The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A Former Idol’s Hard Carry of an Indie Band
Chapter 112
Outside of K-pop, for any genre to become trendy, several elements had to align.
It had to be simple yet stimulating, and require minimal listening fatigue.
If a particular issue or broadcast helped push it, that momentum doubled.
When such a phenomenon sustained itself, naturally more newcomers entered the genre and the artist pool widened.
As more artists emerged, listeners had more music to consume, and the scene flourished.
There were various reasons why a band scene boom was hard to achieve.
The main one: a low entry barrier meant a small artist pool.
Learning an instrument had a much higher barrier to entry than dancing, singing, or rapping.
On top of that, you needed multiple players just to complete a single band.
If widening the artist pool was difficult, you had to compete on quality over quantity.
And there was one thing the current band scene desperately lacked.
A mega hit song.
There was a spring season cherry blossom song that played every year, but that was just that one song doing well.
It hadn’t served as a catalyst for the scene’s revival.
Now we had to be that catalyst.
Because that was the real beginning of Oktatop’s second act.
Preparing the next track came together without much difficulty.
We’d already made a ten-track regular album; a single-song release was child’s play for us.
Jo Sung Hoon helped with the music video production again.
When making the song, we needed a better synthesizer than what we had, and when I asked, Choi Woo Young generously lent us his.
These hyungs were so generous—helping us make just one song.
And once this track dropped, we’d committed to appearing on Dampa’s broadcast.
He’d reviewed our album with such enthusiasm.
Not appearing on his show once would be neglecting my duty as a junior.
Plus, appearing there would naturally promote us too.
That’s how our song and music video made their way to the distributor.
We announced the release date.
-OKTATOP 2nd Single [Monster].
-D-7
A short teaser video Jo Sung Hoon created went up on SNS and YouTube.
A drum track with solid momentum and a synth bass.
Repeating patterns.
Four dark bars, then a short rising FX.
Then an enigmatic, wistful piano unfolding.
Followed by a flamboyant synth solo and guitar solo.
The video showed our members in leather outfits, moving with rebellious energy, edited into quick shots.
Just a fifteen-second clip.
Comments were already pouring in by the thousands.
-Wow, a comeback already? They’re really grinding
-Dude, this feels like one of those legendary-tier songs is coming
-Bro the teaser alone is fire, straight up
-Wait, how hot are these guys? That leather fit is legend material
-Wait, the teaser hit 100k views the second it dropped?? lmaooo These guys have serious pull now
-Teaser director Jo Sung Hoon…. Jo Sung Hoon should just join Oktatop
-Yo, they’re literally putting everything into this. This is actually an indie band??
The teaser response was solid.
Naturally it was.
We hadn’t added anything experimental—just showed ourselves at our best.
The music and music video were fine as they were.
All that was left was the release date.
One last thing needed doing.
“Boss, can you give me that list?”
“List?”
“The appearance offers, you know.”
“Oh!”
Every time I mentioned going somewhere, Jo Hyun Seop’s eyes would light up.
“Yeah, I’ve got them all here. Where’s it this time? Hopefully something big?”
“Wake up from that dream.”
“Smart mouth.”
Doing the rounds on major variety shows, answering predictable questions with predictable answers, showing off party tricks—none of that appealed to me.
Right now, wherever we appeared would be newsworthy.
Wait too long and the spark would die. Timing was everything, and this was it.
“Let me see…. This one’s good. And this one, and….”
“And?”
“Yeah, this one’s nice too. And….”
“What? And again?”
This time, I was going to do every appearance possible.
But only places that shared a single category.
“This one’s good too…. This one’s borderline, but it’d be worth it. Okay, that’ll do it.”
Seven venues total.
Jo Hyun Seop examined the list I’d chosen with visible excitement.
Moments later, his expression twisted.
“Seo Ha, what is this?”
* * *
Before the comeback, we had to respond to several appearance requests.
Naturally, our friends needed convincing first.
“Yo, why are we doing this many shoots all of a sudden?”
Heo Jun Sung sounded bewildered.
“What’s the angle this time?”
