[NEWS] 100611
Interview with Record Producer Yoo Young-jin

(omitted)

10: You have written lyrics that criticize society. And some people are critical of you using such lyrics for commercial music sung by idol groups.

Yoo Young-jin: There are many love songs that contain trendy words. So from the start, I was thinking that I want to try something a bit different. When TVXQ or H.O.T. sing such songs, people would enjoy their singing and dancing in the beginning but start hearing what they're actually saying after a few times, and I thought some may even become interested in what message the lyrics are delivering. I tried "O-正.反.合." because Mr. Lee Soo-man was telling me that he really hopes I use it one day when talking about changes in society. I thought that I could be able to provide somewhat of a different angle if someone looking at their performance starts taking interest in social issues he or she had not been interested in and decides to look it up on the Internet. I wasn't aiming at changing society through the songs -- I just wanted to say something through the lyrics. And I am aware of the likes and dislikes when it comes to such lyrics.

(omitted)

10: But I think you should control that level of shock since you make music to be sung by idol groups. What do you take into consideration when you give them songs?

Yoo: It depends on the team. With Super Junior, I think they're a team which is better to go for their mass appeal by mixing in a bit of wit into their performances. I wanted create a song which is both equally fun and easy to listen to which is when I came up with "Sorry Sorry." f(x) is just a year into their debut but the first time I heard "Nu ABO," I thought it was very shocking and advanced. So while commercial success is important, I thought people would be shocked if we took on a new and erratic attempt. The company thought the same way about it too.

10: What about the five-member boy bands like H.O.T., TVXQ and SHINee?

Yoo: H.O.T. was a very young group back then so I wanted to write about their normal lives. They had little experience in life but were full of energy, and while there was so much they want to do, there actually wasn't much they really could do so they would be dissatisfied. So I wanted to express them in the state of having an aggressive attitude. And I thought that at one point, I wanted H.O.T. to seem colossal. They were the first idol group to hold a concert at the Jamsil Main Statium and I wanted them to look big for when they do something like that. For their song "I Yah!" I thought of a man in a black trenchcoat, like in "The Matrix," walking alone in the desert and I wrote it thinking that they would get to show it on a big stage.

10: I think HOT and TVXQ must be similar when it comes to the fact that they both stood on big stages and gave strong performances.

Yoo: TVXQ is really good when it comes to singing and dancing so I wanted to have them try a variety of things. I felt that they would be able to pull off big performances in particular, like H.O.T. did. And "Rising Sun" was where that all came together -- it's a song through which my hopes came true. It was the first time during my ten years of composing dance numbers that everything, from the choreography to the vocals to the dancing skills, interlocked perfectly. After that, I gave them "Tonight," wondering whether they would be able to pull that off too because it has to be sung on a very wide range of notes. But they were really good at that too. (laugh) I got excited so I came up with some ad libs spontaneously which they also pulled off too. That's when I told myself that I can try whatever I want with this kids (laugh) so I started coming up with songs which would maximize the abilities each member has. With SHINee, I thought it would be better to add in some easy parts rather than make their songs too difficult or aggressive. I also did it because I studied writing melodies with limited chords while I was pursuing my solo career, and it turns out it fits better with recent trends.

(omitted)

10: What's your goal as a musician?

Yoo: Up till now, I've rejected requests for interviews or short filmings of me teaching TVXQ. And I plan on not doing any more after this one. I prefer to continue doing my work in my own corner. If a singer is the main character, I want the focus to be on them, not on me for being their producer. I want to be a helper to SM and all of its singers. A helper who always does everything that he's been given to do. I think I'd be very happy if I could sit down in a studio even when I'm eighty and still be creating rhythms.

Senior Reporter : Kang Myoung-Seok two@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@
<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>

Source: 10asia.co.kr: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Shared by: OneTVXQ.com { One World. One Red Ocean. One TVXQ }
Feel free to repost, but please leave full credits intact!