Former TimeZ members Aaron Young and HWAN reunite for first duo EP ‘Ma Jia Xian’

After debuting in 2012 in the Chinese-Korean group TimeZ, Aaron Young and HWAN have come together again to release their first EP, “Ma Jia Xian.”

While TimeZ was only together for roughly 5 years, Aaron and HWAN remained close friends even while they lived in different countries, HWAN in China, and Aaron in Korea.

Aaron pursued his solo career with songs like “California Drive,” which is also included on this album, while HWAN decided to teach dance in China.

Earlier in the year, Aaron released a solo song called “Ma Jia Xian,” and with that song he reached out to HWAN to see what they could do with it together.

“During Lunar New Year, Aaron contacted me and said, ‘Should we just put out a simple song together?’ and I thought, ’That sounds fun, it’ll be nice to work on music with Aaron again,’” says HWAN.

After they released their “Oppa” version of the song, it took off online with their fans and beyond.

“At first it was just talk, but then the reactions on TikTok and other social media platforms were so good that we met great people through it, and it turned into a great opportunity for us to release this EP,” HWAN adds.

With a small team of five including guitarist/singer-songwriter, Ding Shao Hua, producer Mello K, and the CEO of N7 Entertainment, Tazmeena Haque, they got to work to produce two new original tracks and music videos for the EP appropriately titled, “Ma Jia Xian.”

“I was actually thinking of using an English name, so I was thinking about either V-line or taper line, because that’s literally what it means, but at the same time, I wanted to appeal to my Chinese fans, and also create a curiosity for the international audience,” explains Aaron.

For the EP, which includes both versions of “Ma Jia Xian” and Aaron’s solo song, “California Drive,” two new songs were produced, “Starlit Confession” and “No More,” both in the easy-listening R&B style both HWAN and Aaron enjoy.

“I think our musical styles were similar from the very beginning, even before the group started, from the first time we met. Even within the group, there were six of us, but it was really just the two of us who listened to R&B and hip hop. Our musical preferences were the same back then, and they’ve stayed that way until now,” HWAN says.

Through this album, the two are hoping to attract even more fans who may not have known them from their time with TimeZ, and say they plan to release more music together in the future as well.

As for any goals they’ve set for this album, Aaron says, “We really do want to meet our fans in person to personally thank them because of all the support and love we got from social media. It really keeps us going. So for me, I really want to have the opportunity to actually connect with them face to face.”

While HWAN adds, “At first, we really only thought about releasing a simple song, but since so many fans on social media have been supporting and cheering for us. I think the best way to repay them is to meet them as soon as possible and show them our performance. That feels like our biggest next goal.”

The two say they plan to make more music together in the future, and because they wanted to build upon the success “Ma Jia Xian” had, they were not able to include as much in this EP as they would want, but they hope to bring fans even more in future releases.

With their first EP’s release on September 5, they now hope more ears internationally will tune into their music, and to do that, HWAN has his own pitch to fans, saying, “From my perspective, compared to others, we might actually be freer. I think that sense of freedom can be a new experience for people who haven’t seen us before. So if many people listen to our music, we’ll be really grateful.”

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