INTERVIEW Singer-songwriter Ku One-chan seeks new direction in honest music

Ku One-chan is a 26-year-old singer-songwriter who released the album “Log” on Sept. 20. Courtesy of Magic Strawberry Sound.

By Jung Hae-myoung

Singer-songwriter Ku One-chan is currently seeking his identity in the middle of the road. With R&B music, sweet melodies and a hint of indie-like lyrics, critics acknowledge his music is unique in the Korean music scene.

The way he appeared for a Korea Times interview on Wednesday at the cafe in Magic Strawberry Music Company resembled his music. He was there with a simple white T-shirt, a pure and simple image that he wanted to present through his music.

For his new mini-album “Log,” he said he tried to show his daily life and feelings that people can relate to. Many musical experiments also stood out in terms of melody and skits.

“To be simple, it's like a diary,” Ku said. “Rather than putting my personal emotions in there, I tried to make my own songs that can appeal to listeners, although people are in different situations,” Ku said.

His songs “We Need” and “Dear Regret” are about the need for rest as most of the times people are overwhelmed by uneasiness and regrets while searching for new ideas. These emotions were rarely discussed.

“I really needed rest when I made those songs, and I wanted to even contain this feeling in my music when I produced 'We Need,'” Ku said. “Despite this, I was restless because I was preoccupied with various things that I had to do. I asked myself when I felt comfortable, and realized that I felt it when I hang out my friends. This caused me to come up with the funky melody.”

He said uneasiness causes restlessness.

Ku says song "Our Spot" is made for the fans. He wanted to write a song that he and the fans can both satisfy and meet at one point. Courtesy of Magic Strawberry Music

“In my first album, there is a song titled 'Planet,' which is also a narrative that I am taking throughout my albums. It's a song about a boy traveling around the planet to find a flower. For me, flower means success and happiness,” he said. “But I feel like I haven't found it yet, causing me to consider rest a luxury.”

For “Dear Regret” Ku tries to personify regret. Ku and Sunwoo Jung-A perform the music just as a person is obsessed with their past regrets ― whether they are about ex-lovers or blunders they cannot forget.

“When I first wrote this song, I didn't necessarily think of regret. It can be any other subject, but regret suits it the most with the lyrics,” he said.

Yet he says most of his songs are about finding emotional balance which Ku also aims to achieve.

“The fact that I am writing a song about finding inner peace means that I am not in that state at the moment. People do not have regrets because they want to ― it is against their will,” he said. “My songs are mostly idealistic because I cannot achieve that in reality.”

Pointing to the coffee cup next to him, he said: “People usually are able to fill a third of this cup on their own and they try to fill the rest with something new through their future endeavors. I do that too with my music. I have still a long way to go but still try to fill the cup,” he said.

For the song "Dear Regret," he wanted senior singer whom he can respect to take the role of "regret." Courtesy of Magic Strawberry Sound

Although with his sweet R&B melodies, his lyrics are not so naive. He said there is “a must” that he and fellow musicians should think of.

His song “A Must Do” tells there are some things that “someone should do” and that they should suggest a new direction.

When asked who should suggest the new direction, Ku said artists like him.

“People tend to dig deeper as they listen to different kinds of music. Artists also dig deeper to find and produce new music each and every time. But there are still some points that remain and recur at the same point. The reason could be something realistic like money,” Ku noted.

“In the Korean music scene, the charts are mostly dominated by ballads. There are so many different music genres in the world, but why is only one genre consumed while others are regarded as underground or indie?” Ku said.

“I think people aware of these problems tend to find something new every time. There is a yearning among artists to make new things, and that is something that someone should do eventually.”

Ku says he is naturally curious about people and studying them. Courtesy of Magic Strawberry Sound

Ku himself is at a crossroads between indie and R&B.

“My music is a mixture of genres; externally it sounds like pop or R&B music but the lyrics are very Korean,” Ku said, adding that his melodies are mostly influenced by Stevie Wonder and his songwriting from Yoo Jae-ha, a famous folk singer in the 1980s.

“In the indie scene I feel like I am a mixture,” Ku said. “When I released 'How Did You,' and 'Don't Be Sad,' I was confused. I could not deny that the songs really suit me, but I wanted to do something else,” Then I tried a song that was more like a deep hip-hop, but had poor reaction, which made me confused even more,” he said. He compared the album to “The Avengers” saying that this is the end of page one in his music career.

“This album especially is at the borderline between hip-hop and indie music. The producers are all from the hip-hop scene, and the lyrics I wrote are densely indie,” Ku said. “So I am thinking that I should just chose one of the genres and confirm my route in music.”

Although he says he is a person who seeks stability, his music life has been one of continuous experimentation.

Starting music at age 18, he was originally in a hip-hop team, then separated to make his own songs in the indie scene. Rather than singing about money, cars and women, he wanted to find something that felt more genuine to him, and thus changed to suit his true personality.

“I cannot be sure of my next move. I have been listening to the songs that I wrote from 2013 to 2017, some of which were good enough to put into an album and some not,” he said.

“But I can be sure it will be more innocent than before and more sentimental. I think I will take a more honest approach to music, with minimal instruments and purely vocal.”

In the Korean music scene where beats and lyrics are “too much” to handle, simplicity and honesty may be the new direction.