About Shin Joong Hyun : "My Job is to Make Rock Music in Korean Style"
A clock hangs upside down on the wall of the underground studio where Shin Joong-hyun writes and plays music. It is a world where he wishes time ran backward so that he could make music for another lifetime. Often dubbed the godfather of Korean rock 'n' roll, Shin says his job is combining rock and traditional Korean music in a way that can be shared by everyone in the world - a job that may not be completed in his lifetime. But he took a giant step in this direction when he released an album in February this year. It is titled after Kim Sat-Kat, a 19th century itinerant poet famous for wearing a conical hat made of roughly woven reed which covered his entire face. Shin wrote and sang all of the 19 songs on the album. The song lyrics are Kim's poems which were originally written in Chinese and have been translated into Korean by Shin. The songs have the rhythm of rock music rendered in the five-note scale of the traditional Korean music. Shin, who also plays guitar capable of producing sounds similar to those made by Korean musical instruments specially built.
"We should create our own music and culture," he said.
"To me, the job is to make rock music in a Korean style. I hope my album will promote our culture in other countries."
The album came more than two decades after he was inspired by the poet who wandered around Korea, writing poems, many of them satirical.
Until the mid-1970s, he wrote hit songs and trained singers like Kim Chu-ja, Chang Hyun and the Pearl Sisters who rose to stardom with his songs. But his musical career plunged into the abyss when he refused to write a song praising President Park Chung Hee, who took power in a 1961 military coup. He was subsequently placed on a surveillance list. Police officers harassed him, questioned him about what kind of music he was writing and playing, prevented him from holding live concerts and even cut his long hair short. He was constantly trailed by plain clothes policeman. At that time, he began to identify with the poet Kim, whose family was persecuted after his grandfather, a county chief, surrendered to rebels in 1811. Disillusioned with the sociopolitical system of the Choson Dynasty, which did not permit members of such disgraced families to hold govern-mental posts, Kim left home at the age of 20 or so and wandered around Korea writing cynical and sarcastic poems about the corruption of government officials, human greediness, the capriciousness of the wealthy and other social ills. The 60-year-old Shin said in a recent interview with Herald Week that he was fascinated by Kim's poems because they were short, simple, with and satirical. Unlike most poems which do not translate smoothly into song, lyrics, he said, Kim's poems became livelier when they were combined with music.
"It was as if they were written to be made into songs," he said. Before writing music for the lyrics, Shin traveled to the places that the poet visited some 150 years before. He also visited the poet's grave. After the tour he felt inspired to write songs in honor of the poet. He said,"It felt like magic that I could sing and play Kim's poems." He said he believes rock's rhythm, the five-note Korean scale and the sound of traditional Korean musical instruments will appeal to the Korean sentiment when they are put together though they may not be a perfect match.
He is planning to hold concerts both in Korea and abroad to test the musical combination on Korean audience and then foreigners. "Korean music, which resembles natural sounds like wind, rain and thunder, mingles well with other musical genres (like rock)." he said.
Shin started his musical career when he played guitar at the U.S.army base in Seoul in the 1950's. He liked rock because it had a strong beat and contained elements of blues and country music. Rock'n'roll is all the more appealing to him because it began as a revolt against the establishment in the 1960's, he added.
On his 40th anniversary as a musician last year, Shin received a tribute album from young Korean rock musician, the first in Korean musical history. The young musicians, who included Shin's three sons, also held a concert in his honor. Shin said he hopes young Korean musicians will create their own music that has emotional depth and inner strength. "Our traditional music may sound too simple. But if you listen to it again and again, you will feel its depth," he said."We need to establish our own culture before jumping to adopt Western culture."
-Herald Week 1998. Interview by Kim se-yoon-
