Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 73

Music Monster Overnight! Episode 64

Chapter 22. Taylor

“Congratulations. Black Tiger’s ‘Brilliant Struggle’ has taken first place.”

-Waaaaah!-

We reveled in the cheers of the fans, which vibrated through the stage, as we celebrated our first win since our comeback.

Park Si-young Uncle, who had been savoring the applause with his eyes closed, hurried back to the stage as soon as we finished, practically itching to get back to work.

This was because we had to prepare for the encore performance, a privilege reserved for the winners.

The other Uncles seemed just as eager. They rushed onto the stage, jostling each other as they set up.

“Hehehe.”

Among them, Uncle Kwak Do-hoon was particularly eye-catching.

I’m not sure what his beauty standards are, but Uncle, having bulked up his already impressive physique, looked almost unreal.

What completed the image was his recent decision to dye his hair a deep red.

-Gulp-

Uncle Kwak Do-hoon’s appearance after the dye job really made him look like a villain straight out of a superhero comic.

“To think he goes to the dermatologist so often to fix his skin with that face. No wonder there are so many rumors.”

As befitting Uncle Kwak Do-hoon, who was always the subject of gossip, the rumors about his dermatologist visits were also outlandish.

The most popular theory was that he was getting tattoos removed to sever his gang ties and start a new life. Another impressive rumor claimed that the dermatologist he was seeing was running an illegal clinic, and he was secretly treating injuries sustained in a recent fight with the Yakuza [Japanese organized crime syndicate].

Each and every one of them was an absurd rumor that could be easily dismissed, but because he had such a striking appearance, it was hard to ignore them.

That’s why Hong Ui-chan Director included stories about the Uncles’ past in the documentary entertainment show.

Born in the turbulent late 1950s, none of them had ordinary lives.

The most ordinary of them would be Uncle Jang Tae-shik.

He’s the only member of Black Tiger who was born in Seoul, and he was so bright from a young age that he entered S University [Seoul National University, one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea], the best university in Korea, as the top student in the law department with a scholarship, so it’s almost unfair to call him ordinary.

Uncle entered Korea University in that way, but he applied for a leave of absence not long after.

He had participated enthusiastically during the height of the student movement, but he became disillusioned when he learned that the corrupt practices of the dictatorial government at the time were rampant behind the student movement, which should have been clean.

So he ended up serving in the defense industry early on, and then, as if by fate, he discovered rock music.

He began to make music that would give strength to his rebellious youth.

Unlike Uncle Jang Tae-shik, the one with the least ordinary past was, of course, Uncle Kwak Do-hoon.

Uncle’s father, who had been caught up in the Korean War, immigrated to the United States based on his friendship with American soldiers.

However, racial discrimination in the United States at that time was truly appalling.

As a way to survive that racial discrimination, Uncle Kwak Do-hoon began learning wrestling from a young age. Naturally, with his innate physique and natural talent, Uncle quickly became a promising prospect.

However, Uncle’s golden days did not last long.

The athletes who lost to Uncle in the competition openly discriminated against him.

At first, it was just minor friction, but soon, the fact that an Asian, who was considered even lower than a black person, was arrogantly resisting bothered the white people, and eventually it escalated into a group assault.

This incident was so sensational that it was even featured in the local newspaper at the time.

However, unlike today’s common understanding, the angle that attracted attention at the time was different.

-American students seriously injured by student violence. How far should the United States be lenient towards these immigrants where violence is rampant?-

Surprisingly, in the group assault that should have been one-sided, Uncle Kwak Do-hoon, the victim, sent more than half of them to the hospital.

Uncle also suffered injuries such as broken bones, but he was unable to go to a proper hospital.

This was not only because of the exorbitant medical expenses, but also because medical personnel refused to treat him, turning Uncle, the victim, into the perpetrator.

Whether it was because that day’s events were so shocking, Uncle, who had spent several days at home, came out of the house again after discovering rock music.

However, he was soon disappointed again.

Rock music at the time was music that contained all the coolness in the world, but unlike its appearance, racial discrimination was rampant here as well.

No, it was even more blatant.

In the end, Uncle came all the way to Korea to play rock music, but he didn’t have any connections and couldn’t form a band until he met me.

-Thump, thump, thump! Ta-da-da-da-dang!-

Was it because he had such a past?

The sound of Uncle’s drums was heavier and more majestic than anyone else I knew.

Of course, if I were playing the drums, I could make a more technical and flashy sound than that, but it was difficult to reproduce Uncle’s heavy and majestic sound.

‘If he can fully bloom like this…’

I don’t know for sure, but he will be able to establish himself as one of the best drummers in the world, not to mention the best in Korea.

‘I’m looking forward to the tour…’

I was already excited to see how much the Uncles, including Uncle Kwak Do-hoon, would grow on this tour.

“I thought I’d start over……”

-Waaaaah!-

The fans’ cheers grew even louder when they realized that the encore song was the overseas version, not the Korean version. The cheers, which surged like a raging wave, made my heart pound as if it would burst, and the Uncles seemed to feel the same way.

I could tell from the fact that the sound was sharper than usual.

As far as I was concerned, it was an extremely enjoyable thing, so I couldn’t help but smile more and more.

-Aaaaaah!!-

After a while, I heard the screams of girls.

I turned my gaze, wondering if there had been an accident, but I soon realized that it wasn’t the case.

It seemed that I had unknowingly lost control of my aura because I was so excited.

‘Ah~ I don’t know!’

However, it was already too late to control that aura, so I grabbed my guitar and went forward without caring.

That’s how the solo guitar performance started.

