Zoe Ko Channels Angst and Weirdness in “I’m Bored”
Photo by Alex Brown
New York-based independent alternative pop artist Zoe Ko releases an energetic and angsty track entitled “I’m Bored.” Produced by Johnny Shorr, “I’m Bored” is a refreshing track with a hint of healthy chaos and a call for adventure. “I’m Bored” is brought to life through playful adlibs interlaced with an addictive rhythm and energetic, screeching guitars played by The Ace’s Katie Henderson, which contributes to the restlessness and excessive energy that Zoe has fought for since she was a kid.
“I’ve always wanted to do more and not sit in silence and sit in peace and relax,” Zoe says. “I feel like a lot of people don't talk about the feeling of being bored and actually think boredom is quite like a passionate feeling if you allow yourself to follow it. It's just like a yearning for more and a yearning to explore new things and life. I think that was a big goal for me in 2023 just saying fuck it. I'm newly single. I want to travel the world and push myself to go beyond and explore everything that's out there.”
Boredom can be a passionate and fulfilling feeling if you follow it. “I’m Bored” delivers Zoe’s promise to herself to live life unapologetically and become the realest version of herself through her adventures and eccentric play on words. “I’m Bored” serves as Zoe’s ultimate middle finger to finding boredom being mundane and says fuck it and try new things.
Zoe is a singer and songwriter journaling her life through the emotive juxtaposition of upbeat and moody alternative pop. Her vulnerable lyrics and infectious melodies make her songs feel as intimate and electric as dancing alone in your room. Currently releasing an array of singles, Zoe is establishing herself as a prominent, rising tastemaker in today’s modern lane of alternative pop. Her lead single “Line” amassed over 630k streams, landing on numerous Spotify editorial playlists.
Photo by Alex Brown
[UNPUBLISHED]: Thank you for sitting down and talking to Unpublished Magazine. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren't familiar, what inspires your artistic persona and style?
[ZOE KO]: For me, I feel like everything that I can't talk about or my songs are just my journal entries, and a lot of times I'll make my journal entries that I write on my phone into songs.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Journal entries that are put out into the world are so vulnerable and people are seeing a more deeper and personal side of yourself. How does it feel to put so much vulnerability out in the world or is it natural for you?
[ZOE KO]: I'm an incredibly open book so it feels very right. Usually, talking about whatever you’re feeling is very therapeutic and your own experiences are not even that unique and everyone else can relate to them and I think that’s very powerful. When I write about something that's very personal and what feels uniquely traumatic or something for me and then I have a whole bunch of people relate to it or just understand it, like that's really amazing to experience.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What do you need in your environment when you feel a creative spark or inspiration hitting you?
[ZOE KO]: I type everything on my little notes page on my phone. I just have to record it immediately through voice memos. I think I literally have like over 3,500 voice notes now. I'm literally drinking chamomile tea with honey right now. I just like to feel warm.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are some artists that inspire you, either lyrically or instrumentally?
[ZOE KO]: Wet Leg has been a really big inspiration for me recently. I just love their playfulness and youthfulness in their lyricism. I know they have the one would you butter my muffin kind of thing, just super playful and very stream of consciousness. I've been really trying to push that and not overthink lyricism as much and split as many thoughts that I've had out and not judge what I'm writing down because it can always be edited. You can always take things out. I really want to push myself to be the weirdest version and the most real version of myself and I feel like they are very good at doing that.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Your recent single “I’m Bored” just released. What was the inspiration behind the song?
[ZOE KO]: I feel like I definitely have ADHD and it's very hard for me to feel content and satisfied in life, which has been a big struggle, like just in general since I was like a baby. I’ve always wanted to do more and not sit in silence and sit in peace and relax. My dad would always make fun of me as a kid because I would just constantly be bored and fidgeting with something. I just wanted to play on that in my experience with boredom. I feel like a lot of people don't talk about the feeling of being bored and actually think boredom is quite like a passionate feeling if you allow yourself to follow it. It's just like a yearning for more and a yearning to explore new things and life. I think that was a big goal for me in 2023 just saying fuck it. I'm newly single. I want to travel the world and push myself to go beyond and explore everything that's out there. I think a lot of that comes from boredom and wanting to just see everything in this lifetime. That was what “Bored” was about for me.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What are some of your favorite activities to distract yourself when you're feeling bored?
[ZOE KO]: I love going outside because I live in New York, and one of my favorite things to do is just go outside and not know where I'm going but keep making left and right turns based on whatever street is calling to me the most. I always seem to just explore new parts of the city or go on a walk and not have a destination and to go into any store that's interesting or sit down, have a coffee randomly in the middle of the walk and I'll just do that for like three hours. I adore thrifting and searching through all these bins and finding hidden gems.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What was the creative process like for “I'm Bored?”
