Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 98



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Raising a Singer-Songwriter by Idle Episode 98

98. Magical things

“The thing is, Twilight is planning a concert in Korea. They would like to invite Sung Jun-sang as a guest.”

After finishing filming the movie “Knowing Uncle,”

The ‘brief’ matter that Yoru brought up at a nearby coffee shop was a request to invite guests for their concert to be held in April.

This is Twilight’s first overseas tour concert, and they decided to start from nearby Korea.

Thanks to her appearance on ‘Who’s the King’, Yoru’s popularity among some fans has skyrocketed.

– I didn’t know there was such a great band in Japan. I’ll be cheering them on in the future.

– Yoru-chan!! Kawaiieeee!!!

– I love this song! Can you come to Korea and perform sometime?!

Korean comments poured in on the official YouTube channel, and Korean fans also sent enthusiastic support via DM.

So, after discussing it with my younger brother Hikaru, who was planning a world tour at the time, we decided to make Korea our first destination.

This appearance in the filming of ‘Knowing Uncle’ is also intended to further expand his presence in Korea before the tour.

And then Sungjun, who was about to ask Mark to do a guest appearance, appeared on ‘Knowing Uncle’ as Mark’s replacement.

It was perfect for Yoru.

Seongjun nodded at Yoru’s request.

“If it’s a favor from you, of course I should be a guest. Last time, Twilight uploaded a busking video on TokTok, so I was number 1 on the search list for a while.”

Even the number one search term in both Korea and Japan.

Thanks to this, we were able to enjoy unexpected promotional effects.

Moreover, didn’t main PD Byun Sang-woon say that he was impressed by the ‘Shinjuku busking video’ during the casting process for ‘Begin Wonmoyeo’?

So I was thinking that I would definitely repay Twilight someday.

I was able to repay that by being a concert guest.

“Thank you! Then Pay-”

Twilight is the hottest rising band in Japan.

Moreover, the band is famous worldwide to the point where they have started touring the world.

Just being a guest on a band like that is meritorious enough.

In the first place, we accepted guests with the intention of showing gratitude.

So I said that it would be okay to just provide a moderate amount of food and shelter, but Yoru spoke firmly.

He said he would make an official request through his own agency (planning company) and pay the casting fee.

Then I asked additionally,

“Could you please introduce me to an agency in Korea?”

Typically, when going on an overseas tour, it is common to collaborate with experienced local agencies and performance promoters in that country.

The bigger the agency, the smoother the tour preparations are in many ways.

“Well, what about our MXM Entertainment?”

So Sungjun introduced MXM Entertainment, one of the four major entertainment companies in Korea.

It’s not just because it’s the agency you belong to.

He also personally confirmed that MXM Entertainment is more sincere in treating its artists compared to other entertainment companies.

Because I have experience in hosting many overseas tours of global star Yuna, which are currently ongoing.

“MXM is the agency that Sung Jun-sang belongs to, right? Okay.”

“I’ll make sure to tell the general manager that I’m Director Baek Seok.”

It seems that MXM Entertainment was also included in the list of agencies prepared by Yoru.

It was Yoru who solidified his decision upon Seongjun’s recommendation.

After all the guest recruitment and local agency recruitment were completed,

“To prepare for the tour, you’ll have to go back and forth to MXM Entertainment, and you’ll also have to rehearse for the performance. Soon, the ‘Nahonbul’ anime will be released, so offline events will be scheduled. We’ll see each other often. That’s good.”

At Seongjun’s words, a reddish glow spread over Yoru’s face again.

‘Sung Jun-sang… so natural.’

I hope to see you often.

This man makes comments that make women’s hearts flutter so naturally and naturally.

“Next time you come with Hikaru, let’s eat together. I’ll give you a food tour.”

Yoru makes a promise with Seongjun.

The corners of the lips of the cool-chic smoky beauty didn’t even think about lowering.

*

MXM Entertainment’s meeting room.

In that place where the lights never go out, a heated meeting is in progress as usual.

And the one who took over the meeting room today was the ‘Seongjun’ team.

Discussions were in full swing regarding the release of his second album.

“This time too, I think it would be better to go with an EP rather than a full album. What do you think, Seongjun?”

“I like it too.”

First of all, we decided on an EP format for the album.

It’s the same reason as the last first EP.

Increase exposure to the public while shortening the album release cycle at a low cost.

Rather than including too many useless songs, we wanted to focus on killing tracks.

“Then when do you think it will be released?”

The next agenda is the EP release date.

Even though it is an EP, producing an album like this is no ordinary time-consuming task.

It can take as little as two months or as long as six months.

Usually about three months on average.

However, that’s a story about ordinary singers.

Sungjun’s work speed is incomparable to that of an ordinary singer.

A song of decent quality can be produced in a day.

It is literally the fastest of the fastest.

Moreover, since he is an all-in-one singer-songwriter who writes lyrics, composes, sings, and produces all the songs that will be included in the album, the time is shortened.

Considering all of these out-of-spec work speeds,

“If it were another singer, I would have said June or July, but since it’s Sungjun, how about around May? March is probably busy with entertainment schedules. Prepare for the whole month of April.”

The preparation period was so short that if other singers heard it, they would say, “Are you crazy?”

But Sungjun was just right for that level.

If the preparation period takes too long, it becomes boring.

Perhaps because they have worked together before, the A&R team knows them well.

“great.”

Seongjun answered with satisfaction.

“Do you have an album concept in mind?”

Seongjun is an artist with a clear sense of his own.

