Flatshop are not interested in clarity for its own sake. Formed by four musicians – Khundi Panda, Viann, Noogi, and DAMYE – whose backgrounds span Korean hip-hop, R&B, production, and session work, the group operate through collaboration rather than rigid roles. On ‘toast recipe’, their latest album, the music unfolds patiently, allowing moods and ideas to develop without forcing resolution. The restraint feels intentional and assured.

There’s something disarming about how the album reveals itself. Its sounds feel recognisable on first contact – hip-hop, alternative, pop, R&B drifting in and out of focus – yet the way they’re assembled resists easy placement. Groove matters, but so does tension. Weight is carried as much by what isn’t filled in as by what is. It’s music that trusts the listener’s instincts, inviting interpretation rather than steering it.

Flatshop’s identity lives in that in-between space. They operate as a band, but not in the traditional sense. Roles exist, but they’re porous. Voices emerge, recede, overlap. Sound behaves physically, taking up room and then stepping back. Nothing feels ornamental. There’s a sense that every element is there because it needs to be, not because it’s expected. The album doesn’t chase catharsis; it lets it arrive when it’s ready.

Emotionally, ‘toast recipe’ carries a particular kind of empathy; something gentle and observant rather than declarative. It understands people who sit with their feelings rather than perform them – those who hesitate, overthink, look sideways at their own reactions. The album doesn’t offer solutions or declarations. Instead, it suggests that not everything needs to be resolved to be understood.

There’s also an underlying looseness to the record that feels earned rather than casual. A sense that the music was allowed to breathe, to change shape, to arrive at its final form without being forced into one. The confidence here comes from trust – in sound, in instinct, in the collective rather than the individual. ‘toast recipe’ doesn’t sound like four musicians negotiating space. It sounds like something that only exists because those negotiations are already internalised.

Flatshop’s work pulls inward, prioritising texture, mood, and continuity over explanation. It’s less about proving relevance than about remaining precise. By the time ‘toast recipe’ reaches its closing moments, it leaves behind a quiet aftertaste rather than a statement. Like the name suggests, it feels closer to a shared gesture than a grand reveal – a small celebration, a moment of pause, a raised glass without ceremony. Not an endpoint, but a signal that something has settled into place.

1. KPOPWORLD: When you listen to toast recipe now, what is the first sound that makes you think, “this feels like Flatshop”?

Flatshop We think our sound is defined by a balance between a sense of familiarity—something that feels like you’ve heard it somewhere before—and an unexpected sophistication. The album brings together the moods and characteristics of various genres, elevating them with each member’s distinct flavor into something bold and expressive.

2. Was the overall mood and message of toast recipe planned before you started, or did it come together naturally while making the album?

Flatshop Nothing was completely set from the beginning, but through ongoing meetings and workshops, we gradually shaped the overall direction. It took time to fully decide what kind of sound we wanted to create and what stories we wanted to tell through the lyrics, but we approached our first full-length album with a lot of care. As the process continued, new ideas naturally came together, eventually forming what is now toast recipe.

3. Compared to your earlier project Khundi Panda VS DAMYE VS Viann VS Noogi, what is one creative habit you’ve had to let go of while making toast recipe?

Khundi Panda From my position, where I need to fill out the vocal lines, the process felt very different this time. I had to think about the other player’s space as well—writing with their role in mind. Even when I came up with a topline myself, I found myself thinking, “This would sound better if the other member sang it.” That kind of perspective was a big difference from our previous EP. It really came down to synergy.

DAMYE For our previous album, I would finish songs in a space where I felt comfortable, listening alone, and then share them with the members. But this time, I felt that starting from zero and building songs together with Khundi Panda would bring out our synergy more fully. Presenting ideas to the members as they came to me took more courage than I expected—it almost felt like showing myself naked.

Viann With our first EP, all four of us were constantly compromising to find a balance. toast recipe, on the other hand, feels like an album where each of us held onto our own identity while still arriving at a shared balance. Rather than letting go, we brought out our habits naturally and tendencies and worked through them together.

4. Were there moments on this album where you chose not to explain everything in the lyrics?

Flatshop We chose not to explain, for almost everything. That doesn’t mean the themes of the songs are difficult or inaccessible, but we believe that explaining every situation can actually limit the listener’s imagination. We wanted to leave enough space for people to understand the songs in their own way and project them onto their own lives.

5. Flatshop is built on collaboration. When did working together stop feeling like an experiment and start feeling like the right way for you to make music?

Noogi I really enjoy the sounds everyone brings and I’m always looking forward to them. Of course, there are always unexpected elements that come in. Because of that, I kinda feel like I’m constantly experimenting while we work. I keep asking myself questions like, “If they’re making these sounds, what kind of sound should I answer with?” We talk through these ideas and each of us adds our own sound, and in the end, it always becomes something that sounds like Flatshop. I enjoy looking forward to the sounds each of us brings and blending them together, and it feels like the right way for us to make music.

Khundi Panda As you mentioned, when it feels like an “experiment,” there’s actually a bit of fear involved. That’s especially true when it might end as just an interesting process, but without a good result. But once the basic sketches started to come together, and I found myself looking forward to who would play what and where—and when that expectation wasn’t disappointed—I realized that this was already our right way of making music.

