[INTERVIEW] Singer Lucid Fall - Part 1

Lucid Fall [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

Ma Jong-ki, a poet that Lucid Fall likes, once said, "I went looking for poems because I wanted to console myself. That is why from the beginning, they have not had much to do with rhetoric but not once have they not been sincere. Because what is not sincere cannot console me." Hence what poetry is for Ma Jong-ki is what music is for Lucid Fall. Lucid Fall's fifth album "Beautiful Days" is a collection of music showing how he has focused more on himself than being conscious of others. His music has always healed the listener but this album, where he paid closer attention to himself, seems as if he applied an extra coating of ointment on even the smallest wounds to his heart and blew a soothing breath to it. Below is 10Asia's interview with Lucid Fall just days after the calendar flipped to the year 2012.

<#10LOGO#> What did you do on the first day of the new year?
Lucid Fall: I rested because my body had been aching a bit while I was doing my concerts which I held out by taking medicine. I think my body had gotten worn out because after my long series of concerts in the summer, I went into recording, then while recording I rehearsed for another series of concerts and then I did those concerts.

<#10LOGO#> You've always done year-end concerts. How was the last one?
Lucid Fall: It was good. A lot of thoughts crossed my mind. It was probably the first time that I performed my new songs but it felt like I had practiced and played them since a long time ago. So it was a different experience in that I felt very comfortable and at ease performing my new songs because I had kept singing them whether it was when I was recording them or the small concerts I held in the summer. With my third and fourth albums it had felt like I was presenting my audience with cards that I had kept hidden.

<#10LOGO#> I was surprised to see that a lot of the people at your concerts were there to see you for the first time.
Lucid Fall: I was surprised too. I think the number was at over 70 percent on the first day and about 40 percent on the last day. And I was both surprised and happy about it. It also made me think, 'I should work even harder' [laughs] because those who had been to my concerts before knew what to expect but the rest of them may have gone to see Lee Seung-hwan or PSY till the previous year.

<#10LOGO#> Then did you make any efforts in particular at the concerts on impulse?
Lucid Fall: Concerts are funny. I put on a total of 30 shows at a small venue in the summer and while on some days it felt like I communicated well with the audience and we gave each other good feedback, on other days it felt like I didn't. And I'm just the type that feels and does better if I feel like I'm communicating well with the audience. And because I was so happy on the first day of my concerts, I just threw out whatever remark I wanted to. [laughs]

<#10LOGO#> The new songs you had people hear in advance at the small venue sounded different in the album and year-end concert. It seemed that the temperature to "Fire" in particular had risen at the concert.
Lucid Fall: I don't really notice it as much because I'm the one that works on the songs but I'm sure they sounded different to the audience. And songs like "Fisherman's Song," "Snowing" and "Fire" were originally played on just a guitar but were rearranged to be played with a band so of course those would sound different. The album came to sound different while working with Cho Yoon-sung who was in charge of rearranging the sounds of the string instruments. Yet surprisingly, not a lot of my songs are in the minor key. Although a lot of people say they sound sad or depressing. I think there were maybe one each in my third and fourth album. And even in this album, "Fire" is the only song in minor key. I don't know why but I'm not good at writing songs in the minor key. The demo to "Fire" which was originally on just a guitar sounded a lot like folk music but from the very beginning, I wanted the rearranged version to have the strong vibe of being flamenco music. Flamenco but with a whiff of electronica to it so it turned out to be very different. And it sounded even more dynamic at the concert because there were sections where after the singing, the piano and guitar exchanged tunes or stopped and started again.

<#10LOGO#> I think it showed your love for Brazilian music.
Lucid Fall: "Snowing" is actually the only song where I had the Brazilian samba in mind. But a lot of people asked if I had turned over to Brazilian or Latin music with this album. But if I may be a bit cocky, I wanted to do a proper job with "Snowing" and was that much confident to. There's a genre of music called pagode in Brazil and not the traditional pagode but very common form of pagode that is very popular with young people that sounds just like a mix of R&B and traditional pagode which I had been listening to a lot recently. That's the sort of music I'd really like to try making. It's just that when it comes to samba, the two instruments that are a must are the cavaquinho and cuica but I haven't been able to use them yet.

