On the first day of April, I drove on the highways for two hours and a half to find myself at Junju. When I sat on the bench in front of Jundong Church, which was sparse of people as it was a weekday, and basked in the sun with nothing to do but wait for a phone call, everything felt unbelievable. Even Palm Springs' desert's dry weather, the harsh cold of last winter felt like something that happened just a few days ago. Jaebum, who I had filmed together with already a half year ago, had zoomed back and forth between Korea and America to prepare for his first mini album during that time, and was now in the midst of ongoing busy days before the presentation of the finished product. At that, he could also not promise coming back up to Seoul as he had to stay all the time at Junju with the filming of movie . I had sprinted down to Junju with haste to meet him. Jaebum appeared just as I hurriedly found an okay restaurant nearby upon hearing he hadn't had the chance to eat lunch yet. That day was rather warm, reasonably enough for one to take his shirt off, yet he was, of course, in a white t-shirt. We, whom had last met at the west part of United States, had again met at the south city of Korea.
VOGUE GIRL (V.G. from now on): Did you not have the chance to eat lunch yet? It's already after 3PM.
Jaebum: I woke up late because the filming ended around sunrise. And around where is this place in Junju? (V.G.: We're nearby Han-Ok village. It's a popular tourist location, but it seems that you didn't have quite enough time to look around yet?) Maybe because the filming site is apart from the town, around that area is very empty. At 9PM, no one's there.... So it's kind of boring. This movie has a way too long waiting time, and because it's not Seoul I don't have really have a place to go or people to meet. And because the four male actors use the same waiting room, I can't dance and it's not an environment to do any music producing. It feels like I'm getting punished. (Laugh)
V.G.: Then you probably haven't had the chance to eat bibimbap or have bean sprout soup with rice?
Jaebum: Yes, not yet. (V.G.: If I had known that, we should have gone to a good bibimbap place.) It's okay. The galbi stew looks good? I like meat, especially, too.
V.G.: It's been half a year since we filmed in Palm Springs.
Jaebum: Already? I thought it hadn't been a while because my memory of it was that it had warm weather. There has been a lot of things happening since then. I went to fan meetings in various countries, and had movie and music video filmings. (V.G.: And the number of your tattoos increased as well. Did you already have an idea that you wanted to do it around this time?) Yes. I can't do it on impulse because it's going to last for all my life. I think of the place and content carefully. Because the tattooist who does the tattoos on me is also busy, I can't do it right away if I want to.
V.G.: A while ago, you stood on Ne-Yo's Korean concert opening stage. How was it seeing him in person?
Jaebum: I met him before the concert and talked with him after as well, and he's a really cool person. The politeness only 'the best' can have has absorbed into his body. The foreign artists I met so far were not like that themselves, but the staff were more overreacting about it and protected them. But Ne-Yo's staff were really nice too. I wanted to say that I wanted to work with him sometime, but I was quiet about it because I didn't know what Ne-Yo's reaction would be. But the staff encouraged me saying that Ne-Yo would like it too, so I worked up the courage and talked to him, and he actually liked it. After that, I exchanged emails with him, and am talking to him through Twitter too. This time, I learned and felt a lot from his stage manners as well as daily attitude.
V.G.: The coming April 25th is your 25th birthday. As well as the date you're going to be releasing your first mini album.
Jaebum: It might be delayed a bit. It seems that the comeback broadcast will be held back about a week. But because my head is full of album thoughts right now, I actually don't have many ideas about how to spend my birthday. Because it's a finished album that I worked on for six months from start to end almost all by myself, it's a very special album to me.
V.G.: What did you want to show the most while preparing your album?
Jaebum: I don't have anything like that. I think it might have been possible because I made it myself. If I did it under someone else's direction, I would have started everything with a concept like masculine, sexy, cute, or something.
V.G.: Did you do all the songwriting, and composing by yourself?
Jaebum: Yes. The form was that if I had a good beat pop up in my head, I finish the melody, stick fitting lyrics onto it and if it's okay, I would record it. (V.G.: Are most of your lyrics coming from personal experience?) I write it while thinking of a scene that fits the melody. Of course, I have experience as well, but including the original 'Bestie' I had, there are seven songs being put on the album and they're all in different styles.
(V.G.: In the last interview, you said that you wanted to do rap, dance, ballad, all of them, and so your wish came true?) Yes. Then, it was just wishful thinking, but now I'm happy because it came true.
V.G.: The phrase 'If you're alcohol I'm an alcoholic' that was possible before because of your slightly awkward Korean was memorable, is there a part like that in your album as well?
Jaebum: Well, I think there are a lot but I don't know what parts are funny. In my view, I'm writing them all seriously.
V.G.: You haven't ever learned songwriting or composing properly, right?
