Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The punk rock genre song <​Rendez-vous> was the first song I composed in the band.

But it wasn’t a song I made alone.

After composing a draft version that was like a canvas, we completed it by gathering the members’ opinions.

Everyone commonly liked rock, but the genres they preferred in detail were different.

The process of collecting everyone’s opinions wasn’t easy. We fought a lot, and I don’t know how many revisions there were.

And it wasn’t a song with outstanding absolute quality either.

The meaning was deep, but with the skill at the time there were limits.

But now it’s different.

‘If it’s the current me, couldn’t I properly bring this song to life?’

To confirm this, he thought an objective approach was needed first.

Recalling past memories, he started stacking sessions as similar as possible to the original version of <​Rendez-vous>.

It was difficult to implement it completely the same, but he could make it as similar as possible.

A smile naturally flowed at the familiar music he was hearing after a long time.

It reeked of amateur, but memories were contained inside.

In fact, there are some embarrassing memories too.

The reason <​Rendez-vous> is punk rock is because the us at the time wanted to oppose commercial mainstream music.

We thought it was cool to stubbornly insist on rock even while pop and idol songs were popular, and hip-hop swept across the Republic of Korea.

It was when we thought idols were pretty dolls who mindlessly sang music chosen by their agencies, and hip-hop was music for tone-deaf people.

Of course, coming to now, I know how embarrassing that thought was.

Music is ultimately something someone has to listen to.

Considering the listener’s taste is a natural thing, and a sublime thing.

So the us back then was wrong.

That’s why I wanted to persuade the members with this song.

Because a good song has power.

Thinking that, he started the arrangement work with the original song.

From the <​Rendez-vous> full of past amateurism and minor prejudices, he started the work of changing it into a song people would like.

He lowered the tempo to medium, and changed the excessive variations into rhythms within a continuous category.

While doing so, he reduced the overall proportion of the melody guitar and arranged it so it could be clearly shown only in specific parts.

If the time the melody guitar runs wild gets long, the song becomes difficult and it’s hard to catch popularity.

However, he didn’t touch the chorus much.

Because he wasn’t trying to make complete pop.

He considered changing even the guitar tone, but then it seemed like <​Rendez-vous>’s identity would shake, so he left it as is.

Looking at the result, the song that was punk rock had changed into medium tempo pop rock, or pop punk.

“Hmm...”

80 points? 85 points with nostalgia correction?

Anyway, he liked it quite a bit.

* * *

Jo Hyeonseop, the owner of ST Studio, only operates the studio now, but he was once a very famous producer.

Before the genre called K-pop was even named, he had tried an idol group inspired by Japan.

But this is an old story, and it’s been over 15 years since he only operates ST Studio.

To such a Jo Hyeonseop, contact from Jang Deokcheol of Hyun’s Resonance came yesterday.

It was a fuss that a high school student named ‘Cha Seoha’ who does tremendous playing would come to record tomorrow.

-He says he’s recording a self-composed song, take a look at the level once. According to him he does composing better, but in my view he can’t be better than guitar.

His heart was half and half.

Half curiosity, half suspicion.

Since he caught Jang Deokcheol’s eye the basics would be there, but would he really do tremendous playing?

A high school student?

And while doing that, composing well too?

So he visited the studio matching the reserved time of the student named Cha Seoha.

“Has Cha Seoha come?”

At Jo Hyeonseop’s question, the part-timer Park Minji answered.

“Yes.”

“How is he?”

“He’s good-looking and tall? Just like an idol.”

“An idol?”

“No. That doesn’t seem to be it, isn’t he a trainee? His signature was really elegant.”

“Is that so?”

Jo Hyeonseop tilted his head.

Then was Jang Deokcheol’s words saying he has very outstanding looks and does pretty decent playing?

“Move aside.”

Jo Hyeonseop sat in a place where he could monitor the studio.

The boy sitting in a neat school uniform looked tall and slender even while sitting.

The blunt, not-yet-ripe face still had some baby fat, but it was a face that seemed like it would build a thick fan base if he grew a bit more.

Then, Cha Seoha on the screen started playing the song he had just finished recording.

As soon as Jo Hyeonseop heard the music being played, he thought it was unexpected.

Because a intense musical melody different from the student’s image started flowing.

It’s rock?

And hard at that?

It was like an homage to 1980s punk rock made by an amateur, but it was somewhat nostalgic and not bad.

Around the time he thought he wanted to listen a bit more, the male student stopped the music.

Park Minji who was watching from the side interjected.

“How is it for the owner to hear? From when stacking the sessions it seemed pretty good to me.”

“It’s okay. At the amateur level.”

“Owner, you’re not belittling him just because he’s good-looking, right?”

“What nonsense are you saying.”

“A kid with that face doing that level of playing is how cute... no, how precious!”

At the fuss of Park Minji who likes idols, Jo Hyeonseop shrugged.