DAMYE For me, working together always felt like right way for us from the beginning. But I think things became easier and I felt more confident when Flatshop shifted in my mind from being “a project team of four people” to simply “independent artist (a team).” I can’t pinpoint exactly when that happened, but it was probably after we performed together a lot and went through many processes where we had to boldly reveal our raw sides. As our understanding of each other—and of Flatshop as a whole—deepened, our creative process started to generate even more synergy.

Viann It started to feel like a right way, once I understood what “Flatshop”’s originality is, beyond just Noogi x DAMYE x Viann x Khundi Panda.

6. You all have different roles – producer, rapper, bassist, vocalist-guitarist. When a song starts from nothing, who usually sets the first idea, and who is most likely to say, “this isn’t working”?

Flatshop Most of the time, the music started with Viann’s beat sketches, followed by instrumental arrangements with Noogi, and then the vocalists would step in. Lyrical themes usually began with ideas from Khundi Panda, with DAMYE’s wit adding a playful touch to complete the stories.

However, that isn’t a fixed formula. Some songs started from beat sketches by Noogi or DAMYE, while others began with lyric ideas from DAMYE or Viann. We rarely rejected ideas, but when someone had a stronger idea, all four of us would share our perspectives and work things out together.

7. Since all of you work in solo projects and other collaborations, has being in Flatshop changed how you make music outside the band?

Flatshop We all learned a lot from watching each other work flexibly and break away from fixed structures while making music. By dividing the process and focusing on what each of us does best during this album, we discovered that songs could be built in a more deconstructed way. That realization gave us a stronger sense of confidence in our process.

8. Khundi Panda – as Flatshop’s main rapper, you’ve worked both in solo settings and high-pressure environments like Show Me The Money 9. How did those experiences shape the way you approached fronting a band, rather than standing alone?

Khundi Panda Personally, I enjoy the sense of reassurance that comes from being on stage with a team rather than standing there alone. A stage like <Show Me The Money> is about proving yourself purely as an individual, but when it comes to performing as a team and simply enjoying the moment together, the pressure of being a frontman feels much lighter. Also, as DAMYE’s stage presence keeps getting better, I feel like there’s much less for me to worry about.

9. Viann – you’ve moved between producer-led projects and award-winning collaborations with Khundi Panda. When working within Flatshop, what changes for you creatively when the music has to serve a band identity, not just a track?

Viann I tried to make the music by imagining ‘what producer Viann would propose to Flatshop as a musician’. While the tracks do reflect a lot of my own style, I always think about how they could become better once Flatshop members work on them. Because I understand each member’s strengths well, I trusted them and felt comfortable being bolder with my initial sketches.

10. Noogi – you’ve played as a session musician for major artists across very different styles, while also being part of another band. What still feels different or unfamiliar about building music from the ground up with Flatshop?

Noogi In Flatshop, I don’t limit my role to just playing bass. I play chords or solos, create synth-like sounds, or take on any form within the sound itself. Flatshop members really understand and respect the experimental side of my work and my open approach. From the very beginning, I wanted to create something that wasn’t ordinary, and being able to think that way still feels new and unfamiliar to me. That feeling keeps my desire to experiment many things, and I’m grateful for it.

11. DAMYE – within Flatshop, how do you decide when to let your individuality lead, and when to blend into the group sound?

DAMYE I make decisions based on my trust in the other Flatshop members. When working on Flatshop’s music, I approach it with a slightly different tension than my solo work, leaning more toward what’s best for the team. However, like anyone else, I can only see the world from my own perspective, so there are times when our opinions don’t fully align.

In those moments, we talk things through and adjust, and if something feels like the better choice for Flatshop’s direction, I trust the members and follow that. Not everything can—or should—be done in my lead. Even if it could, it wouldn’t be a good thing, because that would be DAMYE’s music, not Flatshop’s.

12. Korean music and entertainment has gained much more global attention in recent years. In your experience, do you feel that international interest has changed how Korean artists think about making music, or does your creative process stay the same?

Khundi Panda In Korean hip-hop, it has always been more about importing music than exporting, but these days there seem to be more cases where Korean hip hop music is made to be spread worldwide purposely. In that sense, you could say that Korean artists’ creative processes and intentions have been influenced more by the global scene. As for me personally, my process hasn’t changed.

Noogi It’s always the same for me. I keep studying, practicing, and focusing on my inner world.

Viann Overall, I do feel that things have changed. The target audience has grown wider, and with that, supply naturally starts to adjust to meet the demand. Personally, I can’t pinpoint exactly what has changed for me, but it definitely feels different from before.

DAMYE I feel the same, honestly. If I had to point out one thing, maybe it’s that I feel more open to using English in the lyrics.

13. As Korean artists working during a time of global attention on Korean culture, how do you want Flatshop to be understood by listeners who may be discovering you for the first time?

Flatshop We want it to spark the reaction, “What kind of music is this?”

14. Many global fans discover Korean music through K-pop first. What kind of listening mindset would you encourage to new listeners when they are exploring artists like Flatshop?

Flatshop We’ve been calling the album [toast recipe] as “underground K-pop” among ourselves. Listening to it through that perspective might be fun. If you’re into K-pop, we’re confident our music will resonate with you too!