[INTERVIEW] Indie band Autumn Vacation - Part 1

Autumn Vacation [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

"The first day of the concert is most nerve-racking. But today's the second day. So... I went and got my hair set to try to be nervous." "Man, I asked the hairdresser to do your hair naturally enough that it would look like you hadn't got it done but that's been ruined because of you Mr. Bobby!" Bobby Chung embarrassedly showed off his hair done at the hairdressers and Gyepy sweetly glanced toward Bobby when he did so. This is how close Autumn Vacation, formed in 2009, have become but the conversations they exchange have stayed in the honorific form for the whole two years. The songs that the two had created gave off the vibe that one would be able to have a beautiful dream if he or she listened to them under a clear sky, like that in the jacket of their album, but Bobby himself said he wanted to make one wonder what the lonely vibe it also gave off was. You may still not have a grasp of what Bobby Chung and Gyepy are like by the end of this interview. Here is their queer tale.

10: I noticed that earlier on, during your photo shoot, you still talk to each other in the honorific form of Korean. Why is that when it’s been two years since you've worked together as a group? (laugh)
Gyepy: We missed on the timing to talk to each other casually. And it’s not like I can stop now.

10: Isn’t talking in the honorific form supposed to feel awkward the closer you get?
Gyepy: I’ve gotten used to it. (laugh)
Bobby Chung: It’s similar to getting older. I’m 33 this year but I’m still immature and don’t know any of the terminology related to real estate so it’s very weird that I’m heading into my mid-30s. So just like I can’t quite adjust myself to the fact that I’m aging but accept it anyways, awkwardness has become our identity.

10: Bobby Chung, you’re in charge of writing and composing the songs so I was curious to know how you two share your responsibilities in making the album.
Gyepe: I basically just do the singing. Bobby will give me the songs with just the guitar and melody and he usually won’t tell me how to sing them. When I don’t know what he’s going for, I’ll ask him what he’s trying to express and why the speaker of the song is saying what he or she is saying.

10: Were there times you were at a loss over what to do because you didn’t know how to analyze and sing a song Bobby made?
Gyepy: Many times. (laugh) There were a lot of lyrics which the more I thought about them, seemed to change in meaning.

Autumn Vacation lyricist and composer Bobby Chung [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

10: Did you two come to work together because you had already wanted to be part of a duo or was it that you came to think that you want to work together after talking to each other?
Gyepy: Half and half of both. We met because we wanted to work together but it didn’t mean we wanted to form a team. Bobby had the mere curiosity that musicians have… ‘What would it be like to have Gyepy sing my song?’ And it was the same for me as well. Then we talked about singing a few more songs which is how the number of songs grew and we ended up producing an album.

10: Gyepy, you’ve been with bands Broccoli, You Too, then Ukulele, then Picnic and are now Autumn Vacation. What do you feel is most different right now from your past band activities?
Gyepy: I feel more light-hearted and we have definite responsibilities. And being in charge of a definite domain means you’ll respect the other person’s domain as well. There’s a more definite form of trust between us.

10: Does that mean there was a lack of trust between you and your colleagues in your former bands?
Gyepy: I didn't participate that much musically when I was part of Broccoli, You Too. And leader Yoon Duk-won was very greedy about controlling the band so we clashed a lot as vocalists. But with Ukulele and Picnic, it felt like I was being trusted. For example, when we make revisions to lyrics, everyone would be allowed to say what they think about their parts regardless how significant or insignificant they are but when I was with Broccoli, You Too, I had never received any form of correcting.

10: Bobby, you had been in bands like Sister's Barbershop and Julia Hart before forming this duo which is also your first time working with a female vocalist. What did you expect from Gyepy?
Chung: I personally like vocalists who sing naturally and the moment I heard Gyepy's voice, I felt that her tone was extremely attractive and like that of a female singer's from the '80s or '90s. It also seemed like whoever heard her voice for the first time would be able to tell who she is. This is my style, I thought. So excluding the first three songs we recorded, I made the remaining songs thinking of these three things. That Gyepy sings them, or they are about Gyepy, or they are about someone similar to Gyepy.

10: Like Chung said, your voice is attractive enough to be recognized whichever group you sing with. Did you know this yourself?
Gyepy: I actually had no idea what my voice sounded like to others when I was part of Broccoli, You Too. And I took part in the project albums for Ukulele and Picnic so I sang in line with the song's direction rather than stick to my own song. Then for the first time, I received vocal directing when recording with Autumn Vacation for the first time, which is when I realized that my voice gave off some kind of effect. I'm still in the process of studying into it but I'd like to experiment with other types of voices as well.

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Reporter : Lee Ga-on
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@, Jang Kyung-Jin three@