Rockstar Again - Chapter 78



Only Noblemtl

Episode 78. Two Men’s Secret Hobbies (1)

Yoon Tae-joo was a man who was so dedicated to music that he even ran away from home, throwing away everything he had for music.

Of course, even if I had thrown everything away, I still had much more than others.

Now, he rents a practice room with money secretly given to him by his late mother, Tae-joo Yoon.

Buying expensive instruments one after another.

Even though I was driving a car, my starting point was quite different from that of ordinary people.

Anyway, no matter what he had, Yoon Tae-joo at the time did not think of his running away from home as a reckless act.

He came out into the world and played the guitar for over two years, and before he knew it, the indie scene was praising him as one of the top three guitarists in Korea.

Professionals and producers who had their eyes on him came to him and asked him to do sessions and even asked him to join their team, but he firmly refused.

Not only was I not the type of person who needed money so badly that I had to do a session, but I also had no intention of putting my spoon on a table that someone else had prepared for me.

He was born strong and had the temperament of a leader.

Yoon Tae-joo wanted to make Yoon Tae-joo’s music centered around himself.

That’s how the team was formed.

But then one day, that guy showed up.

I knew it at a glance.

If Yoon Tae-joo himself were a ten-thousand won note, this guy with a boyish look on his face would be a blank check.

Have to catch it.

however.

If you want to catch this guy, you have to give up everything you have.

The guitar.

The decision was quick because there was an alternative.

A band doesn’t necessarily have to have just one guitar.

But that doesn’t mean I want to be pushed out to play rhythm guitar and hand over the main guitar. That’s a matter of pride.

So I picked up the bass guitar.

That’s because it wasn’t pushed out, it was changed.

It was bitter to give away the guitar, but I gained more in return.

The world as a big stage really began to come into view.

but.

-Hyung. What do you think? It’s a song I wrote myself. Want to listen?

I was listening to the song he said he composed without thinking much about it… … I really thought my world was falling apart.

Because I intuitively felt that I had to give in not only to the guitar, but also to the creative realm, which is the soul of the band.

With strides.

He took away the mobile guitar that entered the castle he created, changed the name of the team, and eventually tried to take away his creation.

If things continue like this, the band that Yoon Tae-joo created will change into Lee Dong-ha’s band.

… … but I couldn’t let him go.

Because after listening to his self-composed songs, I felt like the world was a much closer stage.

For the first time in his life, Yoon Tae-joo gave up the initiative.

Were you sick?

I was happy.

Because I was that serious about music.

So were you really happy?

… … Honestly, I was sad.

Others are a bit different.

It gave me a lot of creative energy.

Because I was that serious about music.

What was fortunate, though, was that the guy’s songwriting skills were objectively subpar.

I taught him diligently because I wanted to give him everything since I didn’t give him his full name, but his songwriting skills were just up to that point.

Perhaps it’s because the guy’s emotions are not mature.

Lyrics are purely a realm of sensibility.

A nineteen-year-old man who is proud of what he has and is not swayed by poverty cannot touch other people’s feelings with his words.

Yoon Tae-joo, who has everything but takes on the challenge himself, has the sensibility to touch others. He also has the lyric writing skills to express it in words.

The lyrics written by Yoon Tae-joo dance to the melody he created.

When he was full of confidence that he could go to Woodstock or England, he left.

The guy who returned after a long voyage of 30 years…

Finally, he was fully prepared to take everything from Yoon Tae-joo.

I’ve already taught you the art of songwriting.

Even sensitivity.

He gives both the lyrics and the leadership.

But I wasn’t sad.

Just being able to make music with him again made me so happy.

But Kim Dong-sik begins to rebel.

He struggles, his whole body emitting signs that he will not simply go along with it.

Finally, Yoon Tae-joo thought.

For you too.

For my sake, too.

Even for the team that gave everything and held onto one base.

I shouldn’t give it up easily.

“What are you doing?”

It’s that guy.

Lee Dong-ha’s natural, graceful voice woke Yoon Tae-joo up from his thoughts.

“I think you’ll win.”

“Huh? Damn it. When the witch hag snapped my hand like this, huh? Huh? Aaaah! Huh? You saw that screaming like that, hyung? Am I not easy? Don’t let me off easy just because I’m old.”

He is a guy you can never hate even though he took everything away from you.

Yoon Tae-joo smiled while looking at Lee Dong-ha.

“It won’t be fun if you just watch.”

* * *

“It feels a bit strange when you change it to English, right?”

I held in my hand the sheet music with the lyrics translated into English along with Taeju hyung.

Write with a pencil and erase.

Decide on the words without damaging the meaning of the original lyrics. Arrange them while considering pronunciation, rhythm, and even rhyme.

If I had simply planned to end it at the translation level, I wouldn’t have even started with Tae-ju hyung.

Actually, Taeju hyung did most of the English translation. Taeju hyung and I can speak English, but creating is different from simple translation.

There are dozens, if not tens of thousands, of ways to interpret a creative work, but ultimately, only the creator can embrace the creative work itself.

At that time, all of our song lyrics were written by Taeju hyung, so when they changed, only Taeju hyung knew what points should not be changed.

Even though the two of us have been holding our heads for nearly ten days, that doesn’t mean that our work has any great significance.

I don’t think it can be seen as having no great significance.

It’s not very appropriate as a new song for 2026, but it’s great as hard rock from that era, resisting the invasion of Nirvana’s “Nevermind.”

So our work this time was literally a restoration.

Without reinterpreting or changing any part of the original song, we just change the lyrics to English to fit the stage on which we will present these songs.

“It’s okay.”

Taeju smiled faintly at his words.

Good.

I see my brothers not hiding their greed.

