The inspiration behind Junior's 'Can't'

[ohcrepe.livejournal.com]

Welcome to another edition of Behind the Scene. We sit down with music industry professionals to take a closer look at their everyday lives and discuss their latest projects over a cup of coffee. Today, we're at The Banana & Co. in Gangnam Station with the songwriter of GOT7's "Can't (못하겠어)" off their latest album, "FLIGHT LOG: DEPARTURE."

Joon 'Distract' Choi is a B-boy turned songwriter from New York / New Jersey. He's worked with artists such as SISTAR and GOT7.

KPN: How did you become a songwriter?
JC: I moved to Korea 6 years ago right after college. I originally came here because I was a b-boy and I wanted to dance and Korea has one of the best dance scenes in the world. I danced with a crew called T.I.P. who were world champions in 2007, but then I suffered a back injury and I wasn't able to pursue it any further. And because I still had this creative energy, I needed an outlet and that's when I transitioned into songwriting.

KPN: Are you formally trained in music?
JC: Yeah, I played violin for 12 years and taught myself how to play guitar in high school for about 8 years.

KPN: What kinds of music did you listen to growing up?
JC: I didn't listen to a lot of music when I was a kid but in elementary school, a lot of the older siblings of my friends listened to artists like Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and Brian McKnight so I kind of started getting into R&B, but when I moved to New Jersey, my school was predominantly Caucasian, and I was exposed to bands like Green Day and Limp Bizkit. It wasn't until high school, when I met Andrew Choi through my sister, that I was re-introduced back into R&B and that's when I really started falling in love with it.

KPN: Did you ever listen to K-pop growing up?
JC: My parents used to play a lot of Korean music for me and my sister so I listened to a lot of Seo Taeji, Lula, and DJ D.O.C..

KPN: What was the transition like from being a B-boy to becoming a songwriter?
JC: I got my back injury about 2 years after I came to Korea and for a long time, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. All I ever wanted to do was dance, but when that broke down, I felt like I had nothing else to do. I think deep in my mind I knew I wanted to do music, except I had no idea where or how to start. But at the time, I was living with Joe Park, who's also a songwriter, so I got a lot of influence from watching him and Andrew write.

KPN: What was your first cut?
JC: It was last year. I wrote a song for SISTAR called "GOOD TIME" for their "SHAKE IT" mini album. I placed that song 3 months after I officially started songwriting so that was a huge accomplishment for me.

KPN: How did that song come together?
JC: I wrote that song with my friend, Jake K, and before we even got the lead*, Jake and I would talk about all these artists that we wanted to work with and SISTAR was one of them. So we started thinking about different concepts and by the time we got the lead, we already knew what we wanted to do. Jake made the track and my co-writer, Sophia, and I top-lined* on it.

*A "lead," in the music industry, refers to a document describing what types of songs a specific artist is looking for.
*To "top-line" something means to compose the melody.

KPN: Can you tell me a little bit about your song with GOT7, "Can't (못하겠어)?"
JC: Junior from GOT7 wanted to write a song with us so before the session, my co-writer, Secret Weapon, had made these 2 tracks. One was this deep, dark, moody kind of vibe and the other one was more bright. Junior came in and was feeling the second track so I said, "great, let's do it," even though I wanted to work on the first track (laughs). So it took us about an hour and half to two hours to come up with a concept and as we were talking about our past experiences and girls we used to like, I asked him, "If you were in love with a girl and she asked you to give up music, would you?" And even though he said, "No," I can tell that in his mind he was thinking, "Yes." He's a romantic like that (laughs). So that became our concept; what we would do if we were put in a position where we had to give up everything for the girl we love.

KPN: And was the process of coming up with the concept pretty smooth or was there a bit of a struggle?
JC: No, it was pretty smooth. I was very surprised because this was the first song that Junior's ever written so I was a little bit worried. But as soon as we started he began writing pages and pages of ideas and phrases that he thought would be good. He would go back and forth, reading everything and trying to decide what sounds good and what doesn't. And he brought a lot of really good ideas to the table so I was very impressed and I think he was really happy with the song as well.

KPN: What's your favorite GOT7 song?
JC: I really liked "If You Do (니가 하면)" because for a while they were coming out with these medium tempo songs that were kinda dark like "Stop Stop It (하지하지마)." And then they went even darker, which I didn't expect. Plus the dance was really good.

KPN: Can you think of any one artist that exceeded your expectations?
JC: When I first worked with Junior, he told me that he wasn't the lead singer. So because he had told me that, I didn't expect him to be that great, but he killed it in the studio. I was impressed and I think quite honestly he was impressed with himself too (laughs).

Source: kpopnerd | twitter

Comments

[ohlookshiny.livejournal.com]

his impressions of jinyoung are really cute!! mte, jinyoung sounds really good in can't. especially in the bridge (the bit from the highlight medley). he isn't a super good singer or anything but i really like his voice.

it's so great that the boys are more involved music-wise this time round. i hope they can get even more involved in the future bc this album is their most solid and consistent so far imo. also i noticed that jinyoung is really feeling fly and seems really into this era. bless!

[mlmello.livejournal.com]

so sweet how he talked about jinyoung <3

[fabulousdoll.livejournal.com]

And even though he said, "No", I can tell that in his mind he was thinking, "Yes"
aaawww why this hurts me?

[mordres.livejournal.com]

I might have clutched my chest as I read that ;_;

[milkfloo.livejournal.com]

my heart hurt too at this line T___T

[kyokomurasaki.livejournal.com]

Can't is my favorite song on the album, so good job to both of them!

[mordres.livejournal.com]

Oh the producer and I are on the same page. Junior's falsetto adlibs at the end of the song impressed the hell out of me too. I also love Good Time! It was my fave song off of Sistar's mini. I hope he keeps working with GOT7 because 30 listens later and I'm still in love with the track.

[fibuarymarch.livejournal.com]

i just want to be a fly on the wall at their session. i get the sense that junior keeps a lot to himself so it's nice to see when someone's got a read on him (and reveals that he's a softie)

[ohcrepe.livejournal.com]

I'm really curious about the song with "this deep, dark, moody kind of vibe"

Jinyoung is really feeling this comeback. I enjoy watching him in all the live performances.

[milkfloo.livejournal.com]

aw this interview was sweet. can't is my favorite song on the album

[10135.livejournal.com]

This does not help with my Junior feels.

[karatefeelings.livejournal.com]

Jinyoung's a romantic which is so akjhsakjdha. How is he so perfect.

:D

[bunnylover000.livejournal.com]

Junior <3