JUNNY Talks null, Vulnerability, Creative Growth & His Upcoming Tour
By Brenessa Roach | February 14, 2026
JUNNY, the Korean-Canadian artist now based in Seoul, has been making waves in the music scene since his debut in 2017. At just 22, he packed his bags and moved to Korea in 2018, diving into a new creative environment. Since then, JUNNY has been refining his sound, exploring different sides of himself, and growing as an artist. His journey can be felt in his most popular track, “By My Side,” as well as his latest album null. Starting February 16th, JUNNY will embark on his third North American tour, the null tour, visiting 11 cities, including his hometown of Vancouver.
Having moved countries in his early 20s, we asked JUNNY which song reminds him most of his time in Canada.
“There’s a song from my first studio album blanc called ‘boyhood,’ and it’s a little message to my mom, my family, and also my younger self when I was in Canada. I actually listened to it the other day, and it reminded me of home again. It got me excited to go back because after the tour, I’ll be spending time with my family, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Reflecting on JUNNY’s earlier music like “By My Side” and pre-Blanc, his latest work, especially null, feels more vulnerable and experimental. Fans who’ve followed JUNNY since his early days will notice the emotional and sonic growth, a journey he describes himself.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. As an artist, you kind of want to just say the words that you know that you have deep inside. But sometimes it’s hard to do that, and when you start out as an artist, you kind of want to put out music that realistically people can relate to, something that’s more commercial and songs that you want in people’s playlists, rather than expressing what you really feel. And for me, it was a journey of figuring out how I can do both of that, and I try to kind of get these experiences from not only my songwriting, but the songs that I write for others, and as a songwriter myself, and from doing these experiences, I’ve gained the confidence to be able to really speak my mind.Naturally, this album just became unnecessarily very sad. A lot of people know me as very, very bright and bubbly, but I wanted to show them that, the side you see me on camera, isn’t the only side I have, and I’m human as well, and I’m able to feel these different emotions that others feel as well behind closed doors.”
When writing for other artists, JUNNY steps into a different headspace, trading his usual ENFP self to a more structured, focused “J” mindset. He compares the process to designing an outfit: it’s not about what he would wear, it’s about creating something that allows the artist to shine.…
“These artists that I’m able to write for live completely different lives and I’ll never be able to really know what they’re going through, but I try my hardest to imagine everything and just do what they portray as their images as a group. They have such a great foundation, and they’re all so talented and very great looking, and everything all that. But then, what can we do and what kind of song could we make for them to really shine? I don’t really do it all myself, I have a group of friends, songwriters that are amazing, talented people, and we kind of brainstorm off each other. We talk also with their team, like the staff behind the scenes, and their team, and we have conversations and hear what they would want for their artists, and it’s a very different approach to writing.”
Though writing for others requires a different mindset, JUNNY says the experience has deeply influenced his own artistry.
“It’s something that I enjoy and I kind of continuously want to do, because it helps also with my work. When I’m working on my own music, there’s certain aspects that I learned from that side, and I kind of bring it over. It’s a learning experience and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”
His songwriting credits span multiple genres and groups, but one recent standout is ZEROBASEONE’s “ROSES,” a track he describes as especially meaningful due to the time and effort poured into it.
“We took a long time making that song from the recording and the arrangement, and just like figuring out the melody. It was a lot of work, but it’s like climbing a mountain where the process of it might be very tough, and you kind of give up sometimes, but then when you get to the top, you get that satisfaction. And that was one of the songs that hit me really hard. I was like, ‘wow, this is a song I’ll never be able to put out myself, but it’s a song that I’m so proud of. It went to the right hands, and they killed it, obviously. They are just such a talented group of dudes, and so kind and they show so much love to me and my music too. And it just kind of like it makes me want to give them better, you know, continuously write better songs for them. And it’s a great relationship to have. And I’m very blessed.”
That same sense of pride and intention carries into JUNNY’s latest album, null, released on August 20, 2025. The project pulls from a wide range of influences shaped by the different musical phases of his life. Among those inspirations is Daft Punk, an act he credits with redefining sound on a global scale.
“There’s actually a lot of inspirations in that album. Growing up, you know, you have stages in your life and you kind of get into a certain genre, and then you kind of move different genres. And then as you get older, you realize you listen to so much music that you kind of like everything, and that’s what I’ve become, and I try to incorporate that in the album. And Daft Punk is one of my favorite time, in terms of sound and what they’ve created. And they I feel like they invented their own sound in a way that changed the whole world. I even got them tatted on my arm, so, that’s how much they mean to me. The producers and the writers that helped me make the album were also big fans, and we were able to connect with it. We wanted to show homage and just pay our respects, thanking them in a way of thank you for making us inspired to make music.
