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@ofgreyskies
ash kwon (born january 31, 1997), known professionally as grey, is an american-new zealand singer, songwriter, producer, director, and photographer based in south korea. grey first gained attention on soundcloud before making his major label debut in 2015. in 2020, he signed with culture creative , which also manages the activity of the band blacklight, of which he is a founding member.
intro // file // career // background // plots
Culture Creative has responded to recent speculation that singer Grey breached an advertisement deal contract. Days after the annual Asia Arts, Entertainment, and Sports Gala was held in Bangkok, an anonymous user shared a post to a popular community site accusing an unnamed celebrity singer of failing to fulfil their end of an advertising contract with several other celebrities who attended the gala. When another anonymous user claiming to be a staff member for the advertisement shoot shared further details, attention turned to soloist and Blacklight lead singer Grey. On Tuesday, Grey’s home agency responded to a request for comment with a brief statement: “Any disputes between Culture Creative talent and outside contractors will be treated as private issues and handled accordingly. Culture Creative will continue to work to communicate with brand officials to avoid misunderstandings and properly convey any unforeseen circumstances.” The statement has earned criticism from commenters, who claim it confirms Grey is the mystery celebrity and that Grey and Culture Creative are refusing to take responsibility.
JUNGKOOK X VOGUE KOREA - You are my music! ‘1970s Punk’ (scans) (cr. SUGAisjomiro_)
"unless you plan to secretly murder me, i think they let in a pretty awesome person." that being said, she didn't think ash was capable of that but one never knew. "tour it is!" paired with a high energy fist bump. without a second thought, she held linked her arm with his, puling him around the house. it was a fast tour, with jooeun rambling away the entire time. when they had finally circled back around to the living room, jynx flopped onto the couch. "and as you can see, plants...lots of plants was the theme." that the biggest difference from her old place. the ungodly amount of plants she had everywhere.
she couldn't say why she wanted so many but the morning was routine of taking care of them was calming. it gave herself something to focus on. "so what do you think? a little inspired to pick up the plant core look?" though her tone was clearly joking and she shot him a smile before sitting herself up-right and grabbing a beer. "but make yourself at home, get drunk, get crazy. think of as a house-warming of two. and i'm glad you could make it over. i had a friend or two come by but you have the honor of being the first idol to step into my humble abode." now that she had a proper place, jynx could see herself having people over more. "and if you get too drunk, though, i'm sure that'll be me....i have an extra bedroom you can use to sleep it off."
"if i was a good secret murderer, that's exactly what i'd want you to say," ash points out. but he only plays the joke out for so long; her tour is more interesting anyway. there's not much to his own home — when he lives a life split between seoul and los angeles, there isn't room to have all that much to either place. neither have ever felt all that much like a home instead of a house. in jooeun's apartment, he sees the little things that say jooeun and he's hopeful her situation is different from his own, even if the place is still new to her.
he laughs a little, shaking his head regretfully. "my take on the plantcore look would be way more plantcorpse. i barely keep myself alive most days; i think throwing this many plants into the picture would only be asking for trouble. i admire the display of how much you've got your shit together, though. i'm jealous." he grins, letting her know his envy is all light-hearted. "i like it all. it suits you." he reaches for a beer of his own and calls it self-control. "any chance you're ever gonna let me play around in your studio?" he takes a swig and quickly remembers why he doesn't usually drink beer — but it'll keep him from getting shit-faced before they've even had the chance to catch up.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREY!
NOCTURNE
type: single album
format: digital, physical, vinyl (limited release)
release: april 2017
by the release of nocturne, there had been over a year of promotions in south korea for the name grey to garner a reputation. some of the goodwill that came with the positive reception to his debut lingered, but he'd also earned a reputation for partying and harboring a poorly hidden and messy private life. it didn't help that he'd more than once "lashed out" at fans who'd tried to comment on these things. it was tainting his good favor in the public's eyes and quickly straining relations between himself and his label. the distance between ash's vision for his own career and his label's was growing increasingly distant and, by nature of their contract, the label got its way most of the time. nocture was born out of this tumultuous time. his return to the english-speaking market, nocturne used themes of night, phases, darkness, and light through the lens of a moth metaphor to express the hedonistic and strained chaos of his life at the time. he was able to direct visualizers for the two b-sides and participated in creative directing the whole album. it didn't reach the commercial success of 130 mood: trbl or limbo, but ash was glad for the brief return to releasing music in his native tongue. nocturne was given a limited vinyl release of 100 signed copies in november 2017.
