interview with X Japan

X Japan Promises to Astound Fans

Popular Japanese rock band X Japan reunited for a world tour this year, with two concerts in Seoul March 21-22. / Courtesy of X Japan Production Management CommitteeBy Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

X Japan is promising to give Korean fans two amazing concerts they won't easily forget, when the Japanese rock legends hit Seoul March 21 and 22.

In an email interview with The Korea Times, X Japan frontman Yoshiki said the two Seoul concerts will have superb visual effects and different themes for each night.

``I am most concerned about telling a certain story on stage. This story must symbolize `X Japan-ness.' I must portray this in the most dynamic way as I can. For the two Korean concerts, we will have two different themes. Fans can look forward to it,'' he said.

Yoshiki admitted at first he was surprised to know that X Japan was famous in Korea, but is nonetheless grateful for Korean fans' support throughout the years.

``I want to thank the Korean fans for supporting X Japan for all this time,'' he said. ``When I was living in L.A., I had a few Korean friends. To be honest, I was very surprised when they told me that X Japan was famous in Korea. That was how I got to know about my fame. I remember many fans went to the airport to greet me on my first visit to Korea. I didn't expect to see so many fans.''

Anticipation is running high for the ``X Japan World Tour in Seoul,'' which will be staged at the Olympic Gymnasium No. 1, Olympic Park. Tickets to the Seoul concert are selling out fast. Even copies of X Japan's concert DVD were immediately sold out when it was released here last week.

A pioneer in ``visual kei'' or Japanese glam rock movement, X Japan reigned as the number one rock band in the 1990s and sold over 20 million albums throughout Asia. The band is currently composed of drummer and pianist Yoshiki, vocalist Toshi, guitarist Pata and bassist Heath. Original guitarist Hide died in 1998.

X Japan broke up in 1997, but decided to reunite in 2007. ``I was chatting with Toshi when I met him two years ago and we casually talked about reuniting in the future. Now our reunion is official for this world tour,'' he said.

The newly reunited X Japan performed at the Tokyo Dome, March last year, and in Hong Kong last January 2009. Yoshiki was taken aback by the enthusiastic and passionate reception they received from their fans.

``I was shocked and touched by our fans singing along with us and shouting `We are X' when we were on stage. I felt that this (the stage) is where I truly belong. The first concert of our world tour was Hong Kong, and it was very moving,'' Yoshiki said.

As for the band's plans for 2009, X Japan will continue its world tour in the U.S. and Europe. Yoshiki said they are also planning to release a greatest hits compilation album, which would include one or two new songs.

X Japan's musical style has not changed in the last decade. ``We are not influenced by any trend or musical changes. The music that we pursue can become a trend, so I think it's fine,'' Yoshiki said.

Tickets are priced between 66,000 won to 165,000 won. Visit ticket.interpark.com or www.xjapan.kr. Foreigners can call I-Yescom at (02) 783-0114 for ticket reservations.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

it's always funny when i'm the one being quoted by my newspaper

Mobile Operators Frustrate Foreigners

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Mobile-phone operators are gathering more foreign customers here, but that doesn't mean that getting handsets has become much less frustrating for tourists and expatriates, according to users who spoke with The Korea Times.

The companies said they are trying to improve services for foreigners, providing multi-language hotlines, English Web sites and diversifying their lineup of phones offered to non-Koreans. But despite the efforts, foreign users still insist that it is difficult to get a convenient monthly billing plan here.

``I used to have a pre-paid phone, and it was very annoying because I had to take it to the shop every month or so to buy more minutes … It was always a difficult trip, as the shops don't' normally have English speaking staff and I had to go back and back for the smallest of things,'' said Brian Colman, a Seoul-based American currently signed with SK Telecom.

``Now I have a monthly service plan, but foreigners without Korean bank accounts or credit cards should just forget about it. And it's frustrating that operators are slow to provide up-to-date information on service rates or discounts,'' he said.

SK Telecom, the country's biggest wireless carrier, said it had 290,387 subscribers to its pre-paid services for foreigners last year, offered to those who stay for 90 days or less, compared to the 250,000-plus in 2007 and around 215,000 in 2006.

The company's number of foreign subscribers on post-paid plans, available to those who stay for more than 90 days and have alien registration numbers, was 81,419 in 2008, up from around 72,900 in 2007 and 47,000 in 2006.