Jaebum: Not at all. But instead of clumsily doing music studying, I think it's better to just not do it at all and just do it in your feel. That's more fun. There are a lot of good professionals that can back up parts I can't do, so if I need them, I can work with them. I don't try to do anything better than them, and I just do the parts I can do well while enjoying it, and get advice on the parts where I need it.
V.G.: Your musical taste must be a bit different from other Korean artists around your age. I don't think it'll be that easy to harmonize well your wants and the Korean public's wants.......
Jaebum: That's why I made the two title tracks more appealing to the public, and two songs hip-hop, and two songs in R&B style. I put both what the public likes and what I like. If I go along to the public trend too much, it doesn't seem like I did it, right? The perfect thing would be making what I like in the public taste, but that's not as easy as it sounds. But in the end, everything was made very well. It's a relief to see everything roll along like expected.
V.G.: This album is like, proof then. Something to prove Park Jaebum.
Jaebum: Ah, prove! That's a good word. Yes. Because it's something with all my talent and style in it. In a phrase, 'this is Park Jaebum'.
V.G.: Now that the producing is all finished, don't you have any parts you regret?
Jaebum: Other singers usually receive the song first, practice for about two weeks and then record, right? But I didn't have time to practice because I had to record it as soon as the song was finished. I couldn't wait to see how the song in my head would materialize in real life. Next time, I'm going to record after doing sufficient training. Originally, I could sing better, but that's kind of regretful. (V.G.: So all of your songs are finished products that were recorded in the very beginning?) Yes. Except for my title song, 'Abandoned'. I just recorded that one again to change up the melody at the middle. (V.G.: Isn't that a very risky attempt? If you were a perfectionist, you couldn't have ever done that.) Rather than doing music perfectly, I want to do it while enjoying it. And I think I was better while I was enjoying it. Even when I'm dancing, rather than doing it to the set routine I feel better when I do it freestyle and feel like I have no regrets.
V.G.: You worked with your AOM friends again this time, don't you have any thoughts to try working with not your friends, but with a star producer or a famous musician?
Jaebum: The thing about me hoping for this album to have a good reaction is, if it succeeds it's purely a combined effort between me and my friends. I want to show people that we had this much talent in us. And rather than working with a famous producer, I want us to become one in the future. I want to make ChaCha like that, as well as having The Quiett hyung become more famous as well. To the point where other people would want to work with us. Of course, I'm dreaming of working with great artists like Ne-Yo, but for now, I think it won't be too late after doing things I want to do with the people I want to work with.
V.G.: The start of your new album activities is through a broadcasting music program. In the end, you've wound around various roads to come to stand on that stage.
Jaebum: I'm happy because I think my fans will like it. They always asked, "When will you appear on the airwaves?" Because I stood on concert stages a lot during that time, I just think that broadcasts are just an extension of the stage I always stood on. (V.G. The broadcasting company must be also a long time, no see thing. You'll also see people you haven't got to see for a while.) It'd probably be like that. But I've also seen the people I wanted to see outside of the broadcasting company as well.
V.G.: When you get stressed, how do you work it out?
Jaebum: My personality isn't one to get stressed out much. It's up to the point where I can't even remember properly when my mood was completely down, or when I was really angry. These days, I think I'm just enjoying life, living well. Playing with close friends and hyungs every day. (V.G.: You don't meet new people much?) I think it's troublesome, the more people there are in a meeting. It's more fun when just a few people I know get together in a 'small group' and have fun.
V.G.: Maybe because you have fun with your hyungs too much. You haven't had many scandals either.
Jaebum: Scandals? I've had a lot of scandals. Oh, with a girl? Haha. There hasn't been much time to do that. Later, if I get a girlfriend, and if I'm 'unlucky', maybe there'll be a scandal. As of the moment, I don't think there'll be a big meaning even if I had a girlfriend because I'm so busy. Later, when I achieve peace of mind, I'll have to get a girlfriend. I don't think I'll reveal it. Well, we'll just have to see.
V.G.: Before, when we interviewed before, I remember you saying that you played like high-school teens with 'When I have fun with friends, we just dance, go to a friend's house and order pizza'. Do you know how to drink?
Jaebum: Of course. I just don't drink much or drink that often. (V.G. What kind of drink suits your taste best?) Not any of them, really. All of them taste bad.
V.G.: Then aside from producing music or dancing, what do you do when you have spare time?
Jaebum: Bowling? These days, since I go often to bowling alleys when I have spare time, my bowling skills have improved. The score's around 110? Shopping, I haven't done it for over two years. Since my fans send me everything from suits to underwear, it's enough just wearing those.
V.G.: You're just 25, your answers and attitude seem too mature in contrast to your age.
