[INTERVIEW] Leessang (2)

10: You two seem to have completely opposite personalities. Gary seems to be the type who would cool off his anger on his own and talk about it afterwards, while Gill is the type to express his anger right away. How did you two work out the different in opinions when first doing music together?
Gary: I write rap lyrics while Gill makes the music so our opinions actually don't conflict with each as much. I let Gill do his music however way he wants and he lets me do what I want too.
Gill: We tell each other extremely unhesitatingly, "This music is whatevers" or "That rap is weird". Then we'll end up getting into fights but resolve it over a drink.

10: From the sound of it, it seems like you two worked separately but your music has come together well.
Gill: Because we discuss continuously and make endless numbers of demos. The song becomes complete when it really hits us. We never think of finishing a song in a set time period. We just keep going until it works.

10: In that sense there is a 'value' to your album. You transform each thing that happened in your life into music, so your music has turned out to be a record of your life throughout the years that you've made albums then gone on breaks.
Gill: I think that's why the songs in our album are set in the order of starting new, a meeting, breaking up, suffering a setback and then living life all over again. That's the most important in setting the order of the songs. I think it's most important to make the listener think, 'Yes, this is how people live'.

10: But hasn't your life as Leessang changed a bit these days? Gill used to say, "Our life is good because our songs our famous but people don't recognize us." How is it?
Gill: Even kids in kindergarten recognize us now. (laugh) And people recognize me and laugh at me. So far, it's been weird in a good way rather than uncomfortable. And it's too late to turn back now. The people on shows "Infinity Challenge" or "Come to Play" work too hard to make the shows happen. They make their shows like we make our music.

10: How did it feel appearing on entertainment shows after only having done music?
Gil: On "Come to Play", you have to talk with people you don't know, and are furthermore stars, for seven to eight hours. Someone has to talk, someone has take the lead, someone has to shoot it and the writers write the script. So I can't help working hard on the show. 99 people may lose their jobs if I don't do a good job. And on "Infinity Challenge", we go into shoot several times a week and everyone works crazy hard. It's as if, for example, it wouldn't make sense it Gary was writing his lyrics at the studio and I kept going in and out of the room. So I have to try even harder. I'm amazed that such a world exists while shooting the shows and it gives me more energy and motivation to make music.

10: Were you not worried when you were first asked to appear on entertainment shows?
Gill: I was in the beginning but (Kim) Je-dong once said to me, "If the viewership rating comes out to 10 percent, that means about five million people are watching. Amongst those people, there will be those who are physically disabled, couples who broke up yesterday, workers who got fired -- all kinds of people. Don't you think it's a great and marvelous thing to be able to give those people laughter?" So that's when I decided to take on the shows. And Gary also told me to, saying nothing would change even if I did.

10: It seems that you two are passing another phase in life. What do you think of these days, now that you're in your 30s?
Gary: In my teens, I was mostly busy with my studies so I used to wonder when I would get to play. But I think I'm even more busier now. I think about a lot of things including having to get married sometime, make money and keep doing music.

10: You only needed to make music before. Isn't it hard to do that now?
Gill: We both weren't in relationships for about five years because we said it would take up time we put into making music. But now, we've become able to do other things while doing music. Music is part of our everyday life now. And I like aging. I think I'll be able to do more interesting things when I'm 40 and Gary's lyrics will contain words that suit someone in his 40s. And then, if things don't work out, oh well. (laugh)
Gary: I have to be alive till then. Would I be able to? (laugh)

10: You two really do think differently. Gill, you seem to be very optimistic.
Gil: I'm super-optimistic (laugh). When I get mad, I'll talk about it and get over it. I think the people who live through difficult times from a young age tend to have optimistic minds. Some people might make a million won and think its too little, but there are others who think its too much and hope it would be better to make even more. That's how I think and that's how I make my music. If there is something difficult that I can't solve, I'll look for someone who can.

10: And that's how your sixth album came out, and like you say, it seems like the second chapter of your lives have started. So far, your message has been 'Our story is your story' but do you think you'll be able to keep it that way?
Gill: I think our music will continue to be like that. It doesn't mean we'll keep talking about the same things -- it'll change depending on our situation -- but i think that's where our strength is. Before this album came out, people asked me if I hadn't forgotten about the days when I used to live in a back room on the basement floor now that I've started appearing on entertainment shows, but I think I've proven them wrong with this album. They probably thought, "What is this? Why Jang Ki-ha and Lucid Fall?" Why did we? Because we all do music. Whether it seems funny or not, all I need to do is make music properly. If I end up not doing a good job with my music, it's not because of my TV shows but simply because I'm not good at music. Then I'll have to take a break. Our music won't change just because we do different things, don't live in a back room and don't live in the basement anymore.

10: I think your music has started to change with your lives starting to expand into broader areas. What other things do you want to try in the future?
Gill: The first thing is that we plan to make "Leessang's good music project". We've already prepared about 20 songs in collaboration with artists including Jung In, Harim, Yoon Gun, Yoon Jong-shin, Lee Juck, Dynamic Duo, Bobby Kim and Brown Eyed Soul. In between, Jung In's album has to come out and the World Cup will be on. (laugh) Our schedule is extremely tight for the next two years. And I'll be 35 years old by then.
Gary: I think all I do is work. So I'm thinking of maybe starting up a business. It's tiring just doing music all the time. If something really big happened in my life, I would say 'Cool!' and write about it but it sometimes also feels like I'm forcing the lyrics. I think it'll help if I start something new.

10: What sort of team do you want to remain as?
Gill: We are always thankful for being able to do music. So we hope to be even more successful. It'll also give children hope that you can make a living my doing music. I recently visited New York and all the African Americans there wanted to become rappers. Famous underground rap artists there make as much as those working in the financial industry. So all they do is music. That's why I think 'Our story is your story'. We want to show and share our music with people. We want to keep going. Just like this.

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok two@10asia.co.kr, Choi Ji-Eun five@10asia.co.kr
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@10asia.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr, Lee Ji-Hye seven@10asia.co.kr