TRACK LIST
phase me
side effects
come down
protip: refer to all your mistakes as “artistic choices”
welcome to the show : the archives is a compilation uploaded to the greymatter soundcloud on december 31, 2023. the compilation includes three tracks produced by grey and used for transitions and vcrs for his 2023 solo world tour welcome to the show.
THE GODS CAN BLEED // written & produced by greymatter
MITO REBORN // written & produced by greymatter
AVALON INTERLUDE - BAND VERSION // written & produced by greymatter
closed starter for @ofgreyskies
ash would be her first 'official' guest and she wanted to make sure she had everything set up for the night. the set up which included some hot finger-ish foods, some snacks and various drinks. all set up in her living room. at some point, jooeun threw on the tv but not much attention had been paid as she got the place ready. now that it was how she wanted to a 't'. it was a far cry from the nearly empty home he saw a weeks ago when she first moved in.
a buzz at the doorbell had jynx moving, only a little stumbling involved. "one second...almost..." if ash was listening close enough a small thud could be heard just before the door opened and jynx created him with a smile. "welcome to my humble home, i have more than enough snacks and drinks to feed a small army." she stepped aside, allowing him in. '
"didn't have too much trouble getting in right?" she had mentioned to security that she would be having someone come over. "i got your favorite snacks and drinks too, so don't be scared to go all out." honestly, if they didn't make a dent, she wasn't sure where she would put it. "do you want a tour or you can explore at your pace, i don't mind."
he hadn't been in the best of mindsets lately. early in the year, the rush of touring had kept his life unpredictable and unstable in the way that forced him to give into the currents without thought. upon returning home to get back to work in the studio and invent some semblance of a routine, he'd had the readjustment to normality to focus on. now? well, there was really nothing keeping his blood rushing or holding him accountable and grounded. it's what makes him take flight from his obligations and crave some better occupant of his mind. when the invitation comes to see jooeun's new place all decked out, he grasps it with all the desperation of someone who's been far too alone in their own head.
he crosses the threshold into jooeun's place and some tension he hadn't known he'd been carrying until that moment eases the smallest amount. "no trouble at all. you should really tell them to be more careful if they're letting people like me in," ash jests with a barely-maintained level of faux concern. the promise of food is tempting — he was only now realizing he hadn't had anything to eat since the single slice of toast he'd called a breakfast that morning. but a mix of curiosity and good manners overtake the realization. "hey, if you're offering a personal tour, who am i to say no?"
"it may or may not have took more time than any sane person with an ounce of fame might be willing to dedicate." jinri bites back a laugh at the thought of the tweets she remembered over the years. "my free tip is to go as far away as possible from the official account." her private twitter account kind of does the exact opposite of that as it's supposedly a fan account for myworld, but she still strayed away from the official mirrorworld and myworld account. the replies under her posts always got worse the further she scrolled. "it's not for everybody, though. not a lot of people want the reminder that it's been over two thousand days since the last performance of 24 hours when they log in."
although ash never explicitly said the words, jinri can still understand the implication. it's one she often thought herself numerous of times. "it's whatever at this point. i'm tired of going back and forth about it. if anything, it's looking like i might be getting back in my studio when this event is over." she hasn't touched her studio since she turned in tinnitus for true north, which might be surprising to hear. feelings of inadequacy plagued her lately, prohibiting her from making music to her heart's content. however, anger was a good motivator for her to at least try. "maybe i'll finally see if i already reached my peak or not."
jinri eyes ash after hearing his remark, thinking the words over. she wasn't really in a better place herself. sure, she hung out with a few of her friends but it didn't really do anything to fill the void she had been feeling. "embarrassingly lonely is an interesting combination of words. lucky for you, you'll be able to scratch off embarrassingly tonight." she can't guarantee that ash won't still feel lonely, but he won't appear to be a social reject with companion. "hm, maybe i'll get you to agree to sign away some of your creativity and talent to me after a couple of drinks."
"well, i'd argue anyone's sanity is the direct inverse of how much fame they've got." he certainly felt most at his wit's end at the times when his name was thrown around the most. though his recession from the bulk of the spotlight on him half a decade back had been in large part involuntary, he can't say he's not thankful for it most of the time. "i'll be honest, i'll probably leave social media altogether before i take the risk of diving that deep into its depths, but i'll keep your words of wisdom in mind in case i surprise myself."
what she has to say about working on new music catches his attention more than talk of the toxic waters of social media. the behind-the-scenes has rung more interesting to him than the front-facing duties of their lines of work for as long as he can remember. "for what it's worth, i'm excited to hear what you come up with." truthfully, he thinks he's even more curious to see what her next solo project will sound like than her group's. mirrorworld's music may not have always fit his taste, but he can't recall a project jinri's ever released on her own without at least a few songs on it that caught his ear.
