Officially established in January 2022
“Park Soo-jin’s second album to be released this year”
In a playlist, music brings comfort to some, empathy and joy to others. Until a song like this is released, the efforts of invisible hands are accompanied. In addition to singers in the spotlight, I met producers, A&Rs, engineers, album art designers, etc. who are working silently in the studio, recording studio, and one side of the site to make the song come out.
With 10 years of indie band activities and 10 years of A&R experience, CEO Kwon Bin-ki organized a music label Dangga earlier this year. Tang Gahaeng is a poem written by Cao Cao (曹操) during a banquet. It contains the meaning of finding smart people and commanding the world. CEO Kwon named the label “Danggahaeng” with the goal of making a mark in the Korean music industry with people who are in the same direction as him musically.
The reason he started doing A&R after working in an indie band was simple. It started as an invitation to his wife to do music that is now money-making during his marriage. As a result, he worked as a songwriter and joined C-JeS Entertainment A&R at the recommendation of an acquaintance.
“When I started, there was no particular concept of A&R in Korea other than SM, YG, and JYP in Korea. So I learned about album production by bumping into myself. When I was in an indie band, the main thing was to play, perform, and compose songs. If it was a job, A&R produced an album and planned singer performances together, so it was new.”
I wanted to do indie music while doing pop music A&R, so I started an indie label as a hobby in 2017. The label created at the time is now the predecessor of the Tang family.
“At that time, it was really a hobby. I made it with my music-loving friends, ‘Let’s have fun.’ This will make me famous. I didn’t even want to make money. I just did music that the company couldn’t do. As I did, the board grew bigger, so I thought that I should try to establish a label myself.”
It took courage to step out of a stable company and jump into a series of uncertainties. As a starting stage, he predicted that it would not be easy to be in charge of all planning, production, and management tasks alone.
“The company I was working for was good, and I had to throw away everything the company provided and have to start from the beginning, so I had a lot of thoughts. I think it is a process of trial and error. There are many difficulties, but there are many people who are excited, so I am enjoying it.”
The 1st singer of Dangga Haeng is Black Star, the rock band to which he belongs, and the 2nd singer is Park Soo-jin. Park Soo-jin, who made a mark on Mnet’s ‘Superstar K7’ with her pure expressive power, made her debut with ‘Blue Wave’ in 2017. After 5 years in partnership with Dang Ga-haeng, in March of last year, ‘Come Away With Me’ was released.
“I saw ‘Superstar K’ and Sujin was obsessed with the song. It was so good. So I wanted to bring her back to the old company, but it didn’t work. So I was so sad that I suggested to this friend that I’m labeling as a hobby, so I’ll try it without hesitation. Sujin Through this, I want to make jazz music that I think difficult to be heard easily by the public. I think it is an area where it is possible with Sujin.”
ⓒCEO Kwon pointed out that Park Soo-jin’s strength is ‘to truly enjoy music’.
“I think it’s only natural for a singer to be good at singing. Sujin is more special than that. When I saw Soojin’s performance, I felt, ‘This is what people who really enjoy music and stage look like’. Actually, I thought on stage. There aren’t many people who do it more while having fun, but Sujin seems like the happiest person when she goes on stage.”
Recently, with J1 Entertainment, Park Soo-jin, Ahn Jae-hyun, Baek Ye-seul, and four other singers are working on a university busking project.
“I prepared this with the intention of giving healing to young people who are having a hard time preparing for a job and giving them a moment of relaxation. More people came than I expected and they liked it.”
He says that any singer who can express the music he wants to do and his color is always open to Danga. At the very least, I want to make it possible for me to do the music I want to do even if I don’t earn a lot of money during the time I spend with myself. That is also my goal as the representative of the party.
“It’s something I always tell the artists I’m working with and the people around me. I promised Sujin three albums during the contract with me. The first album is the music that I and Sujin want to do, and the second album is liked by the public. The third album I can give is the album Sujin wants. I plan to release the second album this year with music that can be reached to the public. I am doing my best. I hope you’ll be interested.”
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