KTF, the country's second-largest mobile operator, said it had more than 143,000 foreign subscribers at the end of 2008, up from the 136,000-plus in 2007 and 91,700 in 2006.

About 50 percent of KTF's foreign subscribers are on pre-paid contracts, company officials said.

``Korea is becoming more integrated internationally in business and tourism, which means that more people are here on short-term stays or longer assignments … the growth in multiethnic families also has played a part in the increase of foreign users,'' a KTF official said, adding that pre-paid customers accounted for nearly 90 percent of the company's foreign subscribers as recently as 2006.

With the number of foreign subscribers rising, SK Telecom and KTF said they are making greater efforts to provide better information services to non-Korean speakers.

SK Telecom has a hotline (080-252-5011) for foreign customers, with English and Japanese speaking operators, and an English language Web site, www.tworld.co.kr/foreigner.

KTF also has a hotline (02-2190-1180) with operators who speak English, Japanese and Chinese. The center gets about 50 calls per day, KTF said, with questions about rates, monthly billing plans and contract terms accounting for most of the queries, KTF said.

However, the efforts don't come close to easing the experience for foreigners, who point out that getting a mobile-phone in Korea is still a more complicated process than in other country in Asia.

Cathy Garcia, a Philippine national and Korea Times cultural reporter, needed a Korean friend as a guarantor and a desposit of 200,000 won to sign up under SK Telecom.

She's since switched to LG Telecom, which provides an easier registration process and is the smallest local mobile-telephony carrier, but the company's limited choice of handsets, as well as its inability to provide global roaming services, frustrates her.

``I had to choose from just around five handsets, when Korean users are offered cheaper and better handsets. And it would be nice if operators provided information about discounts or other basic information in English,'' she said.

``I think the process of getting mobile services is more complicated here. In Manila, foreigners can just buy pre-paid cards off the streets.''

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

Michael Craig-Martin's Exhibition in Seoul

'Pop Art It's Not,' Michael Craig-Martin Says

Michael Craig-Martin stands in front of his work which is on exhibit at PKM Trinity Gallery, Cheongdam-dong, Seoul.

/ Korea Times Photo by Cathy Rose A. Garcia

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Pop Art might be the first thing that comes to mind when people encounter the bright, candy colors and floating chairs, buckets and sandals in the paintings of Michael Craig-Martin.

The renowned Irish conceptual artist is quick to say that it's not Pop Art. Instead of taking images from popular and consumerist culture like what Andy Warhol did with Marilyn Monroe and Campbell soup cans, Craig-Martin makes paintings of objects that people use in daily life.

``I've never thought of myself as a pop artist, but it's true that many people do… Pop Art is based in the use of images that exist as popular images in ads and photographs. It's images of images. My interest comes from objects and I make the images myself, I don't find the images,'' he said, in a press conference at PKM Trinity Gallery, Cheongdam-dong, last week.

Not that he has anything against Pop Art. In fact, Craig-Martin likes the idea of bringing art to a wider audience. This led him to focus on objects that are familiar to everyone.

``I thought who was more familiar than Marilyn Monroe? Chairs, tables, shoes, all of these objects are even more famous than Monroe. These are simple objects that have become the language of our time. I'm not interested in objects of consumerism or kitsch. These may interest other artists, but not me,'' he said.

Playful colors and black line drawings of ordinary objects are splashed across a 15-meter wall mural, as well as 20 canvas works, at the PKM Trinity Gallery for Craig-Martin's solo exhibition.

Craig-Martin focuses on the concept of the object, not the object itself. ``I deliberately made drawings that are very simple and impersonal. This is because my drawings have the same character as the object they depict. Mass produced objects have this look, that it's perfect. When I make drawings, I see how perfect, elegant, lyrical and complex they are. I am also interested in the physicality of the objects. I make an image of a chair but it's not a chair. So I try to make this painting as physical an object as it is,'' he said.

Initially, Craig-Martin used only black and white colors in his paintings. It wasn't until an exhibition in Rome in 1993 that he began experimenting with color.

``I had an exhibit in Rome in a room in an old building that wasn't built to be an art gallery. I thought I wanted to make the work to be specific to this place. So I painted the walls of the rooms in three different colors. Then I drew the images on the walls. The change it made to my work was fantastic. I have never made a work without color since that day,'' he said.