[ZOE KO]: That one was actually incredibly fast. It took a few sessions and working with two different people as well, so I made it with a producer and songwriter. That was the first demo of it and now I'm working more exclusively with another producer and took it to finish and reworked it. It came to me on the subway and I was just spamming my notes app with all these funny lyrics and content for the second verse as I was staring out the window going to Brooklyn. That one was very stream of consciousness and I think that was the peak of me exploring the stream of consciousness way of writing lyrics. I wasn't really thinking of a melody yet. I was writing out so many thoughts, so I came to the session with a bucket load of lyrics and funny statements. We started piecing it together with chord progressions and then I came to LA to finish everything. We also had Katie Henderson, the guitarist from The Aces come in and do these really cool guitar parts on it too. It was cool working with a whole bunch of people on this one.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What's your favorite part about collaborating?
[ZOE KO]: I think it's just really special when you find those people that you just have this energy and magic with and you're like one unit making this little artwork together and I just love the synergy with someone else over something so intimate and special.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I love the cover art for the single. Can you talk to me about the photoshoot and your experience with it and what inspired its grunge roots?
[ZOE KO]: I adore the dirtiness and grunginess of New York and how there're so many little pockets of cool shops and places around the city. I definitely wanted it to be weird and outlandish and very angsty and grungy. The Broadway bar in Brooklyn has a really cool bathroom that’s covered in graffiti and looks like someone exploded on the walls. My photographer just got this fisheye lens and so we wanted to have fun and go crazy with it.
[UNPUBLISHED]: Since your first single release “Line,” have you been experimenting more or taking any risks either lyrically or sonically until “I'm Bored?”
[ZOE KO]: I think a big thing that we've been doing now is making really strange sounds with the guitar but it's not like hitting notes or doing like a riff or anything. It's just like banging the strings and putting up for the feedback to the amp and a lot of shit like that. I like creating ominous noises that emphasize certain lyrics at the end of the verse, or creating more soundscapes that emphasize the feeling and overall atmosphere and environment of a song. Like the stream of consciousness lyric writing I've been trying to push for as well. I'm actually in LA right now and working on finishing my first project that's probably going to come out this year, which I'm really excited about. All the titles of the songs are just kind of weird. I’m just playing off metaphors and odd wordings of things to represent a bigger part of life.
[UNPUBLISHED]: I would love to learn anything you're willing to share about this upcoming EP. What can listeners expect from this new era of music from you?
[ZOE KO]: I feel like it's encapsulating my last era as a person. I just turned 22, newly single and it's just me dealing with some past things and then what I want to explore in my new era of who I am. I think a lot of it's very similar to “Lovesick in Public” and taking a risk and having an attitude, but then there's also much more inner introspective and talking about sexuality and figuring out who I am and what my past made me into and stuff.
[UNPUBLISHED]: If you could describe your music in three words, which three would you choose and why?
[ZOE KO]: I would say playful. I try to sing and the way I sing, I try to add a lot of texture in my voice and not really hold back emotion. With the lyrics, I am definitely getting deeper and deeper each song into my own life and what I'm feeling and trying to express that in the most real and authentic way I can and say things that people are afraid to say with the lyrics and instrumentation. Just making a lot of fun sounds and a lot of high energy drums and it's very punchy. I would say angsty, punchy and playful.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What message, story or emotions do you hope your listeners can take away from either “I'm Bored” or your upcoming EP?
[ZOE KO]: “I'm Bored,” I really hope people listen to the song to have fun and live more. I made “Bored” as a promise to myself in 2023 and that I would just live more unapologetically. I hope people do the same. I hope people can relate to the stories and don’t feel as alone in different aspects of life. Some of the music on the EP touches on taking an optimistic approach to life, even if it’s growing up and having a hard past and stuff is weighing you down, you still have to be grateful and excited for your future.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is something that a lot of people do not know about you?
[ZOE KO]: I am just now talking about my sexuality and it’s a very new thing for me and not a lot of people know or a lot more people do assume it though than I ever thought it was. I would also say my love for animals in my work through dog rescue and I’ve been doing that for years and years. I stopped six months ago which is really sad, but I used to foster dogs and I was part of the foster team at this rescue and I would get to go to adoption events and help others foster and match dogs with foster families. I’ve been doing it for years since high school, so I’ll definitely get back into it. Like not just dog rescue, but horse rescue in the future. I love, love, love animals. I feel like a little animal whisperer.
[UNPUBLISHED]: What is some advice that you have for any rising artists who are trying to experiment more with their music or their general artistic craft?
[ZOE KO]: Go away from social media and find the people that amplify you and really support what you're doing and find those collaborators that you just really trust and love. Really push yourself and don’t judge yourself. Having judgment is just so important.
[UNPUBLISHED]: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Unpublished?
[ZOE KO]: I'm so excited for 2023 and what this year will bring. I’ve already enjoyed the two months that have already happened. 2022 was me exploring myself and my music for the first time and really releasing music and seeing what it meant to be an artist in the world. It’s been so amazing. I'm just so grateful for how much that has happened with just a few songs out. I'm just excited for this first project to come out and hopefully go on tour as an opener. I have a few SXSW shows coming up in March now that I'm excited about and getting ready for.
Photo by Alex Brown