[INTERVIEW] Rock band Walrus - Part 2

Walrus [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: The album shows that 'Walrus' composed all the songs. Did you all work on the song together?
Kim Jae-wook: Different people came up with the motifs or ideas for each song. I guess you could say "The Witch of Seoul" was written mainly by Yu Seoung-beom, "Mosaic" by Kim Tae-hyun, and "To be" by me and they do a pretty good job of representing our tendencies. We felt that ourselves after completing the songs.

10: "The Witch of Seoul" in particular is completely different from the rest of the songs.
Yu Seoung-beom: I like cute and pretty melodies. That's also why I prefer pop-like rock from the 80s and 90s than noisy rock. But I did pay attention to what the other two songs were going to be like since I didn't want to break the balance of the sounds in the album. It's like how I play the guitar but it has to go with the music, not become the main sound to it.

10: How does a song get completed once it leaves the main writer's hands?
Kim: I'm sure it's like this for most bands but we all play together. We'll give advice to each other based on our positions and then take our or add in things while monitoring what we make.

10: Well working as a member of a band is related to your livelihood but your rock sound strays quite far from the 'soft' music done in the Indie scene these days. Don't you feel pressured by the gap your music has in terms of being music that so-called 'sells' versus doing music that you want to do.
Kim JW: We don't not feel any pressure. But no matter how much we think about it, there's nothing we can do. We just need to believe in ourselves. I'm not trying to say that such soft music is good or bad -- we're just doing what we want and they're doing what they want and there's nothing else to it. And we'd become meaningless if we changed our style of music.

Walrus member Yang Si-on [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: How did you come up with the name Walrus?
Kim JW: It doesn't mean anything at all.

10: Has it always been Walrus?
Kim Tae-hyun: No. We went by all sorts of names but we can't say what they were. (laugh)
Yu: We don't even remember what they all were. There's just too many.
Kim: We were in need of a name for our band after deciding to perform at the Grand Mint Festival in 2009 and I was laying in bed one day to sleep when the Beatles song "I'm the Walrus" popped into my head. I asked Tae-hyun and he said it was okay so we decided to go with it. For example, when TVXQ first came out, people wondered what sort of name that was and why its members had four-lettered names. But when you hear that name now, you think of 'amazing idol group,' 'Asia's most successful group' and 'the group that has done what no other group has.' In other words, I don't think the name of a group is that important because the image it'll carry will depend on how well that team does. I've also never heard of a name that I like more than Walrus.

10: How do you guys work with each other these days?
Kim JW: Well I moved once so Tae-hyun moved to a new place as well but it's very cold this winter so he's staying at my place for a while. So is Si-on. Everyone has their own rooms and beds in them. And we don't stay together. We'll each do our own things in our room and gather at the dining table when we need to.
Yang Si-on: For example, I'd be watching TV in my room and then someone will come and play a riff that he suddenly came up with.

10: Who prepares the provisions when the three of you live together?
Kim JW: Well, since I'm the host.
Kim TH: The owner of hte house is supposed to. (laugh)
Yang: We're more like guets than housemates. (laugh)

10: Kim Jae-wook, I heard that you recent fan meeting in Japan was close to a mini-concert. But the audience there must've been unfamiliar with your music.
Kim JW: I'm sure that 99 percent of them were there to see me for my image as an actor or model because I hadn't done much while a member of Walrus. I also tried anticipating what response I'd get because I'd be showing them a completely different image of me and I was straight on. They rooted for me very loud at first but it quieted down later. (laugh) It was a lot of fun seeing that in person. 'I'm sorry, this is the real me, I'm like this when I sing' was the mindset I had while singing and just gave it my all. Oh, but I'm not saying the person you see otherwise is not the real me.

Walrus member Kim Tae-hyun [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: Is there a particular image of a rocker you want to be like?
Kim TH: I like the Motley Crue's Tommy Lee but I'm not so decadent in nature. (laugh) I'd rather be like Kurt Cobain in terms of attitude but we're also not ruffians as openly. I wanted to when I was young but there's a pretty good chance you'd end up becoming nothing and it's not like I have enough money to immigrate. (laugh) So I decided to let that go and am just thinking of showing my music when I get the chance to.

10: But there are times you're made to adhere to strict rules when it comes to expressing yourself in Korean society, even if you're not doing harm to anyone.
Kim JW: I think that's what'll become fun. (laugh) This isn't about sex, drugs or thinking that rockers have to be a certain way -- it's about the emotions I want to express through music. I believe that Kurt Cobain smashing his guitar on someone's head and Marilyn Manson tearing off the head of a chicken are all part of the visual performances they're putting on to express their music. So if there is anger or rebelliousness I want to express, I want to show that. But I wonder how that would be accepted in Korea, whether I'd be able to continue my acting career. (laugh) Nonetheless, I'm going to try and be as honest as I can while acting as a member of Walrus.

10: What is your full-length album set for release during the first half of this year going to be like?
Kim JW: I'm working on the songs now but you could compare our current single as being a "Hello, we're going to start now" and then the regular album being a proper introduction.

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Reporter : Choi Ji-Eun five@, Wee Geun-woo eight@
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@