Dori, left, and Will Hyde share the stage at the Have a Nice Trip Festival in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, July 27. Courtesy of MPMG/Mint Paper

Much has gone on since The Korea Times last checked in with Australian pop artist and podcaster Will Hyde, both personally and professionally. Within the space of a couple of years, since he first came to Korea in search of deeper connections with the music and culture scene here, Hyde has certainly made great progress in his initial mission.

Back in 2020, Hyde was turning 23 and working on a song that he was planning to pitch to K-pop rock band Xdinary Heroes. Life was and still is in quite the major bit of transition at the time, as he'd brought along all of his worldly possessions and was moving to Los Angeles upon departure from Incheon.

Describing just moving to LA as a "big change" in his life, the other details, especially locally, seem to be moving faster than the notorious San Andreas Fault that he now resides around.

In a year that saw Hyde produce the first-ever Australian Summer Olympics Team Song and be signed up to produce a new ad campaign for Lipton Iced Tea in the European market, the artist is capping it strong here in Korea with a new collab track called "vibe." featuring Korean vocalist Dori. The bilingual upbeat duet dropped worldwide on Sept. 27, with both fans and the artists excited about the final product.

" ‘vibe.' " is a song about being in the honeymoon stage of a new relationship, when everything feels fresh and exciting," Hyde noted in an exclusive interview. "It has a care-free feel and is really upbeat, which I wanted to share for people that may not be feeling as happy at the moment."

Dori seems to be the perfect person to put on the spot to do exactly that, as he also noted, "My strength lies in creating music not just for the sake of making it fun, but in making it enjoyable according to the mood of the song." He added that he likes to "turn sorrow into something people can enjoy through music."

The infectious, concise and gregarious nature of the song leaves these qualities and sentiments evident to the listener.

As to the process of making the song, Hyde noted that he created it at his new home in LA.

"I think the fact that it is so upbeat is because I was feeling so comfortable with the environment I made it in," he said. "I had the song sketched out, though I felt like it needed something more to make it special. Around that time is when I found Dori and we connected online."

Will Hyde in Los Angeles / Courtesy of Nate Guenth

The song itself would seem to be part and parcel of the process of Hyde deepening his relationship with Korea overall, as he's become a big fan of a few famous K-dramas.

"I watch a bit of Korean drama TV (‘Queen of Tears' and ‘Crash Landing On You' are favorites) and I heard a song that I really liked on ‘Queen of Tears,'" Hyde noted. "It turned out that the song was by Dori titled ‘Heart Flutter.'"

Korean singer Dori / Courtesy ofONGRAY

Hyde reached out to Dori via instagram, and asked whether he'd like to collaborate on a track. Dori replied yes, and the process was in motion.

Looking back on the process of doing a collabo for the first time, Dori noted further with a laugh, "I just want to say that I think Will is a really cool artist when it comes to approaching music. When we're eating together or shopping for clothes, like me, he's playful and has a pure side. But when it comes to making music, we both become deeply immersed. I really liked that about our working dynamic."

This would only be the latest chapter in a growingly symbiotic relationship with Korea that Hyde is experiencing. The last two years since Bang Chan from Stray Kids played a song of his on the famed SoSo playlist, inspiring him to visit Seoul and pitch some ideas, the roots have set in so deeply that Hyde is now studying the Korean language with a teacher.

Having just signed with OneRPM, Hyde recently had the opportunity to visit Seoul and the surrounds again, most notably for the Have a Nice Trip Festival in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, performing alongside the likes of Alec Benjamin and Travis. He also appeared on MBC's "Welcome, First time in Korea?" co-hosted by Kim Jun-hyun and Alberto Mondi.

Will Hyde gets close to the audience during his performance at Have a Nice Trip Festival in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, July 27. Courtesy of MPMG/Mint Paper

"I definitely feel like the opportunities I've been having have increased a lot and I am really grateful to be able to perform in Korea after all of this time," Hyde stated.

What's truly funny is this all happened due to coincidence.

"My initial attraction to Korea actually came by chance — I was standing outside of a convention when I was younger and someone came up to give me a free ticket," Hyde said, thanking that person for what he described as a "life-changing" happenstance.

"I went to the convention and it covered so many things about the Korean culture, including having a K-pop group perform at the convention," he said. "From there, I really started to listen to more K-pop groups and became a fan myself. I didn't know how to get into the music industry in Korea, so I never thought I'd be able to."

With "vibe." in the rearview mirror, what's going on now and what's next?

As to the former, Hyde continues to keep up with new and emerging artists here in Korea, loving what's the scene is doing right now. "I have been loving the music that has been released over the last couple of years (especially) Tabber, Stray Kids, Dean, Kid Milli, Dori, ph1, Lee Young Ji and Bibi," he said.

Continuing to work on music and his budding Korean language skills, Hyde also noted he has a special project with new label ONErpm to be announced soon, but that will have to wait for a later date. He also says he plans for his first solo concert in Korea early next year.

Whatever happens, it would seem that some relationships are just destiny, so surely Hyde — and Korea — will continue to grow and develop together.

Daniel Springer is the former host of "The Drop with Danno" on GFN.