[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop duo LeeSSang

On the cover of LeeSSang's seventh album "AsuRa BalBalTa," Gil and Gary stand on a sea of sand. It may be flat and firm land but this photograph, which shows all traces of their footsteps and the wind, reveals the character of the album and the changes their lives have undergone since their sixth album "HEXAGONAL" released in 2009. And most of the songs to the new release, which thoroughly unraveled on the complex experiences from their lives, brought about the strange phenomenon of taking to the top slots of most music charts. They may be regulars on entertainment shows -- Gil on MBC's "Infinite Challenge" and Gary on SBS" "Running Man," but such heated response to their music cannot be seen as being the result of their increased popularity from those shows. Below are excerpts from 10Asia's interview with LeeSSang who began with music and still competes with just their music.

<#10LOGO#>You were going to release an album last October but called it off and released an entirely new album. You must've had a hard time making it since your last album was so well received. How did it come about in the beginning?
Gil: I had been on a break after getting surgery on my vocal cords when I suddenly thought that maybe we're having a hard time making music because we live in quite nice houses after having lived in basements in my case and the uppermost loft in Gary's case. That's why he went back to looking for somewhere like that and I too decided to live in our recording studio until I find a room in a basement which is stifling, has no ventilation and is bad for your health. But it was the day that I went to the studio with my blanket and I was drinking at four a.m. in the morning from the feeling of despair that came over me when I realized nothing is happening even when I'm in the studio, that like a miracle, I came up with "The Answer to you is Me." And while talking about the topic to that song, we were thinking of making a sad song when we changed the direction for it and came up with "I Turned Off the TV..."

<#10LOGO#>It seems that you must've had a lot of fun writing the lyrics to "I Turned Off the TV..." which is particularly popular these days. Sex between lovers is a topic that people can relate to yet has not been handled much in the Korean music scene.
Gary: When it comes to lovers, if you're not talking about love, there's not just the breakup but also these sort of things which happen more ordinarily. We had originally planned to write about lovers parting but we decided that it would be fun to write it in the way we did because men and women think differently in such situations. And that's why when we were drinking with Tasha (Yoon Mirae) and Tiger JK that we asked her to write something along those lines to which Tiger JK said, "Wouldn't that make me look weird?" (laugh) But we convinced him that it wasn't supposed to be vulgar or racy but funny and cute and when he saw the lyrics later on, he said, "Oh, it's not vulgar at all."

<#10LOGO#>It's also interesting that you decided to go with this sort of song as the title track.
Gary: A lot of musicians who do hip-hop write about these things in their music but it's difficult to go with such songs as the title track so I'm a bit happy that we succeeded. It's actually something I had really wanted to talk about. We can't just talk about the pretty and beautiful things all the time and I think I'm becoming more honest with age. I may have the image of being a guy that treats women extremely well and is very naive but honestly, the things that guys talk about when they get together is obvious. Like I wrote in "Serenade," it goes something like, "Man, I'm dying of loneliness. Call someone out or something." (laugh) But to that, women say, "I guess you weren't the person I thought you were" and leave. We may get paid less for the copyright but I think it's time we did something like this. And interestingly enough, women actually like "I Turned Off the TV..." more. (laugh)

<#10LOGO#>What principles did you establish for working on this album? A lot of people participated in this album, just like your sixth album, and they showed styles to them we hadn't seen of them before.
Gil: We used to do collaborations that are a bit forced. But that only messes up the song. And by messing up, it means that regardless of whether it's popular or not, it's just annoying, even for us, to sing and listen to. That's why when we're working on an album, we share a lot of thoughts and ideas on each song and listen to every song of the musician that we want to work with. And if there's a style that artist had been showing till now, for example, if the color of his music had been black, we'd try to pull out a bit of grey or green that's hidden behind that.

