A Band Like No Other, Royal Pirates
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Through their promotions this time around, the Royal Pirates are getting a little closer to the
public. Not settling for things the way they are, in order to let people listen to their music, they’re
set on promoting using their own methods. Although at the start they were a little weary, the
Royal Pirates have regained their original intentions towards music and have found the strength
to start anew. While conversing with them they showed many charms, and revealed themselves
to be not one of many, but clearly individual. Hungry for a different sort of band, the public is sure
to have the best of fortune with the Royal Pirates. [Coverage by Han Eunjung | Picture by Kim
Ilkwon]
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▼ You’re working hard on your second EP album promotions. Your busy schedules must be
hard on you.
M: Mentally, I’m pleased and enjoying it, but I also haven’t been able to sleep, so I think it’s a little
difficult.
S: I’m promoting while having a lot of fun and enjoying myself. Since James and I don’t sing it’s
alright for us, but I think it must be difficult for Moonhyung
to take care of his voice.
▼ What sort of story does this album hold?
S: The theme is love. At first it wasn't such a premeditated theme. When we gathered together
the songs that he members wrote we found that the common point between them was talk about
love. There are many categories of lovethe
first track is about fresh and newly started love, the
second is about daring and reckless love. There's love for oneself, the regret you feel after a
failed attempt at loveall
of these are different genres. We put in more rock, rock ballad, dance,
and poplike
elements.
▼ How did you all come to talk about love?
M: Don't many composers write about love? People always live with some form of love in their
lives, and it's something that we need. As special as it is, I think the thing that can most get
people to empathize is love.
S: People in their midtwenties
all have a lot of interest in love.
▼ All the members wrote and composed songs, so what is the reason Sooyoon's chosen for
the title?
S: First, the other two went abroad, so I was able to focus on writing songs. I thought of it as the
title when I wrote it. I thought about what elements our band's title song would need. It needed to
be something that could be known and spread on broadcasts, and something that could stand
up to live stages. I tried to make a song that we could perform many times, a song that people
could easily understand and sing along to. Since the vocal needs to sing the song, I had to make
something that fit Moonhyung's
character. I wrote lyrics to fit with the playboy character that
appears on <Laws of the City>, and continued on setting the mood with that attitude in mind.
Truthfully the song was to be released during the June~July summer months. So I wrote
something with a more upbeat, light, and bright sound, but since Moon and James had to go
overseas for their variety programsones
that aired in July~Augustwe
missed the right time to
release it.
▼ The reactions to the song seem good.
S: There’s a bit of a mixed reaction. People who liked us before our debut in Korea are sad to
find that we don’t have as many rock elements as we used to, but I think the new, younger fans
and public will like our current style more.
▼ I’ve suddenly become very curious about the Royal Pirates team name.
M: Truthfully, we didn’t think about the meaning of the name when we made it. James had not
yet joined us, and Sooyoon and I were going to sleep but we got to talking about making up a
band name. Sooyoon said he liked the word “royal”. At the time I was really in <Pirates of the
Caribbean>. I’m a fan of Johnny Depp. So I told him I like the word “pirates”. We tried other
combinations but “Royal Pirates” seemed like the best one, so we went with it.
S: There was a “Royal Ninjas”.
M: There was also a “Royal Empire”. (laugh) We came up with the meaning after the we got the
name. It’s a dream interpretation. We want our music and characters to be “royal”classic
and
luxurious, but with the resolve and freespiritedness
of “pirates”. We want to be a band that lives
by these two feelings; It was given this meaning.
S: When we first debuted in Korea the name was too hard to pronounce, to we thought about
changing it, but after three years of promoting under this name we decided to stick with it.
J: Since they made the name before I joined, I had no input (on the name). But, I love this team
name.
M: If it is too difficult to pronounce, please call us “RP” for short.
▼ When it’s just the members together, do you speak in English? I think that’d be more
comfortable.
M: When James is with us we use English, but if it’s just me and Sooyoon we use Korean.
▼ I think there would be times you miss America, since you’ve lived there so long before coming
(to Korea)
J: Sometimes I miss the food and my friends but who I miss the most my parents, my family! I
think it would be great if they could all come to Korea.
M: Thankfully Sooyoon’s and my parents have all come to Korea.
▼ Comparing James to when he first debuted, his Korean has gotten a lot better.
S: He’s gotten so much better. We almost couldn’t communicate.
M: After you become an adult learning is not an easy thing to do.
J: I studied really hard. When I speak Korean they keep making fun of me.
M: Usually when he speaks in English he’s really cool, but when he speaks in Korean he
becomes extremely cute.
J: I can’t say all the things I want to. So I get frustrated and there are some situations where I
don’t understand what’s going on but I’m glad that I’m little by little getting better.
▼ You must be very busy while working, but have you had the opportunity to sightsee around
Korea?
M: We haven’t much been able to, since we’ve nearly always been in Seoul. I want to try going to
someplace else in Korea.
J: I really want to go to Busan. I was a water polo athlete back in America. So I went to the beach
often but after coming to Korea, I think it’s been about three years since I haven’t gone. I’ve
forgotten the smell of the sea. But when I went for <Laws of the Jungle> there was nothing but
beach. (laugh)
▼ While performing in Japan you participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge and nominated the
leaders of Korea, China, and Japan.
M: All the entertainers that we were friends with had already done it. Since we’re Northeast Asia,
it seemed like it would be great to perform this act, with such a good goal, and let the three
countries exchange, unite, and get closer by. It’s for a really great purpose and I thought it would
be fun to do it. Of course, they may be busy and may not be able to accomplish the challenge for
various reasons, but we chose them as a way for them to be able to more affably approach
people.
S: We just happened to be in Japan at the time, and the Italian Prime Minister and President of
New York had done it, so we thought “why not?” I heard there were articles written in Japan and
China about it.
M: You have to have ambition while you’re still young. (laugh)
▼ Recently you’ve been doing variety programs and broadcasts, what are your thoughts? If you
had another opportunity, what type of program do you want to appear on?
M: I was cast on <Laws of the City> before we had even reached past 200 days in our debut. I
was really just newly debuted, and for an opportunity to come out on a broadcasted program like
that, I was really thankful. I went with the intention of keep up with that expectation, and I’m not
perfectly satisfied but I’m thankful thinking that my presence was able to be of some help. I think
my greatest asset from the show was being able to meet all those people, and make ties to the
crew and the <Laws of the City> Family. Another thing I gained from it was an awesome break.
I’d been living a repetitive life in Korea for about 1~2 years. My personality really suffered from
that time and I hated it. I was almost at my mental limit but then the opportunity came to leave
with new people and experience new things, so it was really healing. I thought that after I came
back to Korea I would really have to do my best. I also grew greedy for a lot of programs. I want
to appear on a talkshow, because I think I'm really good at speaking. (laugh) I want to appear on
the <Infinite Challenge> Music Festival, and collaborate with 'all' members. <We Got Married>
also looks like fun.
S: I also want to try out <We Got Married>, but there are a lot of good programs on cable. I also
have an interest in <Laws of the Jungle> since I like nature and animals. I also think a channel
like OnStyle, one that gives style advice, will be fun.
J: Going on <Laws of the Jungle>, I think I was a lot of help to everyone. It’s harder than anything
you can imagine. You really can’t imagine it. How hard it is. When I went to the Jungle I was
really amazed. You can find yourself and find confidence. After coming back from the jungle my
horizons have expanded. I learned a lot of Korean, and I think if I could go again I would in a
heartbeat.
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▼ I heard you did some buskings.
M: This is the first time we’ve tried. We always wanted to do it but in our beginnings we didn’t
have that many songs to perform, so we couldn’t. When the song “Seoul Hillbilly” came out, we
started doing buskings in Seoul. We did them guerillastylewe
didn’t confirm locations, and
when we got to location we told the fans to gather there. There were a lot of conflicts but all in all
we were able to improvise and make for an enjoyable busking.
▼ Is there any special reason you wanted to do busking?
