In the world of young talents, there is a special place reserved for Sungha Jung. He lives in South Korea, and plays guitar…
세상에는 뛰어난 재능을 지닌 어린 아이들이 많지만, 정성하는 그 중에서도 특별하다. 그는 대한민국에서 기타를 치는 친구이다..
Actually, “plays guitar” is a bit of an understatement. It’s more like he creates a musical magic that enchants thousands of people across the world. In April 2010, he received the special award for Outstanding International Instrumentalist at the 31st Annual Young Artist Awards in Hollywood, California. Many people found out about the talented young musician from YouTube where, four years ago, Sungha Jung uploaded his first clip – a cover of the song Splash by Kotaro Oshio. Today, his YouTube channel has nearly 10 million hits. His performance of “All You Need Is Love” got the Yoko Ono’s attention. She sent Sungha an email about his playing style and that John would have been very happy to have heard his music played in such a way.
사실 “기타를 친다”는 표현만으로는 이 친구를 설명하기 힘들다. 좀더 정확히 말하자면 그는 전세계 수천명의 사람들은 매혹시키는 음악적 마술을 만들어낸다. 2010년 4월, 그는 헐리우드의 제 31회 Annual Young Artist Awards에서 최고해외연주가상(Outstanding International Instrumentalist)을 수상했다. 많은 이들이 4년 전 정성하가 유투브에 처음으로 올린 Kotaro Oshio의 Splash라는 곡을 연주한 영상을 통해 그를 알게되었다. 현재 그의 유투브 채널은 거의 1000만건의 조회수를 기록하고 있다. 그의 “All You Need Is Love” 연주 영상은 오노 요코의 관심을 얻었다. 그녀는 정성하에게 이메일을 보내서 존 레논이 그러한 스타일로 자신의 음악이 연주되는 것을 들었다면 매우 행복해했을 거라고 이야기했다고 한다.
Sungha agreed to an exclusive interview for theskykid.com…
정성하는 theskykid.com과 독점 인터뷰를 가졌다.
SK: Hello and thank you for taking some time to answer some questions for the audience of theskykid.com.You are currently touring the US with fellow guitarist, Trace Bundy. What’s it like performing in front of a live audience in a foreign county?
안녕하세요. 그리고 theskykid.com 독자들을 위해 인터뷰에 응해주신 데 감사드립니다. 최근에 동료 기타리스트인 Trace Bundy와 미국을 투어중인데요. 해외 관객들 앞에서 공연하는 기분은 어떤가요?
Sungha Jung: It’s always exciting and fun to meet different audiences in different countries. It also means a lot to me because I get to greet people in person who have watched my videos on YouTube! I feel so lucky to be able to perform in front of my fans in many different countries.
다른 나라의 관객들을 만나는 것은 항상 재미있고 신나는 일이에요. 그리고 유튜브에서 저의 영상을 본 사람들을 직접 만날 수 있게 때문에 더 의미가 크구요! 여러 나라의 제 팬들 앞에서 공연할 수 있게된 것을 행운이라고 생각하고 있어요.
SK: Your debut album, Perfect Blue, has been recently released. While going through your various performances, I could not decide which one I liked more – they were all great. This makes me think that choosing which tracks to record for the album must have been a challenging task. Can you tell us a bit more about the tracks that made it in the album and why you chose them?
데뷔앨범인 Perfect Blue가 최근 발매되었는데요. 당신이 연주한 여러 영상들을 보다보면, 모두가 다 훌륭해서 어떤 걸 더 좋다고 고를 수가 없었는데요. 그런 점을 생각해보면 앨범에 어떤 노래를 녹음해야할지 고르는 것 또한 아주 힘든 일이었을 듯 해요. 앨범에 수록된 트랙들에 대해 소개하고 왜 이 트랙들을 골랐는지 이야기해줄 수 있을까요?
Sungha Jung: My first CD is actually a cover album whose songs were selected from among the ones that had received the most support on my YouTube channel. So it’s a homage to my YouTube fans in a way. They are also my favorite arrangements too. I have also put two of my originals – Hazy Sunshine & Perfect Blue – so that people know that I’ve also been working on my own songs.
제 1집 앨범은 사실 제 유투브 채널에서 가장 많은 지지를 받았던 곡들 중에서 선택된 커버 앨범이에요. 그래서 어떤 면에서는 제 유투브 팬들에 대한 오마쥬가 될 수도 있구요. 그리고 제가 제일 좋아하는 편곡들로 이루어져있기도 해요. 물론 제 곡도 두 곡 넣었어요-Hazy Sunshine과 Perfect Blue요. 그래야 사람들이 제가 저 스스로의 노래도 작업 중이었다는 걸 알 수 있으니까요.
SK: Could you talk about how and when you decided to play the guitar? Have you taken lessons for it?
어떻게 그리고 언제 기타를 연주하기로 결심했는지요? 레슨을 받았나요?
Sungha Jung: I had been watching my dad playing guitar at home and finally grabbed one myself four years ago, when I was 10. My dad’s not a professional guitarist, but he is a big acoustic music lover and used to play guitar at home. I always liked the beautiful acoustic sound of it. Well, I didn’t really have anyone to teach me when I started because I learned those tunes my dad used to play within a couple of months. So after that, I just learned by listening to original tunes and watching videos of other guitarists on the Internet.