So the A&R team always asked for his opinion first and respected it as much as possible.

No, after the huge success of their first EP, it became more about infinite trust rather than respect.

“I was going to show you in person anyway.”

As if responding to that trust, Sungjun spoke with a confident expression.

Then, Seongjun connects the laptop he brought from the workroom to the screen.

“The album concept I had in mind was ‘Music Everywhere.’ Like I said, it means ‘the world is filled with music everywhere, and every sound in everyday life becomes a song.’ It’s hard to explain, so I’ll just show you.”

Seongjun, who gave up on explaining it verbally, immediately created an empty MIDI file.

Then he held the microphone connected to the laptop to the A&R team leader and asked.

“What do you think music is, team leader?”

“yes?”

The A&R team leader is flustered by the sudden question.

However, when you reach the level of team leader, your attitude towards dealing with such unexpected situations is different.

There must be a reason behind the actions of a genius artist like Sungjun.

“I think music is about joy.”

Then he asks the same question to another employee sitting next to him.

Someone said-

“Music is an art that expresses thoughts and emotions”

He answered with the dictionary meaning of .

Someone else-

“Um… love?”

It also gives an answer mixed with a question mark,

“I don’t know.”

He also expressed his discomfort, saying,

Seongjun, who recorded the answers from the four people into a microphone, calls them over the blank MIDI he had created earlier.

– What do you think music is?

– It’s fun.

– Art that expresses emotions

– Hmm… love?

– I don’t know

Questions and answers arranged in order.

It’s like an edited version of an interview.

And this time, Sungjun picked up the microphone.

– Someone said that, but to me, music is you.

– Fun, art, love, I don’t know. That’s you.

The A&R team members’ eyes widen when they hear Sungjun’s song.

“What is this···?!”

A little while ago, they were making a song with their answers.

Moreover, they unified the pitch while preserving the tone and emphasis of the words they answered!

“···it’s crazy.”

Someone let out a soft exclamation.

Then Seongjun turned his head with his eyes sparkling.

“Oh, that was good too, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, yes? What is it?”

“What the heck, ‘Crazy’! I’ll put that in too. Hehe. Um, and now all I have to do is add some bass and kick drum to it.”

Seongjun lightly taps the desk.

And then he stomped his foot on the floor.

Seongjun records them with a microphone and then adds various effects.

The sound quality of the desk and the floor changes in various ways according to the movement of Sungjun’s fingers.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

After a while, Sungjun finished his work and started playing music.

Then something magical happens.

Boom boom boom boom

Kung- tsk Kung- tsk

The desk tapping and footstep sounds that Sungjun had recorded playfully a little while ago had transformed into unique bass and kick drum sounds, respectively.

The snare sound there is the ‘tsk’ sound made by Sungjun’s mouth.

This time, an emotional melody is added to the beat created in this way.

– Someone said that, but to me, music is you.

– Fun, art, love, I don’t know. That’s you.

– It’s crazy. Yes, it’s crazy. Music, and you.

It was a melody that Sungjun lightly edited with the A&R team’s answer.

A rough song completed on the spot in just 15 minutes.

Just like Sungjun said, with just everyday sounds!

“how is it?”

“···What do you think?”

When Sungjun asked, the A&R team leader answered in a tone that said, “I’m so impressed.”

“When you see something like this with your own eyes, how can you not come up with other ideas? Plus, the song is so good!”

The team members also spoke in unison.

“This absolutely has to be recorded as a video of the album production process! Everyone will be as surprised as we were!”

“It’s a revolution in composition! Seongjun is truly a genius!”

“So are you going to include this song in the album now?!”

Then, the meeting room became filled with a festive atmosphere as they played ‘Ring a Ring’, a song made from cell phone sounds.

In this way, the concept for Sungjun’s next album was unanimously confirmed as ‘Music Everywhere’.

*

The set of ‘My Favorite Girls’.

Sungjun, Monsta Z’s Jiwoong, and Jaymin are sharing recent gossip before filming.

“Seongjun hyung, did you hear that news?”

“Why, what’s the news?”

“I heard from the HYPE Entertainment guys that they are also planning to launch a girl group in the second half of this year.”

“Huh? Didn’t there come out an article a while ago saying that KG Entertainment is also producing new artists?”

But unfortunately, out of the four major entertainment companies, 3 of them, excluding SMP, are planning to launch new girl groups in the second half of this year.

Their rivals, HYPE and KG Entertainment, are both considered powerhouses in producing girl groups.

This is not without its disadvantages for MXM Entertainment, which is producing its first girl group.

Anyway, the 4.5 generation rookie girl group Spring and Autumn Three Kingdoms era has begun.

“That’s why we have to work harder to teach the kids. If we want to survive in the meantime.”

“But strangely, I’m not that worried. Is it because Seongjun hyung is my mentor?”

“Well, these days, Sungjun is the popular mentor!”

Seongjun and the two people smile and make up their minds.

Soon, recording began.

The theme of today’s round 3 mission is ‘genre digestion’.

The purpose of the mission is to try out various genres and figure out what song genres would suit each individual trainee and ultimately the group that will become a team.

And the first genre to be evaluated is ‘Mumbaton’.

It just so happened that Sungjun had recently made a practice song.

“Then, trainees, please come out.”

Following MC Ye-seon Ha’s words, 10 girls came up on stage.

however,

“···uh?”

Seongjun’s eyebrows twitch.

Just a few days ago, during the midterm checkup, one of the trainees who was fine was found to have a cast on his leg.

It was Jinhaneul.