Woven throughout null, JUNNY and his team layered subtle hints of Daft Punk’s signature sound, which he hopes listeners will notice. “Passion, Pain & Pleasure” leans heavily into that inspiration, while also drawing from fellow Canadian artist The Weeknd. When we mentioned how much we love seeing Canadian representation, JUNNY smiled and said “I’m so proud to be Canadian”.
“I feel like these artists all feed off each other. I mean they work with each other as well, but then I feel like they’re inspired by each other. And I wanted to kind of show that as well, that I’m inspired by these artists that, who I’ve looked up to and enjoyed my whole life.”
JUNNY carefully constructed null around the layered meaning of “너 (neo),” which translates to “you” in Korean while also echoing the idea of “nothingness.” The duality immediately sparked our curiosity. Was the album born from losing someone? Losing a part of himself? Or perhaps both? And what personal moment led him to explore this theme so deeply?
“I think it’s a combination of both, but I always thought of having someone that special, that impacted your life, they basically make who you are, and you make who they are. And once you lose that certain person, you feel like you lose a part of yourself. And as cliche as that sounds, it kind of really makes sense when you really experience it. There was a moment in my life where I experienced that, and I feel like we all go through that, and just having that experience. I want to talk about it in a more vulnerable way, because I felt that it was a great time in my career where I’m able to be more expressive, rather than being too cookie cutter, so, I just had the urge to be experimental. Also, being on platforms where I can talk about my life and my personality, like, Get Real and just YouTube and stuff, I had so much fun. I never thought of myself as someone that would share a lot of my personal things. But then I thought ‘oh, this is really self healing.’ It’s something that helps me get up in the morning in a way, and I felt, if I was able to do that in my music, and other people would listen to it, and maybe, if they were going through the same thing, maybe this album can help them out, or help them feel better.”
Released before JUNNY enters his 30s, null feels like both a closing chapter and the beginning of a new one. It captures a transitional space in his life where he’s choosing to lean further into vulnerability and share more of himself than ever before. The album is deeply personal, yet widely relatable, reinforcing something that matters greatly to him: showing that he is human.
“As someone that loves music and loves music that’s created by humans, We hear so much of music that isn’t created by humans, and it felt like for us to really be able to stay connected with the audience and people around the world, we should be able to be more vulnerable rather than doing something that can be recreated very easily with the tap of a button. So, not only just for this album, but I’m continuously figuring out how to do that in my future work as well.”
Writing null required JUNNY to revisit moments he hadn’t fully processed. These were experiences from years ago that carry different meanings now than they did at the time. Stepping back into those memories, he found that some songs poured out effortlessly, while others he needed to dig deeper emotionally.
“I feel like the songs that may seem like it was hard to write, it was the most easiest, because there was just so much I wanted to say. In terms of technicals aspect, I think “Weight of Time” was the most hardest to finish because of how much music is in that one song. It’s literally nine minutes and it’s continuously changing. Lyric wise, I think “Next To Me” and “residue”, those songs were so easy to write, because it was all in here (points to head). I think “SOUR” was very difficult for me to write as it was a type of feeling that I haven’t felt in a very long time. I had to really grab it from a past experience. It’s a song that represents the part of my life where I was much more younger and more naive with love, and don’t even know what love is yet, and now being myself in the present day, it’s kind of hard to rethink in that way. Yeah, that’s why it was hardest to write.”
There were also moments when JUNNY walked into the studio with a clear emotional direction only to realize, mid-session, that his feelings had shifted. Some emotions he thought were resolved turned out to be more layered than expected.
“Songs, like, ‘Next To Me’, the lyrics were very bitter. First I wanted to write something that’s very ‘upset ex boyfriend type’ of song, but as I was writing, I was like, ‘no, this is not how I feel. I kind of feel, in a way, it’s more of a closure and I want to write this as a letter to that person that impacted my life so much that I don’t want to be bitter about it. I want to be accepting of it.’ And so ‘Next To Me’ completely changed lyrically of how it sounded in the beginning.”