"i'm of the opinion you have to just write and make music and keep doing it until you have something you like. if some of it's shitty, it's shitty. that's going to happen." he turns his head to look at her. "but i know that's easier to say than it is to get in the studio and work shit out sometimes." it's times like these he wishes he was better at giving advice. he still has no idea what he's doing most of the time and she's older than him and has been around in this industry longer. "just know whatever talent and creativity you think i've got, it's not worth the hassle when you've got so much of your own. at least get me to sign away my vintage les paul or something you can get some money out of for your time."
LIMBO
type: single album
format: digital
release: october 2016
the six months or so between the release of his first ep and his return with new music raised ash's profile considerably. after being received quite warmly and marketed far better than he had been in america, grey was involved in advertisements (most notably campaigns for kolon sport and puma, both of which he wrote and produced original songs for), television appearances, and song production for other artists in the span that combined to make him one of the year's rising stars in music. the single of limbo, "come over", went on to become one of ash's greatest mainstream successes. it maintained a position within the top ten of several major charts in korea for several weeks. limbo was inspired by the film inception, according to interviews. the single album received critical praise in addition to further raising his mainstream profile, though some claimed it failed to live up to the bar set by his debut ep earlier that year and others called it too derivative of the same themes. promotions for limbo were marginal compared to his debut. he did no television appearances or major interviews to promote its release. some say his label had realized those were the biggest threats to his images. ash himself cited a desire for the songs to speak for themselves. this instead led to increased speculation about his personal life in the media and on community sites. though no physical version of the single album has ever been released, ash was credited as the photographer for the digital album's cover art.
TRACK LIST
the unknown guest
come over
a celebrity is in hot water after unceremoniously backing out of an ad deal they made along with other aaes gala attendees. the celebrity singer’s days of being in high demand for advertisements are in the past, so everyone was surprised when instead of showing up for an all expenses paid vacation in return for an easy brand deal, they hopped a last minute flight back home instead. staff for the advertisement shoot didn’t find out until they contacted the singer’s management themselves.
— post deleted dec. 20 at 1am
sitting across from him as if they're mere acquittances — it's a cruel reminder of everything she's lost. and if it weren't for the desperate state ash was in, she's sure she'd find a way to run from it. because sitting across from him as if they hadn't shared years of their life together makes her heart ache. an ache that grows every time her gaze shifts towards him. an ache that spreads every time she hears his voice.
she missed him. she misses him, and sitting across the room from him is a painful reminder of how much she still loves him. and even though looking at him sends daggers straight through her heart, she can't help but observe him. she watches him closely as he eyes the glass she'd set in front of him, and focuses her gaze on his as he speaks. she's missed looking at him like this —close enough to see all his pores and make out every tiny little scar that decorates his skin.
she's missed being so close to him.
she nods as he speaks, lips pursed together thoughtfully as she considers her own words. the hesitation she feels makes her heart lurch. she shouldn't feel so awkward talking to the man she loves, but the emotions running through her feel suffocating. after a moment, she finally speaks. "i know you hate it," she says, voice soft. "but — you did great, and i'm sure the band is grateful you did it." she pulls her lips into a small smile as she continues. "you know i don't really like these things, either... but i enjoyed your set. i always do."
when he admits to watching her all night, her heart lurches. and when he apologizes, her heart lurches again — and a small, sad smile envelops her lips. she nods. slow and gentle, eyes sad as she shifts her gaze to meet his own.
"i know you didn't mean to hurt me. i never thought you meant to." she pauses, and her teeth gnaw at her bottom lip for a brief moment before she continues. "i know you thought you were doing what was best for me, but i... really wish you would have let me make that choice." she sighs, eyes downcast as she fidgets with her fingers. "i was... angry. really angry, but i shouldn't have suggested you didn't care about me. i know you care about me... i just had a hard time understanding why you pushed me away. that really hurt me."
