Pipe Lips’ First Full-Length Album
[Fable of Nobody]
SPiRiT WEBZINE ALBUM REVIEW 02
Thank you for joining this interview! To start off, could you briefly introduce the band and its members?
Jihwan Hello, I’m Jihwan, the leader and drummer of Pipe Lips. Our music is often defined more by its mood or texture rather than by a specific genre, which is why people describe it in many different ways. But if we had to label it, we like to insist that we play punk/garage/rock.
Jiseong Hi, I’m Jiseong, the bassist. I also perform as a one-man band under the name “Collective Intelligence.”
Geunha I’m Geunha, and I’m in charge of guitar and vocals. Out of punk/garage/rock, I take responsibility for the “garage” part.
The track titles in this album stand out because they are borrowed from movie titles. What was the intention behind using film titles for the tracks?
Jihwan At first, we simply wanted to choose titles that best described the situation in each song. But as the work progressed, the album started to take the form of a concept album with a single storyline. We realized that using movie titles would be an effective way to highlight this narrative structure.
When listeners recall the movies we love while listening to the album, they might better understand in what context those titles are used and feel the emotions we wanted to convey more deeply.
Could you introduce the title track, “Mr. Nobody,” from [Fable of Nobody]?
Jihwan The album follows the journey of a young person living a lethargic life, who longs for change and attempts to break free, only to find themselves back where they started.
What I wanted to express through this album is that the more wandering youth try to escape, the deeper they fall into confusion. Even their everyday lives, which they should return to, begin to feel hopeless — and I wanted to portray this paradox.
“Mr. Nobody” plays a crucial role in this narrative. The protagonist returns to normal life after breaking away, thinking the confusion has resolved, only to find the same dilemma repeating itself. As the final puzzle piece in the album’s storyline, we worked on this track with extra care, which is why it became the title track.
I hope listeners can relate their own situations to the album. Rather than cynically consuming the “dilemma of youth,” we wanted to speak on behalf of those wandering in uncertainty.
Since your debut single “Himizu,” Pipe Lips’ music has naturally had a cinematic quality. How do movies and music intersect for you? Do they influence each other?
Jihwan I believe both are art forms that allow you to deeply understand a particular situation or character. When I try to comprehend emotions I haven’t personally experienced, I often think back to moments from movies. Since this album even borrows movie titles, I tried to incorporate the emotions I felt from those films into each song. Movies have a big influence on my creativity — so much so that I’ve set myself a personal goal this year to watch 300 films!
Geunha I like music that paints a vivid picture when you listen to it. In that sense, I enjoy music that draws from imagery. I’d never worked on a project using films as direct inspiration before, so this was a really interesting process for me. Given my role in the band, I approached it more as if I were “acting” as a character in a film rather than being directly influenced by a movie.
Jiseong When I’m not working on music, I usually spend time reading books or watching movies. While I find most of my sound references in music itself, I think books and films have a significant impact on the emotional and narrative aspects of my work.
Among the tracks on this album, which one took the longest to complete? Conversely, which one came together most naturally?
Jihwan The track that we spent the longest time on was “Mole,” the fifth track. Even deciding on the title took quite a while, and we re-recorded it several times, constantly refining it. In fact, this song was originally released as a single, but something about it still felt incomplete. So while preparing for the full album, we decided to start fresh and rework it entirely. While the film Mole portrays rather dark themes, I wanted to capture the protagonist’s belief that a brighter future will eventually come — but I’m still not sure if I managed to express that well enough.
Geunha Since I joined the band during the making of the album, I had a lot of challenges when adding melodies to songs that already existed before I came in, like “Graduation,” “Raging Bull,” and “Black Swan.” These songs had a different style from the music I’d been doing before, so it took me some time to adjust. I still think this is something we’re fine-tuning as we go.
On the other hand, “Dogville” was easier for me to work on because it’s a reworked version of “Sailors,” a song from my solo album.
Jiseong Before joining the band, I only played guitar and sang. I had never played bass before. The first song I ever rehearsed with the band as a bassist was an early version of “Black Swan.” That was my first bass performance and the first bassline I ever wrote, so it’s still a very memorable experience for me.
If this album is one chapter, what kind of stories do you hope to tell through your music in the future? Can you give fans a little hint about what’s next?
Jihwan After finishing the work on our first album, ideas for the second one started popping up naturally. We’ve been discussing whether to draw motifs from a genre other than films this time, or to dive deeply into just one specific movie. I already have a rough storyline in mind for the second album, and I hope it turns out to be a deeper and more intriguing narrative than the first one.
Also, we plan to increase our live performances, which had been on pause for a while. We’d really appreciate everyone’s support, and we’d love for you to come see us at our shows!