Craig-Martin acknowledges the irony that his paintings look mass produced, when in fact it entails a lot of work. First, he sketches his ideas on paper, then finalizes it on a computer. The image is then projected on a canvas, where he uses black tape to outline the image. He uses layers of color paint, without mixing or diluting it.

Craig-Martin, who has a bachelor's and master's degree in Fine Art from Yale University, is widely considered as the ``godfather'' of the ``Young British Artists.'' The YBAs were a group of rising artists that included Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume, most of whom studied under Craig-Martin at the Goldsmiths College in London between 1994 and 2000.

``I never wanted students to make works that look like my work. But I did want to influence what they thought about art. I thought that the center of each artist's work is his own ability and character. Very often students have little confidence.
I tried to encourage them. … I found most interesting were students with little talent but enormous desire to be an artist. To be an artist, they had to find something inside themselves to be their art,'' he said.

To get there, get off Apgujeong Station Subway Line 3, Exit 2. PKM Trinity Gallery is located near the Galleria Luxury Hall. Visit www.pkmgallery.com or call (02) 515-9496.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

interview with Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga Burning Up Album Charts

Lady Gaga talks about her debut album "The Fame."

/ Courtesy of
Universal Music Korea

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

New pop sensation Lady Gaga is burning up the charts around the world with pumping dance tracks like ``Just Dance'' and ``Poker Face,'' and attracting lots of attention for her eclectic fashion sense.

Her debut album ``The Fame'' is all about today's celebrity-obsessed world, with songs about the paparazzi, star struck fans and instant wealth. With her sudden rise to fame, Lady Gaga has experienced ``fame'' and its pitfalls firsthand.

``I feel that people treat me differently now because I've become famous. In the past, people gave me weird looks at the clubs because I was dressed differently and acted differently from other clubbers. Now they look at me just because I'm a celebrity, but really, I'm still the same person,'' Lady Gaga said in an email interview with The Korea Times.

Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga grew up in Manhattan, New York. She studied at private Catholic school Convent of the Sacred Heart with Paris and Nicky Hilton.

A few years later, she attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she honed her songwriting and composing skills. By the age of 20, she was writing songs for the Pussycat Dolls.

``Although writing songs for big names like the Pussycat Dolls might affect your self-esteem, I was actually able to gain a lot of confidence working with them. They had a huge influence on me as a songwriter,'' she said.

Lady Gaga soon found herself working with R&B star Akon, who initially hired her as a songwriter. While working together, he liked her songs and wanted to produce an album with her and she considers herself fortunate to have had a chance to work with him.

While recording her debut album, one of the producers, Rob Fusari, started calling her ``Gaga,'' taken from Queen's song ``Radio Gaga.'' The name stuck, and Lady Gaga was born.

The 22-year-old singer admitted she always wanted to be famous. ``I always told my friends that I wanted to become famous, but I think this needs a little explaining. I don't mean fame like being a target of gossip like Paris Hilton, but as a respectable artist,'' she said.

Her debut album has received praise for its unique blend of pop, hip-hop, glam rock and electronica, plus a dash of 70s disco. ``Just Dance'' toped the charts in the U.S. and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the recent Grammy Awards.

One of the catchier tracks from her album is ``Paparazzi,'' with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about an insatiable hunger for attention.

``Part of me wrote the song thirsting for paparazzi's attention while a part of me is satirizing them. Also, I expressed my love for the camera and but it's also a song about love and popularity. Can a person have both at the same time, or can he only have one?'' Lady Gaga asked.

Fashion is a big part of Lady Gaga's image, and she handles her own creative production team, Haus of Gaga. ``Fashion and creativity is my middle name,'' she says.

Now that she's a rising star with a hectic schedule, she often performs one or two shows a night. Lady Gaga barely has time for fun, but she doesn't miss the club scene much.

``Even if I go to clubs now, I should always look `lady-like','' she laughed. ``The old me would have violent drunken bouts at clubs, screaming and shouting. I would literally pass out from too much drinking. In the last ten months, I only had, like, four wild nights. But I'm not sad about it.''

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

interview with Kilikanoon CEO

Kilikanoon CEO Indulges Passion for Wine, Music

Nathan Waks, managing director of Australian winery Kilikanoon, is also a professional cellist who occasionally plays with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Nathan Waks is no ordinary wine company executive. Not only is he the managing director of one of Australia's most acclaimed wineries, Kilikanoon, Waks is also a professional cellist who still occasionally plays with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Waks has been lucky enough to be able to indulge in his passions for wine and music, without sacrificing either.

