Artist Peace Kwon can thrive without major production, with her maverick streak propelling her to dizzying heights. Her debut single was a one-man-band affair, as she assumed the role of creative director, producer and manager of the entire process.

On 11 November, her song and music video debuted world-wide. Fans eagerly awaited this highly anticipated moment and it did not disappoint – they enthusiastically streamed her track across multi-platforms.

Titled “No More”, her first single reflects her authentic self as an independent artist: a soon-to-be fresh graduate who is excited to enter the real world.

Despite being the first song she solo produced, she is already setting her sights on more experimental waters. “To be honest, No More was never to be a perfect debut. I’m in my last trimester in college right now, and I felt the need to set a foundational ground for myself as an artist before graduating from my safe zone,” Peace explains.

She didn’t need a degree from the “safe zone” per se, to become an artist, as she has been one since she was a child. Her childhood was a process of fluid self discovery she says, “I grew up playing the piano since I was 5 and had my first dance lesson when I was 8. And I was always curious about creative people and their form of expressing life through their own way of art.”

For Peace, expressing life through writing music is a deeply personal experience. “Most of the times when writing music, I let myself be completely personal,” she says. “If you’re not being personal or honest, I don’t see the point of making music or art.” No More was inspired by someone else’s true story, written in Peace’s own personal interpretation and perspective.

The fierce new artist does not favour one genre of music over the other. She embraces hip-hop and loud funky music as much as she does the sound of sub-bass of lo-fi.

And she concedes that her name is ironic given her multi-facted personality. “Although Peace is my literal name, I was never a ‘peaceful’ person,” she muses. “I have multiple characteristics, and I don’t like to be defined by just one. I still cherish the uniqueness of carrying bold colour schemes.” She describes herself as having “a basket full of colours” and changing her colour depending on the situation.

Behind the scenes of her soulful track, No More, she confronted many difficulties in working alone for the beginning-to-end self-production. “As much as I do enjoy working alone at times, not being able to share the smallest thoughts can make me indecisive.” In the midst of pandemic, and with minimal help, she produced her own music video and established her name in the public profile. “Doing everything on my own, not being able to share the process with someone was challenging for me personally because I believe creating music is a collaborative process -from mixing music to marketing, editing, promoting and all. But I’m grateful to have gone through this experience because I now understand the process of each stage in releasing a song.”

Peace is not shy about unearthing candid moments in her life. “I am so grateful to have confidence in what I believe in, and really wouldn’t mind the world to see myself grow with God day by day.” She hopes to share her journey with everyone who supports her, as she is about to release her second single in December this year or the following January.