[Naru] Selfinterview

I translated the Selfinterview Naru did for Mintpaper.
There are still some things sounding weird, but I think besides the lyricspart and the album title part things become clear. And I'm not quite sure what 헐헐 means, I translated it with *sigh* but I am unsure. Also left the parts that were written by Mintpaper away.




Mintpaper gave Naru some guidelines and he himself asked and answered the Questions. The Interview is from March 2008.

How did you become aware of music?

When I was little, I was a normal child listening to music at a random note. I liked national singers. During 6th class of Elementary School, I liked and listened to H.O.T., because they looked awesome…
Coming into Middle School I started to listen well to the radio. Through the music of Panic, Kim Jong Seo, Jaurim, Exhibition(전람회), Deli Spice, etc, whom I got in contact with through the radio, I became aware of the greatness of serious music(?). And at that time I also started to search and listen a lot to pop songs, as good quality pop songs were introduced a lot through the cable music broadcast channels. At the same time, the first CD of an oversea band I bought was Prodigy’s ‘Fat Of The Land’. I can remember that I heard also hardcore music like Korn or Limpbizkit that controlled the end of the 90s.
It’s different from the music I make now, but I still like them and listen to them. Because they were the bands making me to like music more seriously.



How did you started to make songs?

It seems, I started knowingly unknowingly while playing the piano in our house every time I was bored in my own way. Because I couldn’t play the piano well, I was on a level playing unskillfully ‘ddung ddang’. With that reason, didn’t I study rather primitive music than complicated music; the thought comes suddenly … (!) After that I grabbed the guitar and tried to copy this and that song, and while doing that my feeling for a part of composing grew, like arranging and the process of coding.
One day I accidentally came to buy one simple midi program where you draw the music scores with the mouse, and I started to record the songs I composed one by one. The second track on the album, ‘좋은 날’, is one of those songs I wrote that time. After being discharged from military service, I started home recording and came until here.

*the process ’좋은 날’ went through: melody 2004, lyrics 2005, concept 2006, recording 2007

Coming to play guitar for the first time?

I came to start seeing my cousin who had a school band. Seeing I got interested in the guitar, my father suddenly gave me a guitar as a present and from that day on I played like addicted to it. I even grabbed the guitar from coming from school until I slept. Later my father was so unsatisfied that he said he would throw the guitar away. I started to teach my-self through teaching materials and several music scores, and because it worked even though I was alone, I proudly continued to learn it alone. Recently I feel the limits and I start to wish to learn it properly.

Band life in University?

There were several bands in school, the band that does ignorantly metal ‘well’, the band that does beautiful songs ‘well’, and the band that was like a disordered crowd but played* ‘well’. I went into the band that plays well. The other bands were repeating blood-sweating practices and training to be good, but that didn’t fit my character. I did the band really just as if playing without any great burden and I became aware of the fun that I was able to feel while doing music.

*played as in enjoy, have fun



General explanation about your debut album

I picked out songs I gathered through the years and recorded my first album. In general the songs are linear, plain, fun and up-tempo songs. Writing the songs I always thought if they could make me move myself. Because of that it became a rather vigorous album. The biggest part are lyrics with shaky views put in them, being usually more dissatisfied than others and grumbling while in the news they say ‘this like this, that is like that’, being a character like that, those things are reflected in them. Because I am unfamiliar with love, I can’t write love songs. I want to give the few songs that got dismissed from the first album a final touch and include them in the next album.

You received recommendations from several Sunbaes, your feelings?

I’m so thankful to the many Sunbaes who supported me in a recommendation interview video. When I saw it for the first time my face flushed. I wished I would have been as hard working as I heard those praises… It will make me make music more enthusiastically.

About the album title

The album title ‘self-contradiction’ is a title that became stuck unintentionally when I was thinking ‘what have I done when the album is filled with ‘views full of childishness’?’ Because it is as if it shows that I have nothing, it suddenly became delusional. The song titles are quite simple. Looking at it now, there is no song title with more than two words. (The character that likes simple things becomes here livelier…) The title(?) I personally like is ‘나름 달려’.



The feeling when you met the musicians you adore?

I’m not someone who says a lot; I said even less. I’m of the character who talks more when I got close to someone, so when I came to meet the Hyungs and Nunas, I just didn’t know what to do. Nowadays I’m seriously considering reorganizing my character. Some days ago I met my idol Lee Juck for the first time. I gave him politely a CD. I don’t know if he heard it well.

About people liking Naru’s music

That some song or some artist becomes the vitamin of someone’s life is a wonderful thing. I am still dazzled that I came to be like that, that there are people who view my songs like that. I feel good. I want to thank every person one by one.

Thoughts about live?

I’m happy as it is performing with my songs. On one side I should do better like that…I just have such feeling of responsibility. Being the guitarkid in one corner of the room I have not really much experience in performing, so I am in the process of getting used to it. The performances get more and more exciting. *sigh* (헐헐)

Naru’s worries?

I don’t like cliché-like songs, so I tend to write the songs squeezing all out until I like them. At the climax of working I become an invalid. I am already worrying about how to pass the time when slowly the season of composing comes again. More than that, I am also worrying about how to create different colors and consistencies at the same time.

Kang Kyung Tae’s worries?

In order to make continuously music, do I have to be successful with music right from the start, should I grope for a life where I can make untiringly music through another way, I can’t get the point yet. And because I became lazier than in the old days, I want to do something in my spare time, whatever it is. If it is Reading, Studying, whatever~

Wanting to do besides doing music?

Because my feeling for sounds grew, I want to try to be active in the recording and mixing part. And also a more improved producing. I still can gather more experiences in such things, now I just want to get close to it and study hard. On the other side I am also thinking if I shouldn’t try to study painting properly again…

Interests, hobbies besides music?

I like my bike. I biked alone in my free time in the neighborhood, but some time ago my bike was stolen. It was a little, beautiful, white bike. I am awfully sad about it. With a little pride I am thinking about buying exact the same model again. Nowadays I am also practicing on the keyboard. I forgot everything I learned when I was in Elementary School, so I am trying again from the basics. If I will maybe able to also show you a performance singing while playing the keyboard…

About friends

I don’t make a lot of friends, instead one by one they are special to me. There are a lot of odd friends. Their character is strong. (So that I even feel dull when I am between them) Because they all are working eager on something, me, who is far away from ‘eagerness’, also learns a lot from them. Through the friends my horizons also got broader. They’re people I am thankful to. Especially, if it is the happy memories we made together, I like the friends I did the band with in University.

source: mintpaper