Interview with Christeeny Bop - A Fresh New Face to the L.A. Music Scene

Perhaps the best kept musical secret of this generation, Christeeny Bop has a small following and just a few songs available to the public, but what is out there is just amazing. Not quite pop, not quite alternative, almost gospel- but not exactly, it's hard to classify the music of Christeeny Bop. Her music is most definitely inspired by her Christian faith, although it is hard to imagine some of her songs fitting in on today's contemporary Christian radio stations. I had a chance to talk with Christeeny Bop recently, and I discovered that she is even more creative than her songs reveal.

According to Christeeny Bop, if she were a nail polish color, she would be, "bright turquoise, but with an iridescent pink tone to it." That unique color description paints a pretty clear picture of Christeeny's style- anything but ordinary. Christeeny Bop writes her own songs, to which she plays piano and also sings. Her Myspace page describes the style of her music as "crunk." As it turns out, Christeeny wasn't exactly sure what that was, but thought it was a good description of her music. "Actually, I have no idea what crunk is, but I thought it was a good word to describe my music. Although I'm not sure what it is, I think it's kind of an onomatopoeia."

Born in Korea, but raised in Los Angeles, Christeeny Bop, whose friends know her as Christina Joung, has been making music, "since I was born! I came out of the womb singing and dancing. I've always liked music in general, be it singing or dancing, but I learned to play my first instrument, piano, when I was nine years old." After leading church music for several years, in various situations, Christina became inspired to become Christeeny Bop after the purchase of a new computer. "I bought my new computer, an Apple Mac book, the newest edition, white, with a 2 gig hard drive, and I decided that I could have my own recording studio in my bedroom. Basically, I just like to make music, so I thought I'd make it."

There is something about Christeeny Bop that is just captivating. She has a passion for life that is fresh and rejuvenating, and it is reflected in her music. Her song, "Miss," inspires listeners to remember the freshness of youth. "Miss is about growing up, and how as people grow up, you kind of have a hard heart. Your heart gets cold, and you don't feel things as purely as you did when you were younger and naïve. And it's about missing that part of you." Although the tone of the song is melancholy, the genius of Christeeny Bop's music is that it is somehow uplifting.

The same could be said for the song, "Awake." The beautiful piano runs have a depth that make you feel as if you should close your eyes to truly appreciate them. According to Christeeny Bop, "Awake is, "about God, and Jesus, and it's more towards the person who already is born again that a person who is not. It's about being in a state where you know God, but you don't want to do what's right and you feel far from him, and it's the whole idea that when you are away from God, it's like your heart is dormant, it's asleep. That you just need to come awake."

Christeeny Bop's musical inspirations are as diverse as her music, stretching from Nelly to Beck, to Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson, all the way to old jazz favorites such as Charles Mingus. Christeeny just loves music and would ultimately love to one day open up her own record label. As for her own record, Christeeny is currently unsigned. Those who would like to hear the music of Christeeny Bop can listen to songs, and even download them on her Myspace Music page, http://www.myspace.com/christeenybop.