US singer-songwriter Geoffrey Lewis makes 'Unions'

Geoffrey Lewis poses on the sidewalk in Seoul's Haebangchon, Sept. 19. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

American singer-songwriter Geoffrey Lewis is three quarters of the way through his "Unions" series of EPs, with the third volume having been released at the end of June.

"I wanted to make a proper album, which to me is 12 songs," he told The Korea Times. "These days people just put out singles or small EPs, but I wanted to accomplish 12 songs that are meant to be together, creating what I consider to be my first full album."

Rather than release a full album all at once, he decided to put them out three at a time, starting in late 2019. "I want each volume to have its own unique feel, but in the end, as a whole, they will all blend well together," he said.

Volume 3 starts with a tune called "Falling Down," and Lewis has already released a music video for the song, taking footage from American daredevil Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking skydive from the stratosphere in 2012.

"No one has fallen farther or faster than that guy, and the premise of the song is that everything is spinning out of control and going by so fast," he said. "He fell farther than anyone, but in the end, he landed safely back to Earth. I think that's a good lesson to remember, when things seem out of control, take some time to slow down and believe that you will land on your feet."

The EP includes trumpet work by Konstantine Drobitko, violin by Zoe Yungmi Blank, piano by Zach Bardon and backing vocals by Hayley Neal, Ira Sullivan and Blank. Producer Brad Wheeler also plays bass, drums and lead guitar.

Now he's in the studio working on the fourth volume, and he aims to release all four in a full 12-song album, which will be titled "Re:Unions," by the end of this year.

"The plan was always to call it 'Re:Unions' because of the method of release, but given the last couple years of pandemic and separation from family and friends, I think it's quite fitting," he said. "Hopefully we are all starting to reunite with our loved ones we haven't been able to see for so long."

Lewis came to Korea in 2008 to teach English, about a year after graduating university.

"I had just started to learn to play the guitar, so writing and performing my music was a very distant dream," he said. "I started playing music quite late in life compared to most people, so there is always room for growth and I think my development can be heard in the songs that will be on the final album. I still have a lot to learn and I'm always trying to improve my songwriting and guitar playing."

In 2017, he formed the band Moonshot.

Regarding the space reference on top of the more recent stratospheric footage in the "Falling Down" music video, he admitted to some fascination with outer space. "I'm very fascinated with the fact that in reality, we are all just hanging out on this tiny little rock, spinning though infinite space, yet we don't often pay too much notice to it," he said. "We just go about our days, doing what we do, day in and day out."

He only had a limited time with Moonshot, as the other two members were set to leave the country very soon. "Literally from March to August, enough to play one HBC Fest, and quickly record some songs before the other members left Korea," he said. "So we rushed into the studio and just put down the songs. There wasn't much thought put into it though, but I was lucky enough to have one of the songs, 'Gravity,' get picked up by Kia Motors Worldwide for a campaign they were doing for the Kia Sorento."

Geoffrey Lewis appears in a 2018 commercial for Kia. / Courtesy of Kia Worldwide's YouTube

After his bandmates left, and needing a break from teaching, Lewis also moved back to the U.S. He focused on his music, performing around Los Angeles, Austin and Nashville. Then as he started thinking about his next project, which would be the three-part "Love" series, released in 2019, and then he started work on "Unions."

"I came back after my little hiatus because I knew that this was the place I could achieve my goals and get the support I needed ― and I wasn't let down," he said. "I'm forever grateful for all of the help I've gotten and without the union that is the HBC music community, it wouldn't be possible."

Although the pandemic struck shortly after the release of "Unions: Volume I," slowing everything down and reducing the opportunities to perform in public, he was able to use the time to practice and grow as an artist, and he released the second volume in August 2021.

Geoffrey Lewis leans in front of a restaurant in Seoul's Haebangchon, Sept. 19. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

These days, his main go-to venues are Haebangchon's Phillies and The Studio HBC.

"Now that the pandemic seems to be behind us, fingers crossed, I hope to get out busking around the city and finding new places to perform," he said.

This weekend, he'll be performing at Block Party, a multi-venue music festival taking place this Saturday at five venues in Haebangchon and Gyeongnidan in Seoul's Itaewon area. He'll be at The Hidden Cellar starting at 7:30 p.m., and he plans to play some new acoustic tunes as well as a few songs with backing tracks from the "Unions" series. "It'll be pretty upbeat and fun," he said. "At least I hope so."

Visit geoffreylewismusic.bandcamp.com to hear Geoffrey Lewis' music, or go to blockpartykorea.com for more information about the festival this weekend.