Smoke Sprite : Commentary with RM of BTS

So!YoON! You are now listening to the commentary album about So!YoON!’s 2nd album. If I had to pick a keyword for this album it would probably have to be ‘desire’. There are different kinds of desires melted into this album but it feels like ‘Smoke Sprite’ is about a certain desire and a story that happens between a dream and a reality that is very unrealistic. The title also represents a certain visual effect that explodes and disappears like smoke. So I'd like to introduce you to my colleague and friend RM, who has been with me on this journey of making my fantasy come true and have a chat. Hello. RM Hello. So!YoON! Everyone around the world probably knows who you are, but please introduce yourself to us. RM Of course. Hello, I’m RM, the leader of a team called BTS, and I’m a musician and player. Nice to meet you. So!YoON! With a bit of exaggeration, you might be one of the busiest people in Korea, but I’m so grateful that you participated in my album and my commentary album as well RM Your hunch was really great because you shoved it in my face right when I was free So!YoON! I didn’t shove anything! RM Things worked themselves out. So!YoON! The timing was great. Thank you. RM I’m half-joking. People might be aware but we met each other in 2019. So!YoON! It feels a bit different from back then. RM Right. It’s such an honor to be able to work with you like this because I was your and SE SO NEON’s big fan since ‘Summer Plumage’. So!YoON! Thank you. But we had our official first encounter in the Summer of 2022. RM You’re right. July 7th was J-Hope’s listening party. So!YoON! You were so busy but we were able to see each other again after saying hi. RM We talked a lot then. We talked about life and I was able to focus when we started talking about all kinds of things in the middle of the listening session So!YoON! You’re right. It was so hectic, there were so many people there, and I was beginning to wonder what I was doing there but it was memorable how the surroundings kind of got blurry and we just talked. RM Because I’m an introverted extrovert, I’m the type that wants to go to those events but has a hard time when I’m there. So!YoON! Me too. RM So, I’m not good at talking to a crowd of people like that. I don’t know but I think many people think that I’ll be good at those kinds of things because of my public image. So!YoON! Like a general manager. RM Yes, but that’s definitely not the case. I’m not the general manager of Toyota but just a backseat driver from the studio. So!YoON! A backseat driver from the studio is a great way to put it. RM I think a backseat driver from the studio suits me the best. So!YoON! Back then, RM was preparing for his album, [Indigo], and I also happened to be working on my solo album, so both of us were kind of unstable and kind of free. RM We were in the middle. So!YoON! We met in the middle of the in the middle and listened to each other’s music.I was very surprised then. You might have noticed but it was the first time I was able to experience your voice. Ah, this is the voice… RM It sounds like a vr theme park So!YoON! It felt like that. I think I was very moved because I thought ‘He has this kind of voice and this kind of sense.’ RM I also remember listening to all your demos back then. So!YoON! But I didn’t have anything back then. RM Some only had instrumentals, and some had ‘gibberish’. I’m not making fun of it. It really sounded like an alien language. Also, I remember really enjoying your 1st album but I felt that you were going for a different approach with that one. So!YoON! Back then, I played what turned out to be ‘Smoke Spirte’, and you said it was great after listening to the song, so I asked if you wanted to work on it together, and you just said okay. I think it was exactly this tone. RM I was deeply moved because I was able to work with you, one of the best rock stars of this generation. So!YoON! But, I began to think that I wasn’t really a rock star after seeing and working with you. Of course, you’re more of a pop star than a rock star but I felt that you were both and also had something burning within you. I also learned a lot from your attitude. RM I think I’m in my rockstar mode right now. So!YoON! So, when I think about this piece and about the making process, the most memorable moment was when we wrote the lyrics together RM I completely agree, it was the highlight actually So!YoON! That’s right. I was in the studio like this and the moment you came in, knelt down, and asked ‘what about Take on my knees’? was the most memorable moment when making this song. RM Honestly, I don’t remember kneeling in front of someone like that. So!YoON! It was our second time meeting too RM The second time of officially meeting So!YoON! Right. RM But even when I work on a piece these