S: Well, since there aren’t many stages for a band to stand on in Korea, there’s not really any
opportunity for us to meet with fans. We decided to arrange that opportunity for ourselves. We
wanted to make opportunities for the fans to listen to our music and meet with us directly.
Truthfully, we worried about how many people would actually come. We thought only 2~30
people, but more than 100 showed up, so we performed very happily. After it was all over I was
really proud and thought it was a good decision.
M: In the past, before a performance I would always worry a lot. I was uneasy. Now I want to
quickly show everyone (the performance). Our excited appearances! I think I’ve gained a lot of
confidence. I want to keep doing buskings but at one of the performances 300, close to 500
people came and it became hard to control. I think now we’ll have to look into public relations for
an outdoors performance.
S: If we combine the two provinces, we did seven buskings. We performed twice in one week,
and it seemed we were always playing the same setlist, making them listen to the same songs.
In the future I think we’ll need a little more time to prepare. We’ll prepare new songs and show
them a good time.
M: I think doing this type of guerillabusking
with just us performing, no prior notice, is good.
▼ What do you think is most important when making music?
M: A song with truth and sincerity, one that’s theme is clearly conveyed. If it’s a romantic song, it
has to be romantic. If what you want to convey isn’t clear, then the song goes by without
meaning.
S: A song that when I listen to it, I like the concept and mood. It is not “the public likes it so I do
too,” but “Because I like it, the public will as well”that
type of mindset.
J: I think the message is the most important.
M: When you listen to some songs, the quality is really good and the lyrics are tasteful but
unrealistic. to be honest I wrote a lot of songs like that. Making a song that’s sentences are a
string of coolsounding
words. Now the lyrics I write may be clumsy, the message not packed as
nicely, but the feelings I want to convey are there, and that makes it all the more refined and
good.
▼ Is there something else you do In order to find lyrics that can make people empathize and to
gain inspiration?
M: I’m the type to open my mind. If something new comes to me rather than blocking it, I would
look forward to the new experience. I think a lot of my inspiration comes from that. If I get hurt,
rather than closing myself off, I would learn from it and grow more mature and richer in my
emotions.
J: It’s important for me to write down whenever I feel anything. It’s not good to forget the emotion
while I’m trying to record it. It’s important to do it immediately, but it’s not easy.
S: I worked hard to build up a lot of different experiences. I write a lot of songs based on those
experiences.
▼ Throughout all the performances you’ve done, what is the best moment or stage that you
can’t forget?
J: When we performed at “Citybreak” it was like being born again. Before that I felt like I had
forgotten who I was. I wondered “Can we be successful in Korea”, “Can I do well as an
entertainer”, and kept comparing myself to others. But before doing “Citybreak” I had talked a lot
with Sooyoon after coming back from <Laws of the Jungle>. “Let’s focus on the things we’re
really good at”, “Let’s focus on our music”, “Rather than comparing ourselves to others, if we do
our best doing the things we can, an opportunity for success will present itself to us”, we shared
those types of words. After that we performed at “Citybreak”. We performed at an early time but
more people came than we expected, and standing up on stage right then felt like flying in the
sky. I thought, “Ah. This is why I came to Korea when I was younger.”
S: I feel the most hope when we’re performing and the fans are dancing, calling our names, and
singing along to the songs we wrote.
M: When we first started busking, we started at the Han River. On that day the rain kept coming
and going but right as we started it stopped. There was sunlight and a rainbow after the rain. It
was evening and the sunset was beautiful but sitting there with everyone singing along really
ripened the mood and made for a beautiful performance. “Citybreak” is also memorable.
“Citybreak” is the performance that made us feel joy, and the Han River is the performance that
ripened our time with the fans.
▼ As a band, is there a dream stage you want to stand on, even just once?
M: I want to perform at the (Seoul) Olympic Stadium. I want it to be filled with all of our Korean
fans. I want to be a band of the people. Although I also want to embark overseas, I want to first
receive acknowledgement of our music from Korea.
S: When we performed at “Citybreak” we got to watch Maroon 5’s stage. They performed at the
World Cup Stadium before, and I want to perform there with all of our fans filling the seats as
well. Watching Maroon 5’s stage, I went back to my roots. I think it was my first time feeling such
delight after high school.
