INTERVIEW Woof, woof: 'My dog is composer for new album'

By Dong Sun-hwa

Celebrities frequently appear on TV programs with their dogs, boasting how adorable the dogs are and revealing how they spend time together.

But singer-songwriter Lucid Fall has taken it a step further. On Monday, he is poised to release the unprecedented album "Nowana,” which comprises tracks "composed" by his dog, Bo-hyun. Nowana means "You and I" in Korean.

“Eighty percent of the sounds on the album have come from Bo-hyun,” Fall said during a recent interview with The Korea Times at the headquarters of his management company, Antenna. “She is a composer and I am an arranger. I will attempt to register her copyright as well.”

He added: “I collected diverse sounds that my dog gave off when she barked, scratched the door and beat her food bowl. On top of these, I also added the sounds of nature ― birds, wind and ocean ― that I heard as I took Bo-hyun for a stroll.”

But why did he bring the dog to the forefront for his ninth studio album? He revealed the first reason was to help a private dog shelter near his house.

"I once donated dog food to the shelter after making money by translating a book, but the food was not enough to feed all the canines,” Fall said. “Then, my friend, an editor, offered to publish a photo-book of Bo-hyun and use the revenue from the publication to help them again. But I wondered if people would be fond of the book featuring my dog. I also had to work on my next album. So, in the end, I decided to release an album linked to Bo-hyun.”

The musician added: “This was meaningful for her, too, because the 'DNA' of her sound could be recorded and live in eternity. I am also 100 percent assured that my dog also loves music. When she appreciates my (cozy) numbers, sometime she falls asleep within 30 seconds. Whenever I play guitar, she sits next to me and listens to the sound without blinking her eyes. Maybe she even knows she is my partner for the upcoming EP.”

Fall, 44, whose real name is Jo Yun-suk, debuted in 1998 with the album “Drifting.” He graduated from Seoul National University (SNU) in 1999 and obtained a Ph.D at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne in 2007.

Fall worked as a researcher for more than six years until he became a “full-time” musician. In 2016, he headed for Jeju Island to be a farmer. He said he was driven by “intuition” when making decisions on a career change.

Known for acoustic and nature-friendly numbers that bring solace to people, Fall doesn't release albums frequently. It usually takes about two years to come up with a new product. His latest EP, “Living small and tiny farm,” was released in 2017. Asked about the rationale behind the time gap, the musician said: “Two years is actually not enough.”

“If I drop an EP in December, I will chill out for the next one or two months and then begin working again. I buy and practice new instruments, listen to lectures on YouTube, go abroad and collect necessary data, compose the songs, record them and do mixing and mastering. This is quite a tight schedule,” he said.

He also needs to do his farm work daily. In particular, during the summer season, he wakes at 3:30 p.m. to take care of his tangerines and lemons. The morning is sizzling, so Fall begins his job in the afternoon and labors until late night. Then he returns home to work on his music.

Thanks to his efforts, his tangerines this year are tasty and healthy. His lemons are not yet ready to harvest.

In general, the interview was cozy. Eating pesticide-free tangerines he had grown and listening to his yet-to-be released songs, the reporters felt at home during an hour of talk. But Fall's intriguing stories about his music and life did not allow them to doze off.

The singer-songwriter rounded off the interview by disclosing his hope.

“I want to expand my musical horizon,” Fall said. “Some people would find my music style odd if it keeps changing, but what's more crucial for me is how I walk my own path. If I liken myself to a painter, I want to add more paints to my palette so that I can enjoy doing music for a long time.”