By Jae-Ha Kim
Los Angeles Times
August 7, 2018
Not long after James Lee celebrated his 27th birthday, the Royal Pirates bassist was involved in a freak accident in Seoul that nearly severed his hand and left it permanently damaged. No longer able to feel the strings of his bass, he quit his band and returned home to California, where he was born and raised. Lee, 30, is celebrating his burgeoning solo career, which includes performances at KCON LA, a premiere party for his EP “The Light” and an acoustic duet of “Let’s Get Away” with his good friend Sooyoung (of Girls’ Generation). Though based out of Los Angeles, Lee is on the road as much as he’s at home and phoned from Hong Kong for this interview. For more information about Lee’s work, check out jamesleeofficial.com. He also stays in touch with fans on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Q. Where did you shoot the video for “Let’s Get Away”?
A. Los Angeles. Sooyoung helped me out as a favor and to support me. She is seriously an angel. She knows my entire story and was one of the people who visited me often when I was in the hospital. She has truly been a blessing in my life.
Q. What was it like growing up in Hacienda Heights?
A. I grew up in a poor apartment complex where everything was falling apart and you could smell a dead body. It really smelled horrible. But it was what I knew at the time. I had my friends, who were all Mexican, and I really wanted to be Mexican, too. (Laughs) I was the nerdy guy with pants pulled up to the belly, but I was good at sports, so I had street cred. No one had a real football, so we played with a water bottle. My parents worked really hard. We went to Las Vegas as a family and stayed at Circus Circus. It was awful. (Laughs) I played junior peewee football and the finals were in Laughlin (Nevada). That was a road trip we took by the Colorado River, which was a lot of fun.
Q. Are you good with foreign languages?
A. No. I still don’t really know a lot of Korean. And the only Spanish I knew was the bad words my friends taught me.
Q. You relocated to Korea for a few years with Royal Pirates. What did you learn from that experience?
A. I got a first-hand look at what it’s like for people who don’t speak the native language and how isolated you can feel. That gave me so much empathy for immigrants. And it gave me such respect for my parents, who left everything they knew behind to move to the U.S. It’s rough when you can’t communicate. In Korea, I had a lot of friends, but nothing beats hugging mom. I’m so glad to be back home. I’m kind of a momma’s boy. (Laughs)
Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your travels?
A. I heard from a professor that if you really want to gain wisdom, you need to read and to travel. I would say that’s true. I feel I’ve learned more from traveling than I ever did in university or in high school. My hometown is identical to how it was when I was growing up. That’s part of the reason why I originally left for Korea. I wanted to make sure I didn’t get too comfortable.
Q. What is on your Travel Bucket List?
A. I would like to go to Brazil, because I was a huge jiu-jitsu fan. I love Brazilian barbecue. The people seem to be so happy. I’ve never been to Mexico, which is a little weird since I wanted to be Mexican and I live in L.A.
Q. One of the luxuries of traveling is getting to try different cuisines. Where have you enjoyed some of your best meals?
A. It’s all so good. I love a good burrito. But Japanese ramen is so delicious. I would go back to Japan for some really good sushi and ramen. Also, Germany. I went to Munich when I was 16 and the Wiener schnitzel was so good. It was also one of the first times I had beer with friends, because it was legal (to drink beer at my age) there. I was 16 and told a 30-year-old waitress that I wanted to marry her. She said, “I could be your mom.”
Q. What are some of your favorite places?
A. I love Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The food is insanely good. I love the convenience stores, because you can get everything you need. Tokyo has the best ones! Bangkok is amazing. I also really liked being in Italy. Beijing and Hong Kong are great, too.
Q. What is something you do in every city you visit?
A. I really like checking out convenience stores and trying their local canned coffee.
Q. Where are some places you’ve been that stand out in your mind?
A. Australia and Singapore. I’ve been to New Zealand and visited where they shot “Lord of the Rings.”
Q. What is your worst travel memory?
A. Being forced into a mental hospital in Korea, due to the lawsuit about my hand. I had to prove almost losing my hand was causing me to be depressed. After that, I’m at the point where every moment alive is a blessing. There are so many things left to see and none of us are guaranteed that we will be around forever. It’s good to be in the moment.
Q. What’s the strangest thing you did on a trip?
A. I was in New Zealand to shoot a couple commercials and I got really drunk. I woke up in a bar. Apparently I had been playing guitar on stage with a violinist. It was really random. Honestly, my singing can use work. I’m a better songwriter. But I have fun performing. The whole place was screaming and having a great time. Granted, there were only 15 people.
After a tragic accident, @jamesjoohyunlee could’ve given up. Instead, he put his energy into his indie project. #TheLightEP. #LetsGetAway is a duet w/@GirlsGeneration‘s Sooyoung, who he describes as “an angel.”👼More about James in my @latimes column: https://t.co/g7HWRm6J3i
— Jae-Ha Kim 김재하 (@GoAwayWithJae) August 7, 2018
© 2018 JAE-HA KIM
DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.
I loves James’s music. His story breaks my heart. I loved following his band from LA to Seoul. Then, the accident. It seemed like fate was so cruel. I’m so happy that he is still pursuing music. ❤️
I have never heard of him or his band before. What an inspiring story! We will be at KCON on Saturday and hope I can watch him perform.
I’ll have to check him out. Great interview.