마치 (MRCH)! The stage name signifies something about Yoon Jiyoung—a talented singer, songwriter, and producer based in South Korea. Korean is a phonetic-heavy language, meaning its writing system, known as Hangul, allows the written form of a word to reflect how it is pronounced. An interesting aspect of Hangul is that it also suggests the shape of the mouth and tongue when speaking. 마치 is romanized as “machi,” which sounds similar to “mrch,” a vowel-less version of “March.” This sounds quite reasonable, as Yoon Jiyoung was also born in March, I guess.
Jiyoung had her musical journey as a classical composer in college, but she found herself unhappy with the focus on music theory. However, this training proved invaluable, greatly helping her passion for singing and performing. Although math and science are not her favorite subjects, she shines as an excellent talent in music.
Jiyoung has written songs for herself and several famous Korean girl groups, including TWICE, NiziU, and woo!ah!. She describes TWICE’s songs as energetic, inspiring her to incorporate ppong or ppongjjak (뻥 or 뻥짝), a Korean musical style loved by both young and old, when writing “Talk that Talk.” It is easy to go with a song written for famous artists. However, when composing her own songs, she feels more pressure and tends to overthink because her music often tells her personal story. She is usually strategic but also loves to go with the flow, following where the song leads her emotions.
Jiyoung has a wide vocal range, allowing her to sing notes across a broad spectrum and reach high pitches. She teams up with other instrumentalists playing electric guitar, bass, synthesizer, and drums as a vocalist. It is inspiring to see how wonderful she and the band have become and keep creating music.