Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 147



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Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter Episode 147

147. Featuring Avengers

One of the veteran singers in the music industry said this.

Featuring is like a poisoned chalice.

There are two main reasons why many singers include features in their songs.

The first is to ensure the completeness of the sound source or album.

Collaborating with other singers can help expand your musical spectrum and improve the quality of your album.

Even if they sing the same melody and lyrics, the vocal tone, vocal style, and emotion are all different depending on who the singer is, which can provide listeners with fun listening.

The second reason is, of course, because it is ‘topic-oriented.’

In particular, if you are featured by a famous singer, there is a promotional marketing advantage in that you can more easily appeal to their fandom as well as the general public.

Thanks to this, the featuring of main vocalists of idol groups with solid and wide fandoms once created a craze in the music industry.

In this way, if featured is used well, it can multiply the appeal of the song through synergy and create a big buzz, but on the other hand, there are many cases where it works as a demerit.

If the featured artist is too famous or talented,

The song may gain recognition, but the song’s owner may change in the public’s perception, which is an unfortunate event called ‘getting eaten’ in the industry.

The expression ‘poisoned chalice’ is truly accurate.

First, there were a very small number of exceptional singers who could only enjoy the sweetness of featuring.

Singers with the best name recognition, the best skills, and the best connections were among those outliers.

This is Seongjun’s story.

For that reason, MXM Entertainment was able to agree to Sungjun’s groundbreaking idea of ​​featuring in half of the songs included in the regular album.

one side,

In industry practice, featuring is often determined by personal connections.

Since the artist himself/herself makes the casting decision or the featuring is decided through consultation between agencies with which he/she is on good terms, there are frequent cases where no separate payment is made.

Instead, when the other party makes a similar request, they comply without any compensation.

It is similar to the concept of bartering.

Accordingly, MXM Entertainment also suggested to Sungjun to minimize the cost of producing the album through an unpaid and later exchange offer, as he invited five featuring artists.

However, Cha Seong-jun has 5 years of experience as a salaried worker.

Knowing the pain of unpaid labor, he resolutely refused it.

“No matter how much the production cost increases, we will pay the featuring fee fairly.”

Since they were close acquaintances, I wanted to take better care of them.

Anyway, the five featured singers who were picked by Sungjun were as follows.

First of all, Yuna, the top singer with the most modifiers among Korean female singers, such as the nation’s goddess, celebrity’s celebrity, K-pop trendsetter, national hip-hop’s top, and the humanization of loveliness.

The mysterious composer of Muldurahantuguilche, ‘SHYine’, who debuted as a cover song artist on YouTube and swept the top of the music charts with a spring song also known as ‘Cherry Blossom Dongil’.

The current #1 popular actress in viewer ratings, former main vocalist of ‘Pink Rose’ and a senior who has been building her universe by appearing consistently since Sung Jun’s debut album music video, ‘Ye Seon-ha’.

Ain, the main vocalist of ‘Mimi So Nyeo’, who was the leader of a girl group on the verge of disbandment just a few months ago, has recently made a comeback and risen to the top tier with ‘Salgeum’.

The revolutionary and unique singer-songwriter, ‘Oh Jin-woo’, who formed the team ‘I Want to Live (49+18)’ as Sung-jun’s partner in the ‘Who’s the King’ 2:2 battle mission.

Except for Jinwoo Oh, who is still a college student and has no official works, they were a veritable Avengers group of featuring artists, each boasting impressive personal histories.

Originally, Sisters’ Hyoryeon and Twilight Yoru were also candidates for featuring, but Hyoryeon has been busy with recent comeback activities, and Yoru is also in the middle of a world tour, so they were excluded.

There was a reason why 80% of the featured artists were female vocalists.

It’s not like it’s full of the man’s selfishness…

Because of Sungjun’s voice.

Because her voice is so strong, if she were to do a duet with another male singer, the song would become too overpowering.

A female vocal was needed to achieve a harmonious balance.

Ah, Jinwoo Oh and I were an exception because we had a chance to work together on ‘Who’s the King’.

anyway.

Debut album and first EP ‘LOVE CYCLE’.

Following the second EP ‘Music Everywhere’, the title of the current full-length album in production is ‘I’.

