[INTERVIEW] Indie band "No Reply" - Part 2

From left, No Reply members Kwon Soon-kwan and Jung Wook-jae [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: Was “Pretending to be Wicked (Wi-ak,僞惡,)” whose lyrics are composed by singer Lee Seung-hwan one of those attempts? It is quite different from other existing songs by you.
Kwon Soon-kwan: The original version of the lyrics was stronger, more straightforward (laugh). Yes, we too wanted to talk about the irrationalities of the society we live in but the way Lee put it in the first version was so direct it was hard for us to express it with music. And it's not like I can sing as well as Lee either. (laugh) So I revised it three or four times to make it sound more roundabout but the main response was that the song would have been better if Lee sang it himself (laugh).

10: Your group “No Reply” has been receiving much praise from senior musicians in Korea including Lee Jeok, Kim Dong-ryul and Yoo Hee-yeol. Do they give you much advice?
Jung: Actually musicians don’t talk much about music when they meet up. In Kim Dong-ryul’s case, we had gone to him with the intention to learn things and we did learn a lot from him.

10: Speaking of Kim, I read in your Twitter account that you are thinking of studying abroad ever since you talked with Kim.
Kwon: I have been wanting to go abroad for a long time now but then it seemed like the only way for me to survive in the music scene in Korea where everything changes so rapidly is to stay put. However, Kim advised me to go ahead with my original plan because only when I know my way around can the public appreciate good music. I don’t know when it will happen but once I go I wish to interact with musicians there and experience their mind and energy firsthand. I believe all that I know is just a small part of the world. I want to mature musically through the hard way and in an unfamiliar place.

10: You have no fear of being adventurous?
Kwon: The fact is, “No Reply” has walked on a relatively quite path so far. So this may be our real beginning. We have this sense of pressure, fear that no one will look in our way if we fail to make a good music. It is devastating to screw up on a performance but even more problematic if we skip that process and try to take the safe path and puts on easy performances while seeing no improvement at all. To tear myself down is the only way to motivate myself for more.

No Reply member Kwon Soon-kwan [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: Jeong, do you have any plans for yourself like Kwon has?
Jeong: As a matter of fact I am planning for a test to become a volunteer worker at the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). I am digging into TOEIC books more than ever these days (laugh). I will be taking an exam in November and if I make it I will leave Korea in May. KOICA’s volunteer workers usually head for third world countries. I love the raw music there so I'm looking forward to encountering unrefined, pure music.

10: With Kwon headed to study abroad and Jung leaving for KOICA what will “No Reply” sound like after you two return?
Kwon: I’m not sure. But one thing I know is that we’ll never forget our basic mindset -- that we will express our feelings with music. When making music, the first thing is that we must like it ourselves and the secondly, that we must satisfy our listeners. Figuring out how to express our emotions well is most important. Genre or style of music is a secondary issue. I may do too much or little in the technical sense but I want to make sure I do well in delivering my emotions.

10: You made various new attempts in producing your second album compared to your first album. What will be the general direction your next album takes then?
Kwon: I wish I could sing with more ease because we put melody ahead of all other elements in our music. (laugh) For example, if I liked a certain key to our music I would try to match my voice to it. That left me exhausted when I do live performances. Once I went to a karaoke bar with senior singers Lucid Fall and Lee Jeok. While I was singing “The Path You Tread (Geu-dae Geot-deun Gil)” Lee turned the machine off saying he couldn’t stand it anymore (laugh). So I am thinking maybe we can take it a little easy and use less instruments. As soon as we wrap up our activities for our second album next year I think I’ll go back to immersing myself in my own little world. Before starting “No Reply” it used to take me over 20 hours to compose a song. But these days it takes less time maybe because I became less desperate. I would like to go back to that little world.

Reporter : Lee Ga-on
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@