days, I feel that the gibberish of a top line melody is very important. I pay attention to it a lot because, even though it might just sound like an a alien language, when the top-liner chooses the melody, the auditory texture that emerges from the subconscious, without even realizing it, is often amazing. Of course, you shouldn’t get caught up in that. I don’t know if you remember when we were writing the lyrics but the lyrics were ‘first, take on’ or something like that and you told me that you wanted to start with ‘take on’ because you liked videos or movies because ‘take one’ was already there. But there were only two syllables left after ‘take on’ we couldn’t say ‘take one assassinate’ or something like that so I didn’t think that ‘take one’ was going to work but then I suddenly thought to ABBA’s ‘Take a Chance on Me’. But the funny thing about ‘take on’ was that the word wasn’t a proper word, it existed but it’s not used often. But the word feels like you’re entrusting it. Entrusting it to that person. From what I know, ‘take on’ became an actual word because of ABBA’s song, so ‘Take on my knees’ was actually an alien language of an alien language. So anyway, I thought of a scene saying ‘take on my knees’ by borrowing the concept from ABBA. So!YoON! I think everything started working out after that. I sang ‘Take on my knees’ and I excerpted it from my gibberish and ‘Take on like a beast’ or ‘Fire to the low’ came out RM ‘Tell me more I could die’ was actually gibberish too. This isn’t something that you’re going to mention, so the thing I want to tell So!YoON!’s fans is that So!YoON! doesn’t use swear words all that much in her lyrics or her daily life but there were a lot of ‘F’ words in her gibberish. But the funny part was that she didn’t even realize it. So!YoON! I didn’t realize it at all. RM You asked me ‘Is this, the ‘F’ word, so as a person who uses a lot of ‘F’ word in my gibberish, I told you ‘this is anything but.’ So, I realized how much of a rock star you are after I played it for you about like 10 times, she finally said ‘ah, you’re right, I heard it now’. The funny thing was that before So!YoON! started working on the lyrics, the thing I admired most was, she was a professional. She’s a real professional and not simply with music but she made a pdf file and in the long pdf and notepad files, she arranged the details about what the album was about, what part and role ‘Smoke Sprite’ has to play in the album, there was a rough draft and a final version for me which was very memorable for me. So!YoON! That was the first time I worked with a different artist, a featured artist. Actually, I had a lot of collaboration in the previous So!YoON! album but it was the first time actually working on it with someone else. Also, I wasn’t able to see you that often as well. You were busy and all, so I didn’t think there was enough time for me to explain about the album, and I felt that I needed to tell you all of that for you to be able to harmonize with it. So, I didn’t have anything finished but I remember just writing everything down and sending it to you. RM The reason I’m bringing this up is, of course, to emphasize So!YoON!’s professionalism, but also because after seeing your notepad file, it didn’t take long, it took like maybe a couple of hours? We didn’t write it for a long time. So!YoON! We didn’t take long. RM I think we made the hook. I think it took about 3 hours but the funny thing was I remember thinking that we have to push on harder, we have to take it further while I was making the song, like ‘Take on my knees’, but Soyoon kinda curled up into a ball and she turned into the So!YoON! that I usually see and told me ‘how do we do this…’ So!YoON! This is why I mentioned earlier that I think you’re a rock star, not me. RM We understand each other in that part So!YoON! I gained a lot of strength while working on the song. I wanted to officially mention that the fact of getting to work on this project doesn’t hold much significance for me. While I appreciate the support I received, what truly mattered to me was the emotional impression I felt while making the song, which resonated with my inner self, rather than the final outcome of the song itself. RM ‘You’re like a really big tree.’ I told you that once before. RM Yes, I remember So!YoON! As time goes by, I see you more and more as a majestic tree RM So, the process was more important than the results? I’m kidding. I just wanted to make fun of you So!YoON! I’m so grateful for the results but RM If I tone down the mood a bit, I also enjoyed the process itself and there is something fun about working on someone else’s work. In some parts. Of course, working on mine is fun too, but I felt that the pleasure that I experienced when I jump into the action like this something was completely different. I told you this often but I never worked so closely like this with outside work. I humorously mentioned it before but even when I worked on the same project, it was mostly working on it separately and discussing it. You know, I am like a backseat driver from the studio. Because I was my own little backseat driver from the studio, working so closely like this and harmonizing did feel a bit unfamiliar and shy but it was worth it. You gifted me with such enlightenment. So!YoON! For me, it was mainly two different feelings. The first thing was, I felt that I will have to work really hard if i ever get to pafticipate in other artist’s music. RM I did work really hard. So!YoON! You really did work hard! The sincerity? The seriousness of collaborating like this and participating in something like this was something that I learned a lot from. RM Actually, I think that had a lot to do with you because I don’t think every project can have 200% of integrity like that. As I mentioned before, I really liked the song and the fact that Hwang Soyoon is like a figure, or a person, or a friend that I really admire, so how should I put it, the fictional or humane things can offer the greatest harmony, so we connected through that. With such a connection, I was able to push you to the limits regardless of what others say So!YoON! Thank you. RM You really lived a good life, I’m just kidding. So!YoON! Today is the best day out of the 26 years of my life RM I lived a good life So!YoON! What? no. Let’s just say we both lived mediocre lives RM A good life. So!YoON! I wasn’t finished. The second thing I learned was that I should try much harder when I have love and respect for anyone, a musician, an artist, or my friend. I learned that the feelings have to be conveyed. It may be very small but that can act as oil when that person is trying to do something. There aren’t many situations in which supporting someone, infinitely, may seem too big, but endlessly while working in the industry. RM It’s not easy. So!YoON! I think we live in a world where you might tell someone ‘It’s a great album.’ ‘You did great. You were awesome’, but it’s very difficult to hear something like ‘you did really great, you’re really awesome, you’re doing fine, you’ll be fine.’ RM It is difficult, in fact, it's almost like giving blood. Honestly, I think it takes a portion of your soul to do something like that. You can be sincere by consuming your heart and soul. I think people might not realize that you could use someone or words like that, judging by how you appear on the outside. You’re doing so well on your own already and I don’t know if my words will reach you even if I’m RM. I don’t know how you will take it but I just had an absolute faith and I just wished it would reach you. So!YoON! That’s why I asked you before if you still believe in people when you’ve met so many people and experienced so many things? RM That’s right. So!YoON! But you told me you did. RM I think I really love people. it sucks to say the word ‘I think’. I wish I could just be saying “I really love people”. So!YoON! How can one be sure of anything? RM That’s why I detest people. Recently, so many things happened, but despite all that, I want to have faith in people. I want to believe them, love them because there are so many great people out there. Even if I get betrayed by those people, I just can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t hate someone forever, and I think it takes so much more energy to hate someone. Loving and trusting someone but these days cynicism and jealousy So!YoON! Reasons and cold-heartedness RM These things are admired So!YoON! It’s an era of virtue RM Virtue and being cool. But I think at the end of all that, it's just a sort of a defense mechanism. That’s why I think only void and defeatism is left at the end of it. But if you reveal love, it might be easy to get attacked, looked down on, and become too comfortable but because I’m a pop star, it is the virtue of a pop star to spread love and trust. So!YoON! You are absolutely correct. RM That’s what I believe in. That’s how the pop stars I’ve watched did it. So!YoON! Honestly, I think you’re someone who goes after wisdom as a human being despite your influence as a pop star. Things like reasons, cold-heartedness, and cynicism, that you mentioned earlier might sound like you’re going to face your fears. With things like that, I felt like you’re someone who chases after wisdom. RM That’s why I worked on ‘Smoke Sprite’ with you but we met a couple of times in between. So whenever we see each other, we talk about what's going on, what's going on with our friends, and things like that, and of course, we're living in different environments, we're standing on different grounds, and we're very different, but whenever we see each other, I always feel like