The English word ‘I’ meaning ‘me’, ‘ai’ meaning ‘boy’, and ‘愛’ meaning ‘love’ in Japanese.

As this album contains the life of a person named Sungjun and the emotions he has felt over the years, a concise title with many implicit meanings was chosen for the album.

And the track list that makes up this regular album consists of a total of 10 songs.

‘Dream’, the dream of becoming a singer that I vaguely admired as a child.

In the past, I felt inferiority complex while watching singers on TV who achieved dreams that I could not, ‘Darkened’.

My first challenge as a singer-songwriter, ‘First Step’.

The debut has finally come true, ‘Become I’.

A life that changed completely in an instant after debut, ‘Reversed’

A little cocky confidence that I am the best, ‘King of Stars’.

‘Galaxy’, a fan song dedicated to the fans who support and believe in them.

‘Home’, a place of love and warmth for family members.

Still, a beginner’s mind despite growing popularity, ‘Still’.

‘Worldwide’, the ambition to continue to advance towards a wider world.

The fact that 90% of the songs on this album, including the title song ‘Become I’, have English titles is because they are aiming for Billboard with this album.

Among them, the only Korean title song, ‘Milky Way’, which was prepared as a surprise for ‘My Star’ during a previous fan meeting, was officially released by including it in this regular album.

The genre that covers the entire album is Sungjun’s signature pop rock.

At first, I thought about making an album with various genres, but I soon gave up on it.

This is the first full-length album.

I thought it was right to do what I wanted to do the most and what I was best at.

In that case, I concluded that band music, especially pop rock, is my identity.

After that, the recording was conducted according to the featuring artists’ schedules.

The first to participate in the project was Jinwoo Oh, a college student with a relatively free schedule compared to the other four, and the only male member of the Featuring Avengers.

“Brother! How long has it been! I missed you!”

“Yeah. How have you been? What have you been up to these days?”

“Me? Just the same. Going to school, writing songs. What’s the news about my brother being busy? The whole country knows that.”

First reunion since the last live broadcast of ‘Who’s the King’.

The friendly Jinwoo Oh was still the same as before.

The reason Sungjun chose Oh Jinwoo, who had not yet officially debuted, over other more famous singers with excellent vocal skills was because the song he was going to sing was ‘First Step’, which was about his first challenge as a singer-songwriter.

This is because both of them took on the challenge of becoming singer-songwriters in earnest through ‘Who’s the King’.

“The song was so good. It reminded me of ‘Who’s the King’.”

“Anyway, thank you for accepting my request to feature.”

“I’m more grateful. Because you let me ride Sungjun’s coin. Hehehe. And you even gave me a lot of pay.”

Oh Jin-woo burst into laughter.

“Oh right, and hyung, I signed a contract with an agency this time.”

“Oh, finally. So where did you do it?”

“Hehehe. Don’t be surprised. It’s CEO Ryu Young-seok’s company.”

“What? Really?!”

Seongjun’s eyes widen.

It was well known that Jinwoo Oh, who placed third in ‘Who’s the King’, had received numerous love calls.

However, the latest news I heard from Jinwoo Oh was that he was holding off on making a decision because he was still a college student and had many musical immature aspects.

‘I never thought I’d get into Senior Ryu Young-seok’s company.’

Indeed, under Ryu Young-seok, who has a wide musical spectrum, Oh Jin-woo, who has experimental musicality, will shine even brighter.

Oh Jin-woo’s choice was a good one.

We should all meet up for a meal sometime later.

“Then shall we start recording right away? I’ve already recorded my part, but let’s work on matching tones together.”

Usually, when featuring, the original singer records his/her part in advance to reduce recording time, and only the parts where the harmony is built or the ad-lib lines are matched.

First, Sungjun planned to replace all of the existing recordings and re-record them on the day of the recording, taking into account things like the chemistry with his featuring partner and the synergy of their vocals.

The goal was to create a more perfect result, even if it took time.

“Doing a duet like this again reminds me of the 2:2 battle, hyung.”

Seongjun also has a flashback to what Jinwoo Oh said while wearing a headset.

‘Who’s the King’ 2:2 battle mission.

They won the match against the Zikne team, which was considered a candidate for the championship.

Also, the song ‘Walk’ that he sang at that time was actually the first song that Sungjun had ever made it onto the music charts.

Even in ‘Who’s the King’, Oh Jin-woo’s vocals were attractive.

It seems like he didn’t slack off on practicing while living his college life, and his vocals sound more solid and stable than before.

Jinwoo Oh and I had a great time recording while sharing our interpretations of the song and occasionally sharing stories from the survival program.

After finishing the recording, while having a cup of coffee with Jinwoo Oh, Jinwoo Oh asked.

“Bro, how did you end up forming such a brutal featuring member?”

“What does that mean, gruesome?”

“No, I just thought that the competition among the other four people would be fierce, excluding me. I wondered if that was your intention.”

“What was your intention? I just asked people who I thought would fit the song well.”

“You really don’t know… Well, what is it? Since it’s the path you chose, you have to experience it yourself and realize it.”

When Seongjun tilted his head and asked about Oh Jinwoo’s incomprehensible muttering, Oh Jinwoo let out a sigh upon seeing him.

And the next day.

The second member of the Featuring Avengers to visit Sungjun’s studio was Ain, the leader of the girl group ‘Mimyosonyeo’.

“This is Producer Sungjun’s workroom…”

Ain looks around the studio with moved eyes, as if she had visited a holy place.

Along with her, BC Entertainment CEO Yonggo also visited Sungjun’s recording studio, and the three of them had a short talk about their recent activities, just like they did with Oh Jinwoo.

“···Anyway, thanks to Seongjun, life feels more enjoyable these days! When was the last time I was this busy?”

“Everyone is busy with their schedules and can’t even sleep two or three hours a day, but they are happy and smile every day.”

“So, Sungjun, our next comeback song too-”

After hitting it big with ‘Salgeum’, Mimyoso’s life took a 180-degree turn.

Appearing in a variety of entertainment and TV and YouTube programs.

Recently, I also filmed a chicken CF.

So the song that Ain will be participating in is ‘Reversed’.

“Then shall we go?”

“yes!”

After some light preparations, such as warming up the neck, the recording began.

Originally, the role of shouting ‘again’ was that of Sungjun, the original singer and producer.

But,

“Excuse me. Can I go over the part you just sang one more time?”

Ain made a request inside the recording booth.

Even though it was the OK version that I thought turned out pretty well, Seongjun said.

“Yes, that’s right.”

At first, I thought lightly that I was just a little short of my desires.

However, this situation continued throughout the recording.

Ain, who repeats the same part over and over again, endlessly.

Her eyes, visible through the glass window, contained an inexplicable mixture of venom and madness.

As a result, the recording took more than twice as long as expected.

Of course, the quality of the result was more than twice as high as expected.

“Who’s recording next?”

“This is senior Ye-seon-ha.”

“Producer? You must have been working too hard because of me today, so how about taking it easy during the preliminary round?”

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t get sore throats easily.”

“No! But you still need to take care of your condition while preparing for the album!”

“Oh, yes, yes. Thank you.”

Ain left, worrying about Sungjun(?) over and over again.

But then something strange happened.

The same things that happened during the recording with Ain today also happened during the recording with Yeseon Ha, who participated in ‘Still’.

“Senior? You said you were filming tomorrow? If you push yourself too hard, it’ll affect your schedule-”

“No. Even if it means staying up all night, I’ll finish recording properly and go!”

Yesterday’s Pink Rose main vocalist, Ye-seon-ha.

She filled the recording booth with more powerful and passionate vocals than when she was active.

I guess she expressed it so strongly that although she became successful as an actress, she did not lose her original intention as a singer, which was the starting point.

After all, a veteran is a veteran.

In the meantime, it was possible to find a glimpse of the poison and madness that I had glimpsed from Ain in her eyes, but it remained a question mark.

“Mr. Sungjun. So who’s recording next?”

“Oh, that’s-”

“Seongjun? You pushed yourself too hard today. Next time, sing a little lighter. Yeah, that would be good.”

Ye-seon Ha also left the studio, leaving behind some kind and considerate(?) words.

And now, the fourth featuring order.

The incident happened on this day.

‘What is going on here?’

In a recording studio where there should clearly be only one person, two featuring members were sitting side by side.