::28 February 2013
Chapter one
(From the melody) even up till the slightest details, D-LITE recorded based on his feelings
Today we will be collecting information for the end of our feature, please guide us along.
“Please guide me along.”
This is what we received from the staff members (the staff at editing department sent some mandarins over)
“(immediately excited) Woah~ I love mandarins!”
It’s great that you like it, please eat it.
“Can I eat it now?”
Please go ahead. After your filming you still have to come for an interview, you have to replenish your vitamins.
“Thank you~ (had a few bites) Is it ok to delay the start of the interview??”
Thank you for your concern. So, let’s talk about your Japanese solo debut album “D’scover”. This is an album made up of covering the classic J-Pop songs.
“Yes. This was actually an invitation by the staff members during Bigbang’s world tour. Initially I was really shocked to hear that it would be my solo album but then I thought that it would also be interesting so I tried it.”
Speaking of which, does D-LITE listen to J-Pop?
“The time I started listening to J-Pop was about 3-4 years back. At that time, Bigbang’s Japanese versions of “My Heaven” and “Haru Haru” are produced by DAISHI DANCE and that was when I started getting interested in Japanese songs and Shibuya-kei so I listened heavily.”
Because of this, it seemed easy for you.
“Nah, to be honest, it was quite difficult (bitter smile)”
It is really rare for overseas artists to cover Japanese songs in Japanese. How did it feel when actual recording began?
“I feel that it is important for the song to convey my feelings so I had to make sure that my Japanese pronunciation sounded natural and also injecting my feelings into the song… Also, Bigbang’s world tour was happening concurrently with my recording so I had to endure much from my daily schedules, mentally and also physically. To be honest, it is the first time for me to experience having both the recording and world tour happening together. When recording, I will listen to my voice in detail and I have to take note of my breathing when singing so I have to take care of my body both physically and mentally. But on the other hand, during the concerts, my emotions doesn’t stop flowing so it is really hard having to control my emotions which are going to explode (laugh). I have to use a different angle to view things, think about the songs I want to sing and discuss together with the producers. Before recording, it’s not just the melody but I also have to think in detail what I imagined the chords to be. Also, as the listeners already have an impression of these songs, I cannot ruin these memories for them.”
The difference with Bigbang
Is there any difference in the recording session when being alone and with Bigbang?
“With Bigbang, it is not my voice from the start till the end of the song so before my part reaches, I have to listen to the emotions brought out by my member in the part before me and to connect my emotions with him in my part. Things like the pitch are also something to consider about because it is very important for the recording. However, in this album, the songs is my story so from the start till the end, it is filled with words I want to say. I have to ask myself questions, pondering and performing is all done by myself. This is the biggest difference.”
In this album, there is definitely male songs but there also female and band songs.. It is a really colorful album.
“In the album are 10 recorded songs of songs that I purely want to sing out of so many songs that I have listened to. The common theme for all the songs is ‘warmth’. If I feel warm after listening to the lyrics and voice of the original song, I will be very happy.”
Indeed, these ‘warmth and passion’ matches well with D-LITE’s voice.
“I don’t think it’s good to sing in a situation where one sings without thinking about anything but singing only with a “true heart”. Singing earnestly while protecting the ‘true heart’ and pondering over my feelings and injecting it into the song is the ideal idea yet it is also the most difficult thing to do. If one insists on performing the song with only their “true heart”, I feel that they will be unable to express their most natural voice.”
You mentioned that the 10 songs you’ve selected are songs you purely wanted to sing. Amongst the 10 songs, is there any song that you thought that you MUST sing when you heard it?