I would still be in a band with my brothers even though they were limping and had no hands, but I can’t be with musicians whose souls are dead.

I can feel the desire to become a musician welling up in my brothers’ eyes.

That’s why I wanted to take my stagnant brothers up to a stage with a large audience, a competition stage.

Because a hot scene makes a musician’s blood boil.

“So… … Then… … Should we just continue like this without any more revisions?”

“Phew… … .”

“Why are you so nervous? Just like you said, I was frustrated, so I was just doing something to pass the time.”

“What about tension.”

“Hey… … I said, what?”

Tae-ju laughed like a child at my words.

Except for Yoon Tae-joo, a 50-year-old who knows everything and is confident that he can deal with it appropriately.

The smile Taeju hyung used to show when we were discussing what music was.

“Stop teasing and upload it quickly. I’m curious. Of course… … I don’t think there’ll be an immediate reaction… … .”

“Kukuk. Okay. Then… … Let’s see the recorded song… … .”

I moved the mouse and opened the file of the piece played by Tae-ju and the guitar.

Nine songs are visible.

I did write lyrics that were translated into English, but I didn’t record any vocals because it wasn’t a song I made to be sung.

I agree with Taejoo hyung’s words that he wants to be evaluated on the song itself rather than just the vocals, although he is not going to never sing it again.

Then why did you write the lyrics?

Because it wasn’t made simply for instrumental use.

I didn’t record the vocals to get the song evaluated, but if someone wanted to play and sing this song. There should be lyrics.

So I’m just going to upload the song and add the lyrics.

I moved the mouse and opened an Internet window.

Then click on the site you have already added to your favorites.

Bandcamp, you know.

My brother Taejoo came to see me in the US.

I heard it’s not that famous in Korea, but it’s quite famous overseas.

It’s quite well known, and it’s functionally similar to SoundCloud, which I also knew.

Creators can upload their own songs.

We chose this because we heard that indie and metal bands use it a lot more than SoundCloud.

Aside from that, there’s another reason I chose Bandcamp over SoundCloud to release my songs.

I also tried SoundCloud, but it was a bit unfriendly. Especially when it came to uploading songs. There was a limited space to upload the lyrics for nine songs separately, so I had to upload them all at once.

It’s okay for the purpose of exploration that we’re so connected here and there that we don’t even know where we’re looking, but for computer illiterate people like me and Taeju, it’s definitely not very user-friendly.

Crucially, when considering the listeners, the sound quality was poor.

What era is this, 128kbps… … .

Even I, who came from the past, can fly like a crane.

As I was shaking my hands and looking at the monitor and keyboard alternately, I heard Tae-joo hyung’s low voice from behind me.

“……What are you doing?”

“Just stay still… … .”

“… … .”

“Hey… Where is this… This… I just memorized the Korean keyboard. Ah… .”

“… … .”

“Oh my… … This is so frustrating. Technology has improved, but isn’t there a device that allows you to input data by simply speaking? Why doesn’t Jaemin Group make something like that? What on earth are they doing?”

“… … .”

I ignored Taeju hyung’s sigh and pressed the English keys one by one.

I managed to sign up successfully a few days ago, but when I try to log in, it’s more annoying than usual.

“Okay… … !”

I hit enter hard and looked at the monitor, and it was pleading, saying please or something. It was just a computer. Well, if it was a computer saying please, it seemed pretty polite. But it was telling me to type it in again… … !

As I flap my body, Tae-joo hyung steps forward and snatches the mouse away from me.

“… … Come out. I’ll do it.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

“Phew. The chairman of a conglomerate is nothing special, huh?”

My mood, which had been gloomy, suddenly improved.

Tae-joo hyung, who stepped forward confidently, was no different from me.

No… … Honestly. Just a little bit? It was better than me, but it was the same old thing.

I managed to log in, but I have to type out the lyrics one by one. Unlike the songs that I’ve already finished, the lyrics are on paper.

I felt better knowing that I hadn’t been swayed by my old mother, but I was still frustrated.

The two of us are fidgeting while looking at the monitor.

Suddenly, like a hero on the battlefield, Brother Schan appeared.

“Can I try it?”

“This is a joke. Are you okay, hyung?”

“of course.”

“What, it’s obvious, you monster? What do you mean, if you just ask, it’s obvious?”

“It’s really okay. I like games, and I’ve developed my skills by competing with foreigners. At least… … out of the three, I’m probably the fastest.”

“Oh… …Stance. Permission to deploy.”

When Tae-ju hyung couldn’t let go of his foolishness and got up from his seat, Suchan hyung, who was sitting in front of the keyboard, started typing lyrics at a fast pace.

“That’s amazing.”

“But this. What are you going to name the worker? You’re not going to write Blue Porcelain, are you?”

“Of course not.”

Who do you think is the fool?

We could have said later that this is ours, but if we were going to openly say it’s ours, we would have just released it.

“then?”

Suchan hyung looks at the two of us alternately.

“A. And B… … No. Let’s do B&A.”

Tae-joo laughs again at my words.

Even though he’s older, this guy is more tolerable than he used to be. Back in the day, when he laughed like this, it was like a skeleton laughing, so it was kind of weird.

He opened his mouth to tell the tycoon leader, who had warmed up with money, that the world is cruel.

“Don’t expect too much. It’s like, huh? Led Zeppelin will hear this and ask for a song. Deep Purple will hear this and come to me and get on their knees and ask for a song. Taylor Swift will be like, “Wow, I love this song!” Don’t think about things like that. It’s not because the song isn’t good. At least a few dozen songs are uploaded every day. Do you think those guys are going to see this? That’s why I’m telling you not to expect too much. Got it?”

“Is this what you were expecting?”

“… … Do you also use poison?”

“It’s easy for you.”

“Me? No way.”