‘Being a record geek was part of my DNA,’ says comic editor

“Recosuke” by Hideyasu Moto is a comic describing the extraordinary life and dreams of a record geek. It was translated into Korean and published in the country. The original writer, publisher, planner, and translator of the comic are all record superfans. Among them is editor Jeong Cheol.

Jeong, the manager of the service planning team of the online shopping platform Socialbean, is a huge record fan. To be specific, he is an expert in progressive rock, which is experimental and narrative. When asked how he became a geek, he answered firmly.

It was the second year of middle school when Jeong, an already avid collector of stamps, erasers, and memo papers, found records. First, he was introduced to pop music and later fell in love with heavy metal and progressive rock. He worked on the development of web dictionaries at Naver and Daum after graduating from college. He wrote four books on the dictionary and co-wrote a book introducing great progressive rock albums in 2017.

Jeong owns about 10,000 albums, half of which is progressive rock. He founded a one-man publisher whose name translates to “empty study” and publishes a series of traditional books on Japanese history.

― What’s your favorite album?

“The ones I bought from band members. The market has become very small and teams that make good music are humble and don’t act like celebrities. They are happy to receive your Facebook messages or e-mails. I talk to Anekdoten (Sweden), Pendragon (the U.K.), and Natsuki Kido (Japan) and they ship signed albums to me. I feel great as if I am their patron.”

― Can you recommend newer progressive rock bands to those stuck with the 70s music?

“First, Porcupine Tree (the U.K.). They have dominated the field since the 1990s and are the closest to Pink Floyd. The sounds of their tightly packed music make you feel like you are floating in the air. Next is Opeth (Sweden). I recommend listening to more recent albums first as they made a transition to progressive rock from black metal. Last is Wobbler (Norway) who showcases symphonic rock with sorrowful retro sounds. They use the Mellotron a lot.”


imi@donga.com