▼ As people who make popular music, how you you view our country’s popular songs? I think
you feel a lot of things as a band…
S: To be honest, it’s depressing. As of now there are still of lot of genres of music that are being
subcultured.
M: There’s a lot of “instant” music, but the thing that still gives hope from that is while watching
the TV there are a lot of talented people. Our country has no resources, and the only thing that’s
growing is the population. There are a lot of eye catching people but those people are supporting
the nation only socially and as netizens. If we were to develop a system that could find these
people’s talents, it’s possible that the Korean pop market can become bigger than America’s.
There are too many people who like singing and dancing, and are good at singing. There are
clearly people among them that have a unique color, so if that characteristic where to be
developed more fully, I think Korea’s music industry would shine.
S: Idol music has developed a lot and there are many good songs. There are a lot of things that
used to be ignored, but now no matter how “instant” something is, it becomes a good “instant.” In
any case, I think that people who make “subcultured” music need to be smarter.
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▼ What bands do you look up to?
M: The world’s best bands right now are Coldplay and Maroon 5. Whether it’s through music or
popularity, those two are the world’s best bands. So I’ve always looked up to them.
J: Personally I look up to Daft Punk, and I’ve been listening to “Rage Against the Machine” lately. I
think the most important thing is “Rage Against the Machine” has a clear message and you can
listen to it at any time. I want us to make that type of music too.
M: Actually I really like “Rage Against the Machine” but I don’t think we’ll become like them. They
are people who have a lot of anger towards society. We want to carry our own feelings.
However, I do want to become a band who carries such a clear message.
S: I also like those types of music but I think it’s a bit aged. If bands like “Rage Against the
Machine” were to come out now, I don’t think they would do well. I want to be a band that goes
well with the flow of generations and be a band people can relate to.
▼ If you were to collaborate with a musician it would be…
M: IU.
S: Rapper? GDragon.
M: I want to try making a project album with strong music like that of “Rage Against the
Machine”. The rapper can rap strongly, and we we would be there for direction.
▼ If you were to try a style of music in the future it would be...
M: We talked about this yesterday, and the Beatles have a “Black Album” and a “White Album.”
We want to make a “Royal Album” and a “Pirates Album.” The “Royal Album” will have our
feelings, and the “Pirates Album” will hold our outspoken thoughts; I think it would be good to
have as concept albums.
J: This is a secret. (laugh)
S: No. Wouldn’t writing it in a magazine help make it reality.
M: Talking about it is also a strength.
▼ What are your interests outside of music?
M: I’m obsessed with the <Three Kingdoms>, and its movies. I like seeing the <Three
Kingdoms> being acted out. It’s a novel using history as it’s background, but I read it wondering
how real history is written, and read about other people’s thoughts of the community, and it’s
something fun to discuss.
▼ What’s the most fun movie you’ve watched recently?
M: I think <Begin Again> was really fun. It’ll become the movie of my life. (Moon spoke for a long
time with the editor, explaining each impressionable scene from <Begin Again>)The movies of
my life are <Begin Again> and <The Dark Knight>. I think I’ve watched <The Dark Knight> about
ten times. I liked it as soon as I saw it.
J: Christian Bale acts very well. (James tried acting out a scene from <The Dark Knight>)
S: I like what I’m wearing, and have fallen for the animation <One Piece>. There are mature and
moral themes, and it makes me want to quickly learn Japanese. So I can understand better.
M: I think manhwas develop too unrealistically, and shake up a person’s innocence. As soon as I
saw <Slam Dunk> my heart was on fire. I had so much passion I shed tears. Realistically
speaking, who would say “I’ll shoot with my left hand” while playing a game? But it’s possible
because it’s a manhwa. Only in a manhwa can you say such a thing is such a dramatic
moment.
J: I really like exercising. I haven’t really had time lately so it’s been hard on me but I have an
exercising-mania. If I don’t exercise I get stressed.
** A more in depth interview in content and pictures will be contained in the October Issue of
<StarAZ>.
Copyright ⓒ STARAZ | Translations by heymeowmao