“Hata Motohiro’s ‘Love’. Due to Hata Motohiro’s voice and performing attitude, the impact that came along with it when I first listened to this song still freshly remains in my memory. The truth is I do not know who is Hata Motohiro but after listening to him perform ‘Love’, I searched for his videos and listened to his album. After being continuously attracted to Mr. Hata’s charm, he has now become my favourite Japanese singer. Of course, that goes the same with the other Japanese singers. When listening to music with my ears, I will be able to have my first impression of the song, then through their live performance, I will be able to use my eyes to see the message and atmosphere that the singers wants to bring to and lastly, I use my heart to feel. Then, I will search for the other versions of this song and if time permits, I will collate them and personally feel this song. I have a slightly different idea which is, if I feel that the singer’s performance and the song’s view is different, I will not cover the song.”
The meaning behind “D’scover”
For “D’scover”, it seemed like you added your own name D-LITE in it.
“It is a combination of D-LITE’s ‘D’ and Discover. Because via this album, I had many new discoveries, for instance, the beautiful and difficult side of re-arranging Japanese songs, my new charm and different colors. In this solo album, because of my performance, it changed the impression people might have of the song.. I have also discovered many new things about myself hence the name for this album.”
Chapter two
[Sunny Hill] ~ The moment where I felt I’ve become an adult
So now, we can start asking some questions about your recorded songs. In “Sunny Hill”, there is a sentence that says “difficult to discover a moment that I have grown into an adult”. Are there any things that makes D-LITE feel like an adult?
“Just like what I’ve said earlier, this album was produced in the midst of Bigbang’s world tour. In a very limited time, there are many things to accomplish so I had to frequently fly to Japan alone and start work at 3 or 4am. When I have completed everything and returned to my hotel, even if my eyes feel tired, my body feels exhausted and being able to sleep immediately once I lie on the bed, I still had to compose myself for the recording next day before falling asleep. Then at that moment I will go, “Ah~ I have really became an adult” and feel touched (laugh)”
It seems like you’ve become an adult due to the production of this album (laugh)
“Yes, I am an adult already!” (laugh)
If you overthink about the matters for the next day, will you feel uneasy and nervous resulting to insomnia?
“(clearly) Nope. I have to properly arrange all matters before heading to sleep. When I sleep I don’t listen to music, my room is pitch black without light and I fall asleep without thinking about anything. However, if I left some pieces behind before I sleep, I will have a bad dream like unable to sing well during recording (laugh). Then when I awake, I will ask myself why did I dream of such a thing? Then the answer would definitely be because of my lack of preparation then I will wake up and start work.”
You are the stoic type. (Stoicism teaches one to feel impassive)
“Rather than saying I am stoic, I guess it should be anxiety disorder. When I suffer a failure due to lack of preparation, I will regret and think back about how good it would be if I actually did it.”
There’s a song lyric that says “No matter what it is, we can’t end it off this way.”
“I think that I am the type of person who starts something and will focus and see it till the end.”
Have you ever dreamt of being in your own concert and forgetting the song lyrics?
“No. However, forgetting lyrics is not a dream, it’s real… (laugh). I remembered I was performing in Korea and during “Fantastic Baby”, instead of Korean I sang in Japanese for some of the verses (laugh).”
You must be feeling anxious. (laugh)
“As Bigbang visited many Japanese cities for world tour and including my current solo album, I have listened to many Japanese songs. The songs that I recorded are songs that I have listened to repeatedly for multiple times. How can I make it better? Even during the world tour, I can’t stop thinking about my album.”
Indeed, D-LITE’s Japanese language proficiency is much stronger as compared to before the world tour.
“When speaking in Japanese, the meaning of the words will appear in my mind in Korean then I will switch it to Japanese. My speed is definitely faster now as compared to before. But the truth is, I am still far from good.”
However, D-LITE in private and D-LITE on stage is entirely two different people. Are you one of the members who have the biggest difference in personality on stage and off stage?
“Ah~ I think so. I myself has also felt that I am different when off stage and on stage.”
Especially when you are shaking your hair, I really can’t imagine that the you during off stage times are so manly and like a bright light that we can’t get near to on-stage. However, when you are flinging your hair, it seems gentle. I have such an impression about D-LITE.
