Kpop Club (11 page)

Krystal put up
her hand.

“The highest
for males is the counter tenor, then within the modal register the
highest is the tenor, then the baritone and finally the bass is the
lowest.”

“Excellent,
Krystal. And which of those is the most common? What’s the
equivalent of the mezzo-soprano for men?”

“The baritone,
sir.”

“Excellent. By
the way girls, you don’t have to call me sir you can call me oppa
or moon.”

“Yes, oppa!”
said the girls, laughing.

KYM grinned
like anything.

“I’m sure
you’re dying to learn about your first single - am I right?” said
KYM, calling Mr Hong over.

“Yes!!”
screamed the girls.

Mr Hong
entered the room, said hello to everyone and passed a stack of
papers over to KYM.

“These are the
lyrics to your first single, Plastic Eyes,” said KYM, handing the
girls a sheet of paper each. “Have a read and we’ll talk about them
in a minute.”

Krystal
quickly focused in on the lyrics.

I’m real, the
real deal

I want you to
show me how you feel, feel, feel

Are you for
real, real, real?

Been around
the world

Seen trouble
all around

Seen
superficial lies

In plastic
eyes, your plastic eyes

I’m the real
deal, the real real deal

I’ll show the
world how I feel

No superficial
lies

No plastic
eyes, no plastic eyes

Feeling down
and blue

Loves lost on
you, if you let it leave you

Love yourself,
be good to you

No superficial
lies

No plastic
eyes, no plastic eyes

Go take a
ride

Deep down
inside

Come find
yourself

No plastic
eyes, no superficial lies

La, la, la

Dum, di,
dum

La, la, la

A couple of
minutes passed before KYM cleared his throat to get the girls’
attention.

“Plastic eyes
– what do you think the song is about? Anyone?” said KYM.

“Is it about
plastic surgery?” asked Priya.

“It is in a
way, Priya, but there’s a bit more to it than that. Can anyone
think what else it might be about?”

“Plastic
things are often associated with being fake so I think the song is
about being fake and real,” said Celine.

“That’s
exactly it, Celine. Does anyone else have any other ideas?”

“When I think
of plastic eyes, I think of dolls with plastic eyes. A lot of kpop
singers end up looking like dolls. In some ways looking like a doll
is a good thing but it could also mean looking like a puppet.
Puppets are controlled by other people, and in the case of singers,
their record labels?” said Krystal.

“That’s a very
interesting analysis, Krystal. I purposely wrote the song so that
it could be interpreted in a good and a bad way – I won’t tell you
which way I see it!” said KYM, chuckling to himself.

The girls
giggled.

“I really like
this bit here, loves lost on you if you let it leave you, love
yourself, be good to you. To me, that means you can choose to love
yourself and be happy; it’s something you actively do.” said
April.

“Exactly,”
said KYM. “Aside from making catchy tunes, Kpop Club is about
positive messages. At base, this song is saying: love yourself, be
real with yourself and be a good person.”

“I’ve got a
question,” said Rosa. “Are we saying that plastic surgery is
bad?”

“Good
question, Rosa. We aren’t saying that it’s necessarily bad. As you
probably already know, a considerable number of people get cosmetic
surgery in Korea. The emphasis is on being real and not focusing on
your and others’ physical appearance only.”

“That makes
sense,” said Rosa.

“Great. So
girls how do you feel about the song? Actually, you’ll probably
want to hear the backing track first,” said KYM, making a signal to
Mr Hong.

The backing
track started playing on full blast. KYM watched the girls’
reactions with eager anticipation as the track played from start to
finish.

Krystal liked
it; it had a catchy melody and was quite dancey.

“I’m sure
you’ll agree - it’s quite high-tempo,” he said.

“It’s cool!”
said Pooky.

“Really
catchy,” said Rosa.

The other
girls smiled and nodded in agreement.

“I’m glad you
like it! Well, for this song, the chorus will be sung by all of you
and the solo parts will be sung by Krystal and Hannah. That sound
okay girls?” said KYM.