The Sydney native has been playing the cello since he was seven years old. He majored in the instrument at the Sydney Conservatorium, and at the age of 19, he became the youngest cellist in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He was director of music for the Australian Broadcasting Company in the 1990s, and has composed music for musicals and movies.

``I've been a musician all my life, but I had a love of wine. I had the opportunity nearly 10 years ago in 2000 to buy a small vineyard owned by Kevin Mitchell, who is the winemaker for Kilikanoon. I saw what great wine he was making and what good grapes he had. We bought the vineyard, and then he asked me to become partners. After that it was very easy. When you see such good wine, you want to be part of it,'' Waks told The Korea Times at the Shilla Hotel last Friday.

Waks worked together with Mitchell, whom he described as a very meticulous winemaker trained in both scientific and artistic aspects of winemaking to build up the Kilikanoon brand. Mitchell's father, Mort, has had decades of experience growing grapes in south Australia's Clare Valley, where Kilikanoon's vineyards are located.

Despite being relatively new, Kilikanoon reaped numerous awards from wine competitions in Australia and abroad, and gained high praise from the world's top wine critics. But it was in 2002, when Kilikanoon won six out of seven trophies at the Clare Valley Wine Show, that critics and consumers sat up and took notice.

``We won six out of seven trophies. It never happened before and it never happened again. In Australia, we went from being unknown to being suddenly known,'' Waks said.

Kilikanoon received another boost when influential wine critic Robert E. Parker Jr. gave good reviews for its wines. Most of them received an above or near 90 rating from Parker. ``Now we are building the brand, so the name is important. It can be a good thing to be recognized _ and a bad thing. There's a strong responsibility to deliver good quality consistently, because, once people expect it, its very bad if you don't deliver,'' he said.

Kilikanoon always strives to deliver wine with good value. Its products, which are being distributed in Korea through Doosan Wine, have been selling well. Among the best-selling in Korea are its Green's Vineyard Shiraz and Lackey Shiraz.

Waks was in Seoul last week to represent Kilikanoon at a gala dinner with Parker, where its 2004 R. Reserve was the only non-French wine served.

Despite the economic slowdown, Waks is still upbeat about the market in Korea.

``The Korean market is developing very quickly. The economic growth that happened in Korea was very broad that more people are enjoying the benefits of a good lifestyle. People here want to learn about wine. In Korea, you can see a lot of different wines from different countries, which was probably not the case a few years ago. With choice, people can experiment and learn about wine. I feel very positive with this market,'' he said.

When asked how the worldwide recession will impact the wine industry, Waks said consumers will still drink wine but perhaps look for wine with better value. ``People are trading down. They will have the same amount of wine, but look for better value. It is our job to make sure they have good value for whatever price,'' he said.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

mystic landscapes

Lee Jeong-lok Creates 'Mythic Landscapes'

``Mythic Scape 18'' by Lee Jeong-lok
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Lee Jeong-lok grew up admiring the countryside and reveling in the beauty of nature. When he became an artist, it seemed almost natural that his subjects would be the rice fields, mudflats, lake and bamboo groves around his hometown of Gwangju.

Lee's exhibition at Gallery Kong shows 13 of his works from his ``Southern Land'' and ``Mythic Scape'' series, depicting landscapes around South Jeolla Province.

With its black and gray hues, the Southern Land series offers stark, almost desolate landscapes. He worked on the series from 1997 to 1998, traveling around the countryside in South Jeolla Province and taking photographs of the rice fields.

``I wanted to find out the origin of our land (in Korea) ... Everyone usually does European-style landscapes, but I wanted to capture a genuine portrait of our land. There is one photograph in the series where you can see the land was developed, but a traditional tomb was left untouched. You can see the idea of conflict, between development and conservation,'' Lee told The Korea Times at Gallery Kong.

A few years later, Lee began a new series of color photographs called Mythic Scape. This time, he focused his attention on lush green forests and bamboo groves, as well as foggy lakeside sceneries.



Lee, who considers himself a religious person, always tries to imbue his photographs with a deep sense of spirituality.

