brian mantra’s musical journey is particular and vast – having once been scouted for a Seoul-based KPOP program, he turned it down as it didn’t align with his own personal vision for his voice as an artist. As a producer as well as a songwriter, his songs are big, otherworldly landscapes, hinting at the elements or some alien planets with big booming echoes and grinding static, giving way to chimes, carefully-laid vocal harmonies, and the plucky reverb-laden pulse of it all. Being a 1st generation-only child with parents from Korea, musicality was not at the center of his upbringing, nor was it really a true career option in the eyes of his Asian-American parents. It was the pianos and drums at his church band and his aunt’s introduction to the music of Celine Dion that was all he needed to light the musical spark in him. Those influences helped him hone his pop and melodic sensibilities while seeing Destiny’s Child on MTV introduced him to RnB, and to how he wanted to perform.