Korea Town Acid on self-care, the psychology of bucket hats, and the reassurance of a Juno nomination

It's very hard to define what Korea Town Acid does. Early in our interview, I refer to her as making something we could broadly call techno. She calmly disagrees with me. 

"I feel like the techno artists will have a different opinion about that," she says.

It's not that the Seoul-born, Toronto-based artist also known as Jessica Cho doesn't make techno. Sometimes she does. The two albums she released in 2021, Metamorphosis and Cosmos, definitely contain techno songs. But they also contain a lot of other things: lurching, dusty hip-hop beats with guest MCs spitting overtop, lush atmospheric soundscapes, straight up 140 BPM drum and bass, jazz influences that poke their head out when you least expect it. When you ask KTA her influences, she'll mention Japanese Shibuya-kei act Fantastic Plastic Machine, Golden Era New York rap staples like Nas and A Tribe Called Quest, and a general love of K-pop.

"I'm into a lot of different things," she says. "I like jazz-driven things. I like grime. I like the New York house music. I like Detroit techno. If it's good shit then it's good shit, you know?"

Korea Town Acid came to electronic music after growing up learning classical piano and spending her early adulthood playing keyboards, both in various bands and on the street as a busker. She eventually switched to making electronic music, in part  because it gave her greater control of the end result. Another thing that gives her a sense of control while performing is, somewhat surprisingly, bucket hats. KTA frequently wears them when she plays, and she says it's not just a fun fashion choice. 

"I feel like it's my security blanket," she says. "It's like a protection. I don't really want people to read my face while I'm performing, because I feel like I'm kind of a reactive person. If something's fucking up, but, like the show must go on, I don't want people to read my face. But also, I think I look really cool in a bucket hat."

It's maybe not surprising that KTA likes to have a bucket hat as a bit of a barrier between her and the audience. She says that, over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, she's realized that she's much more of an introvert than she ever realized. The pandemic forced her to slow down and focus on self-care. She says that, pre-pandemic, her busy schedule of gigs and the party-heavy lifestyle that often comes with being a musician meant that she was neglecting her wellbeing and pushing herself too hard.

"When I was really busy, I really neglected certain things about myself," she says. "Like laundry or cleaning. Like, I was too hungover. Too tired. I had to prepare for the show. I was just working like crazy — always chasing."

As she returns to playing shows, she says she's trying to not fall back into those habits and live in a more mindful way. She says that pre-COVID, "I didn't really have me, just Korea Town Acid." She says that she put the performer version of herself, "almost on a pedestal," while not giving enough attention to everything else. Ultimately, that wasn't good for Korea Town Acid the musician, or Jessica Cho the human being.

"If I'm feeling like shit, if I'm not processing things properly, if I'm having issues in other areas of my life and I'm not taking care of it, I'm not gonna be able to focus and make music, right?" she says. 

KTA's song "Sobriety," off the album Cosmos, is nominated for the Juno for Underground Dance Single of the Year. She says she appreciates the recognition and that, in some ways, the nomination helps her feel like she's on the right path.

"Living as a freelance artist in a city like Toronto, you see all your friends, like getting a nine-to-five job, and sometimes you feel like 'Oh fuck, am I doing the right thing? Should I get a nine-to-five, and, like get a condo?'" she says. "So [the nomination] is nice. It's like 'Hey! We see you! You're doing OK!'"