``I tried to depict emotions and spiritual imagination in that the sceneries inspired rather than recreated the scenery itself. … Every myth talks about another world that we believe co-exists with the real world we look at and live in. The other world has a powerful presence that we cannot see. The faith in this presence is basically the theme of this series, Mythic Scape, '' he said.

Perhaps the most striking images are of the trees, where the tips of branches seem to be glowing with fairy lights. In ``Mythic Scape 13 ― Tree of Life #1,'' a barren tree glows with soft lights while surrounded by a thin fog that enhances the work's mysterious quality.

He worked on the new series for a year-and-a-half until 2007. It took him almost three months to finish each piece because of the preparation involved in properly staging the photograph. Lee said he had to wait for the right time of day and weather conditions to be able to take a shot of a foggy landscape.

In order to create ``mythical atmosphere with a sense of modernity,'' he carefully incorporated props ― such as angel wings or a round, transparent ball ― into the natural scenery.

For example, ``Mythic Scape 18 ― Forest of Spirit #3,'' shows one of the balls placed amid bamboo trees.

In the future, Lee said he is looking to expand the ``Mythic Scape'' series, developing new works on a bigger scale and with more details.

Lee graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Gwangju University and a master's degree in photo design from Hongik University. He also has a master's degree in fine art photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, N.Y. As a graduate student at Rochester, one of his works was collected by international photography museum George Eastman House.

The exhibition runs through March 15. Visit www.gallerykong.com or call (02) 738-7776.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr

travis concert review

Travis Overwhelmed by Korean Fans

Travis electrified the crowd with songs like ``Closer" and ``Why does It Always Rain on Me?" during their concert at Olympic Hall, southern Seoul, Sunday. / Courtesy of Yellow Entertainment

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Paper airplanes flew around the packed Olympic Hall, as Scottish rock band Travis performed ``Closer" in the middle of their concert in Seoul, Sunday evening.

Frontman Fran Healy could not hide a wide grin while singing, as Korean fans threw dozens of paper planes and confetti during the song's chorus.

``That's the coolest thing that has ever happened on stage. We will never forget that ever," Healy said, adding he wanted to collect the paper airplanes to bring back home to his son.

Travis was overwhelmed by the raucous reaction of Korean fans at the concert. ``We're just totally blown away tonight. It's so amazing. You're all great. I'm very seldom at a loss of words, but I'm lost for words now. I don't know what to say. I'm touched with the paper airplanes. That was fantastic," Healy said.

Sunday's concert was only the second time Travis has performed in Korea, after last year's thrilling set at the Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon.

Fans gathered at Olympic Hall with high expectations for the band, and they were not disappointed.

A little after 6 p.m., the lights dimmed inside the hall. Suddenly, Julie Andrews' voice floated in the air: ``Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." Fans murmured along to the song from the musical ``The Sound of Music," but then the stage lights turned red, and Travis appeared on stage, playing ``Chinese Blues" from their latest album, ``Ode to J. Smith."

Travis electrified the crowd with their music, singing ``J. Smith," ``Selfish Jean," ``Writing to Reach You," ``Re-Offender" and ``Something Anything."

``I'm not sure if this is right, but `kamsahamnida'," Healy told the cheering crowd. Fans went wild when Healy stepped down from the stage to stand in the middle of the crowd for ``Falling Down."

When Travis started playing their hit songs ``Sing" and ``Turn," it seemed like everyone was singing along to the lyrics.

As the fans chanted for an encore, Healy came out to perform ``20," a song that he wrote about adolescence when he was 19. Bassist Douglas Payne took over the vocals for the song ``Ring Out the Bell."

Then, Travis rocked the stage again with a string of songs; ``All I Want to Do Is Rock," ``Slide Show" and ``Blue Flashing Light."

After a brief break, the band came out again for a second encore. This time, Healy stood at the edge of the stage with just his guitar, while the rest of the band stood behind him as he sang ``Flowers in the Window."

No Travis concert would be complete without the band playing the crowd favorite, ``Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" Healy asked everyone to jump up and down to the beat of the music at the chorus, and they obliged.

The band ended the two-hour concert, literally on a happy note, with their song ``Happy," and a promise to come back to Seoul soon. ``I don't think there's been a crowd like you before. You're a one-off. We'll be going soon, but we'll be back soon. We'll tell all our friends and other bands that they have to come here, too. See you soon," Healy said.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr