The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 43

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

A Reincarnated Idol Carries an Indie Band
43
Public opinion regarding Oktatop had grown more varied than before.
Even among Band Scene enthusiasts, voices defending Oktatop were cropping up regularly.
And Banwol Park itself had taken on new meaning.
A place where celebrities performed free concerts every weekend, or so the story went.
Just recently, the Culture and Sports Division of the Mapo District Office had reached out.
They wanted to make the weekend performances official.
It was probably just about padding their numbers anyway.
I told them I’d think about it—agreeing outright would mean restrictions, and refusing would invite criticism.
Regardless of their motives, more places had begun taking notice.
And we moved forward earnestly today to repay that attention.
“Title Track recording, huh…….”
“I already don’t want to do it…….”
Heo Jun-seong and Lee Do-yeong whined the moment they arrived at the Studio.
“What’s with all the complaints?”
“Come on, come on. If you lose your nerve now, we’re done for.”
Kim Ji-hu and Kang Min seemed utterly unbothered.
“Alright, recording setup’s finished. Jun-seong, are you ready?”
“Hey, Min apparently wanted to go first today.”
“What? When did I say that?”
“You said it earlier.”
Kang Min, seeing Heo Jun-seong trembling, rose from his seat with an expression of resigned acceptance.
“Shoganaing…….”
Kang Min muttered something unintelligible in Japanese as he stood.
Normally I’d have scolded him to stop talking nonsense, but Jun-seong’s face overflowed with infinite gratitude.
“Min, my savior……. No, my god!”
Kang Min picked up his Drum Stick with confidence and headed toward the booth.
I fixed my gaze on the monitor and waited for Min to finish preparing.
His back looks terrifying.
“I want to go home.”
“Me too…….”
Kim Ji-hu clicked his tongue watching Do-yeong and Jun-seong.
“Ready. Let’s start recording.”
“Okay.”
I hit the recording button and Min began playing drums to the guide track.
It was quite a stable performance.
He’d maintained his usual powerful touch as well.
The impact of striking On-the-beat was absolutely excellent.
On-the-beat…….
“Hold on.”
I placed my hand on the pause button and the talkback button.
“Min, the On-the-beat is good, but give me some subtle Syncopation and Layback. The Groove needs to breathe a little.”
“Okay.”
Kang Min understood my direction perfectly.
Which sections needed Syncopation, which sections needed Layback.
With just one broad instruction, it all organized itself in his head.
Then the recording started again.
…….
“Wait, again. The snare’s too pushed.”
“Huh? More subtle than that?”
“Yeah, that way it’ll harmonize better with the synths—right now the rhythmic satisfaction isn’t coming through.”
“How are you even supposed to feel that…….”
“Come on, let’s try again.”
“Uh… okay.”
Recording resumed.
And stopped again.
Recording started once more.
And stopped again.
“Sigh……. Min.”
“Yeah….”
“Can’t you picture it? Imagine Kim Ji-hu playing over your drums.”
“Oh, uh… sorry. I’ll try again.”
“Let’s focus.”
“Yeah, okay.”
Kang Min thought to himself.
He understood what Cha Seo-ha was going for.
Pay attention to harmony with the synths.
Of course, that didn’t just mean watching the synths.
Once he nailed the harmony with the synths that dominated that section, Seo-ha would move on to bass.
Then the guitar.
Finally the vocals.
It all meant: imagine and play the highest possible form this song could take.
He understood what that meant.
But how was he supposed to implement that right now with his current skill?
Looks like I’m not going home today.
* * *
The Studio had become a battlefield.
Except now it looked like a single commander was slaughtering a handful of soldiers.
Heo Jun-seong was dying in the booth.
Kang Min lay tattered on the sofa, and Lee Do-yeong beside him kept pleading for mercy.
Kim Ji-hu felt the greatest crisis of his life closing in as he rehearsed the performance in his mind.
Because he was next.
And watching it all unfold: Cho Hyun-seop and Park Min-ji.
“Boss, that guy scares me.”
“He is being a bit exacting.”
“Aren’t they going to fight at this rate?”
“That shouldn’t happen.”
“You think so?”
It’s true that Cha Seo-ha’s ambition has made him exacting to an excessive degree.
But that “excess” is a term only applicable to ordinary songs.
For a song at this level, I felt he could afford to be even more ambitious to raise the completion quality.
“Isn’t the song good?”
“It’s incredible! Nothing compared to the songs we heard before!”
Like Rendezvous or Cruise!!.
Or the other Album Tracks we’ve recorded recently.
This song is incomparable to those.
If I were Cha Seo-ha, I would’ve pushed the members harder—I wouldn’t have stopped here.
From where I stand, Seo-ha is being quite merciful right now.
And his friends seemed to know that well.
Even trembling in fear of getting chewed out, each time they met his directing demands,