This is exactly the orthodox reaction.

Jang Deokcheol seemed like that too.

Just as Jo Hyeonseop was about to turn off his attention from the high school student named Cha Seoha, a new song started flowing.

It wasn’t a completely new song.

Because it was like an arranged version of the song he heard earlier.

But the level is different.

The medium tempo song made the mood good just by listening.

No obstruction when listening means the instruments harmonized well.

The music that started with a refreshing verse progressed while maintaining appropriate tension.

Arriving at the pre-chorus like that, something starts building.

The tension that was at an appropriate level fills extremely and the instruments started running together with the drums.

Finally, as soon as it arrived at the chorus, all the tension resolved and a funky rhythm almost similar to the original song punched out.

“Huh?”

Only after the chorus started could he know.

That this high school student had stacked the buildup for the chorus very well through the pre-chorus.

Usually amateur composers tend to put strong force on the chorus, but this guy is someone who knows a bit.

To leave a strong impression, the previous stage is important, and he did that excellently.

Thanks to that, the emotional delivery was also certain.

A feeling of some youth that is slightly fluttering yet immature.

Under a blue sky, youth in school uniforms running comes to mind naturally.

It’s bewildering.

This is professional level.

And the level of producers who are doing well in the current scene.

Can a mere high schooler do that?

No, then what was the original song earlier?

‘Ah, perhaps he was commissioned for the arrangement?’

However, contrary to Jo Hyeonseop’s impression, Cha Seoha on the monitor tilted his head as if something was not satisfying.

And then he started touching the song for about 20 minutes.

The watching Jo Hyeonseop was not bored at all.

Expectation arises.

What more is he trying to touch here?

But absurdly, Jo Hyeonseop couldn’t hear that song.

The student on the monitor finished listening only with the monitoring headset and extracted the file onto a USB.

If not played through speakers, monitoring from the counter is impossible.

But then, Cha Seoha started making another song.

For a song where guitar is the main, just hearing the riff gives the answer.

This riff will sell.

And the probability it sells very well is high.

But this new song seems to be in a female key, was it commissioned?

‘What is this guy really?’

It was talent covetable enough to want to contract right away.

Since the looks are outstanding too, if he does idol activities he seems like he would rake in money.

“Is there a company?”

“Of course there is. Is that something that comes from ordinary training?”

“Hey, that isn’t something that comes from training.”

It’s talent. Innate talent.

Nevertheless, there seems to be a company.

Because there are too many people in the world with eyes that recognize raw stones.

How much time had passed like that?

Finally the studio door opened and the student he had been watching on the monitor revealed himself.

He was better looking than when seen on screen, and gave off an atmosphere hard to see in a student.

He has a face with presence too.

“Um, where is the bathroom?”

The voice is even better.

“The bathroom is around that corner... Student.”

“Yes?”

“I happened to hear while monitoring. Is it a self-composed song?”

At Jo Hyeonseop’s question, the student calmly nodded.

“Yes.”

“Did you receive an arrangement commission? The levels of the two songs were completely different.”

“Just... I touched up a song I made with friends a long time ago.”

A long time ago?

He’s this young even now, so when was a long time ago?

“Is there a contracted company? There is, right?”

“There isn’t.”

“Huh, then you’ve done it alone until now?”

“Yes.”

“No, your songs are so good that if it’s okay, I want to introduce you to good companies.”

At Jo Hyeonseop’s words, the student stared blankly at him.

Realizing belatedly that he might look suspicious, Jo Hyeonseop held out a business card.

“I’m the owner here. It’s really words from goodwill without any ulterior motive.”

“You know <​that song>, right? This is a song the owner made. And he’s the producer of the group that sang that song.”

Park Minji who was beside added.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m sorry.”

“It’s because the talent is a waste. You don’t necessarily have to contract, but it would be good if you go and at least talk once.”

“Because I’m not alone.”

“Not alone?”

“I’m preparing to do a band with friends.”

“Ah.”

At the word band, Jo Hyeonseop let out an exclamation.

He only thought the music genre was rock-based, but to think he would really try a rock band.

“If there’s anything you need, please contact me.”

“Why?”

“Because I also did a band once. And Deokcheol praised the student a lot.”

“Ah, um... Thank you.”

The student received the business card, but it felt like he didn’t pay much attention to it.

“May I ask how you’re thinking of doing band activities?”

He thought it was excessive meddling, but the current band market is severely contracted.

What Jo Hyeonseop was worried about was this talented person knowing the market’s reality and becoming frustrated.

The student’s answer was simple.

“Because the members aren’t all gathered yet. Thank you for the goodwill.”

* * *

In this life, it strangely feels like uncles are flocking.

He knows there are many generations who hold nostalgia for rock, but it feels like a Pokémon game.

Should he say it’s like meeting the gym leader when entering a new gym?

The question those two people threw at him was the same.

‘In this stagnant band market, what on earth do you want to do.’