Brad Wheeler, Seoul's prolific producer

Brad Wheeler / Courtesy of Brad Wheeler

Canadian-born producer Brad Wheeler has been recording Korean artists professionally for over a decade.

His work ranges from obscure and emerging indie bands to some of K-pop's A-list names. Along the way, many of the acts he has been involved with have continued to gain awards and nominations.

"This is going to sound crazy," Wheeler explained to The Korea Times from his impressive recording studio, furnished with top-notch equipment surrounded by musical instruments: "I never ever planned any of this."

Although his career in music wasn't planned, his interest in recording sound started from a very young age. "I've never studied music; I can't even read music," he said. "I've always loved playing with audio, though. My first attempt at anything was when I was a kid. My brothers and I would use my tape deck to record Saturday morning cartoons like Scooby Doo. I'd play with the audio to rewrite the script and make the characters say stupid stuff like 'Hey, Scooby, you suck.' I was about 8 at the time."

Growing up in the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland, Wheeler continued building on his passion for music and developing his skills. At 13, he started going to all-ages grunge shows where he and his best friend Chad thought, "These bands are not that good; we could do this!" That was the impetus for starting their first band. Wheeler worked with a number of acts and even found some moderate success — competition wins, radio plays and high-profile performances.

"At around 29," he said, "I had started to doubt what I was doing with my life. My friends were moving on in life and their careers. They were buying homes while I was struggling to pay rent and eat as a working musician. I had been working in music from my teenage years and all through my 20s. I had put all of my time and energy into music for as long as I could remember."

Chad, his childhood friend and ex-bandmate, had been living in Seoul at the time. In a late-night conversation across international lines, Chad convinced Wheeler to visit Korea and crash on his couch. This was around 2007.

"I had never thought about or even considered living in Korea up until that point," Wheeler said. "I made a split decision and decided to go. I don't even know why. I just felt like I needed a change. So I sold what little I had and bought a plane ticket with about $800 to spare. I packed a single knapsack with the bare essentials and a guitar, microphone and a recording interface. Shortly after arriving, I met a Korean girl, and three years later, we married. Korea has been my home ever since.

Wheeler immediately got involved in Seoul's live music community, setting the scene for his later work. "I started hosting a weekly open mic night at Woodstock in Itaewon," he said. "At the time, I was making music for myself and others in my small apartment and my friend's storage space, which is now the bar called Living Room in HBC. I would make a recording for one friend, and that would lead to the next."

He was later affiliated with Loose Union, a collective of musicians and other creatives that was a big part of the foreign community between 2012 and 2016), recording his own band as well as others on the label. "Again… none of this was planned or thought out loud," he said. "It just happened."

Fast-forward a few years and, working with his then partner and Kim Jin-ho of the band SG Wannabe, Wheeler opened Union Studios, where he still records and produces artists today.

At Union, Wheeler has worked with some famous names, the likes of Lee Hi, SG Wannabe, Sunwoo Jung-A, IU, So!YoON!, Yoon Do-hyun, Jang Ki-ha and The Barberettes, for whom he was also the drummer. "I almost mixed music for Jannabi, too," he said. "I had recorded drums for their really early demos before they were known or famous. They later approached me to mix their EP, but at the time, I was so busy with other projects I said I couldn't do it. Last week, I saw they played a show at Wembley Stadium in London. So, yeah, it's fair to say that's one of my regrets."

Wheeler has also worked on some famous names from outside of Korea. "I got to play guitar on a song with Marty Friedman from Megadeth. I also got to play drums on a song with him, too. That was a big moment for me. I was also lucky enough to work on an album and play shows with Stuart Zender from Jamiroquai — also known for his work with D'Angelo, Stevie Wonder, Gorillaz and Mark Ronson," he said. "Twenty years before that, I was a fan and was covering his band's songs in clubs. It is crazy to think about. Even Unknown Mortal Orchestra booked out a week at the studio while they were on tour to work on new music."

Having worked with so many celebrated performers over the years, it should come as no surprise that his work has been well-represented at awards shows. The first time an artist he produced won an award was in 2014 when Sunwoo Jung-A picked up Best Pop Song and Best Album at the Korean Music Awards. His work has been nominated in multiple categories, including folk and rock, for artists such as Yangbans, Monoban and The Barberettes. Most recently, OHCHILL's album received nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Rock Song; the ceremony takes place on Feb. 29.