<#10LOGO#>The dry vibe that Hareem gives off in "The Answer to you is Me" and the clear and sad vocals of Baek Ji-young in "Reminiscence" were refreshing in the sense that they sounded quite different from how they'd presented their voices to the public up till now. How did you direct their vocals?
Gil: When we first told Hareem about the song, he didn't even listen to the song and said, "It's fine, you guys are good. When should I go?" and he came but he'd had a few drinks so we re-recorded the song a few days later. However, the version that made it into the album was the first version. (laugh) I think that Hareem's understanding of music is really as at the status of a genius or god. When he comes across a song, he shows what's best and that's it. Baek Ji-young worried over whether she'd be able to pull off her part at first but once she got to the recording studio, she got done in 20 minutes and chatted with us for an hour before she left. (laugh)
Gary: We said things like "Please make your tone thicker" but not explain the exact vibe we want from them yet Baek Ji-young's strongest point which is expressing emotions, was truly at its best.

<#10LOGO#>It seems that throughout the album, you two try to stay faithful to your roles as producer rather than stand out. Gil, you have to decide on your reach in the songs not only as composer and producer but also vocalist to the group so what role do you think your voice plays in LeeSSang's songs?
Gil: We think of ourselves as making a movie rather than music. But it wouldn't make sense for me to go nude in the movie with this body of mine. (laugh) Yet like it would make sense if someone like Brad Pitt was in it, I think finding someone that'll really bring out the project is the best way to go about it. There's a slight sadness in my voice. But you need a sweet and soft male's voice for a song like "I Turned Off the TV..." so 10cm's Kwon Jung-yeol was a sweet sauce that got added. Gary made the plate that'll make the song look good, Tasha added pretty fruits like cherry to it and I in the background, balanced the song with my unrevealing voice.

<#10LOGO#>But no matter how much you work with a variety of musicians, this is your album so I don't think it must be easy to bring everything together to create the vibe that's unique of you guys.
Gary: I think you need to work on music with as much freedom as you can these days. Just like a single person doesn't build an entire building alone, people with expertise in certain fields come together to make music as well. We may come up with the overall picture for a song but with songs like "Let's Meet Right Now" in our last album that we did with Jang Kiha, we rid ourselves of all greed to maintain our style when the musician we're working with has a very strong style of his own. All we really need to do is say let's have fun with it. And even if someone may say, "Isn't this too much of their style?" all we can say is "We needed someone to place their style on top of ours."

<#10LOGO#>I think you guys've become people who give hope to ordinary people.
Gil: Yoo Hee-yeol said, "Their faces don't interrupt me even when I watch them while doing music." (laugh) And it means that we have very ordinary looks, that we look like anyone you'd meet on the street but we actually looked scary before we went on variety shows. It was by going on those shows that we became approachable and was able to be loved more by doing music that tells of the stories that people were craving for.
Gary: I actually worked even harder on our music because I didn't want people to say, "They were going to end up appearing in variety shows?" I'd become lethargic musically but I gained energy through variety shows and because of those shows, I focused on my music not to be told that we'd become bad so I have a new-found joy for music now.

<#10LOGO#>You haven't give up on your identity yet have become successful commercially as well. What is it that you want to do now that you've achieved so much?
Gil: I talked about this briefly with Gary but we want to do some ridiculous things. There's a part of me that is dying to release another album in November. And something that is completely different, enough for people to say, "Do they want to mess up?" Another thing is to open a bar where you can drink while having fun listening to music. In the daytime I'd lend it to my musician friends for free for concerts or showcases and at night, turn it into a place where people can have fun. That's how I gradually want to expand on what I do.
Gary: After releasing this album, I want to show people, who've come to know us through variety shows, another side to us. It's a bit different from what we've done up till now but I want to do some cultural activities such as rent a small club to host a party or hold events that will inform people of musicians that are not well known to the public yet. We'll make money with food and music and next year, I'd like to do a variety of things with my friends from when I was young, whether it be deejaying or dancing. I had danced in the past although I'm not good. (laugh) But to start with, I'd like to work hard for our concert in November.

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10 아시아 Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@
10 아시아 Reporter : Lee Ga-on
10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
10 아시아 Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@