“When I enter the song’s world, I will act differently and it will be shown by how I perform. However, after the concert, my head will have a pounding pain (laugh).”
Calling himself “Handsome Daesung”, “Erotic Daesung”?!
During the concert I can really see all sides of D-LITE. Fans always say D-LITE is very handsome and your nickname is “Handsome Daesung” (D-LITE’s name during Korean activities), “Cool Daesung” and sexy Daesung is known as “Eroi Daesung”.
“This is the first time I heard this. “Handsome Daesung”? “Eroi Daesung”? I feel happy and shy (bright smile)”
Because of this, cute D-LITE has been appearing very little lately, I’m feeling a little lonely.
“Me oh, I am very cute, look~ (immediately showing a cute smile)”
Ya ya~~ just like this (laugh)
“(Immediately shy. To cover up his shyness, he started flinging his hair)”
D-LITE like this can’t be seen apart from live performances.
“Ah… Really… (wry smile)”
During live, “Handsome Daesung” cant’ seem to beat “Eroi Daesung”.
“Ok (starting taking off his clothes)”
That… don’t do it (laugh). This “Eroi Dae” now is different from the “Eroi Dae” that fans sketched you as oh (laugh).
“Ah… Is that so… (wry smile). Then during my solo concert, I will mix it all up. I want to let all who come to my solo concert see it!!!”
A playing expert during childhood times
I am looking forward to it oh. Next, “even if the place is far, I will definitely be able to reach it”. Is D-LITE’s sense of direction good? Is there a story where you got lost as a kid?
“I guess I am still quite good with finding my way. Because when I am young, I will open any page of the book and start finding my way out within the words (something like a maze that you have to use your pencil and draw to find the exit) (laugh).”
Is this a game that is only found in Korea?
“I do not know the way Koreans play it but this is how I do it (opening a page of CREATION and used his finger to demonstrate). The spaces between words are routes and my car will squeeze through the symbols. If there are no empty spaces afterward, it means the game has ended. Ah~ It’s been long since I last played it, it’s interesting. (laugh)”
You’re so happy now; it’s as if you are back to the younger D-LITE days. (laugh) Did you study well?
“No… (wry smile). Although I really like books, but I just look like I am studying but I am actually playing the game I was demonstrating just now. Also, after playing it once, it seems like you can’t stop. Especially books with many pages because there are many routes for me (laugh)”
Are there any other games you play frequently when you were young?
“Using my two hands to play baseball. One hand throws the ball out and the other hand clutches the baseball bat to hit the ball that I just thrown out. “Homerun” (laugh) ….. That~ But now I have finally realized, it is lonely playing it alone (laugh)”
However, being able to play the game with only two hands is very amazing. Is it because of a good baseball?
“Definitely not (wry smile). But after starting this game, I have totally forgotten about the maze game.”
“Joyful” ~ Stopping in front of the fingertips!~
About games, in “Joyful” there is a game where you ‘stop behind the fingertip”, is there a similar game in Korea?
“Oh~ Yes”
Then, please shout to everybody, “People who _____ have to stop in front of the fingertip~
“Yes. People who like V.I, please stop in front of the fingertips!”
Isn’t it people who like D-LITE?
“Don’t want. Let’s not use this. Then, ‘people who wants to eat together, stop in front of the fingertip!’ (He did not point with his index finger but with his thumb instead. D-LITE hesitantly stacks his thumb together with his manager’s finger)”
Japan is different with Korea. There are so many people stopping here!
“Yes, let’s all eat together!”
Will D-LITE treat the people whom you’ve shouted for them to stop?
“(looking somewhere far) I……. don’t understand Japanese (laugh)”
D-LITE has turned into another person.
“I will recommend some good food for all of you! (laugh) I was lying, let’s all eat together~”
That’s great (laugh). Before your live starts, is there anything you will do with the members?
“We will form a circle where all of us hold hands and pray.”
