FEATURE｜. Lee Lang's unconventional way of making music.
Interview with Lee Lang.
Lee Ran's , unconventional way of making music.
Comic artist, filmmaker, and singer/songwriter . With such diverse talents, Lee Ran has been attracting attention in the Korean art/music scene. Her natural songwriting sense and witty lyrics have been highly acclaimed, and her debut album "Yong Yong Soon" has been featured not only in music magazines but also in GQ, NYLON, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and many other magazines, making her an instant sensation. She has visited Japan many times. She has visited Japan many times to perform with artists such as Satoko Shibata, Wang Shu, and Alfred Beach Sandal, and she has a strong affinity with the Japanese indie scene and a rapidly growing fan base in Japan. She has released two Japanese albums, "God Gokko" and "Yong Yong Soon," and her Japanese has improved considerably. Without the help of an interpreter, she spoke freely about her unique career and her free approach to music.
I understand that you studied film before doing music.
Lee RanI quit high school at 16 and painted , but it was like a hobby. So I decided to study at an art college, but the test for the painting course was difficult. . But the test for the film course seemed easy, so I took it and was accepted.
What kind of test was it?
Lee RanI was asked to create a synopsis based on a newspaper murder case, who killed him, why, and how. But I didn't know what "synopsis" meant, and when I raised my hand to ask, they looked at me like, "What are you asking? I raised my hand and asked him, but he looked at me like, "What are you asking me?
If you're going to take the exam, you should know at least that.
Lee RanYes . I didn't know, so I sat there doing nothing, and the examiner's assistant couldn't see me and told me. He said, "A synopsis is about writing a story."
It's amazing that you got accepted. . even though you didn't study for the exam. . even though I didn't study for the exam.
Lee RanI was at a national university of arts, where many people had to prepare for years to get in, so everyone else was at a different level than I was. . although everyone takes film making seriously. . I stayed in school for 8 years, taking breaks and going back again.
Eight years! So you started playing music when you were in college?
Lee RanYes . One of my assistants in the film course was a musician and sang at school events. The song was so interesting that I covered it and wrote songs using the same chords.
What kind of music did you listen to in your private life?
Lee RanI didn't listen to much music, and when I got a boyfriend, I listened to what he recommended. If he was a DJ, I would listen to Daft Punk or something like that. If he liked indie music, I would listen to indie music. If he was an anime fan, I would listen to anime songs (laughs). . I didn't listen to them because I liked them, so I just played them (as background music) while I was at work. My favorite singer is Julie Andrews. I have loved "Mary Poppins" since I was a child.
I see. I thought Lee Ran's singing style was rock and not folk, but her roots were in musicals.
Lee RanMy mom's sister lives in Canada, and she sent me videos of Disney musical movies and such. But I couldn't read the subtitles, so I just listened to the songs. I think Disney had the biggest influence on my music.
So your melodies are simple and your singing style is not peculiar. I heard that your first album "Yong Yong Soon" was recorded at your home. ......
Lee RanI made it at school . . because I lived at the school.
What, at school?
Lee Ran. my school tuition was so high that I didn't have the money to rent an apartment. Since I was paying so much money, why not live at the school? . So I decided to sleep in the school's studio. Then I decided to sleep in the school's studio, and the electricity and gas were free. . I can use the computer and heater 24 hours a day, so it's super easy (laughs). I put a washing machine that someone gave me in the school bathroom and did my laundry with it, used the school's showers, and ate my meals in the school cafeteria. ......
What did you do with your personal belongings?
Lee RanI kept everything in the studio. I got a bunk bed and slept on it . I borrowed desks and chairs that I didn't use at school, and when I wanted to read a book, I went to the library and read.
Didn't the school get mad at you for doing that?
Lee RanWe had a huge fight! (Laughs) . But , I was paying a lot of money for school.
That's true, but (laughs) .
Lee RanWhy don't you all just live in the school (laughs).
So you were writing songs while sleeping and waking up at school?
Lee RanYes, it is. Every film major buys a MacBook in their first year. I got one too, and it had Garage Band on it, and after I learned how to use it, recording was super fun. I played guitar, layered songs to make choruses, and added piano and drum sounds on the keyboard. If I wanted to include the sound of rain or wind, I would record it like this (opening the MacBook and pointing it outward). For a song called "Pi Pi Pi Pi," I wanted to record the sound of dolphins, so I went to the school's editing room to find dolphin sounds and recorded them. But my MacBook is old, and it runs out of charge quickly. . so I can only record as far as the MacBook's cord will go (laughs).
Are your songwriting methods also self-directed?
Lee RanAlways improvising. The lyrics and the melody come out at the same time. . First I would sing it, then I would arrange it, record it, and give it to my friends. . When I felt like singing, I would carry an amp and sing in front of the school cafeteria.
So it was completely DIY. . When it came to your new work, "God Gokko", you began to work in a session format with a musician.
Lee RanPeople came in - (laughs).
Is that of your own volition?
Lee RanWith "Yong Yong Soon," I released it as a demo tape. Because the label said, "Let's release it as is. But for "God Gokko" he said, "Let's record it properly this time. I thought, "I don't understand. Why do we need to have a session when I can do it all by myself?" . But the label said, "It would be even better if you play it with real instruments," so I did it anyway, and it was really great. It's great to have people playing! (Laughs.) .
. But when you work with other people, it creates a communication problem, doesn't it? Have you been successful in communicating the music you want to play to professional musicians?
Lee Ran. I don't know much about music. Even now, when I practice with the band, it's hard for me to order the members around, "How am I going to explain this?" But I can do it somehow. I would say something like, "Do it like Thunderlight (lightning)," and I would explain it in various ways. When I explain it with an image like that, they are all musicians, so they will say something technical like, "For this song, isn't the BPM 75? They would think professionally, "For this song, isn't the BPM 75? It's a very strange feeling. Films are the same way. I write the story, and the director takes pictures based on the story. I write the story, the cinematographer shoots it, the actors act it out, and it all comes together to make a movie. . It's not like it's mine, even though it was born from my own image. It's new, but it's like mine . . and the music is the same as in the movie when you do it with a band. I thought, "Wow! I love it.
. the world expands beyond my imagination.
Lee Ran. yes, yes. Wonder, wonder .
The cello has a large presence in "God's Play," but did you have the instrumentation in mind from the beginning?
Lee Ran. most of the songs on this album were garage band demos. There is also a cello that I put on keyboards on that demo , and drums. When I wrote the songs for this album, I had lost interest in the guitar.
Why?
Lee RanWhen I started playing music, I didn't know a chord . Once I figured out one chord, I would write hundreds of songs with just that chord. But once I figured out all the chords, I lost interest. Fingerings are difficult, so I didn't really want to do it (laughs). . So for this album, I thought about writing songs without a guitar. Just when I was writing the songs, I was teaching composition to elementary school students, and since they couldn't use instruments, they would make up songs from rhythms like hand clapping, or in a playful way. Some of the songs on this album were written that way.
You were a music teacher?
Lee RanWhen "Yong Yong Soon" came out, I was extremely poor, my savings account balance was zero, and I wondered what I was going to do. When I asked people who had heard "Yong Yong Soon" what they thought of it, many of them said, "Lee Ran's music is like children's music. . because the chords and melodies are easy. So I decided to make a children's album with kids, and I made a curriculum for it and showed it to an elementary school teacher I knew, and he gave me a job to teach a class to make an album over the course of a year. . I ended up doing it with all the classes in that grade. It was very tiring, but the class was very interesting!
I think Mr. Lee Ran would be popular with kids.
Lee RanYup . I'm like a superstar (laughs). I only came once a week, so when I went to class, the kids would look out the window and say, "Wow, Mr. Lee Ran!" and waved at me. . They also wrote me letters and commented on the class in the class newspaper. After this class, I also taught middle and high school students and adults.
It must be hard to deal with adults.
Lee Ran. At first I thought it was impossible. There was a school that taught film making to the general public, and a graduate of the art college from which I graduated was the teacher. There was a class at the school that was not about film, and I was told, "Why don't you teach composition? He said, "Why don't you teach composition? I said, "No, no, no," but he said, "Try it, try it. So I decided to teach them my way, and they were all able to write songs, and I gained confidence. They said, "You don't have to have any technical knowledge."
. it must be fun for the average person to be able to write songs without playing an instrument.
Lee RanIt seems that many people quit school because it was hard for them to learn guitar chords. But in my class, learning chords is not important. If you learn one chord, you can make a lot of songs. . That's why my class has become so popular and continues to this day.
If you don't have to play an instrument or have expertise, what is the most important thing in making music?
Lee Ran. is to tell my story. My class has homework each week, and each of us has to find a sound that we like. It doesn't have to be the sound of an instrument .
. for example, the sound of a chair creaking.
Lee Ran. yes, yes. Find the sound you like. That way, even if I play the same chord on the guitar, everyone sings a different song. In class, first I play one chord and ask everyone to sing it in a small voice. Then I say, "Well, everyone sing louder," and everyone sings a different melody, and it becomes a harmony, which surprises everyone. I believe that music is here (points to his head), and I can create it freely. But as I study in school, people say, "That's not music," and more and more (my unique musicality) gets cut off. . But there is something lying dormant in their hearts that they want to sing, so I teach them how to search for it in class. Kids can do several songs in a day, but it takes adults about two months to write one song. There is a huge gap.
I guess when you grow up, you develop a framework in your mind that says, "This is what music is all about. Also, I have a desire to make good music.
Lee Ran. or trying to sing a song like your favorite artist. . it's so hard to find a song that I really want to sing, poor thing.
By the way, "Playing God" comes with a thick booklet. What made you decide on those special specifications?
Lee RanThis album had a lot of lyrics. So the previous album (lyric cards) were handwritten, but this time, when I typed them, the amount of text increased. . Then, I decided to make a booklet combining essays and diaries I wrote when I was writing the songs.
In both your previous and new works, you quote passages from the novels of American science fiction writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in your lyrics. Vonnegut's cynical sense of humor has something in common with Lee Ran's writing.
Lee RanI really like Vonnegut's thinking. . the story of why Vonnegut wrote "Slaughterhouse 5" is interesting. He wanted to write a novel about the air raid in Dresden that he experienced in World War II, but it was too painful to write. . but then he realized that from the outside of the earth, war might look like children's play, so Vonnegut wrote the novel as a science fiction comedy. Wars, political fights, and other ugly and scary things , from the outside, look like children playing. The same is true of Korea today. People in Korea have had a very hard time so far. People used to call Korea "Hell Korea" because they thought it was their fault that their lives were so difficult. But when the president's scandal came to light, I finally understood that it was not my fault that I was suffering, but the nation's fault. It was all because the president had done something stupid. So now everyone is laughing. Too stupid. When I went to the demonstration, it was like a festival.
Humor is certainly one weapon, isn't it? Laughing at the unfortunate life and authority figures who can't help themselves.
Lee RanYes . I hated school and quit high school right away. The reason why I hated school was because I was gathered there against my will and had to stay there for hours. . It is just like a prison camp. . so being there makes it hard. What you need in such a place is laughter. . that's why I became the head of the entertainment department, because I hated school but I liked doing comedy.
Director of Recreation?
Lee RanNot in Japan? Korean schools always have it. When the teachers get tired, they say, "Come out, entertainment director," and the entertainment director comes out and does something interesting. They play games with everyone, put on a play, or do an idol dance. So I was very busy.
I see. It's like you are still the head of the entertainment department. In Hell Korea.
Lee RanYes, yes (laughs). During World War II, the Nazis killed a lot of Jews, right? I would like to know what kind of jokes were popular in those camps. I believe that in the most painful place, the strongest humor is born.