I'm recharged, I learn a lot and it feels like we're walking together from different places. So, if I can reach you if I can be of some help to you, I want to help. Because you’re helping me too. It might not be as much as you but I’ve also been waiting for this song to come out. So!YoON! That’s right. I’m very grateful for that. How did you feel when you heard the key words like desire or fantasy? RM To a certain extent, it was timely, because the reason why I’m moving on to my next album right away is because I’ve been spending the most dynamic days starting last Summer. It felt like Kim Namjoon or RM from that point was a completely different person and this experience was very amazing for me. One of the things that I’m most amazed and envious of is making so many characters or personas. I also saw the interview, and you gave a lot of metaphors about how SE SO NEON is different from So!YoON!’s project and those kinds of points. But, I can only do me. I was only able to become myself but I became a new character for the first time. There was another me. So, I think a lot of breaks were broken. Simply, to help understand, a lot of the things that became breaks which were accelerators at one point disappeared. I didn’t want to ride in that car anymore and when you gave me the key words like desires or fantasy, it gave me a lot of emotional ground to be able, to be honest about something that was close to my roots. So if, and I’m saying if for fun, but if we discussed this song, let’s say, a year earlier, then the lyrics would have come out very cowardly. The victim might have become very anxious. Of course, that could have been beautiful as well but I like ‘Smoke Sprite’ because it’s very close to being raw. So, when I heard the key word like desire and fantasy, the first thing that came to mind was ‘the time is impeccable.’ So!YoON! It was similar for me. The reason for making this album in the first place was because I have this beast within me but I wondered how long I was going to be embarrassed or act polite to myself with this. This was why I started working on this album called ‘Episode1 : Love’, and I think the timing was coincidentally met, and to put into one word, I think it’s like a record. Just something bout our experience at the time in a RM archive So!YoON! Yes, an archive that’s exactly it. RM It really is a record So!YoON! I thought the timing was perfect because I thought it was like a rkvie. RM Records are left behind, and records are about our life and thoughts but they last a long time, brushing off on people, and people take it differently, and I think that’s a very happy thing to do. So I love this job and I’m so blessed to be able to do this and feel these emotions. It’s a blessing, and I know many people speculate about the lyrics but I’ll just leave the answer in your hearts. So!YoON! That’s what music is all about. RM That’s right. I don’t want to add a lot of comments to it. To put it simply, ‘Smoke Sprite’ is deep within that moment. It was drowning, I always like words like soaking, drowning, but it was engulfed at that moment when we made it. It obviously can’t be unrelated to hype or viral, and numbers are going to record on it but unrelated to all that, I think it’s going to be a record that was very much in the moment and a step into the eternal. I think that’s the kind of virtue and the best thing we can do as creators. So!YoON! It’s our business card. I worked really hard on it. RM That’s right. A business card of sorts. That’s invisible. Yeah. So!YoON! Anyway, it’s already passed us. It’s a bit disappointing though RM Of course, it just came out so waves are going to continue crashing but So!YoON! Sure. But our process RM Yeah, the process is behind us. So!YoON! Only the future awaits us, and I think we’re going to continue to support, keep an eye on each other, and communicate like this. RM I am already getting a lot of help from you So!YoON! in various aspects, both professionally and as a friend. She has been incredibly supportive both internally and externally. Let’s continue to work well together. So!YoON! But it’s so great that you feel like you’re getting help. For me, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you very very very very very much. RM No, you’re so welcome. So!YoON! I will buy you pyeongyang naengmyeon. RM Please buy me pyeongyang naengmyeon, It’s okagesamade. I would be grateful if you guys look forward to So!YoON!’s voice in my records someday. So!YoON! Our voices go quite well together. RM Because our voices aren’t mainstream voices. So!YoON! It’s kind of fuzzy and a bit RM Murky and kind of weird. So!YoON! It’s something like that. Anyway, I would be grateful if you look forward to it. RM Please look forward to it. So!YoON! Then shall we end it? RM Good luck, Hwang Soyoon So!YoON! Bye RM Bye