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As Nicole popped onto the screen, we got to see what we hopped to be the magic in the room: a cool bedside lamp, a guitar bag disguising itself as a skateboard, an obviously busy, creative clutter that felt industrious, but enthralling. Turns out the magic is very much on record, as Nicole deftly built an EP that captures the heart-fluttery magic of love, the head-spinning moments of nascent romance that make you sigh, ‘There is Magic in This Room!’ Blue tinted and buoyant, the EP delivers on multiple tempos and settings, and had us in fits to learn more. We played schedule tag but finally got to Nicole on her release day for her to pull the curtain back on her EP, life and more:

OnesToWatch: Why are you an artist? 

Nicole Han: Ooh, that is a great question. I have always loved expressing myself through music and writing and playing the piano. That was the most natural part. I grew up performing too, doing musical theater and stuff. I did tap dance and ballet as well. I also was in band. I was a very musical kid. So I feel like the whole artist thing, I wouldn't say it's necessarily super natural. But I feel like all of my passions together just led themselves to here. 

Well, it sounds like you did quite a few things creatively. So was anything ever close to outshining music in terms of being the way you best express yourself? 

I actually majored in college in graphic design. I also did acting, too.
Even right to this day, I still design and I do like art direction and still am a graph designer and stuff. So that still carries into my present day.
I do all my personal branding and cover art and everything for my artist project too. It all ties together. 

I was going to say, your EP artwork looks very theatrical, so now I know why. 


It really does it. I was going for a dreamy, otherworldly look. And with all the set design of the fabrics, it ended up having that theater-esque look. 

So if you weren’t an artist, you would be a graphic designer? 

I think so. I would try to enter creative direction in entertainment and music. I just love it so much. 

Let's dive into your process. How long have you been writing songs with the intention to share them?

2020 was around when I started writing more seriously, during the whole lockdown COVID era, when I literally had nothing but my thoughts and my keyboard in my room. That's when I first started sharing online – not really with the intention of being an artist, but just to share stuff. 2022, 2023 is when I started my first producer sessions ever and was writing with other artists too. That’s when it became real. 

Would you say you have a process? Is there a surefire way you tend to start songs? 

I mix it up. I think sometimes I'll write fully in my room by myself with a keyboard. That’s often my favorite type of song, because it's start to finish, typically. I really like to finish a song in the moment. So there's that process, and then I'll take it in to the producer, and that's what I did for the first year. I would write a bunch in my room and just take it in to my go-to producer, Mike Mata, and we would just build the rest of the song out in the room together. When I started doing more songwriting sessions with other people, I liked starting with an idea that's huge. I like when the producer lays out some sort of track that makes you feel something, and then I go from there. 

Okay, I like it. Let's get into the EP, There is Magic in This Room. Is this the room with the magic in it, the one you’re in now? 

That's the big question. One shall never know. So the title came from a lyric in one of the singles called “Icy Stars.” The chorus goes, “There is magic in this room.” And I kind of was going back and forth with titles. It was first called Icy Stars, actually, the name of that song. 
And then I was wanting a longer title, something that fills the space more and isn't just a song title again. So I was looking through what I'd written and looking for anything that stands out that also covers the world of the other songs in the EP. It describes the feeling of what falling in love feels like. It's indescribable and like you’re floating and traveling through space and time. So that's the idea and also what inspired the cover shoot and all the visuals and everything. 

Oh, so is that you falling in love, on the cover? 

Yeah, in a sort of dream state. I love the word dreamy and visually, a dreamy world, but then also the sonic nature of a dreamy sound. I feel like “cycles” and “tornado” are very much in that world, they have the dreamy synths and fun textures that feel very blue. It all falls into that world. 

Are you one of those people that hears sounds as colors? 


I wouldn't say I have synesthesia. Definitely when I hear something, I can envision what it looks like. But I'm not like, that's an orangey yellow.

So for this EP, why blue? Because obviously it figures prominently in the artwork, and we know how deliberate you are about that, given your background. 