Kim Ji Hu chimed in.
In the old days, they would’ve crowded around griping about why a band would go on TV at all.
But after the audition program and the US broadcast appearance, they’d definitely become more flexible.
It was good that we’d gained some breathing room and a broader perspective.
“Here’s what we’re shooting.”
I showed them the full list.
“Wait, this is all fashion-related stuff?”
“Mostly interviews, though….”
“Don’t tell us we have to do makeup too?”
“Ugh…. Makeup is seriously hard.”
They started voicing complaints with various excuses.
It wasn’t that they refused—just instinctive resistance, really.
I clapped between their objections to get their attention.
“Alright, everyone focus. I have a reason for wanting to do these.”
“What is it?”
“You’ve all checked, right? Our music does okay in America, but it’s tough in Korea.”
Actually, Korea was showing better buzz right now.
Riot hit number one on Sounda thanks to Moon Ga Young, but it’d dropped to the twenties.
Meanwhile, Oceans had fallen from fourth to sixth on the Lemon Chart, but was still holding strong.
Peak interest came from America, but staying power came from Korea.
For an artist, longevity was what mattered.
But still—
Hitting number one was a historic moment, so they nodded at my words.
“To hit number one on the Korean charts, we need to use tools beyond just music.”
“And that tool is fashion?”
“Yeah.”
“Hm….”
Skeptical looks.
Usually you’d think you need variety show appearances or dancing on broadcast to lead trends in Korea, but that’s not quite right.
Those are just one of many methods.
The real key is creating momentum.
“Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix—they were famous rockers, but their weapons weren’t just music. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah, once I think about it that way, it makes more sense.”
Both were fashion pioneers of their time.
We’re doing the same thing.
“And there’s another thing all the interviews I picked have in common.”
“What’s that?”
“None of them are about expensive luxury brands.”
* * *
After that day, we were constantly shuttling between the studio and shoots until the release date.
“Welcome! Hello!”
“Hi there.”
Today’s shoot was at the fashion mall INK Studio.
When we arrived at the set, a huge crew was waiting.
“Wow, what a lineup….”
The person in charge looked us over from head to toe without even introducing themselves first, and let out an impressed sigh.
Completely satisfied expression.
“Oh, sorry for the late introduction. I’m Yu Ji Hwan, the coordinator.”
Tall, dressed extremely hip.
Less like a company staffer, more like a model.
“Is this your first photo spread shoot?”
“Ah, we’ve done a few recently.”
Lee Do Young answered first.
“I see! No wonder, you’re celebrities traveling around everywhere. Well, shall we get you changed?”
“Sure.”
We followed Yu Ji Hwan to the dressing room.
Racks of clothes everywhere, with a separate section of outfits prepared specifically for us.
“Let’s see…. Kang Min, could you come over first?”
“Yep, sure thing.”
What was with the “sure thing”?
Yu Ji Hwan held up a few outfits, and their expression became almost excessively bright.
“Wow…. What kind of physique is this? I could throw anything on you!”
“Thank you.”
He’d already been caught speaking Japanese at The Greenroom—why the pretense of being an ordinary guy now?
It was beyond me.
“This one and these shoes. Go change and come back out.”
“Okay.”
“And next, Ji Hu.”
Starting with Kang Min, we were fitted one by one.
Makeup came after we’d all changed.
Kim Ji Hu didn’t look happy about it, but he didn’t complain.
Now that we’d seriously committed to Oktatop, this much was manageable.
Once everything was ready, we got a brief break.
Dark-toned outfits overall.
Leather and suede pieces, straps and layered designs.
Pure rebellious vibes.
Watching these handsome guys dressed like that—my eyes were in heaven.
Raw youth was fine, but sometimes you needed this kind of deliberate styling too.
Then the coordinator approached us.
“We’ll shoot the jacket photos first, then do the interview after. Here’s the script—just read through it lightly.”
“Got it, understood.”
Shooting starts in five minutes.
I’d done this countless times in my past life, but with my friends for the first time—I was genuinely excited.
Something told me this would be fun.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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