as the song drew closer to completion, their faces came alive.
When this terrifyingly high-quality song is released to the world, how will the public react?
I can barely contain my anticipation.
Could they suddenly become a nationwide sensation?
No, that probably won’t happen easily.
In this day and age, unlike the old times, it’s rare to find cases of someone becoming a star through a single college festival performance or one song.
Yet even knowing this is the era we live in, I find myself expecting something miraculous.
Because Oktatop, as I’ve witnessed them, are the kind of kids who could absolutely pull off a miracle.
* * *
“Ji-hu, can you walk?”
“W-well……. I only gave my fingers a little…… huh.”
It looked exactly like defeated soldiers limping through a triumphal return.
Did I push too hard?
I never notice while I’m working, but I always feel sorry afterward.
“Are you all having a rough time?”
I spoke first to the kids on the verge of collapse.
“Of course it’s rough. How many Takes did we do?”
“I feel like I did 100.”
“I did about 200.”
“I finished in about 40.”
“Just like Min—only 40, huh.”
Even as they complained they were dying, all their faces were bright.
“You all worked hard. Thanks for indulging all my unreasonable requests.”
I felt grateful and sorry and proud all at once.
“Nah, you pushed us hard enough that I’m annoyed, but now that it’s done, I get your intention.”
“Intention? What intention?”
Heo Jun-seong asked at Kim Ji-hu’s words.
“Look at the details—the details. The rhythmic combination between instruments is solid.”
“Rhythmic……?”
“……you should stop playing instruments.”
“What? You’re being rude!”
There’s nothing wrong with Jun-seong.
Ji-hu’s the one being strange.
For a great song to be made, there are several crucial elements.
A melody that catches the ear, chord progressions that are appropriately complex and simple.
There are others too, of course.
But you need the brilliant sum that emerges from countless layers of Rhythmic Detail.
In reality, this is an element many artists overlook.
Most just place their instruments reasonably and call it done.
And the level of rhythmic combination I’ve paid attention to is something even professionals overlook—let alone ordinary people.
This was the part I was most frustrated about in my past life when I was working with pro producers.
How could they call themselves pros and not care about these details?
“Just sounding good isn’t enough. That’s where melody composing ends. It’s about when sounds start and when they end—it’s the perfect harmony of all those things that makes a great song.”
“Is that so?”
“You only think about your guitar, so you wouldn’t understand.”
“Fair point.”
“Why are you even in a band?”
“What?”
Kim Ji-hu really does have a remarkable ear.
In this respect, he’s a step ahead of Kang Min.
“Ji-hu’s right. Honestly, until now I was playing kind of carelessly, but today was hard yet fun. I learned something.”
Kang Min had also grasped Cha Seo-ha’s intention quite clearly.
“I get what you mean. I need to practice listening more carefully.”
Lee Do-yeong resolved firmly to catch up with Kim Ji-hu and Kang Min.
And so Oktatop took another step forward in growth today.
* * *
After the Title Track recording was done, we finished Mixing and Mastering.
Now the real release was imminent.
Once I hand the song to the distributor and get a release date…….
But somehow it feels like something’s missing.
What could it be?
One day, as the album work was in its final stages,
my friends and I frequently rewatched our latest video from Killing Band.
We were monitoring and giving ourselves feedback.
Plus, it just felt good to watch ourselves on camera.
“Hey, Do-yeong, why’d you mess up here?”
“Oh, I got so into playing, I didn’t even notice….”
“But it’s not even that noticeable, and it’s just one note—what does it matter. Besides, it’s not even an out-of-key note.”
“Whoa, Ji-hu, aren’t you being too lenient with Do-yeong?”
“Jun-seong, if you’d just act a little less showy, I’d treat you the same way.”
“What? Showy? You’re the one who should be more showy—all you do is monitor everyone else’s playing like some nitpicker.”
“Being thorough isn’t a bad thing.”
“Man, that guy really gets on my nerves, I’m telling you?”
The banter layered over the Killing Band video like background music.
No matter how many times I watched, the video came out pretty well.
Neither the Celebrity Watch cam nor the music broadcast had this level of quality.
You could feel the production crew’s effort in the editing.
“The video…….”
Ah, right—the video!
Between running around so much lately and throwing myself into music work, I’d forgotten something important.
I’d almost made a huge mistake.
“Guys! We’ve got a problem!”
“Huh? What?”
“What is it, Seo-ha?”
“What’s wrong?”
“What?”
“We don’t have a Music Video!”
“Music Video?”
“Oh right, the Music Video!”

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