"but i... know you didn't mean to hurt me... i know you're sorry." she wants to tell him it's okay, but there's still hurt wrapped around her heart — squeezing and squeezing and squeezing at every little reminder of how he had walked away from them. but she can't tell him it's not okay, either — not when she can see him laying his vulnerability out like this. not when it's clear that he needs somebody.
even when she's at her angriest, she's unable to ignore just how much she cares about him. in this moment, she wants nothing more than to take care of him. to make sure he's okay, and to help him be okay.
she'd do anything to make sure of that.
so, she buries her resentment, tugging her lips into another sad smile as she quietly admits — "i haven't been able to stop thinking about you, either."
the confession that he occupies her thoughts too hits him straight in the stomach with the hollow ache that usually accompanies tears. but his eyes don't wet; instead, the hint of a smile pulls at his lips. he wants her to see it; to know what means to him. all he wants is to thread his fingers with hers or pull her close and let every ounce of heartbreak in either of them seep out. it's not that easy, never has been and never will be, but, for a moment, he breathes a sigh of relief. to say anything in response feels too fragile a prospect, so he lets her words sit with him instead.
he senses the sadness that seems to hover in the center of her every action and word, though, and it's a heavy reminder he's ruined his ability to provide the comfort he's always wanted so badly to provide for her. "i know what i did and didn't intend doesn't mean half as much as what i actually did," he says softly. "the choice of when, how, if you wanted to go public was taken away from you already. it wasn't right that i didn't talk to you." still, there's a pang in his chest that he needs to try to rationalize himself, that he needs to tell her he'd been trying to choose the wound that could be cauterized over the one that would bleed her out. but what does that change? it does nothing for the hurt he'd inflicted, so what does it matter? he keeps it to himself.
after all, the more nights he spends thinking about it, the less it feels like some great act of martyrdom and more like he'd just been afraid that, presented with the choice, she would have chosen the one he'd forced on her.
revisiting the thought, he reaches for the glass of champagne and downs half of it in one go. the whole thing and she'll notice, so he practices self-control and sets it back down in front of him, counting the seconds in his head until he can finish it off.
"i'm sorry. i'm being rude, coming over and just talking about myself." but he needs to justify his presence here, worried somewhere in the back of his mind that she'll rightfully kick him out if he doesn't. "i'm here because i want to know how you are." out of everything that's changed, he thinks one of the hardest to handle has been no longer being able to just sit and talk with her like this. maybe it's small talk, but he'll take whatever he can get tonight for as long as she'll offer it.
"i've heard you were absolutely amazing in revenant." he chews the skin of his lip at that. is he sharing too much? will she take offense he hasn't seen it firsthand? he'd wanted to, but it all hurt a little too much, felt a little too wrong to sit down and watch her work when they don't even talk. he'll watch it one day, when it doesn't break his heart in two and threaten to turn him inside out just to see her face. he already relives it all when he sits down to do his own work; bringing hers into the mix might do him in entirely. "it doesn't surprise me, but i'm glad you're getting to shine with a camera again. in front of it, behind it. your magic deserves an audience."
130 MOOD: TRBL
type: ep
format: digital, physical
release: march 2016
the release of 130 mood: trbl came about after ash was pretty much passed off to the korean wing of his label for a debut in hopes he'd find greater appeal there. ash was less than thrilled about it, as it felt a lot like abandonment before he'd even really been given a chance. the label's korean arm seemed to see much greater potential in the niche he could fill than the american arm, and this became apparent through the resources dedicated to the production of his first ep. famous fan lore states that 130 mood: trbl was written in under a month. this is partially true, but mostly not. he'd started writing the ep in english before he was unceremoniously relocated in only the short time it took a multi-billion dollar label to get him a visa to get to work in south korea. several originally english demos may have been remodeled into korean language tracks in under a month, but the whole ep was certainly not written in that time. the rumor persisted because it was good for the image-making of a prodigal crossover singer-songwriter. "21" was one of the first demos that was converted into korean and became his soft debut in korea. many consider it his debut full-stop. though it wasn't a chart hit, it gained popularity and critical praise at a much higher rate than his previous, american double single and even won best r&b song at the korean music awards. "d (half moon)" and "bonnie & clyde" were dual-released with 130 mood: trbl as album singles. "d (half moon)" became a staple and the most successful song from the ep on the charts, but ash stands by "bonnie & clyde" being his preferred representative. greymatter visuals made its first appearance with a label budget, as he participated in the direction of the "bonnie & clyde" music video. the trio of singles and the ep as a whole served to establish the image of a ~romantic but tortured, slightly edgy pretty boy singer-songwriter~ that earned enough interest to get him branded a rising star and "discovery of the year". this was largely the point in his career he was the most widely-liked and the least controversial. while he made several television and radio appearances to promote this release, he never shared much about the inspiration behind the album. when he did go more in-depth, it was sparked by discussion of his role in visual and creative directing the album.