“Yes, oppa!”
chimed the girls.

“Great stuff.
Okay, let’s start with the chorus of In plastic eyes, your plastic
eyes,” said KYM, signalling for the girls to come and stand by one
of the microphones.

The girls sung
the chorus together a capella a few times before KYM asked Mr Hong
to play the best one back over the backing track.

In plastic
eyes, your plastic eyes

“Magic!” said
KYM.

The girls were
ecstatic; it sounded amazing.

“Exactly how I
thought this would sound,” sound KYM. “Krystal, let’s have you sing
the first solo part. The bit from I’m real, the real deal to Seen
superficial lies.”

Krystal could
feel everyone staring at her; she gulped and began to sing.

I’m real, the
real deal

I want you to
show me how you feel, feel, feel

Are you for
real, real, real?

Been around
the world

Seen trouble
all around

Seen
superficial lies

No one said
anything for what seemed like an eternity.

“Let’s try
that again, this time slow it down a little bit and try to forget
we are in the room,” said KYM.

Krystal shut
her eyes and did her best to focus only on singing. She took a deep
breath and let the words come out naturally.

I’m real, the
real deal

I want you to
show me how you feel, feel, feel

Are you for
real, real, real?

Been around
the world

Seen
trouble…

Before Krystal
could finish, some of the girls started screaming and clapping.

“Woooow!” said
KYM. “You nailed it!”

Krystal opened
her eyes and a smile beamed across her face; she felt a mixture of
joy and relief. Mr Hong played the vocals over the track and it
sounded awesome.

The girls
spent the rest of the day recording the track and didn’t finish
until 8pm. KYM sent them straight home afterwards so that they
could get a good night’s rest in preparation for the next day’s
press conference.

“Right girls, today is a big day for Kpop
Club – your first press conference at the Shilla Hotel. All the
major news agencies will be there,” said KYM, slowly putting down
his cup of coffee. “Rendezvous has got your outfits ready so if you
could finish your breakfasts and go and get changed ASAP, that’d be
great. I’ll meet you there.”

Rendezvous and
her team worked their magic and it wasn’t long before the girls
were in the Starship, making their way over to the Shilla Hotel.
For the first time ever, there was complete silence in the van.

After a good
half hour of snaking in and out of traffic, the Starship turned up
a steep hill, drove under a grand traditional Korean gate and
stopped outside the main entrance. A footman opened the van door
and the girls jumped out. Hotel staff and passing guests stopped to
stare at the girls; they looked like a group but no one could
recognise them, at least not yet.

KYM greeted
the girls, led them through the lobby into the banquet hall and
onto the main stage. KYM and Ben sat down behind a giant table and,
after a bit of toing and froing, the girls took seats either side
of them.

“Here we are
girls. As I said to you before, you shouldn’t have to say much
today – I’ll answer most of the questions. Going through this
experience once will make future press conferences a lot easier, so
try and take in as much as you can. Relax for now - we should be
starting in 5 or so,” said KYM, rubbing his hands together.

People began
drifting into the hall and taking seats in front of the stage.
There were all sorts: journalists, cameramen, audio men, hotel
staff and a number of casually dressed punters. Krystal looked out
into the crowd and was delighted to find that her dad had managed
to make it. Mr Hong and Yeung-1 were also in the room, standing in
the corner.

Once all the
seats were filled, Ben stood up to address the room.

“Thank you
everyone for coming. As you know, KYM Entertainment has called this
press conference to announce the launch of a new band, Kpop Club.
We’ll have around an hour of questions, mainly directed at KYM
himself please, and at the end there will be a photo shoot
opportunity. Please raise your hands and I’ll try and ensure that
we answer as many questions as possible.”

A hand shot up
immediately.

“Kim Hyejin
from the Korean Echo. Hello Mr Kim. Kpop Club looks like a very
international group – where are the members from?”

KYM smiled,
took a sip of his water and picked up a microphone.

