Underground producer

Chapter 1

The sky today was beautiful. All I could hear was the movement of the surface of the water and the wind blowing through the trees. The stars were shining so bright. Such nights were rare which is why I appreciated each second of them.

I walked through the streets of Seoul until I reached my favourite spot in the city which was a small bench near the Han River. Each night I came here to write. This right here was my well for songs and lyric ideas. No matter how stuck or stressed I felt the night view of the River gave me peace. Sorrows, problems and worries were blown away the minute I sat down here.

The winter came early this year which meant that the temperatures were already around zero degrees in October. I pulled my mask up to cover my face a bit from the chilly winter night. For a while I just sat on the bench and admired the night view and the quietness. Seoul is a never sleeping city and everywhere you go it would be crowded and the streets would be buzzing. I got used to it although sometimes I wished that I would live somewhere near the sea or river to enjoy this view each day and night. It was magical and for a moment I forgot about the hustle and buzzle in my life. I mindlessly started to hum a melody quietly. Just a split second latter I had an idea for a song and crammed out my notepad to write down the melody and some lyrics that were floating in my head. The minute my pen met the surface of the notepad it glided along the pages and filled it with notes and words. It was nearly 8pm by now so I decided to leave for today and grab a coffee in Hondae and roam around the streets to get some ideas there. It was Friday night so I was sure that the streets were full of young people who were partying and just enjoying the start of the weekend. I decided to walk there instead of getting the bus, train or cab. There was no rush for me to be somewhere today or tomorrow morning. I had time.

On my way I passed some entertainment companies but I did not stop. Seeing these places left a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth. Why? These were places were I wanted to be so bad but it seemed impossible. Music was always my happy place and my passion but making it into the industry was really hard. I was making music each spare minute in my life. It ran through my veins. I considered myself an underground producer and songwriter. My artist name was GRAIL. Early on I had to learn that your passion and hard work won't bring you far unless you had some connections within the industry. I must have spent about 6 months looking for a music publisher who would help me. It was hard and there were time I almost gave up but I pushed through. My heart wanted this so bad and I knew that without music I could not exist at all. Last month I met with a music publisher who accepted to work with me finally. It took a lot of persuasion and persistence on my side. He must have been impressed or annoyed by me but he finally signed me or agreed to help me. I was over the moon but so far my songs did not make it far. The demos were sent back to us or we never heard back from the companies. Soon I figured out that without any strong connections or a well-known name it would be hard to put a foot into the industry but I had no intention to quit.

As a part time job I worked in a small studio owned by the best friend of my music publisher. I made enough money to live in a super tiny flat very far away from the city centre but it was the only affordable space I found. To be able to get my name out there I had quit my previous well-paid job and fully concentrated on making music. Most of my friends called me insane for making this call and broke off any connections with me. I was hurt but it was better to know that they did not support me now and realise that our friendship was superficial and break ties early.

Thinking of my former friends made me smile weakly. When I first moved to my new area they were the first ones that I met. We made good memoires but I respected their decision and moved on. I was so in thoughts that I just realized that I was in Hondae. There were people dancing on the street and others singing the most recent and hot songs. I ignored them and walked straight to my favourite coffee place. It was small but less crowded. The owner knew me well and greeted me friendly.