There’s a lot that goes into a music video, more so if it’s directed by Leesuho. Out of the box and impressively bizarre, the Korean visual director and musician has a knack for putting together the most mesmerising visuals that elevate a great song to even greater heights. 

Joined by his talented team at Boring Studios, Leesuho is the mastermind behind some of the most elaborate and hypnotizing music videos in Korean music, including those by BTS’ j-hope, CL, B.I, Woo, SE SO NEON, and more. 

Leesuho’s beginnings in creative directing and videography is as abstract as the worlds he creates in his videos, sharing how he picked up the then-hobby after vaguely fantasising about making his own music videos one day. 

Inspired by the likes of Chris Cunningham, the visual artist’s creative process begins by entering the mind of the musician and fully understanding their music, attitude, and language. 

“When I make videos, it feels like I enter the world of my clients and speak my thoughts in their grammar,” Leesuho said in a previous interview with Bandwagon. 

From there, Leesuho shares that the content and storyline tend to follow naturally as he conjures ways to relay the artist’s music and vision into vivid images that stick in the audiences’ minds. Alongside the entire Boring Studios team, this is where the magic, while seemingly shadowed by practical tasks, begins. 

“When making a video, many people are put into the field and it is not my own work, so I think I approach it with the concept of branding the artist a little more,” he shared. “The Boring Studio team members are in charge of a lot of practical tasks such as creative direction and progress. It would be nice to think that they work in production.”

Leesuho boasts a portfolio that sees works like ‘Spicy’ by CL, ‘MORE’ and ‘Arson’ by j-hope, ‘BTBT’ by B.I and DeVita, ‘Used’ by Woo, and more, with each video bringing to life its own distinct story and world—some of which even take reference from pop culture, like with 'BTBT' referencing the cyberpunk film Ghost In The Shell. 

When asked what advice he had for young artists aspiring to be creative directors themselves, Leesuho said, "It is most important to understand the music well."

"I hope they listen to a lot of music, meet a lot of cool people, go to many good places, and work with the idea that they are a part of the culture."

 

 

 

 

 

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His out-of-the-box and often difficult-to-explain concepts also tend to bleed into his music, exploring his creativity in a whole different medium. While he shares that they both require different mindsets, Leesuho’s signature artistry can be seen both his music and visual work. 

The versatile artist dropped his sophomore album, Monika last November. The record follows 2018’s Enertain and serves as his first release since joining the alternative K-pop collective Balming Tiger.