[translation] Interview with Hitchhiker - from Solo Artist to SM Entertainment Composer. 10Asia, September 2014

Again, instead of doing a myriad of other things I should be doing, I came across a very interesting interview that 10Asia did with SM Entertainment's resident composer, Hitchhiker. I already knew that he was formerly known as Jinu of modern rock band Roller Coaster (with the lovely Jo Won Sun and enigmatic Lee Sang Soon - perhaps most well-known now as the husband of Lee Hyori), but I didn't know much else about him. Then, when he dropped the puzzling video for his "Eleven" few days ago, I was completely, utterly fascinated by the whole deal. What is this disturbing sound? What is this modern art gallery art video aesthetic of the music video? What was this song that people were claiming as the Illuminati's trap? In the interview below which I have translated, he explains and makes sense of a lot of things behind the bizarre project. Among other things, like how Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" came to be, or how he became an SM composer.

Some highlights from the interview include: how he created the music video for "Eleven" by himself; the disturbing ababa sound in the song being his 3 year-old daughter's voice; how if Krystal, or any other SM artists, weren't so busy, we wouldn't have this gem of a track...

Check out the interview below the cut.



Oh! Hitchhiker! Who are You?
Hitchhiker interviewed by Kwon Suk Jung for 10Asia, September 19 2014

[translation] "I'm Not Drunk" E-Sens, GQ Korea, September 2014

Despite being behind on all the other things I could be doing right now, I got really into this recent interview E-Sens did with GQ Korea and decided to translate it for all the E-Sens fans out there. Or any international Korean hip-hop fans, really. He brings up a lot of interesting points - from Show Me The Money 3 to what he thought of Swings' comments on him. (Spoiler: E-Sens pretty much tells Swings to shut the hell up and mind his own fucking business.)

I also learned a lot about E-Sens as an artist and a person - definitely surprised me to find out that he actually doesn't like his hit "Poison" at all. (Ironic, because I think it's one of his best.)

He offers a lot more insight into his upcoming first official solo album, Anecdote, which does not have a set release date yet. But he's said that it'll be out by the end of the year. I'm just praying that it'll live up to the expectations, because through what he's said from this interview, it sounds like the best thing he'll ever put out.

This is a long interview, and a rather rambling one at that, so it may not make sense at times. Please do let me know if you want clarification on certain parts.

“I’m Not Drunk”
E-Sens, interviewed by Yoo Ji Sung for GQ Korea, September 2014

E-Sens has returned solo. He may like alcohol, but he isn’t planning on getting drunk on fame.

[translation] Interview with Nell for Paper magazine June 2012

Decided to post it here because there's a lot of text and it'd be easier to read it here (and easier to format for me, too). This interview was so long! 6 page spread, but when I was typing it out on Word it was 10 pages. Yikes. It took me almost three hours to translate and edit, but it was worthwhile because this interview needs to get out there. There are so many memorable moments in this interview, and you really see their personalities behind each word they say. Highly, highly recommended read for all Nell fans.
I fixed the formatting mistakes that were present in the interview (such as wrong line breaks, typos on names), and the bracketed question mark that might appear is not mine but the interviewer's. Anything in brackets are from the original article, any awkward "haha"s and "bahahahaha"s were originally in the interview as well. Please do let me know if there's any mistakes or parts that are vague.
Credits and rules or whatnot are at the very end! :) Enjoy.



It's been 4 years since we last saw Nell on stage. The absence after the members enrolled for their military service in 2008 was unexpectedly long; even the die-hard fans were forced to wait for a long period of time. And this April, just the way we remembered them, Nell came back with sad but heartwarming, lonely but beautiful music. Now their ages starts with a 3 and not a 2, and faced with such a change, Nell seems to see "the things that slip away and disappear with time". Their fifth album "Slip Away" still walks in memories like their previous songs. But the Nell we met in person was not a band that dwelled in the past. Members Kim Jongwan (vocal), Lee Jaekyung (guitar), Jung Jaewon (drum) and Lee Junghoon (bass), all born in 1980, had a great sense of humour and the whole interview was fun and even a bit racy (?). Although they dominate the stage with their seriousness, in person they were willing to sacrifice their integrity for a joke, and from the get-go we could see that they led a very fascinating lifestyle.