Infinite’s reliable leader, Kim Sunggyu
‘Music that you wish would be played somewhere’
We will be viewing the music recommendations from Kim Sunggyu, the leader and main vocal of Infinite, who are currently rising as ‘group choreography-dols’.
‘Music That You Wish Would Be Played Somewhere’
In the idol group market, where everything is neck-to-neck, Infinite rose up immediately as the ‘trend’. They are a 7 membered group who shows the positive points of ‘group choreography’ with their slender bodies. Since there are a lot of members, it seems like it would be easy to forget them, but they are at the top with female fans in their 10’s and are also capturing the hearts of women in their 20~30’s. This group’s leader and main vocal, Kim Sunggyu (23), picked the two words of ‘diversity’ and ‘teamwork’ as the secret behind the team’s popularity.
“We don’t stick to one type of music color. We work hard to always use different genre’s colors in singles or mini albums. Since all 7 of us have our own distinct color, that point allows us to not be boring. When we sing, each of our parts aren’t set in stone, so we don’t hold back on different vocals trying out singing with a different feel.”
The phrase ‘group choreography-dols’ has been attached to them. The prefix of Shin (新), which was used a lot among early idol groups such as Shinhwa, is a word that is used often when explaining the idol group’s ‘teamwork’. He, who said their teamwork was created through being group choreography-dols, said, “We practice dancing a lot with each other, so we’re the happiest when we hear things like that.”
Defying his parents’ opposition, Kim Sunggyu joined a school rock band in high school. Then when he said ‘I want to become a singer’, his parents severely objected and said, “We would rather you get out of the house.” One day, when he was talking about college entries with his elementary school friend, his friend said, “Think about whether you’re going to college to join a band or going to college in order to study.” And he asked, “The thing you want to do is music, so is there really a necessary reason to go to college.”
And that’s how he came to Seoul. He, who came up to Seoul because he was ‘crazy about music’, lived in gosiwons (T/N: hostels that usually students lived in to study) and endured each day while working part-time at a meat restaurant and serving at a cafe. A regular customer at the cafe asked him, “What kind of music do you enjoy?” And he just replied with, “Nell.” Then the regular customer said, “I’m Nell’s manager. We’re going to make a dance group, so if you have any thoughts about auditioning, you should come.”
“When I auditioned, I’ll slightly threatened (?) them saying that, ‘If you don’t pick me, I’m going to bother you forever’. After holding back a hurting stomach and auditioning, I went to the hospital immediately and got an appendectomy. On the day that I got released, I was notified that I passed. At first, I was a bit conflicted. I only listened to rock music, so it was a bit unusual for me to try out R&B/Hip Hop music. However, after continuously listening to that kind of music and practicing, I started liking it. Although I was criticized by my school friends when I told them I was joining a dance group, I just really liked singing and learning.”
He said, “Whether I’m part of a dance group or a rock group, I was thinking that I wouldn’t be embarrassed whenever I would be doing music.” Kim Sunggyu came out as a representative of Infinite and showed his music selection for this week’s ‘Musician’s Choice’. With the topic of ‘Music that you wished would be played somewhere’, the songs he chose were rock and R&B songs. Kim Sunggyu, who said there is no better happy feeling than when he hears a song he knows when he randomly passes by somewhere. His interest in music continues on beyond the stage.
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Music Recommendations
The first album chosen by Kim Sunggyu: Javier Colon’s [Javier]
“When you want to cheerfully love someone, I think of the song, ‘Crazy’. Although this musician isn’t really famous, I was really surprised when I first heard his songs. I fell for sweetness of it. When I first heard the song, ‘The Answer is Yes’, I started noticing this artist’s existence. So when I found and listened to ‘Crazy’, I felt my heart go restless. It was somewhat sweet and cheerful. And more than anything, I felt that I wanted to go crazy and love as well. Because I listened to this song at the situation where it’s difficult to date, I think those feelings came out even more. Haha. It’s a song that you look for when your love is becoming sad or frustrating.”
