The Boy from Jongno, Daegu, "Yang Gukshin": Embracing The Beatles to Become the Legend of Suseong Lake

From The Beatles to Yeon...
A 45-Year Underground Journey,
Now, I Finally Dedicate My Songs to My Mother

The 71-year-old veteran musician Yang Gukshin, who keeps watch over the night at Suseong Lake in Daegu, has just completed his first-ever television recording.

On December 30, he stood on the set of a cable TV show planned by a renowned music production company in Seoul, pouring out both the regrets and gratitude accumulated over his 45-year musical journey under dazzling stage lights.

This broadcast serves as a heartfelt "confession," beginning with his longing for a father he never met and dedicated to the mother and wife who have steadfastly supported him.

Yang Gukshin is adjusting the sound system to match the customers' singing at the live cafe "Goodtime" that he operates.

◆ The Meeting of Jongno Chopstick Rhythms and The Beatles

Yang's musical sensibilities blossomed in Jongno, the heart of Daegu during the 1950s and 1960s.

During his time at Jongno Elementary School, the neighborhood where he grew up was a crossroads connecting Hyangchon-dong and Dongseong-ro-a liberated zone frequented by the era's wealthiest figures, politicians, and gangsters.

The rhythmic sounds of gisaengs tapping chopsticks and the singing of patrons in his mother's Korean restaurant awakened in him an instinctive sensitivity to "sound."

However, what truly captivated young Yang Gukshin was the world beyond the walls.

Enchanted by the top pop songs of the era, such as those by The Beatles, he stepped onto underground stages and has continued to focus on pop music as his main genre ever since.

Having mastered everything from group music like "Yeon," which defined the golden age of Korean group sound in the 1970s and 1980s, to deeply emotional ballads and folk songs, he has established himself as a versatile musician with a unique presence in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.

◆ The "Unconditional Love" of a Mother Born in 1937 and the Devotion of His Wife

For Yang, born in 1955 and an only son, his mother (born in 1937), who passed away in 2019, was a saintly figure.

Except for a fragmentary detail that his father was a member of the Yang clan from Jeju, his mother never spoke about his father. Instead, she raised him with "unconditional and warm love," never uttering a harsh word to her son.

Yang reflected, "Without my mother's endless love, I probably would have gone astray. For her late-blooming son, she stayed by my side into her eighties, even as I passed sixty."

During her lifetime, she watched her son struggle and, feeling sorry for her daughter-in-law who married into the family at the young age of 21, often held her hand in apology for her son's shortcomings as a husband.

Now in her mid-sixties, his wife still manages the kitchen at the "Goodtime" live cafe.

Yang confesses, "I am always sorry that I didn't understand my wife's tears back then," but his wife quietly remains by his side, saying, "This life of meeting people through music is my destiny."

The band "The Oldies but Goodies," formed by Yang Gukshin and his colleagues of 40 years

◆ A 200 Million Won Investment in Sound: The Pride of "The Oldies but Goodies"

Yang's determination is fully reflected in his live cafe, "Goodtime."

Drawing on his fascination with sound since boyhood, he invested 200 million won in a state-of-the-art sound system, which is now considered the best in the Yeongnam region.

As a result, legendary singers such as Lee Dongwon, Park Sangmin, and Kim Gunmo always visit and take the microphone whenever they come to Daegu, making it a "sanctuary for musicians."

The band "The Oldies but Goodies," formed with colleagues of 40 years, is a gathering of veteran musicians in their sixties and seventies who prove the value of "old but good music."

His generosity-offering free meals and songs to those who visit the cafe after busking at Suseong Lake-reflects his philosophy of upholding the pride of Daegu's musicians.

◆ 71 Years of Han: Life Becomes Song

During the recording on December 30, Yang sang of his resentment and longing for the father he never met, and of the music that filled that emptiness.

Through the program scheduled to air early this year, viewers across the country will witness the candid life story of a boy who once dreamed of becoming The Beatles and has now become a master at 71.

"Although I have lived as an underground singer, my music contains the sincerity of my life. Now, I want to spend the rest of my days singing only for my wife and for music."