TRACK LIST
and you? (outro)
pour up
bonnie & clyde
what2do
d (half moon)
i love it
21
it's not like suji hasn't dreamt of this happening. she'd be lying if she were to try and deny it — she's spent countless sleepless nights staring up at her ceiling, missing his touch and his presence and his voice and praying to a god she didn't even believe in that he'd magically show up at her door.
and now he's here — at her hotel room door, offering to celebrate over a bottle of champagne as if nothing's changed. as if he didn't push her away. as if they hadn't spent months apart. as if he didn't tell her she's better off without him the last time they'd seen each other.
it's bittersweet. she wants to act like nothing's changed, but there's a crushing feeling in her chest whenever she remembers that she can't do that. the thought makes her chest feel like it's going to cave in and bring her heart along with it.
her teeth sink into her bottom lip when he mentions her birthday. she'd spent most of her birthdays working, and if she wasn't working, she was alone. until she'd met ash — and suddenly her birthday felt like a day worth celebrating. but of course, things were different this year. she was back to spending her birthday alone. this time, it stung in a way it never did before.
she nods. it's slow, gentle — stepping aside as he makes his way through the doorway. closes the door behind him with a quiet exhale, mustering up small smile as she turns to face him again. resentment and heartache still burn beneath her chest, but she can spot his anxiety a mile away and no matter how much he hurt her, she would never turn him away. she reaches out to take the champagne from his hands — crossing the room to grab a pair of complimentary glasses as she gestures for him to sit down. "thank you," she says quietly as she places the glasses down on the coffee table, shifting her gaze towards him with a hesitant expression. "ended up having to film on my birthday, so the bottle's appreciated..." a pause. "— you were great tonight. like always. "
nobody had ever told her how soul-crushing it is to force small talk with the man you'd dreamt of spending her life with.
she remains quiet as she pours them each a glass, fixing her eyes on the bubbles as she runs the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip, suddenly feeling her own anxiety begin to settle in. she clears her throat and hands him his glass. "is everything okay?" she repeats, her tone softer this time. "i... wanted to see you, too — but i didn't expect you to show up like this. are you sure everything's fine, ash?"
the starkest difference between ash's fantasies of some emotional reunion in a world where he hasn't already chosen his ending is how unsure he is how to act around her in reality. he'd felt it back outside of the party a few months back, but it's all the more apparent now. he's spent the better part of the last four years glued to her side with all the affection of a man too deeply in love to want to hide it — perhaps too much so at times. but he stands in her hotel room now, still a man in love, but one who knows it's no longer right to be too obvious about that fact, even to the one he's used to sharing the most of himself with.
he watches, blinking, as she pours out glasses for them, as if he'd momentarily forgotten such a thing existed. he can't remember the last time he'd poured a bottle of alcohol out into a glass. if he's not at a bar with a bartender to do it for him, whiskey, wine, and tequila all make a journey from bottle to throat without the hassle of stops in between. she has the wherewithal to be a functioning human being, so he tries to put the act on himself; he takes his seat silently and pretends he's not dying to down the glass in front of him.
when he's not gazing at her from across a ballroom, he can study her features more clearly. the hesitance on her face mirrors what he imagines must be painting his own and he feels more like he's meeting a distant acquaintance than the person he'd once thought he'd spend life and death next to.
he rubs his knees. shrugs. "it's fine. you know i hate this sort of stuff. all the people, the self-congratulating, the faked interest out of professional duty." when he left his old label and set out under culture creative with more freedom, he'd promised himself to keep these kinds of events to a minimum. but it'd good for the band, and it's good for grey even if it leaves ash feeling more like a hollow, used husk than anything. "i couldn't think of anywhere else to go." because who else knows him well enough he doesn't really have to explain? who else but the only person that's consumed his thoughts all damn week?
"but i didn't come here to complain to you. you don't owe me a sympathetic ear. i just... i don't know." he searches her eyes for a sign — he has no idea what kind. "i know i shouldn't say this, but i couldn't look at or think about anyone else but you all night and it's killing me." he half-regrets it as soon as he says it, but who else can he tell if not her? "i know last time we talked..." he trails off. there'd been more pain than he'd wanted; festering wounds re-opened and new ones carved into his psyche by his own stubborn insistence to stand by his choices. it doesn't matter now, or he's trying not to let it. "...and i know i never said i was sorry for hurting you. i am sorry. i just want to make sure you know that."
