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Photo: Adrian Pruett

Mindy's music makes you mad it wasn’t made sooner, selfish as that is. We have collectively waited too long for her debut EP Version 1.27. But struggle is a narrative familiar to Mindy, an engine of creativity propelling good works past obstacles, irrepressible as her charismatic voice. Flush with artistic abandon, Mindy is shedding her past as a complementary piece to become the proper frontwoman her talent requires.

Despite being the daughter of a painter and having studied fine art as a young student, Mindy's Korean family was anguished over her love of contemporary music: the freedoms it allowed for, the experiential vulnerability of every dark basement club or empty warehouse it was performed in. Mindy wrestled though this generational crisis, knowing because of her wellspring of creativity she had to fight through it... artists vocalize what they are drawn to.  

The angst of this family strife was only later resolved when Mindy had the chance to perform in Seoul with a prior project. The validation of such a prestigious show in their native land was enough to quell the fears over her future success. All that and more has brought us to now, a moment when Mindy is making her voice all her own, bringing all her faculties to manifest her artist self.

"Am I Alive" is a title that stages its own Pavlovian anxiousness, for our purpose is always fearful of its vessel and any separation between the two leads to existential dread. Its topic is the history of our species and ourselves. Mindy admits that during the pandemic, curious of her North Korean roots, she drifted into the dark ether of the internet, provoked by haunting images of that country’s civil war.  

For those whose senses have been dulled into intellectual neglect of the past, I assure you the leading moments of the "Am I Alive" video will throttle your numbness aside. It is immediately apparent that Mindy is addressing violence, our sad human consort, whether self-inflicted or external. What is even clearer is Mindy's belief in verité, as she visibly pummels herself, almost shamefully aware of the gratuitousness of the act, to make a point: "'Am I Alive' is about my struggles with violence and the relentless cycles of murder, pain, and healing. Director Adrian Pruett and I turned my internal agony into a performance in which we ask, 'What does it mean to be alive and engage with others when so much suffering continues right before our eyes?‘"  

Watch the "Am I Alive" video below: