[INTERVIEW] Fusion jazz band Winterplay - Part 2

From left, Winterplay members Choi Woojoon, Lee Juhan, Haewon and So Eunkyu [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: Haewon, I don't think you would have sung much to this style of music either.
Haewon: It definitely is different. The song is composed rather than fluctuating much in terms of the vibe it gives off so I need to be more delicate when interpreting a song. And the more I sing a song, the more space there is created for me to express the more subtle parts. Another thing is that I actually had a hard time singing in Korean at first. Almost all jazz songs are in English so it's hard to sing jazz in Korean while making it sound jazzy. But I think I may be improving because people point it out less. (laugh)
Lee Juhan: For "Gypsy Girl," the lyrics are in Korean then they change to English, and I don't know if this actually exists but if someone asked me to play in French style then change to British, I would have a hard time. In that sense, Haewon is doing difficult work.
Haewon: That's a nice way to wrap it up. (laugh) But we're not a group who got together to do a certain style of music. I think we make music that's natural because we just went with the flow in deciding what sort of music to do after we got together. That's why when I sing, I just sing whichever way I feel rather than thinking about how I should sing it. The thing is, even for the same song, I've realized that I sing it differently now from when I was 20 years old. I think I know more now because I'm older. (laugh)
Choi Woojoon: You finally know? (laugh)

10: But your music stands on the boundary between jazz and pop. And that's why this may be difficult for your music to work in our country. They have very distinct taste when it comes to fans of genre music and pop music.
Lee: Our music isn't jazz. I think it should be regarded as music based on jazz. So it'll be more jazzy but I want listeners to hear the melody first and then enjoy the rhythm it's based on. All we need is for you to like listening to our music.
So Eunkyu: The reason we formed a group was because we wanted to make music that is easy for listeners to listen to, but do it based on jazz instead of pop accompaniment. And I think we came to realize how to go about this while doing such music for three years. I think countries overseas think that's what is unique about our music as well.
Lee: Marketing is an important aspect as well but I think it's dangerous to become too dependent on it. For us, it's important that we produce refreshing music and we're hoping it will move the hearts of certain people. We don't market our music to a target audience although our company might. (laugh)

10: But why don't more people listen to jazz? The environment is so different as well compared to the United States or Japan.
Choi: Jazz is completely underground music in Korea. You can't make money just off of doing jazz music. So some sing as the chorus for pop music or become music instructors. But I do think that for the number of Koreans who are truly interested in music, there are a good number of people who listen to jazz. (laugh)
Lee: In the U.S., even high schools have jazz bands. That's how much people are used to the word jazz. And you can major in jazz in college. But in Korea, you can't use the word jazz even if you teach it. It's called 'applied music.' Like there are departments for classical music, there should be department for jazz music as well to show how influential it is but that's just impossible to do.

10: Then how did you decide to start doing such jazz music?
Lee: I was lonely. I lived in Surinam when I was 12 because my father was a diplomat while my mother was in New York because of educational reasons for my siblings. So only me and my dad lived together in Surinam and he introduced me to a trumpet player saying I should learn to play it. And there were some guys I knew in my neighborhood who were in a jazz band so I did music with them. We played on the streets because houses are far apart from each other in Surinam so it was okay to be loud. And that's how I came to love jazz and I was in the jazz band in high school in the U.S. as well but my dad said he wouldn't pay for my tuition when I told him I wanted to major in jazz in college. (laugh)
Choi: I used to do rock music. But there was a jazz boom in the 90s, killing the rock industry, so I did music at jazz bars to make money. I didn't know jazz back then so I performed by just memorizing a few repertoires but I started to like it when I started to study it. Jazz musicians had said that once you do jazz, you perform with a jazz-like mind even if you do other genres, which I think is very true. It's as if you're looking down from the top of a mountain. I can't have everything that's below the mountain but you get a larger picture of everything. And it's fun how the songs change depending on who you're playing with. But of course, the blood of a rocker still runs within me so I let it loose at concerts sometimes. (laugh)
So: I grew up listening to a lot of music. And then I decided that I really wanted to do music so I went to the music of department for college but my school didn't have a major for applied music so I played the contrabass while learning classical music. Then I got to know about jazz so I crossed over to the genre.

10: Haewon, I heard you had been preparing to become an idol group singer when you were younger.
Haewon: My mom trained me a lot since I was young. (laugh) And I tried to become an idol singer in middle and high school but that didn't work out. (laugh) I had kept singing even in college though which is when I started thinking about what kind of music it is that I want to sing. That's when I learned jazz in college and I was lucky enough to get to sing at a jazz bar from when I was 21 years old.

10: So that's how Winterplay formed. Then what do you want to do in this team in the future?
Lee: I'd just like to grow taller. (laugh)
Choi: Please don't forget to write about this in the article. (laugh)
Lee: I actually don't know. I don't have a particular plan in mind. I just want us to do fun music and keep doing better, no matter what we're doing. Getting to hear that every album is fun and different will be enough for me. And I think we'll be able to make new music by meeting people overseas and getting their response. I think I'll be happy then.

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok two@
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Lee Ji-Hye seven@