KangTa Ready for the Next Stage (英.中文)

[出處] 朝鮮日報
          2005.03.04 18:44

安七炫推出新专辑“已不再是过去的我！”

HOT曾是拥有大批青少年歌迷的上世纪90年代韩国大众音乐界最具人气的组合。该组合主唱、“花样美男”安七炫给人们留下的印象仍历历在目。转眼间，安七炫已经27岁了，他于4日发行了第3张个人专辑，而现在，以前他给人们的深刻印象却让他苦恼。

他说：“这次我创作了我的同龄人和我的长辈们在日常生活中都可以轻松欣赏的音乐。虽然以15岁以上的歌迷为主力的歌迷俱乐部会员希望我的曲风仍符合他们的喜好……但是我正在改变，而且现在已不再是过去的我！”

他热情的歌迷会觉得不习惯吗？他还说：“即使HOT时期的我影响到歌迷对我音乐的评价，我也可以理解。如果没有HOT时期，我还能成为倍受瞩目的歌星吗？”同时还积极支持与他同样“单飞”的前HOT成员文熙俊。安七炫将文熙俊称为“天才”，还就一些反对文熙俊的网民强烈批评他表示：“文熙俊对音乐非常自负，而且性格特别直，好像与网民发生过不愉快的事情。但我相信，总有一天他的音乐才能会受到认可。”

安七炫突然将话题转到了男声二人组合“玻璃箱子”。他说：“玻璃箱子在举行演唱会时，很多人即使不是歌迷，也想和自己的对象一起来看一看。但我举行演唱会，很多成年人因为会想到有很多过于热情的少女歌迷，所以不想来。对此，我非常遗憾。”

安七炫的第三张专辑《假面（Persona）》很容易吸引歌迷的耳朵。该专辑主打歌《假面》和《麻痹》是慢节奏的歌曲，而专辑后半部的《蓝雪（Blue Snow）》和《起床》等具有浓厚的爵士乐风格。安七炫在专辑中假声的运用恰到好处，虽然在高音部有些颤音，但除此之外没有可以挑剔的地方。安七炫介绍说，由自己作曲的《假面》是以灵歌（Soul）曲风为主的R&B抒情歌曲。

该专辑中共收入了8首安七炫自己创作的曲目。安七炫表示：“1998年还在HOT组合时创作了《光》，此后发表了一共达100多首的原创歌曲。我希望自己成为像申胜勋一样的原创歌手。” 安七炫退出HOT后，一直是SM娱乐公司旗下的艺人。SM娱乐公司因为拥有全方位管理歌手形象、音乐世界和个人生活的系统而有名，安七炫虽然是该公司的招牌明星，但他还希望“与投机的作曲家共同创办一个唱片公司。”他还表示：“我创办的唱片公司将重视音乐人的‘自由’。”他还说，最不能理解的是经纪人为了给歌手发行唱片到处收集歌曲的行为。
    
话题又转到了针对10多岁青少年歌迷的歌曲上。安七炫对继HOT和“水晶男孩”等第一代人气组合之后成为10多岁歌迷新偶像的“东方神起”给予了很高的评价，他说：“HOT和水晶男孩当时很重视每一个成员的形象，但东方神起则注重整个组合的形象。演唱水平也比当时的我们要高。”

记者 崔乘铉 vaidale@chosun.com



 [Source] Chosunilbo
               Mar,07 23:59

Ex-HOT, KangTa Ready for the Next Stage

HOT, the Korean hit sensation of the 1990s, are still remembered by people of all age groups. In the face of KangTa, the band's erstwhile lead vocalist, many still see the traces of the teen idol. Now a hoary 27, KangTa is still loved by the teens but is ready for a new challenge - to explore the unexplored, as he puts it. His third album as a solo singer, released last Friday, conveys some of his anguish over where to go next.
“I wrote music that people of my age or older can easily listen to in everyday life. The members of my fan club, which is mainly comprised of young girls in their late teens, want me to stay within the framework that they set up for me, but I am definitely moving on to the next stage,” KangTa says.

Does that mean that KangTa thinks of ardent fans as an impediment in the process of music making? KangTa says he can accept that his career with HOT will stand in the way of his being recognized as a true musician. He adds that without the HOT he would not have reached the audiences he does now.

Moon Hee-jun, fellow former HOT member turned solo singer, has been in hot water with Netizens. KangTa defends Moon. “I think Moon had some clashes with Internet users because he has a very high opinion of his music, and he is forthright,” he says. “But I believe that one day his music will be recognized by many people."

The songs listed on KangTa's new album, titled “Persona,” nonetheless make easy listening. “Mask,” the title song, and “Paralyzed,” progress with slow rhythms, and “Blue Snow,” and “Getting Up” exude jazzy colors. KangTa’s voice slightly trembles in the higher reaches but on the whole it is irreproachable. He calls “Mask” an R&B ballad with a few elements of soul music.

KangTa wrote eight of the songs himself. Since 1998's “Light,” when he wrote a song while still a member of HOT, he has released over 100 of his own songs. From the beginning of his career, he has been with SM Entertainment, one of the largest and the most influential management company in show business, known for its systematic ways of managing everything about the client, from picking the right character and songs to handling all press releases.

KangTa's dream is to set up a record producing company with other composers, which would place the highest value on the freedom of each musician.

Music for teens was bound to enter the conversation. KangTa speaks highly of TVXQ!, the anointed successor to first generation idol groups like HOT and Sechs Kies who enjoy enormous success among teenagers. Compared to the earlier idols, which emphasized the individual characteristics of each member, TVXQ! seems to focus more on the harmony of the whole, KangTa says. “Plus, they sing better than we did.”

(Choi Seung-hyun, vaidale@chosun.com )