At the same time, the screams and cheers stopped as if by magic. I wondered if it was my imagination, but it wasn’t.

The fans, who were hearing the solo guitar performance live for the first time, which had been skipped during the main stage because the song itself was long, were surprised and lost their words.

It seemed that it wasn’t just our fans who were surprised.

Even the other fans stopped leaving and stared blankly at the stage.

I smiled again because their expressions were so cute, and I finished my solo guitar performance.

-Waaaaaaaaah!-

The fans cheered as soon as I finished my solo guitar performance, as if we were playing an ice tag game, and I chuckled and finished the song in harmony with the Uncles again.

“Peace!”

I showed the fans who were cheering the V sign and waved the devil horns, which meant rock on, with my hands, and then came down from the stage.

“…I didn’t expect them to broadcast the entire encore performance?”

“Is this even possible?”

After an indie band caused a crazy incident by taking off their pants on a live broadcast in the past, music stages were no longer broadcast live.

They were broadcast live with a delay in case of an accident.

The reason why we were able to see the entire encore performance, which was not originally planned, was thanks to that delay.

Of course, the influence of A Broadcasting Station and PD [Production Director] Lee Ki-chan, with whom we are getting particularly close, is also a reason.

“Why is there more interest in the encore performance than the main stage?”

Go Woo-ri Team Leader, who had been promoted to Concept Team Leader, approached me with a very excited face, as I was wondering why Black Tiger’s encore performance had reached the top of the search rankings.

“O-of course it’s going to be hot. You were in your rarely seen ‘sincerity mode’.”

“…Sincerity mode?”

It was the first time I had heard the term, but I roughly understood what it meant.

Considering that when I became a hot topic with a YouTube cover video in the past, people were talking about the God Singer’s sincerity version, comparing it to a special move of a certain cartoon character, this sincerity mode would be one of the same.

However, unlike me, who nodded indifferently, Go Woo-ri Team Leader praised the encore performance that had just been released with a somewhat eerie face, unaware that the CEO and I were standing right in front of her.

“Ehehe. Here, yes. This part. This smile really drove people crazy. Hah hah… and in the following guitar solo performance…”

I carefully stepped away from Go Woo-ri Team Leader, who was increasingly lost in her own unknown world, and asked Jang Gil-san Headquarters Manager, who had followed me because it was my first music stage.

“But why did Go Woo-ri Team Leader come? Are there not enough managers?”

No matter how I thought about it, it was strange that Go Woo-ri Team Leader, who had come to support me, was with me, so I asked, and the Headquarters Manager sighed quietly and replied.

“Haa. That’s not possible. We have enough managers. We have three new recruits who are currently being trained.”

“Then why?”

“That’s… Go Woo-ri Team Leader volunteered to support us.”

“Voluntary… Hmm. I understand what you mean.”

What entertainment agency employee would volunteer to do the hard work of a manager, which is famous for being difficult? But I understood when I remembered that Go Woo-ri Team Leader was a YC fan from Tokashi [a term of endearment for devoted fans] in the past.

I had once been a fan from afar, so I understood that Go Woo-ri Team Leader’s manager support, which I didn’t understand, was a kind of fan activity.

More than anything, apart from showing such a gloomy appearance, she did her job as well as a veteran manager, so the company was satisfied.

As the encore performance, which was sung in English, became a hot topic, other broadcasting stations also showed interest in the English version performance.

In addition, they added time to the special stage and wanted us to sing the original version of ‘Brilliant Struggle’ instead of the short version that was made for broadcasting.

Of course, we accepted this offer.

It’s not that I don’t like the short version, but the short version is actually a version that removes the guitar solo performance, which is the highlight of this song.

In fact, by the time we had visited all the terrestrial broadcasting stations, YC’s guitar solo performance had become a hot topic.

-YC’s guitar skills were already known thanks to the ‘Legends of Rock’ video, but this solo performance seems to be really legendary. I showed it to a brother who makes a living playing guitar, and he asked if it was CG [Computer Graphics].-

└Suddenly CG? Why?

└Why else? How can that speed be possible? He must have thought that two people were playing it and it was edited so that one person was playing it.

└Can that be done with CG?

└I think he thought it was like the speed that the main character showed to the god of jazz in The Legend of 1900.

-Suddenly YC CG theory! –

-YC does make you feel like CG when he’s in sincerity mode.-

-The reason why YC’s guitar is a hot topic among professionals is because of the playing technique used in that speed. He was already famous for showing playing techniques that he had never seen before, but this time he crossed the line.-

└If you cut it off like this, it sounds like YC did something bad. If I continue this person’s words, guitarists don’t change their playing techniques well, but YC changes them to new ones. But there’s a reason for that. It gets better. Thanks to that, that absurd emotion comes out of this impossible speed.-

-Wow! So that’s why YC is being compared to Jeff Beck.-

-Who is Jeff Beck?-

└…He’s one of the three greatest guitarists in the world. Personally, he’s the most respected rock star.

└Wow~ Jeff Beck. My heart is pounding!

“Jeff Beck, huh… Haha.”

I smiled when Jeff Beck was mentioned while I was looking at the comments on the article.

This was because the guy also respected Jeff Beck thanks to Uncle Park Si-young, who is a passionate fan of Jeff Beck.

That was also true for me.

He is a wonderful person in terms of personality, and he is a person who has dedicated himself so much that it is never enough to say that he is a pioneer of guitarists.

In fact, it was thanks to his influence that my guitar playing improved faster than I thought it would.

Overflowing inspiration helped me develop playing techniques that could make up for my lack of skills, and that was the same this time as well.

The reason why my guitar skills were able to improve was because I further developed the playing techniques that suited me.