Spotlighting JUNNY’s latest single, “SEASONS,” released on December 16, the track marks a subtle shift from the emotional weight of null. Rooted in themes of time, tenderness, and the quiet courage it takes to know when to hold on and when to let go, the song feels reflective yet comforting. JUNNY shares:
“Time really goes really quickly, especially when you’re living such a busy life, and the seasons are changing. I feel like as humans, our feelings can change very drastically too. I wanted to let anyone who was feeling kind of negative about that to know it’s okay to change and to let go at times. And there’s certain things that you may want to hold on to, and there’s some things that you should be able to let go. I wrote the song during the wintertime, coming close to Christmas. You don’t want to feel down on yourself during Christmas time. So in a way, maybe I wanted to say it to myself, honestly. I’ve been here for six years, almost seven years now, living alone. I have friends that are like family, but I don’t have family here. My family’s back in Canada, so Christmas time is always the time of the year where I kind of feel the most lonely. And I thought, ‘oh, there’s people probably like me somewhere in the world’. Maybe, in a way, this song can make them feel a little bit of warmth and to get through a hardship that they’re going through.”
Across his discography, JUNNY has explored different emotions like memory in blanc, the rush of endorphins in dopamine, and duality in null. When we asked him which song he would play for his younger self back in Canada, his answer was thoughtful and gentle.
“A side of me wants the Canada JUNNY to know what you’re capable of, right? But in a way, I don’t want to scare him. I don’t want to give him such a drastic piece of music that would scare him away. So I would rather ease him in. So maybe not something towards null, but more towards blanc because that was a very big step for me too, creating a studio album and telling a story like that. It was a huge experience for me and that itself is probably very overwhelming for the kid JUNNY that lived in Canada that didn’t know anything. So probably, I’d say ‘Not About You’ is one of the most proudest songs that I’ve ever written, and I’d probably let him hear that, and ease him in and if he likes it, go towards the more present day music.”
Rather than overwhelming his younger self with the emotional depth of null, JUNNY would choose to introduce him slowly reminding him of what’s possible without revealing everything at once.
JUNNY is preparing to embark on his third North American tour in support of null, following the European leg in Fall 2025. For the Vancouver artist, returning home hits differently each time.
“I can’t believe it’s my third tour already. How blessed is that? It’s just amazing to come back for the third time. And also, we’re performing at completely different venues. As a kid from Vancouver, I would go to this venue to watch my heroes, you know what I mean, and now I’m able to perform on the same stage and hopefully inspire kids who want to make music, and also my fans. I’m very grateful for it, and so excited to come back home and just my home country, you know, not only Vancouver, but Toronto, and Montreal. I love those cities, and they give me so much love. And coming back with this whole body of work, this album and this whole set list that we’ve created, and we put a lot of thought and effort into I just can’t wait.”
Each tour brings something new. During last year’s dopamine tour, fans were surprised to see JUNNY dancing on stage, a reminder that he’s always evolving as a performer with each tour. And while certain tracks resonate deeply when we listen to the studio version, they can hit entirely different in a live setting. For us, “Not About You” hits harder in person, but JUNNY feels that shift too as an artist.
“Songs like ‘figure8’ really hits differently on stage. When you see certain fans get teary eyed, or they’re singing along, or they just really show that they love this song so much. It’s such a different feeling. Both studio and live are so beautiful, but it’s a very different way of really feeling the song itself. These tours helped me realize that it’s not only in the studio that I should be making music for I should be making this for the stage too. We also switched up a lot of the setlist, and we try to kind of show them a different version of the song that they’ve never heard yet. So, if they really like the album version, the version that you’ll hear live might be a little different, and maybe that could give them another inspiration to listen to other songs as well, and just those kind of little things that we learned along the way and incorporating into the set list. We’re super proud of it”
Though 2026 has only just begun, JUNNY is already in full motion, balancing tour preparations with new music in the works. For him, slowing down has never really been an option.
“This just doesn’t stop, you know. I think I want to do this forever and until I really want to say, ‘oh I’m done with music,’ but I don’t think that will ever happen. This is who I am. And there’s things to be looking forward to, hopefully you’re excited for. And obviously I’ll be making a big comeback this year, and hopefully these tours will go well and safe and sound for me and I will be able to come back to Korea and show you this new version of myself that I haven’t showed yet”.
With a comeback on the horizon and a new chapter unfolding, it’s clear that JUNNY isn’t just continuing his journey, he’s evolving.
As longtime fans since 2020, being able to sit down with JUNNY and truly pick his brain felt surreal. He remains one of the most thoughtful, inspiring, and talented artists in the space, and watching his growth over the years has been a privilege. We’re so excited to continue following his journey and we can’t wait to see what this next era brings. Make sure to catch him live and get tickets here!
Thank you to JUNNY for joining us and thank you to Mauve and MRG Live for coordinating the interview.
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