WHEN foreign celebrities are asked if they are enjoying their stay in the country, the usual comment is a compliment on the country’s beauty or its delicacies.
But baby-faced singer Roy Kim who was here recently for a showcase organised by Warner Music Malaysia, said: “I’m enjoying myself as much as I can... catching Pokemon.”
He was referring to the massively popular game Pokemon Go, where players use their mobile devices’ GPS to locate and capture fictional creatures called Pokemon. The augmented-reality game is currently unavailable in South Korea, since it uses Google Maps that is restricted by its government due to security concerns. So that explains Kim’s excitement in seeing the many Pokemon creatures here.
“I’ve caught at least 30 here!” he gushed excitedly, adding: “I just started playing though. I’m only on Level 7.”
Moving on to his favourite Malaysian dish, Kim’s answer wasn’t satay or nasi lemak but sambal kangkung!
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Kim Sangwoo, was the winner of talent competition Superstar K4 in 2012. He donated 300 million won (about RM1.1m) from his prize money to charity.
He has been called adorable, cute and sexy, but Kim shyly admitted to just being an ordinary guy who loves to sing. “I didn’t even plan to become a singer. Singing was just a hobby. After the competition, my hobby became my job.”
DIFFERENT TUNES
The first two, three years after winning Superstar K were hectic as he had singing engagements daily.
“At the time, I just got tired of singing. I was only 19 then, and I lost focus on why I had chosen this path. Nowadays, however, I’m more than thankful to be singing in front of a large crowd, connecting with people through music and travelling the world. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Also a talented guitarist, Kim writes his own music as he wants his albums to contain his personal stories. “I want my songs to give an idea of who Roy Kim really is.”
So far, he has released three albums, and his music is noticeably diverse from the more popular K-Pop genre. “In fact, my music is what I call K-Folk.”
The singer grew up in the US and Canada, but he said that his music influences didn’t originate there. “Growing up, I listened to a lot of my mum’s favourite Korean folk songs. My friends loved dance music but I preferred piano or guitar ballads.”
His idol since his teenage years has been Irish singer-songwritier Damien Rice, whose songs are mostly sad numbers.
“While working on my first album, I realised that when people are sad, they listen to sadder tunes so they can step away from that gloomy feeling. That’s why I enjoy listening to Damien’s songs. Sad songs make me happy.”
Kim’s self-composed songs may be sentimental and acoustic, but he also enjoys listening to other genres such as hip-hop and EDM. “These days, I listen to (electropop singer) Troye Sivan.”
SONGWRITING IN HOTEL ROOM
Kim’s first song composition was at 18, for his high school homework.
“Anything can inspire me, and the ideas come to me naturally. In fact, last night, I wrote a song in my hotel room. When I release it in the future, I’ll say that it was made in Malaysia,” said Kim with a smile.
He recalled a drunken night when he was recording songs for his third album, The Great Dipper. “When I sang the song Stay, I thought it sounded beautiful. I decided then that every time I want to record new music, I should drink. The next day when I was sober, I listened to the recording again. It sounded horrible! I guess I was too intoxicated to realise it.”
The hardest song for him to sing is Maybe I, the soundtrack for the K-drama Another Miss Oh.
“It took me six to seven hours to record, maybe because I didn’t compose it. Still, it’s a great song and it did well in South Korea.”
Till now, Kim has never shown his compositions to his family before the release. “My mum is a tiger mum. She’s very critical. She’d ask me to change this and that,” he revealed.
Currently, the self-composed ballad Home, which was written from the perspective of his then 14-year-old dog Sancho, is his favourite song. He loves dogs so much that he built a shelter for abandoned dogs in 2014.
DOUBLE LIFE
Having released three full albums over the past three years, Kim wants to take time off this year from music. He has been appearing on numerous variety shows in South Korea.
“Previously, I never thought of doing so, because I didn’t want people to think of me just as the ‘that guy on TV’. I wanted my music to take centrestage.”
When Kim is not writing songs, he hits the books. Currently an undergraduate at Georgetown University in Washington D.C, he is majoring in Sociology. “I’ll be returning to school this month, and will only be back in Seoul by year-end to start working on my next album.”
Is he looking forward to going back to his studies? “Oh, no, no,” he said, with a sheepish smile. “Actually, I consider this break as a vacation. In fact, people call me the Vacation Singer. I’d be around promoting my music in South Korea, but I’m gone for the rest of the year.”
Still, he said it’s always great to have some time off from the glaring limelight. “It keeps me grounded.”