Jaebum: There are a lot of people who are worried for me. I think they think that I've suffered too much in contrast to my age. But the reason I matured lies more in that I lived seperated from my family in Korea since age 18, rather than those things that happened. I had to take responsibility for myself earlier than others. That's why my responsibility for my family is stronger than most. I think a good man is a person who can take care of people near him and take responsibility. From the people near me, I think Janghyuk hyung is a person like that. He's a good man and a good actor.
V.G.: What do you see yourself as when you're 30?
Jaebum: I don't know at all. 5 years isn't a really short time. At 20, I didn't anticipate that I would live a life like I do now at age 25. There's already a lot of things to think about, and it gives me a headache to think about the far future as well. But I think that as I grow older, I need to exercise hard as well. I have the feeling that my stamina fell a little bit these days. Before, I always exercised even if it meant going in at early morning, but now I just fall asleep right away (laugh).
V.G.: Now that I think about it, I remember you saying 'I don't really set goals'.
Jaebum: Yes. I think it's the best to 'let things flow'. Just try your best, while having fun, I don't think any deeper than that. But I am thinking of plans for the immediate future. Next year, I'm thinking of taking a shot at the American stage. In America, I have a company as well, and there are a decent amount of songs I already have and worked with many producers with. So after finishing activities for this album, I think I'll be going back and forth to and from America a lot. But this year, I'm going to focus on Korean activities. I want to fulfill the hopes of my fans that were thirsty for Korean activities. After showing a sufficient amount of my music style to Korean fans, I want to take an attempt at American activities.
V.G.: I think you'll have a big advantage because you don't have handicaps most Korean singers have. First, you have no trouble with communicating.
Jaebum: Mm, I have confidence in many aspects. Maybe because I grew up listening to American music, I'm more used to the 'American' style. I think I'll be able to make many varying, new tries in contrast to Korea.
V.G.: So in the end, isn't it your dream to go into the American stages? Thinking of it as having approached that dream faster, it could be that previous events are evils-turned-blessings.
Jaebum: It could be that. But that's not really important. I just want to go on stages that musicians I respect have stood on as fast as I can, and I just want to work with them. More than anything, I also want to show that Korean musicians can succeed in the American market. (V.G.: Around what level would you call it 'success'?) At around the same level as Usher or Ne-Yo? (V.G.: Wow, that's very successful?) Yes. It should be like that. I'm looking far. Because it's not an easy thing.
V.G.: From the songs listed on your album, which do you think people will like most?
Jaebum: I'm actually very curious about that (At this point, his rate of speech suddenly increased). I think about it every day. What song will have the best reaction. But when I was working on the songs, there's that thing that I'm doing the songs because I like them, but I'm also worrying a lot about how fans will think. Sometimes I imagine it. This song, I think they'll call masculine, this song, they'd probably call it sexy, I hope they'll call these lyrics cute, this kind of thing. I want fans to know that they're another contender in this album. Because I have to have fans to make music.
V.G.: I heard you already wrote 8 songs to be listed on your next album?
Jaebum: In this year, I'm going to release another 2nd mini album. Also, keep releasing singles in the middle as well. (V.G.: That's rather different from the standard way other musicians do it. Because that's way different from how they hold their comeback, rest, and then hold their comeback again.) Well, these days, when you release official albums, people don't really listen to other songs apart from your title. But because I'm so attached to each and every one of these songs, if they do that, I think I'll be really sad. And there's already so many songs I've worked on. What'll they do, just sitting there. I want to show everyone each song, one by one.
During the whole interview, Jaebum answered questions right away, before 3 seconds had passed. Even talking about that 'apology' that happened a while ago, he'd answered right off the bat, "Because it's an apology I did, of course it's my thinking and my decision", then ate well-cooked rib meat and finished a bowl of rice. After drinking all the sikhye that came out for dessert without leaving a single drop, and around the time that the interview was going to be finished, he said after realizing that there was still one hour left to go back to the filming site, "Let's go bowling." In the car that was driving to the random nearby bowling alley that was punched into the navigation device, he said, "Do you want to listen to my title song?" To hear a song that hadn't been revealed to the world yet while feeling the spring sun, my heart beat faster, and after hearing it I somehow became emotional. A feeling, like everything was going to turn out nicely? I then became curious about how he would dance to this song on the first stage that would be held after a couple of weeks, and what expression he would wear while looking at the camera. "Look at me then. I won't disappoint you." In the end, because the traffic was bad and we spent all the time going to the bowling, I never got to see a ball-rolling Jaebum, but what about if I couldn't see him right now? Because of this, we would be able to bowl again soon, and we had promised to film another 'okay' pictorial later. Even if we don't know if it'll be in Korea, the States, or some other place yet.