[Missing You Now] ~ D-LITE’s tears
Then, in “Missing You Now” there’s a sentence that says, “If we cried openly”. Is D-LITE a person who will cry in the open as well?
“I am a person who will not cry in front of others. When I was young my father have already taught me that guys have to be strong so up till now, I have been upholding that teaching. My dad has also taught me many stuffs, for example, when I was eating my meals when I was younger, if I didn’t like to eat beans and I took it out from my meal, I will eat rice with beans for the next 3 days. Thanks to this, I love beans now (laugh)”
Did anything happen that made D-LITE resist your tears and not cry?
“When I was young, I will quarrel with my mom before school starts because of small matters like the choice of clothes. I walked out of home and my mom chased after me, shouting for my name which I ignored. It was a rainy day and when I finally looked back, I saw that my mom did not come out with an umbrella all because she wants to pass me my bento box. That was the first time I cried in front of my mom and told her I am sorry. I felt really apologetic at that time. I was touched by my mom’s gentleness.”
Speaking of affection, during live, when you realize that your fans are waiting for you, shouting to support you; didn’t you tear as well without being able to control it?
“To be honest, it only happened once. One year ago, because of the accident, all my activities got suspended during the investigation period. My first comeback stage afterward was for YG family concert. Before stepping on stage, I was continuously worried about what I should do if there were no cheers for me. But on the contrary, I had very loud cheers and each and every voice sounded so warm. Although I was touched till I teared, I did it in a very inconspicuous way where everybody did not realize (wry smile)”
So you will not cry in front of your members as well?
“If my tears are going to flow, I will immediately think of other things.”
A perfectionist who cares about failures
Is D-LITE a person who cares about the past? Are there times where you think back to that day… that time? Or do you just look to the future and charge forward?
“I live in the past last time (laughing by himself)”
So it is different now?
“Yes. During debut, I had a very bad throat condition. During live performances I will always go out of tune and I blame myself heavily for that. It became a cycle and my condition worsened and I had depression… At that time I read many books, if I continue to blame myself, in future, I will advance to the road that leads me on the bad path. So I wanted to change me.”
D-LITE is a perfectionist? This is why you do not allow any mistakes right?
“Yes. Although right now there are still times where I feel regretful or unhappy over the mistakes I make and I might have bad dreams about it, I have to try my best not to be mindful of it. I still seek perfection now, but I do not get constrained by it. I am human; I have to allow myself to accept the imperfections that may happen. After allowing it to happen once, I have to work hard not to repeat that same mistake again.”
Giving in to yourself easily and indulging in yourself is the same, it is a very bad point. But I’ve heard before that people who are strict on themselves will enforce the same thing on others.
“For me, I am entirely the opposite.”
Is that so? D-LITE really have a gentle heart, you are good at taking care and thinking for the people around you.
“(Shyly pick up his water in front of him and drink it)”
Is it ok for you to finish it in one gulp?
“Yes, no problem (laugh)”
You’ve mentioned earlier that D-LITE’s character is built from young naturally? Or is it because as Bigbang, when 5 of you live together, your character will be sculpted due to staying with many people?
“I feel that when I am young, I am influenced by my parents. My dad is a pastor so when we were kids, he will tell us frequently that ‘If you do not do things with a good heart, no matter what you do for the other party, you will not receive anything from them”. This line has been imprinted deeply in my mind and it has become my motto.”
Then, do you have any rebelling periods?
“Nope. Rebelling, now, doing music. (laugh)”
Indeed, this is a job that doesn’t conform to reality, it’s a world of unknown.
“Even right now, I feel that this is a moment that is happening in my dreams (laugh). Initially, I objected fiercely when my dad told me absolutely not. Right now, my family supports me and I am really thankful. They gave me a drug to strengthen my heart.”
[Love]~ I would like to believe things I can’t see~
In “Love” it was mentioned that “Because I can’t see it, I don’t believe in love. This is just deceiving yourself”. When considering the other party’s stance, you insist on having your own way, but actually it is the opposite of what you said and you betrayed your own feelings. Will there be something like this?
