Go Away With … Eric Nam

By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Tribune and other outlets
September 12, 2023

Umchina/엄친아 is a Korean portmanteau for “mother’s friend’s son.” This son may not even exist, but he’s the standard that other children are compared to. Eric Nam is a real-life umchina. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Nam graduated from Boston College and was offered a job as a business analyst at Deloitte Consulting in New York. For fun, he posted a video of himself singing on YouTube. The combination of his smooth vocals and movie-star good looks drew the attention of a Korean broadcasting station, which invited him to compete in a televised talent contest. That was over a decade ago, and Nam’s versatility and popularity quickly won him fans worldwide not only for his music, but for the issues that he champions. Along with his brothers Eddie and Brian, Nam founded DIVE Studios to elevate Asian and AAPI voices. And the siblings also created the mental health and wellness platform Mindset.

Nam will support the release of his latest album “House on a Hill” with an ambitious world tour that kicks off in Orlando on Sept. 21. He also will make his acting debut in the upcoming Forest Whitaker film “Transplant,” where he has the lead role as a surgeon. Nam was in Los Angeles when we conducted this interview via Zoom. Because the SAG strike was ongoing, we didn’t discuss his movie. To follow Nam and his travels, check out his Instagram and X.

Q: You’ll be touring for at least seven months. Were any of these dates added because of fans’ requests for you to perform in their cities?
A: Yeah, there are so many new places that I can’t even think of them all. Montreal is a brand-new one that we’ve never done before. We’ve also never been to India and we should be doing a few shows there. Then Latin America. I haven’t done Mexico in like six years and we’ve never done Brazil, Argentina, Chile or Peru. And in the States, we’re trying new ones like Baltimore, Kansas City, St. Louis and Wheatland [California]. There are a good handful of shows and locations that a lot of fans have been wanting for us to go to, so I want to make as much effort to make it easy for fans to come see me as well.

Q: How do you stay healthy when you’re touring for so long?
A: More than anything, I think it’s really about attitude and stress. So I wash my hands a ton, I wear a mask all the time and I try not to be stressed. I try to sleep whenever I have a chance. To be very frank, I don’t do as good of a job of working out or eating well consistently. But that is something I’m going to be making a very concerted effort for this tour. I think it is such a grueling, long tour that if I don’t, who knows what will happen?

Q: When you moved to South Korea for your career, you were fluent in Spanish, but didn’t speak much Korean. When you talk to your parents these days, do you speak Korean or English?
A: We’re speaking Korean now because my Korean has gotten so fluent. My brothers as well, just by the nature of us working together so much with Korean clients. All of our Korean has improved. [My younger brother and manager] Eddie’s the least [fluent out of us]. I am the best. [Smiles]

Q: These days, where is home? Los Angeles, Seoul or Atlanta?
A: I kind of have bases all over. To be very honest though, all my places are storage units. This year, I haven’t spent more than a month in each of my bases. I’ve just been on the road, so it’s been more of living out of suitcases, airplanes and hotels than anything. Last week I started to hit a point where I just wanted to be in a single place. I have a place in L.A. and I’ve been here maybe a total of five days in the past three or four months. I’ve probably been in Atlanta for a few more days and I’ve been in Korea for two weeks. The rest of it has just been everywhere – New York, Europe, Asia … so it’s a little crazy.

Q: Do you use your time on planes or in hotels to work on your music?
A: I don’t really write in hotels or planes. But I do a lot of mixing and listening through for things. It’s probably not the best way, but this entire album was pretty much mixed through headphones as I was on trains, planes and automobiles. For “Only For A Moment,” which is the focus song for my album, I was sitting on the train looking out the window and wrote a lot of that hook on the train. And by the time I walked in the studio, I was like, “This is what we’re doing today. We have to do this now.” And then that’s what we made.

Q: Are the audience vibes different from one place to the next?
A: It’s very dependent on the venue and also the country. Every city is really different. I will say that there are shows where I walk away and am wondering, “Did they hate that? They were so quiet.” But I know that everyone bought tickets and is excited to be there, but it’s different culturally in Japan and Thailand than, say, Mexico or the United States. But overall, I have some incredible fans who love to have a good time and party.

Q: What do you do when you have a few hours to chill on the road?
A: My favorite thing to do is go to a cafe and just have a nice cup of coffee, maybe a pastry – and I sit there and enjoy the weather if it’s nice out and soak in the city. Oftentimes, I’ll have a laptop and I start working for a little bit. Or if I’m really in a good mood and caught up on everything, I will have a book that I can sit there and read, even just a few pages and say, “I read today.” [Laughs] It’s a small win that matters.

Q: When you’re sitting in the cafe, do people approach you?
A: Some people do. Some don’t. And then some just do a long, awkward stare and then I’m the first to say, “Hi,” because I feel uncomfortable. I got in [to L.A.] yesterday and went to Trader Joe’s to pick up some berries. I was walking through and one of the employees working there was like, “Agh?!” [Laughs] I said, “Hi.”

Q: Have you tried that Trader Joe’s frozen kimbap that’s all over social media?
A: I haven’t. I should’ve picked that up. But I don’t trust it. Maybe I should [taste] it and [make a video] and just be brutally honest.

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