“To be a producer to Rain, the Wonder Girls, and G.O.D means to create an image. It’s not a matter of music, but it’s an image that already exists within the person that you have to find. Once you find it, you build it up through consistency. You have to engrave it into the minds of the public.” On the afternoon of January 3, Singer & Producer Park JinYoung (37) gave a special lecture on the topic of “What does it mean to be a producer?” at an Art Hole in NohnHyungDong. The lecture was heard by students of K-Note—a tutoring school for music run by producer Kim HyungSuk—and members of the public. It is a well-known fact that Kim HyungSuk served as a mentor to a young Park JinYoung while Park was just entering the mainstream music industry in 1992 as a student at YonSei University. While Park JinYoung (JYP) cited his protégés—group G.O.D, Rain, and the group Wonder Girls—as examples in revealing his producing methods, 200 aspiring musicians listened closely in the audience, periodically applauding. JYP told the audience, “I first applied image marketing to G.O.D. I saw them in their IlSan dormitory and they weren’t living like stars at all. Seeing them, the image of plain cooked rice came to mind. You can’t live without rice. So I worked to create a warm, comfortable image for them, one that brings the idea of ‘mother and son’ to mind. They sang and we signed them up to star in the TV program ‘Child Care Diary’ where they would help raise a child.” With Rain and the Wonder Girls, JYP stated that he considered differing images when planning to increase the entertainers’ star power. “Rain was the first singer in our management company to look like a real star. We could readily make music and songs that would have mainstream appeal, but even if the songs weren’t hits our main goal was to discover: ‘What could we do to make this person appear cooler and shine brighter?’ The focus of his image was star-quality and we worked to make music, wardrobe, and dances that weren’t easy to follow. Rain received a top music award for in 2004 and he received it because even though no one could sing along to the song, he still shined as a person.” He added, “Rain is very smart and he knew when to use that to his advantage or not. I was worried he’d become conceited if I complimented him a lot, so for the first time I acted mean towards someone under our management. Even then, he still didn’t use his brain to scheme but threw himself into his practicing instead. Speaking man to man, he’s very impressive.” On the contrary, “The Wonder Girls are cute and loveable to anyone who sees them. That’s why we made songs and dances that are easy to sing-along to and follow. That’s how they came to be graced with the title of ‘National Little Sisters.’” “When I come back from the US and get in the recording studio, the Wonder Girls will return from finishing their daily schedule and say, ‘We’ve missed you.’ At those words alone, all the fatigue just melts away,” JYP added with a laugh. Finally, he concluded by addressing the importance of people over the music they make. “I have more interest in people than in music. Even when I’m picking singers I choose the people I like rather than those who just excel in their singing and dancing ability. I’ve found that if they are beautiful in my eyes then the public seems to find them beautiful as well.” Source: sunmijjang Credit: Hankooki Translated by: ppopki@wgspectacle