The second album chosen by Kim Sunggyu: Jay Sean’s [My Own Way]
“It’s one of the albums I still enjoy listening to. I move to the rhythm without even knowing? He was a musician that I really liked during my trainee days. I started dancing during my trainee days while listening to his song, ‘Maybe’ and I immediately felt his charm. At first, I felt R&B singers were a bit difficult to follow and following the rhythm and singing like that wasn’t easy as well, but I grew used to it through this song. Should I say that it was when I found out that that there was a song that was a rhythmical and fun as this? I think it’s a good song to listen to when you want to dance. When you watch Jay Sean’s stages, his dance movements aren’t large. I was shocked at the fact that he had the ability to make people cheerful just through his song. When you listen to his songs, you can enjoy it more if you emphasize the bass sound.”
The third album chosen by Kim Sunggyu: Bruno Mars’ [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
“It’s music that I want to listen to together with a special person. I remember practicing and playing a guitar because I liked this music so much. The song I usually practiced on the guitar was ‘Count on Me’. This song’s lyrics talk about, ‘I’ll hold onto your hand~’, and I think that I can express my feelings with this song when I’m walking down the street with my special person and this song turns on without my fingers curling."
The fourth album chosen by Kim Sunggyu: Muse’s [Absolution]
“When I feel frustrated, I often look for this album. I listen to the guitar solo in the song, ‘Hysteria’, and feel my thirst be quenched? It was the first song we performed in high school. I was shocked when I saw their live at a rock festival when Muse became really popular. In my 1st year of high school, I listened to Matthew Bellamy’s playing and thought that, ‘It’s something that we really want to play’. However, we had strange performances such as a time when weren’ able to buy a bass accessory because we didn’t have money, so we placed a guitar accessory on it. If you go out onto the streets because you’re frustrated and this song suddenly turns on, you will feel a strong sense of being refreshed. I think the phrase ‘overwhelmed’ will fit best."
The fifth album chosen by Kim Sunggyu: Nell’s [3rd Album: Healing Process]
“I remember listening to this a lot when I was personally tired. They were songs that comforted me. Although I don’t know what kind of intentions (Kim) Jongwan hyung had when writing the song, ‘Limit’, I think he understands my situation really well. It was a song I listened to when I first came to Seoul and went through a lot of difficulties, but the lyrics, ‘I’m just a person who easily gets hurt by one word, what more do you expect from me—-‘, gave me a lot of comfort. I comforted myself by saying, ‘Since I’m a weak person, I could just live like this—-‘. I was able to not easily get hurt by others and understand myself quite firmly. I especially liked Nell’s unique dream-like feel. It was an album I chose after looking for songs that would somewhat comfort me.”
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‘I want to become a group with infinite possibilities where our team improves every day.’
As the group leader, where does he put his greed into. “Although it’s not really a point that sets us apart from others, I really want to hear that Infinite is a team that really improves. Just like our group name, I want to really have ‘infinite—-possibilities’. I want to always show a new side of us along with hidden talents that can receive comments like, ‘there was a side like this to Infinite’.
Maybe it’s because he wasn’t noticed from the beginning or maybe it’s due the the troubles he went through in the past, but he was modest and said, “I’m always full of thankfulness.” “When we first started, we didn’t even get noticed or have popularity, but whenever I think of that time, I’m so thankful to the point where I feel sorry about how busy we are lately. Because there aren’t many teams who can be really busy, I’m really thankful that we became a busy team.”
Kim Sunggyu said, “I don’t want to become an idol group who immediately gains popularity and has it easily fall down.” And added, “I want to hold all this passion from the start that hasn’t cooled down and give it directly to the fans.”
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The Main Songs Recommended By Kim Sunggyu:
1. Crazy by Javier Colon from [Javier]
2. Biggest Mistake by Javier Colon from [Javier]
3. Maybe by Jay Sean from [My Own Way]
4. Used to Love Her by Jay Sean from [My Own Way]
5. Count on Me by Bruno Mars from [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
6. Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars from [Doo-Wops & Hooligans]
7. Hysteria by Muse from [Absolution]
8. Time is Running Out by Muse from [Absolution]
9. Limit/한계 by Nell from [3rd Album: Healing Process]
10. Lose Your Heart/마음을 잃다 by Nell from [3rd Album: Healing Process]