“There are many times till I can’t count already (laugh). There’s only a one-sided love of 24 years.. Sigh~ (sighing). Actually during my schooling times, I did like the same girl together with my friend. When my friend told me that he likes the girl a lot, I considered about his feelings and I couldn’t tell him how I felt about the girl. Although I am not the type who will hide what I want to say, but compared to having an awkward friendship with him after I say it, I might as well hide the fact. Because I hope that both the people I like can get happiness, I endured it in.”
Why are you so sweet! It’s so sad it makes me want to cry…
“Other than that, although they say “Because I can’t see it so I don’t believe in love”, I feel that things you can’t see with your eyes will make people believe in it even more. For example, dreams and your own thoughts etc. Everybody has different dreams isn’t that so? I feel that it’s because of all the different dreams that we have, a world like this exists.”
[Singer’s Ballad] ~Anecdotes behind the MV~
“Singer’s Ballad” is about what you would like to say right? You filmed a MV for this song.
“Yes. MV was filmed at Korea’s Gyeonggi-do, you can reach the area in about a one and a half hours car ride from Seoul. How I felt during the filming.. I still felt cold (laugh). But the day before was extremely cold and during the filming day, it was just slightly cold and the weather became gentler, so I felt that the air is good and when I was immersing myself in the atmosphere, the director told me to start filming. I invited director Han Samin who helped to direct Bigbang’s “Blue”, “Bad Boy” and “Love Song”. As he understands me well, I feel that he is able to film a MV that matches well with the song.”
D-LITE in the MV, at the start you were singing and playing piano alone at a very empty space. At the back you sang together with the band. At the front, you showcased a very tender tranquility but at the end you opened your arms wide and sang to the best you could. I was satisfied watching 2 entirely different D-LITE in the MV.
“When singing with the band, because we are filming the MV, I do not know when I can sing out loud for real. Thus there were many instances where it was too cold, and if all of you noticed, I was the only one spurting fog out from my mouth. (laugh)”
Is the female lead in the MV Aoi Yu?
“Ahahaha.. does everybody feel that way? There was once I watched the MV with the members and they were asking me the same question. I too feel that she looks like Aoi Yu but she’s not (laugh). We held an audition to look for a female that exudes pureness. She is actually a model in Korea.”
Oh I see.. Did the members comment on anything after watching the MV?
“For me, I was very shy so I did not watch the end with them.. Thus, I do not know what my members have to say.”
Did you let the members listen to your album?
“Because I am shy, I did not let them listen to it.”
However, I heard that the members praised your work well for your album this time!
“It must be G-Dragon and SOL who praised my album.”
How about the other two members?
“I think they did not listen to all the songs from the start to the end (laugh)”
Maybe they pretended not to hear but they actually did.
“V.I gave me lots of suggestions when I decided to have a solo album. “This suits D-LITE”, “how is this song?” “Missing You Now” is a song that I wanted to sing from the start but it was also recommended by V.I”
[Singer’s Ballad] What is singing to D-LITE?
In “Singer’s Ballad”, there is a sentence that says ‘Singing is not a difficult thing’. How does D-LITE feel about it?
“(immediate answer) Very difficult (laugh). Although singing is my job now, but to me it is also something that gives me happiness. I am not satisfied but I hope I can sing songs that allow people to feel satisfied. I hope that through my songs, people will understand my thinking and I hope that at any time, I am always singing earnestly.”
Indeed, isn’t singing the job D-LITE should do?
“Thank you (shy) ….. Ahh yee ahhh yee ahhh~~ (singing loudly)”
[Hello] ~Deep down in your heart, can you say that you like yourself?~
In “Hello”, there is a sentence that says “Being able to say I like myself from the bottom of my heart”. Are you able to say that you ‘like’ the you now from the bottom of your heart?
