the makeup of a song.
And then we spent,
this is the weird part out of context that gets really weird
where we just spend time just like humming weird melodies,
and then we play it back
and then you're like, "Oh gosh."
But then there's always a moment where it's like,
"Hey, this ain't bad."
And in this case, it was like,
♪ Everything about you now is bittersweet, bittersweet ♪
And that's how the songs are made.
"How many fans does Eric Nam have?"
How the hell am I supposed to know?
I don't know.
For me, just the right amount.
"How many siblings does Eric Nam have?"
I have two brothers, Eddie and Brian.
We're just like any other brother,
though, we do have our arguments.
We do have our tiffs,
but I think that's any relationship.
So it's great.
"How to text Eric Nam?"
Well, I'm not gonna give out my real number.
Should I?
Okay, this is my number.
It's [213] 267-7391.
You don't need my number.
Who calls or texts anymore?
It's all DMs.
That doesn't mean slide into my DMs.
"How to be like Eric Nam?"
Oh, you mean like how to be like
just outrageously good looking, talented,
super witty, and hardworking,
ethical, morally just incomparable person,
singer/songwriter, entrepreneur guy?
Dude, I wish I knew.
Bye.
"What did Eric Nam major in?"
Good question.
I majored in international studies
with the focus on political science
and I minored in East Asian studies,
not that you asked.
"What languages does Eric Nam speak?"
I speak Korean.
I speak some Spanish and I speak a little bit of English
and a tiny, tiny bit of Mandarin.
So those are my four languages.
Here we go, English, hey.
Korean, aniyo.
Spanish, hola.
Mandarin, ni hao.
Clearly, I'm fluent in four languages.
"What happened to Eric Nam
and Solar?" [Eric laughing]
Nothing happened.
She and I were on a TV show
for like nine, 10 months together
and the premise of the show is
that we were married on the show,
but we remain very good friends and yeah.
"What is Eric Nam's zodiac sign?"
I am a dragon.
I'm Year of the Dragon '88,
which I think is pretty bad-ass.
My horoscope sign is what do you think?
I am a Scorpio.
Means nothing to me,
so somebody please educate me.
"What does Eric Nam do for fun?"
I just drink. [Eric laughing]
Am I allowed to say that?
I can say that, right?
I have a good time, guys.
I like a good cocktail.
I like a good whiskey.
I like a good tequila and I love to eat.
I eat a lot of food.
There's this thing called deulkkae sujebi.
Yes, I'll say it again.
Deulkkae Sujebi
and it is a Perilla seed dough soup.
It sounds crazy, but it's delicious.
It's like a dumpling soup that makes you feel so good.
You're welcome.
Next up is when,
children, welcome to the classroom,
"when did Eric Nam begin making music?"
Honestly, I started making music in high school
and it was like horrible.
It was horrendous.
We've purged it from the internet.
We've purged everything
from the internet. [Eric laughing]
And then I just stopped.
And then when I got to Korea,
I started writing probably in 2013.
"When did Eric Nam move to Korea?"
I moved to Korea in 2011, pretty straight forward.
I moved there right after college.
Did not know I was gonna end up living there
and starting a career, but that's what happened.
"When did Eric Nam become famous?"
Also in 2011,
unless you count 10,000 subscribers
on YouTube really famous in 2010.
Bye.
"Where does Eric Nam shop?"
I go to the outlets a lot.
If you go to an outlet and you get there at the right time
and you become friends with the people at the outlets,
it's a great way to get really cool things
that you don't find in normal stores
for a ridiculously cheap price.
Don't show up at the outlet though.
That's like my secret, okay?
"Where did Eric Nam grow up?"
I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm a Southern dude.
I think I miss the four seasons in the sense
that in LA, everything is like the same all the time,
where in Georgia you have,
it can be extreme heat and really humid,
but then you have a nice fall, you have a nice spring,
and the winter is cold, but not too cold,
but just enough so you feel like it's the holidays
and Santa is not gonna show up in like a swimsuit.
It's a good mix.
"Where did Eric Nam live in India?"
I lived in Hyderabad, India,
which on the Southern half of India
for about two or three months.
I wish I knew more about it.
I wish I could impart some wisdom about India,
but I think I would do a very poor job at it.
"Where is Eric Nam going on tour?"
We have 51 cities confirmed
just in the first few months of 2022.
Probably to a city near you.
You can get tickets at ericnam.com.
See you there.
Here we go, rapid fire.
"Is there Eric Nam nice?"
I'm a horrible person.
"Is Eric Nam in a group?"
I am not, I'm a solo artist.
"Is Eric Nam vegan?"
I like to pretend I am.
"Is Eric Nam single?"
I am.
"Eric Nam This is Not a Love Song lyrics."
Give me a minute.
♪ This is not a love song ♪
[Eric singing in Korean]
I got it.
"Does Eric Nam have tattoos?"
I do not.
They're too permanent for me.
"Does Eric Nam have a lightstick?"
I don't.
I used to.
We've made a lightstick once for my fans
and it was my logo on like this house kinda thing.
I don't have one.
Supply chain issues.
We try to make it.
Pandemic is real, guys, supply chain issues.
"Does Eric Nam play instruments?"
I poorly play the piano,
poorly play the cello,
and I can hold a guitar.
"Does Eric Nam write his own songs?"
I do.
I actually have like 17 elves that do it for me,
but I like to just ghostwrite,
they're my ghostwriters
and I just kinda stick my name on it
and, you know.
"Does Eric Nam dance?"
Short answer, yes.
Can I vibe?
Hell yeah.
Can I body roll?
Hell yeah.
Can I make weird body forms that people are like,
"Is that safe?"
Yes.
I also have this other one called,
for my new album where I was just feeling myself.
We shot the video in Savannah and I was on a boat
and I was like, I was doing this thing.
I was like, "Oh, this works."
♪ Because, ah, ah, ah ♪
It's a dance.
If you don't like it, fight me.
"Eric Nam goblin."
Are you calling me a goblin?
Oh, yes.
Okay.
My physical album was in an episode of this really,
really big smash hit of a K drama called "Dokkaebi",
which is goblin.
So thank you for that.
I did not know it was gonna be in it
and it was a great surprise.
If you wanna physical copy of my new album,
go to ericnam.com.
"Eric Nam hair."
What about my hair?
"Eric Nam aesthetic."
I don't know.
I think it's just this chiseled jawline,
these broad shoulders, [Eric chuckling]
thick eyebrows, and beautifully crafted eyes,
nose, and lips.
Maybe that's the aesthetic.
Yeah, that's the vibe.
"Eric Nam Daebak Show."
"Daebak Show" is my podcast.
We've done probably over 150 episodes.
The number one show, period, except for this one.
This one's pretty cool.
"Eric Nam kimchi jiigae recipe."
So at the beginning of the pandemic,
I was bored and I decided
to make a cooking video called "Nam Noms"
where I am making a delicious pot
of kimchi jiggae stew.
And if you wanna make it, go to my YouTube, check it out.
It's really good.
[poster clattering]
All jokes aside, thank you so much for having me.
It's been a pleasure getting
to share a little bit more about myself
and to answer some of your most frequent Google searches.
Most importantly, please stay healthy, stay safe, be happy.
And thanks again for having me, guys.
I'll see you soon.
Bye.
[upbeat music ends]