Lucid Fall [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

<#10LOGO#> The title of your album is "Beautiful Days." So I think people can't help but compare it to your forth album "Les Miserables."
Lucid Fall: Everything that the audience felt and thought are probably all correct. I may be yearning for the beautiful days that have gone by or a longing nostalgia. Everybody has a time that they remember for extremely long times, right? Beautiful days that you cannot go back to. Or it may be of the hope for the beautiful days that'll come in the future. When I was working with Cho Yoon-sung, she once sent me a text message saying, 'Life is so beautiful' when we usually say, 'Good hard work' after we do something. But if you think about it, while a lot of work may be tough physically, there's also a lot of work that we do because we like it. It feels weird when someone tells me, 'Good hard work' after I'm done with a concert that I enjoyed. I guess it's because that's just the basic sentiment that Korean people have... that one needs consolation because it's hard to make a living, regardless of whether that experience is good or bad. And I think that's why one could also let the fun and happy moments slip by. Like Cho Yoon-sung said though, each and every day could be a beautiful day. So I myself thought of a lot of things with the title.

<#10LOGO#> You said you came to focus more on yourself because you were working during a rough time. That's why I think I'd say that the album ends as 'beautiful days' than start with it.
Lucid Fall: I don't know why either. Why I was so depressed. I guess having broken up with my girlfriend must've played a big part but I'd also had a hard time before and after that. It may have hit me harder than it does others... After all, it's just something that everyone goes through in life and wasn't all that different but I just had a hard time with it personally. It's not even like I fought a disease or sought exile or was a prisoner of conscience but in a lot of the lyrics, it looked like I had an immensely hard time. It really wasn't to that extent though. [laughs]

<#10LOGO#> Well sadness differs for everyone. For example, you'd feel more pain over a splinter in your hand than someone else's broken arm. And I think your music acknowledges that.
Lucid Fall: Well this is the belief I have regarding religions as well but I think humans are beings that are dragged about. And that's why it's important that we admit that we're sad when sad and lonely when lonely. But I'm also against getting pulled into sadness due to pessimism. Because it only gives you a hard time. It's better to hurt less by exchanging cheerful and positive energy with others.

<#10LOGO#> I wondered whether your popularity increased from appearing on television starting with your fourth album would affect your new album but it doesn't seem to have had any influence.
Lucid Fall: It didn't. It's not like I've become extremely popular. It's only to the extent that a few people at the stores in my neighborhood recognize me or I can exchange a few more words with the owner of restaurants. It had nothing to do with making my album. I rather made it with the hope that those who really want to pay attention to my music would listen to it. And such thinking made it easier for me to make the album. That's why I don't really have anything to say when people ask me what the theme of the album is. I really wish I could make songs in the way I intend to but for me, an album is a collection of songs I made in the way they turn out to be. I put in songs that I wrote and worked on when I was home alone in the summer of 2011. Without having the time to think about how I've changed from when I worked on my fourth album.

<#10LOGO#> Then what principles or concerns did you have?
Lucid Fall: Hmm... That it needs to be new. New but not force it to be new and that it should be the same yet different and different yet the same. Of course, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who thinks of such things. This may sound abstract but thinking of things such as which parts need to change and which parts I need to keep. The second thing is in regards to my handicap and strengths. Because what I regard my handicap could be my strength and how I'm unique. And sometimes, I may hate it but others may like it. I can see this just by how my acquaintances and musicians around me tell me that I look the best when singing while just playing the guitar. And I guess that is more of just who I am because I make my demos with just a guitar or piano but it also makes me worry that I'm settling for the way that things are. Hence I reflected on myself a lot because if I kept doing music that I want and became a singer with 20 albums, the sort of music that I do now would be a very small part of the music that defines me and therefore, that I shouldn't draw the line to how I'm unique and what my strengths are. And I think I'll pay attention to this everytime. I do think I changed a bit this time in the sense that I thought, 'Let's do what I want to do, look at things in the long term, if I keep going forward without being scared I'll be able to expand on the range of music I can do.'

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10 아시아 Reporter: Kim Hee Ju fifteen@
10 아시아 Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
10 아시아 Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@
10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@