For bonafide global singer-songwriter Eric Nam, fitting in has never been easy. Growing up Asian American in Atlanta was equally confusing and isolating. “As a Korean American kid, the majority of places I was at and the schools that I went to were white.”
But making music was something that always made him feel at home — it was just always a little bit out of reach. During college, Eric finally had the opportunity to dig into his passion. While studying international studies and political science at Boston College, he began sharing covers on YouTube. Still, he was trying to remain practical. On a fast-track to graduate, he had landed a job at Deloitte but decided to put work on hold in favor of a year-long sabbatical.
Near the end of his gap year, he found himself hoping for a sign that would let him avoid signing with Deloitte. Two days later, he got it in the form of an email asking him to appear on a Korean TV show. That email would end up changing the course of his life.
In 2012, he ended up on Korea’s version of The Voice meets American Idol landing on Star Audition: Birth of a Great Star 2 where he made it into the Top 5. When he returned to the States, he found himself at a crossroads: pursue signing a record deal and foster a career in Korea or go back to Deloitte. It was then that he put his fears aside and admitted music was his only path.
After signing to B2M Entertainment in 2012, Nam went on to release five projects from 2013 to 2020, which solidified him as one of the most popular and recognizable celebrities in Asia and one of the most extensive touring solo Asian acts in the world. To date, Eric has accumulated 600 million cumulative streams, 9.5 million social followers, and has been named GQ Korea’s “Man of the Year” in addition to landing on Forbes’ highly coveted “30 Under 30” list in Asia.
In January 2022, Eric independently released his highly anticipated all-English sophomore album, There and Back Again, via The Orchard. For Nam, its meaning is layered, it reflects his experience of feeling like a foreigner no matter where he was, the highs and lows of relationships and also the physical journey of Nam relocating from Atlanta to Korea for the past 10 years and returning home to become an independent artist.
On There and Back Again Eric unpacks the album’s complex meaning and confronts past heartbreak. With the sleek, disco-pop-infused lead single “I Don’t Know You Anymore,” he reflects on the emotional exhaustion that caused a relationship to become unsalvageable. "Essentially, the idea is I just want to cancel you from my life." While “I Don’t Know You Anymore” is rooted in resignation, the whistle-flanked "Any Other Way" is a wistful love song about the singularity of being in a relationship. "I think depending on the mood you’re in, it can sound really happy, or it can sound really sad." The R&B-tinged “Admit” is in the same vein as a confessional number where Eric pours his heart out: “I think I need you/More than I’d like to
admit/Cause you’ve got deeper than anyone ever did.” “Lost on Me" is a stripped-back, bittersweet breakup song that unearths the realizations that can come after a relationship ends: "The show might be over, but you should know that your love wasn’t lost on me." “Wildfire” is a crushing electropop track that evokes the haunting synth work of Imogen Heap and the kaleidoscopic soul of Bon Iver.
After the release of the album, Eric took There And Back Again on a world tour, performing 60 shows across the US, UK, Europe, Australia & New Zealand, and Asia for over 85,000 fans.
Later in 2022, Eric announced his acting debut in the psychological thriller, Transplant, produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi and directed by Jason Park.
Beyond being a singer, songwriter, entertainer/TV personality and now actor, Eric is staying busy as the Co-Founder and Creative Director of DIVE Studios, a K-pop focused media company as well as Mindset, a mental health and wellness platform with a library of authentic and intimate stories from world renown celebrities.