Love to me feels warmer than blue, but it's blue because it's also ethereal and dreamy and up in the clouds. You think of love, you think of pink or red. But, the dreamy soundscape of it all, the ethereal world that I was trying to build was blue. I really wanted to hone in more on a color, especially because in the past I haven’t done that. I've been really into the icy blue color anyways. 

When you're writing, do you envision your projects speaking to each other? Are you thinking ahead to future works? 

That's a good question. I think, as for right now, I'm still figuring out what's next. When I first started writing for this EP, I didn't even realize I was writing for the EP. I was just writing songs in sessions, figuring it out, and then the world came together as I started writing more. So, yeah, I think there's always a possibility of adding on songs to make it a deluxe or something that I feel could complete the world. But we'll see. 


Do you have a personal ambition for this record? Is there a feeling or an emotion that you want listeners to walk away with? 

I always say that I would hope that somebody just feels something. I feel like a lot of the emotion in this EP is nostalgic and overall more hopeful and yearning in a positive way rather than heartbroken and sad or angry. I love nostalgic music.
That's my favorite type of music. Even if it's not nostalgic of last year, it could be nostalgic of a party or nostalgic of a late night drive, just that whole feeling is what I hope to embody and hope people feel. 

Love it.
I'm going to pivot to some more fun questions. Because we're on colors, I got to ask, what's your least favorite color? 

Okay, weirdly, I know we've been talking about blue, but there's a shade of blue. It’s a bright, minty blue that I just don't like. It’s almost aqua, just lighter and brighter.

What's your favorite color? 

Right now, Arctic blue. 


What's your least favorite font? I feel like every graphic designer has a font they hate. 

Papyrus is the first thing that comes to mind. 


Okay, that's fair. Do you have a favorite font?

I love Helvetica. 


Look at you, so traditional. If friends ambushed you at your place and they're all hungry, can you whip up a meal? 
And if so, what would it be? 

I can. I honestly am kind of creative in the kitchen, I'll just make something with whatever I have. With the things I have currently, it would be what I had earlier today, which is a quesadilla.
I put turkey and arugula, and I threw some egg in there. Something like that. 


Perfect. If you could take yourself to your most zen state of mind and being, where would you be? 
What would you be doing? 

I would definitely be on a beach in the sand, looking at the ocean, maybe with a journal and writing, and just being by myself, with a matcha. I just love the beach. 


If you were to have a dream festival where you could play alongside anyone, who would be on your lineup? 

Probably Lorde, Holly Humberstone, Charlie XCX, Olivia Rodrigo type beat. All the pop girlies. 

I'm going to ask for a couple of recommendations. The first one I would love is not music related. So it can be an activity, something to watch, something to read, something to go look at, whatever you want. And then obviously I would love a music recommendation. 
So starting with a non-music rec, what would you put me onto? 

I think it's a basic answer, perhaps, but there's this coffee shop on the East Side called Laveta. I think it's pretty popular, honestly, but I just went for the first time the other week and that was the best vanilla latte that I've ever had. And I'm a matcha drinker, but I do like that latte. Another rec, there's this matcha brand called Nami Matcha, and it's run by this girl named Ashley, and I buy her matcha, and I make it myself at home. I love that matcha. 


That's great. Then I would love a music rec. 

Well, there is an artist I'm sure you've heard of, called Juliet Ivy. I've always been a fan of her music. She's got the best light and magical dreamy world thing going. She just dropped an EP recently that’s super good. 


Now, I’d like to end on your words. Whether it’s advice that you would give to your younger self, anecdotes, wisdom, shout outs, whatever you want to do. 

Well, something I would say to my younger self that I would also say to my current self is just to stop being afraid of how people are perceiving you.
Stop thinking about the way people perceive you and let it affect you, because I feel like part of being an artist and putting yourself out there is literally that you will be perceived – and some people might not mess with what you're doing. So I think that's something that I'm constantly reminding myself of and working on. So, advice to anybody else out there who's interested in pursuing music, don’t be afraid to post online and connect with people and talk with people because I feel like that's your first step into potentially reaching so many people. Also shout out to my mom, my dad, my sister, and my manager, Kon, and everybody who I've been able to make this EP with, it's been such a great experience.

Thank you so much for your time. 

Thank you!