Image Credit: Photo of Chang Kiha, 2026.

Chang Kiha knows something about following the unexpected. The Seoul-born singer-songwriter originally set his sights on becoming a professional drummer, until focal dystonia forced a change of direction. What followed was quite the detour: fronting the hugely influential Chang Kiha and the Faces, then building a shape-shifting career across music, radio, essays, film composition and acting. His philosophy remains refreshingly uncomplicated: embrace opportunities, enjoy the experience and, ultimately, try to be happy.

Now comes San San Jo Gak, Chang’s first full-length solo album, released this month and currently being taken on the road. It began not with music but a poem, which he passed to filmmaking duo mogeosu to transform into a silent film. Only once their images were locked did Chang compose the nine tracks – deliberately inviting collaboration, chance and other imaginations into his process. The result is an unconventional album about time, cycles, mortality and being present, designed to reward anyone willing to give it their attention from beginning to end.

Tonight, Chang returns to London to launch K-Music Festival 2026 at EartH alongside ADG7 and Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA – a brilliantly unlikely collision of Korean folk and shamanic traditions, indie groove and future-facing hip-hop. Running 28 September to 23 November across London, the Korean Cultural Centre UK‘s festival looks beyond the familiar shorthand of K-pop to reveal something broader: a Korean music culture where heritage, experimentation, technology and collaboration happily coexist.

Chang fits that picture beautifully. His own music celebrates the particular musicality of the Korean language while refusing to sit still. As he tells us, “There is no single way to lead a creative life.”

So follow the waves: read on, put San San Jo Gak on from beginning to end, and grab a K-Music ticket. Give something unfamiliar your time – you never know where it might take you.

You originally set your sights on becoming a professional drummer, practising for hours every day, until focal dystonia forced you towards a completely different creative life. Looking back at that young man in his twenties, what did losing the future you’d imagined teach you about changing direction – and what would you tell a young artist whose own carefully made plan has suddenly fallen apart?

That experience taught me, quite simply, that plans can change. When I gave up on my original dream of becoming a professional drummer, it opened the door to becoming a singer-songwriter – a path I had never imagined for myself before.
There is no single way to lead a creative life; there are many different paths. It is important to work steadily towards a destination, but I also believe that, at times, it can be worthwhile to allow yourself to follow wherever the waves may take you.

Image Credit: Photo of Chang Kiha, 2026.

You’ve been a drummer, songwriter, bandleader, radio host, essayist, film composer and, increasingly, an actor. Away from the CV, who is Chang Kiha at 44 – what are you still searching for, and what would you like the next chapter of your life to contain?

Looking back, I realise I have done quite a wide range of things. But it was never because I had set out to explore different fields. I simply wanted to enjoy life, and whenever a new opportunity came along, I tried to embrace it and enjoy the experience.

That is still how I approach life, and I imagine it will continue to be. I am not searching for anything particularly grand. What matters most to me is simply being happy and making the most of each day.

When you first played K-Music in London with Chang Kiha & The Faces in 2013, Korean culture occupied a very different place internationally. You return 13 years later amid extraordinary global enthusiasm for Korean film, television, music, art and gaming. What has it felt like watching that transformation from inside Korea, and has the world’s attention changed what it means to you to make something distinctly Korean?

It is remarkable to see Korean culture and the arts receiving so much attention around the world, and as a Korean, I feel very proud of that. At the same time, I would not say that this change has had a significant influence on the way I approach my own creative work. I simply try to live my life fully and express what I experience and feel through my work in a way that is engaging and interesting. One of the most important tools for that expression is my mother tongue.

Korean is a beautiful and highly musical language. I have always tried to make music that brings out the distinctive qualities of the Korean language, and I intend to continue doing so. For those who have recently developed an interest in Korean, I think they may find my music particularly interesting.

Image Credit: Photo of Chang Kiha, 2026.

K-Music’s opening night puts you between ADG7’s reinvention of Korean folk and shamanic traditions and Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA’s futuristic hip-hop, with collaborations. What excites you about that collision – and what might these very different artists reveal about Korean music that international audiences don’t yet see?

I think all three acts make music that is quite far removed from what might typically be associated with K-pop. At the same time, our musical approaches are very different from one another. I think this concert will give audiences here a chance to see just how diverse Korean popular music can be.

Your new album began unusually: you wrote a poem, gave it to filmmakers mogeosu to transform into a silent film, and only then composed nine songs to their locked images. What were you hoping might happen by opening the idea to other creative minds – and what kind of magic did that collaboration unlock?

As a singer-songwriter, you tend to look inward and express what you find through music. With this project, I wanted to make that process more layered. I began by looking inward and expressing those thoughts in a poem. The poem then became the starting point for a silent film, and only after that did I create music to accompany the film.

As the work developed through these different stages, I wanted the creative intentions of other people to become an active part of the process, rather than everything coming from me alone. I also wanted to leave room for chance.

In practice, the process had very much the effect I had hoped for. It produced something that I do not think could have emerged if I had begun with the music. For example, very few tracks on the album maintain the same tempo from beginning to end, and many of the songs develop in ways that are far from conventional. There are many other unusual elements throughout the album as well. It was a demanding process, but ultimately a very rewarding one. (he laughs)

Film Credit: 장기하 (Chang Kiha) – [산산조각] FULL

You’ve spoken about San San Jo Gak emerging partly from thoughts about cycles and death. At this point in your life, has thinking about mortality clarified what matters – in your art, your relationships, or simply in how you want to spend your time?

Yes, as you said, working on this project gave me many opportunities to think about death. I believe that in order to live well, we need to remind ourselves of death from time to time. I wouldn’t say that this project led me to any clear conclusions, but I do feel that I have become more present in the way I live each day. Perhaps I have moved just a little closer to happiness.

At a moment when songs, films and even ideas are increasingly broken into fragments for scrolling audiences, you’ve made a 33-minute album-film that asks people to stay. Are you resisting the attention economy, playing with it, or searching for a different kind of intimacy between artist and audience?

This album came out of my thoughts about what a full-length album can mean today. As you said, we live in a time when music is increasingly consumed in shorter forms. Even so, I wanted to create something that gave listeners a reason to experience it from beginning to end.

No matter how much the way we consume culture may change, people still read books and go to the cinema. That suggests to me that there will always be works worth giving our time and attention to. I wanted to challenge myself to create that kind of work through music.

Image Credit: Album artwork for San San Jo Gak. 장기하_산산조각_앨범 커버 이미지

Finally, you’re returning to London after playing the first K-Music Festival here back in 2013. We’d love you to recommend three cultural places in London to our readers – perhaps somewhere you’ve discovered on this visit, somewhere remembered from before, or somewhere you’re determined to explore – and tell us what draws you to each one.

I travelled to London on my own in 2017, and I remember seeing Idles perform at Rough Trade East. The audience were slamming and body-surfing in the record shop, which was great fun. If there is a good live show happening while I am here this time, I would love to go and see it.

I have also seen Paul McCartney perform at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as Kraftwerk. The performances were all wonderful, but I particularly remember enjoying the historic atmosphere of the venue, which made the experience even more special.

Spitalfields Market also comes to mind. I bought a lot of traditionally printed fabrics there, and several of them are still hanging in my home today.

Find Chang at @kihachang and linktr.ee/kihachang

Check out K-MUSIC FESTIVAL 2026 → korean-culture.org and @kccuk

See Chang IRL →

The Launch Night of K-MUSIC Festival
Featuring Chang Kiha, ADG7, Lil Cherry and GOLDBUUDA
EarTH Hackney
Monday 28 September, 19:30 – 23:00

Tickets and info → earthackney.co.uk