“Kpop Club is
a truly international group; nine out of the ten members are from
countries other than Korea. We have Hannah from Australia, Nadia
from Algeria, Celine from France, April from the US, Maya from the
UAE, Priya from India, Pooky from Thailand, Jennifer from the
Philippines, Rosa from Peru and finally, Krystal from Korea.”

Ben gave
another journalist permission to speak.

“Lee Nam Il
from the Seoul Star. Do the girls speak Korean? What language will
they be singing in?”

KYM cleared
his throat.

“Krystal is
fluent in Korean and the rest of the girls have been studying
Korean intensively for the last six months – their Korean is more
conversational, right now. All the girls speak English and their
first single will be in English. However, they will also be
bringing out songs in Korean and will eventually have songs in many
languages including: Spanish, French, Thai, Tagalog, Arabic and
Hindi.”

Another man
raised his hand.

“Choi Young
Soo from the Busan Post. Your label has a reputation of bringing
out innovative groups, what’s the story behind Kpop Club?”

“Kpop music
has a certain feel – a vibe. That vibe is starting to gain
popularity abroad, but people often can’t completely appreciate it
because of the language barrier. Kpop Club songs will have that
same kpop vibe, but will be sung in different languages so that
they’re more accessible to people in other countries. The name Kpop
Club reflects the fact that people from all over the world are
coming together to produce and enjoy kpop,” said KYM, looking very
pleased with himself.

“Lee Moon Sae
from the Hanguk Sun. With all due respect, big bands often have a
lot of dead weight. Can all the members sing?”

KYM chuckled;
he was clearly enjoying the press conference.

“I agree with
you, a lot of big bands carry dead weight. This is not the case
with Kpop Club – all the girls are extremely talented
multiplayers.”

The girls were
very happy with KYM’s comments and were actually enjoying
themselves. The press conference continued for another 20 minutes
with KYM answering a number of generic questions about the band and
their contracts. Krystal was very impressed by KYM; he answered
tricky questions effortlessly and had the journalists eating out of
the palm of his hand.

Once the press
conference was over, Ben directed the girls off the stage to a
photo shoot area. The girls stood in front of a KYM Entertainment
branded screen and posed for the cameras. After about 20 minutes,
KYM called time on the photographers and took the girls back to the
coffee shop at the KYM offices.

“How did you
find that, girls?” asked KYM.

“Great!”
chimed the girls, still on a bit of a natural high.

“I’m really
pleased with how that went. The press seemed really interested in
you. I just wanted to say well done on your progress so far. You’ve
done a lot in a week: working with our styling team, Sebastien in
the gym, training with Yeung-1 and now a huge press conference. I’m
very proud of you.” said KYM.

The girls
looked delighted.

“As I keep
saying, these things get easier with time but you’re already doing
very well. Your Plastic Eyes single sounds great and I think it’ll
be a big hit. We’re releasing it in 3 months, so we’ll have to do a
lot of hard work now to make sure your stage performance is killer!
You must be exhausted after all that - I’m going to give you the
weekend off - come in on the Monday and we’ll pick up where we left
off. Thank you girls!” said KYM.

“Thank you,
oppa!” said the girls, clapping.

KYM left and
the girls stood up to and started to make their way out of the
coffee shop. Just as Krystal was almost out the door, a hand
grabbed her from the side. It was Andrew. Krystal jumped back in
shock.

“Hey, how did
your press conference go?” said Andrew, trying not to laugh.

“It went
really well, thanks.”

“I was just
wondering what you’re doing this weekend? I thought… I thought we
could maybe grab lunch?”

“Yeah sure,
that’d be cool, I guess,” said Krystal, trying to hide her
excitement.

“Great, can I
give you my number?”

“Sure,” she
said passing him her phone. Andrew typed in the number and gave
himself a missed call.

“How about we
meet tomorrow at Seoul National University station exit 3 at
midday? I’ll buy you something tasty for lunch.”

“Um, sure.
That’s a bit of a strange place to meet though, isn’t it?”