Rocker

With unopened packages from a recent move scattered about, Shin Jung-hyeon’s home looked like a warehouse. But his two guitars, his trademark, were unpacked and neatly hanging on the wall side by side.

This reporter first asked him whether the rumors of his retirement were true.

“I’ll be in my 70s soon. As time passes, more and more people say my music is too specialized and there is less and less of a stage for me. I tried many projects but haven’t wrapped them up. I felt that it was time to retire.”

“Did you lose your confidence in music?”

“I think I became strong. Pop songs these days are like a party of amateurs. Music has been reduced to being a part of entertainment TV programs, and people are crazy about light music. I would say that this is the last opportunity to let people remember that Shin Jung-hyeon did this kind of music, rather than using a big word like ‘retirement.’”

He was full of hope for a farewell national tour. He said, “I’ll show what true professional music means. I hope many people with high musical levels will come to the concert.” He said that he would perform the “Shin Jung-hyeon 3-3 technique (playing three notes with three fingers)” he devised for the first time at the retirement concert, which gives an impression that he has put into action his word that a true musician should ceaselessly create.

Following a joint performance with young singers he loves, including Kim Jong-seo and Park Wan-gyu, he is planning to wrap up his concert with a “family performance” with his three sons, Dae-cheol, Yun-cheol and Seok-cheol.

Concern over Transforming Music into Entertainment-

Forming Korea’s first-ever rock and roll band “Ad 4” in 1962, he settled a rock band culture in Korea by organizing “Jokers,” “Donkeys,” “Yeopjeons” and “Music Power.” He gave songs he composed to popular singers, who were called “Shin Jung Hyeon Team,” including “Pearl Sisters,” Kim Chu-ja and Jang Hyeon, so that they could release albums.

Although he is considered as a witness of Korean rock music after liberation of the country, he said that he felt “empty,” recalling the past 50 years.

“I think I have strived immensely so far, but I feel empty. I don’t know why. I hate this country’s music industry in which the public disregards true music. I’m worried about my junior singers since music seems to be increasingly transformed into entertainment.”

He is currently making a DVD which compiles his music. He produces and edits music video clips for about 100 hit songs, including “You So Far Away,” by himself. He is also transferring the “50 years of Shin Jung-hyeon,” including all his musical activities, images and articles, to his homepage, http://www.sjhmvd.com.

“All of this is possible because of the ‘hungry spirit’ which I had developed since I ran away from my relatives’ at the age of 16 and learned to play the guitar by myself. Approaching the age of 70, I still play the guitar thanks to the experience. I hope my junior singers would remember that there was an old singer who filled even his private life with music, after I retire and die.”

bsism@donga.com