아빠가 기타를 연주하는걸 봐오다가 4년 전 마침내 스스로 기타를 잡아봤어요. 그때가 열살이었나. 아빠는 전문 기타리스트는 아니지만 어쿠스틱 음악을 정말 좋아하시고 집에서 기타를 치곤 하셨어요. 그 어쿠스틱한 소리가 항상 너무 좋았구요. 음, 처음에 시작할때는 딱히 누가 가르쳐준 사람이 없었어요. 아빠가 연주하곤 했던 곡들을 두달 정도 걸려 배웠거든요. 그 다음에는 원곡들을 듣고 다른 기타리스트들 영상을 인터넷을 통해 보면서 배우기 시작했어요.
SK: How would you describe your music?
당신의 음악에 대해 설명한다면?
Sungha Jung: I’d like to describe my music as my journey through the pure and simple sound of acoustic guitar without boundaries. It is also my effort to express who I really am with the guitar.
특별한 경계없이 그냥 어쿠스틱 기타의 순수하고 심플한 사운드를 통해 보여주는 저의 여정이라고 이야기하고 싶어요. 그리고 기타를 통해서 진정한 저의 모습을 표현하고자 하는 노력이기도 하구요.
SK: Do you prefer one genre or do you enjoy playing all types of songs?
한장르의 음악을 좋아하나요 아니면 모든 장르의 노래들을 연주하는걸 즐기나요?
Sungha Jung: As you might have noticed, I’ve played lots of songs from many different genres: classical, film OSTs, old pop, contemporary and Korean pop music, etc. I really enjoy learning various types of music because they bring out different emotions and feelings. I think it’s also part of the reason that allowed me to reach a wider audience on YouTube.
보시면 아시겠지만, 여러 다른 장르들의 노래들을 많이 연주해왔어요: 클래식, 영화 OST, 올드팝, 콘템포라리와 한국가요 등등. 다 다른 감정과 느낌들을 주기 때문에 여러 종류의 음악을 배우는 걸 좋아해요. 그게 아마 유투브에서 더 넓은 층의 사람들에게 다가갈 수 있었던 이유 중 하나라고 생각하구요.
SK: That other day I was visiting a friend of mine in Spain and after she saw theskykid.com, she wanted to show me a video on YouTube. The video she showed me was your performance of City of Tokyo by Rynten Okazaki. I was impressed and she said that you are quite popular with her schoolmates. When you shared your first videos on YouTube, did you envision that one day you would have fans from all over the world?
얼마 전에 스페인에 있는 친구를 방문했는데, theskykid.com 싸이트를 보더니 제게 유투브 영상을 하나 보여주고 싶다고 하더군요. 그 영상은 당신이 Rynten Okazaki의 City of Tokyo를 연주한 영상이었어요. 굉장히 감명받았는데, 그 친구가 자기 학교 친구들 사이에서 당신이 꽤 유명하다고 하더라구요. 당신이 첫 영상을 유투브에 올렸을때 이렇게 전세계의 팬들이 생길 줄 예상했었나요?
Sungha Jung: No, not really. I had no idea I would get over 170 million views within four years because, up until two years ago, my most viewed videos received only a couple of hundred thousand views. I’m really happy and grateful that more people enjoy my playing!
아니요. 4년간 1억 7천만 조횟수를 받아보게 될 줄은 전혀 몰랐어요. 2년 전만 해도 제일 조횟수 높았던 영상들은 그저 수백, 수천건 정도밖에 안되었거든요. 더 많은 사람들이 제 연주를 즐긴다는 데 기쁘고 감사해요!
SK: This year you were honored with the special award for Outstanding International Instrumentalist at the 31st Annual Young Artist Awards. Did you have any idea you’d receive such an award?
올해 제31회 Annual Young Artist Awards에서 최고해외연주가상을 수상했는데, 이러한 상을 받을 줄 상상했었나요?
Sungha Jung: No I didn’t. I was actually in Germany recording my first album when I heard the news. I was very surprised and excited at the same time. I already won a couple of awards in Korea but it was the first award I got to receive from overseas. I wish I could’ve attended the award too, but there wasn’t enough time for that to be arranged. They sent me the statuette afterwards, which looked so cool!
아니요. 사실 그 소식을 들었을때 독일에서 녹음 중이었는데, 너무 놀랐고 동시에 정말 기뻤어요. 한국에서 몇개 상을 수상하긴 했지만 해외에서 받은건 처음이었거든요. 시상식에도 참여했었으면 좋았을텐데 그 일정을 조정할 시간이 충분하지 못했어요. 트로피를 나중에 보내줬는데 아주 멋졌어요!!
SK: Do you have a favorite musician that serves as a role model for you?
롤모델로 삼고있는 뮤지션이 있나요?
Sungha Jung: My mentor and friend, German guitarist Ulli Boegershausen, is my role model. He plays with such great feeling and heart. I feel very lucky that he produced my first album because I learned a lot while we recorded it together.
제 멘토면서 친구인 독일 기타리스트 Ulli Boegershausen이 제 롤모델이에요. 정말 감정과 마음을 담아서 연주해요. 이 분이 제 첫 앨범을 프로듀스해주셔서 정말 행운이라고 생각해요. 같이 녹음하면서 정말 많이 배웠거든요.
SK: Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?
팬들에게 하고 싶은 말은?
Sungha Jung: I would like to thank my fans for their support and enthusiam. I hope I can meet them all in my live performance.
제 팬들께 많은 성원 보내주셔서 감사하다고 말씀드리고 싶구요. 제 라이브 공연에서 모두 만나뵐 수 있었으면 좋겠어요.
Sungha Jung Official Web Page
Thanks to sctwins for the Korean translation of this article
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