Why Milky Day Could Be The Next Big Thing in Music

“I want to perform in more shows, meet and collaborate with more creatives, and work on cool music video projects,” Milky Day says in this new interview. Photo: Unbound Entertainment Group

The Korean-New Zealand singer-songwriter Milky Day is a master of bedroom pop. 

You can sense the soft-lit intimacy clearly in his latest single “Listen to the Rain”, a smooth R&B song that sounds both strikingly fresh and instantly nostalgic. His soft, quiet delivery creates a warm familiarity for listeners who might need something comforting to get them through the night. “Although rainy days can feel a bit gloomy, it’s also one of the most comforting feelings for me,” Milky Day told me in an interview this week. “When it’s raining outside but I’m snuggled up in my bed, wrapped up in warm blankets.”

And while Milky Day makes music that is perfect for those nights when you’re cozily wrapped under the covers, the song was also made, literally, in his bedroom.  “I prefer to record in the comfort of my room with some basic acoustic treatment because it makes the recording process less intimidating,” he said. “In turn, my vocals usually come out sounding more raw or intimate.” 

“Listen to the Rain” came at the conclusion of what Milky Day describes as “some tough changes”. “Once I reconciled with those changes,” he said, “I felt compelled to write this song. I often find solace in rain - something about observing and listening to the rain has a therapeutic effect for me, as it sort of washes away my worries.” 

“Listen to the Rain” has already racked up over 130,000 streams on Spotify, and it’s a sign of a growing base of support for the singer. This year Milky Day signed an exclusive management deal with Unbound Entertainment Group. A leader in the independent Asian music community, Unbound Entertainment has engineered tours for several rising pop and R&B stars, including JUNNY, GEMINI and most recently, SHAUN. 

The deal was a score for Milky Day, who has significant traction online with over 50 million combined streams on Spotify alone. “I’m really happy to be working with Unbound Entertainment Group because they’re a great fit for me and my goals,” he told me this week in an interview. “I’m most excited about going on tour through them, as Unbound’s strength is in tour and concert management.” 

Milky Day’s first show under Unbound came as the opening act for SHAUN at New York City’s Mission Nightclub in April. “I was a little bit nervous leading up to the day, but when it was time to go on stage, I felt pretty comfortable because I had a number of close friends there to support me and the crowd was very engaged,” he told me. “I was lucky because the venue is a popular nightclub spot primarily for Asian Americans, which is my target demographic. So I was surprised to see people in the crowd singing along to some of my songs! I really enjoyed myself that night and I’m looking forward to performing more in the near future.” 

Milky Day’s trajectory is skyrocketing these days. His musical output is both lengthy and diverse. When I asked what music new fans could dive into, Milky Day had several options. “If you enjoy chill lofi/indie music, check out “You’ll Be Alright”, “Fool”, or “How You Been”. If you’re into more upbeat R&B-pop, check out “Take it Slow” (my personal favorite), “Youuu”, or “Mine”,” he continued, “Or, if you like more somber “sadboi” style music, listen to “Feeling Blue”, “Adore”, or “Kiss Me Slowly”.’ 

I’ve learned that what makes Milky Day such an interesting musician is his fearlessness.

Unbound Entertainment Group

Milky Day was surrounded by nature growing up in New Zealand. 

As a teen, Milky Day ran cross country where he explored sprawling locations like Cornwall Park, the Auckland Domain trails, Mount Eden, and Orakei Basin. “I miss the beautiful views and nature spots that I would discover while running,” he remembered. Some days he and his friends would ditch school - “which I don’t condone!” he exclaimed - to jump off the wharfs at Mission Bay or explore trails. On all of those trips, Milky Day was seeking thrills and a new adventure. 

Music found its way into his life, too. Milky Day began playing piano at eight years old before joining orchestra, jazz band, and barbershop in school. “In middle school,” he said, “I was first introduced to music production when I downloaded FL Studio and made a couple of crappy dubstep songs for fun.” He laughed when he told me about a random memory of Skrillex’s “Bangarang” album, a song that hit all of the right dopamine receptors, and he good-naturedly guessed, the dirty basslines probably appealed to him, too. 

But it wasn’t until he was a freshman at Amherst College that Milky Day began to take music seriously. “The reason why I started producing music again was because although classical piano allows for a lot of musical expression, I wanted to try creating original songs from scratch,” he remembered. “And so I started making songs again, this time more in the chill lofi genre, and uploading them onto Soundcloud.” 

When his music first began to gain traction, Milky Day was wary to call himself a musician. “Before then, I’m pretty sure I just told people that ‘I make music’,” he said, “I don’t think it was due to a lack of confidence though, but rather because I considered my day job as my main gig and music as more of a side gig.” His parents often told him to only keep music as a hobby, and that advice stayed with him. “Even though they eventually became open to and accepting of my decision to pursue music as a career,” he theorized, “Maybe that message stuck with me.”  

Assuringly, this is the first year Milky Day has felt the confidence to believe in himself as an artist. He’s worked at a rapid pace, producing a dizzying amount of singles throughout the last five years. And though he has his hard days of self-doubt, the singer is learning how to tell himself that it’s okay to take a break. “I used to - and sometimes still do - feel the pressure to always be productive,” he said. “I think it’s because of the hustle culture and because I grew up surrounded by high achieving peers. But I realized that for me, good music can’t be forced. When I don’t feel like working on music, there’s often a good reason for it.” 

Unbound Entertainment Group

Unbound Entertainment is betting that Milky Day is the next big thing in R&B, and his catalog backs up their belief. He’s a singer ambitiously looking to find his identity, both as an artist and as a person, and an artist who is always willing to push himself. Looking ahead, Milky Day is grateful for how many possibilities are opening up for him. More music is already on the way next month that he’s looking forward to sharing with fans. “Without giving away too much, it's a collaboration with a female R&B artist from the Philippines and the song is about love and longing,” he teased. “I'm really excited about the release as it's very much the warm, soothing ‘Milky’ sound that my fans are familiar with.”

“I want to perform in more shows, meet and collaborate with more creatives, and work on cool music video projects,” he told me. “I’ve also been trying to become more active on social media, as I’ve been quite dormant the past few years, so I can keep my fans in the loop and engage with them.”

But the real goal is to continue to feed the same intrepid spirit he’s had since he was jumping off wharfs at Mission Bay as a teen. “The general plan,” he said, “is to keep releasing good tunes and explore some new sounds and styles along the way!”