"It's not like awards in other countries, though," Wheeler explains. "In the U.S., even if you were just an assistant on a Grammy-nominated record, then you receive some kind of recognition for your involvement. If you're the producer, recording, mixing or mastering engineer, you usually get a plaque or something. In Korea, there isn't anything like that. There is only one trophy that goes to the artist. Mostly, though, I am happy to see some stuff I've worked on getting recognition, and, of course, I am ecstatic to see the artists who wrote the music getting awards."

Being a producer, Wheeler has witnessed the global explosion of K-pop firsthand, and it's something he has occasionally found hard to believe. "It's pretty wild, don't you think?" he said. "I remember when I first got here, I was watching Korean news, and there was some news coverage of a K-pop show in France. There were so many people, and they were all going absolutely nuts. My initial reaction was skeptical, and I told my wife that it must be propaganda. I don't mean that as a criticism of the music, but it just seemed unbelievable that this quirky pop in the Korean language was connecting to so many people internationally."

A few years later, he found himself in Austin, Texas, playing drums for the "K-Pop Night Out" showcase at South by Southwest (SXSW). "We were doing soundcheck at 10 a.m. for a show at 5 p.m., and even at that time, there was a line around the block," he said. "That's when I realized, God, this is real!"

Wheeler believes the K-pop phenomenon is a great thing for Korean music and hopes that it can one day help elevate Korean artists from different genres, too. "It's putting a spotlight on Korea in a big way," he said. "And then there are gonna be a lot of people who are gonna pay attention to what's happening here. It's gonna also open up opportunities for great Korean bands in genres other than K-pop!"

Supporting independent artists is a big part of Wheeler's ethos and something he strives to do as much as possible. Just over the last few months, he has worked with some of the indie scene's most exciting names. Artists like Wedance, Omar and The Eastern Power, Damons Year, Pop Ents, OHCHILL, Eundohee and more have all recorded music at Union Studios. It's no surprise that Wheeler has become one of the most-sought-after producers in Korea's alternative community.

Wheeler insists his approach remains the same no matter what he is working on. "I'm not here to put my stamp on the music," he explained, "or my preferences. I'm here to offer a service to people, to help them achieve their vision. Every artist is completely different and wants different things; they're not divided by genre lines or fame lines. The difficulty is trying to interpret what people want. This job is a bit like being a psychologist or a translator. A musician will say something like, 'I want it to sound like I'm drinking a pina colada on the beach while it's raining.' I have to try to decipher what that means and convert it into sounds that match. Much of music production is often akin to being a problem solver. Each song is sometimes like a puzzle you need to figure out."

Respecting an artist's vision extends beyond helping them achieve their ideal sound, though. According to Wheeler, recognizing that, while this may be your 10th gig in a week, it can be the single most important thing for the artist you're working with. "It's interesting because you always have to remember that when you're recording someone's music, you may be working on something they have poured their soul into, something they have worked on for years. You may have recorded dozens of songs that week. But this is a huge deal for them. I always try to do my best and handle it with care."

He continued, "As a result of that sort of dynamic, you can often develop really intense bonds between the producer and the artist. You're working so closely with somebody for long hours on something that is the most important thing to them. Songs are often like children to artists. Artists need to know they can trust their kids with you."

And, are there times when he just can't get the sound perfect, no matter how much he tries?

"God, all the time," he answered. "There have been so many times, man. I cannot count how many times I was just so deep into something and trying my best to make it awesome. And then spending a day at it, like, 10 hours, 12 hours. Then you come in the next morning and listen to it and think... 'This sounds horrible.' When you're mixing something, you make thousands of choices to get to the finish line. Sometimes, you make mistakes and take a wrong turn. In that case, you turn the car around and start again. It is all a part of the process of learning and getting better at what you do. You have to be pretty good at failing in order to make any real progress."

As for the future, Wheeler says that the birth of his daughter has changed everything. "I have a little girl who is 3 now," he said. "It has changed my life in many ways. I'm living and loving a dad life now, going to bed early, getting up early and taking care of her. I used to work day and night. 16-hour days, seven days a week. These days, when someone asks me to record at night, I often say no. I just don't want to do it. I've never been someone who thinks about the future, and in many ways, I'm still not. I only think and care about the future of my family."

In the meantime, Wheeler is happy to keep working with so many amazing artists as well as being an artist himself. He is currently a member of several bands. His newest is othersmayforgetyoubutnoti, a new wave-inspired alt band which he drums for.

Follow @wheelermusic on Instagram.

Jamie Finn is chief editor of Platform Magazine.