“…..”
Eh?
“(Thinking in progress) I like (laugh)”
When is the time you like yourself best?
“When I eat good food (laugh)”
You don’t have dislikes.. Even when you were eating mandarins earlier on, you ate it like it was really delicious. What is your favourite food?
“Watermelon…. Then it’s mandarins, which is also one of my favourite fruit. Next would be seafood, then meat, then vegetables. However, although each dish is delicious, if you ate it all well, don’t you feel that the food you dislike is also delicious when you eat it?”
Thanks to the bean incident; your father’s Sparta teaching.
“Although I felt like I was in pain when I was forced to eat the beans, but after eating it constantly, I felt that it was delicious. I thank my dad who was angered by me (laugh)”
[Like Overflowing With Kindness] ~The view you see when you open your eyes?~
Next is “Like Overflowing With Kindness”. This represents D-LITE’s title. “The views that has never changed whenever I open my eyes and awake”, what is D-LITE’s view initially?
“To be exact, it is a humidifier (laugh). That is for protecting the throat so it is always there. Then, the first thing I do when I wake up is to drink water.”
Is your daily life good?
“Good. But I will definitely wake up automatically after 6 hours of sleep.”
So it is a habit already?
“Yes. My body will choose its own sleeping time.”
It’s really good that you are able to have some self-control.
“Initially it was very difficult, but I got used to it slowly.”
[Baby Don’t Cry] ~ Immersing myself in the encouragement by my members~
Full of stress. D-LITE’s original song “Baby Don’t Cry” will be recorded in Japanese this time and the lyrics will also be in Japanese. Yet, D-LITE is able to still sing with a voice full of emotions which is very heartwarming.
“(Softly) Thank you”
Like what we’ve spoken earlier, there are words that make people cry. For instance in the lyrics, “No tears, our moment right now, the important things now is all noticeable.” When the members, family, staff members etc, are all hurt and crying, how will D-LITE comfort them?
“I will not ask them any questions. I will think about why they are crying based on their emotions and spend time to recover their mood slowly.”
[Tonight is Boogie Back] ~Thank you God~
In “Tonight is Boogie Back”, there is a line “Thank you God”. Does D-LITE feel that the gift God gave you is your charm and talents?
“My charm.. voice…Is it? My throat is weak, initially I do not like my own voice but without this voice, I am unable to be in Bigbang and unable to perform in front of everybody.”
Also, without this voice, you are unable to release a solo album. For “Wings”, D-LITE composed the lyrics by himself and it is so popular that it has been shot as a MV when “Wings” was performed during Bigbang’s stage.
“When soaring, I am really able to look at the fans clearly and when I see everybody smiling at the same time, I follow them naturally. Lastly when the wings were kept, actually the wings were very heavy… (laugh)”
So it didn’t have any special meaning?
“It does, the song’s focal point is about the beginning and the end. So it is to tell people about the story behind “Wings”, that’s what I meant. But as it was really heavy, I had no energy to open and close the wings, I can only move it a little (laugh)”
In the lyrics of “Wings”, you mentioned that “We will meet again in the future so do not worry”, thus, please send a powerful message to our readers!
“(loudly) It’s ok!!!”
That~ Can you make it longer?
“Yes, there is a meaning of why I did that”
I am sorry.
“I am not good at opening my heart, but I can strongly feel that my fans have been protecting me with their warm hearts. I would like to use this chance to express my heartfelt thanks to everybody. I hope this album allows people who do not know me to listen to it as well and I did this album for my fans. If everybody could understand my real character through this album, I would be very happy. Even up till now, I can still see lots of me in Bigbang performing but singing these songs allows me to sing what I want to say and I am really thankful. Lastly, I love everybody!!!”
Source: ARENA37C CreationNo2
Translated by: nakedae@SMILE HOLIC www.dsholic.com
Translated by: nakedae@SMILE HOLIC www.dsholic.com
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