The composer and singer Lee Jae, who created the popular OST "Golden" from K-pop Demon Hunters, revealed behind-the-scenes details of the work.
Lee Jae appeared as a guest on KBS Radio Cool FM's Lee Eun-ji's Gayo Plaza, which aired the afternoon of the 13th, and expressed gratitude for the love shown toward the Netflix animation K-pop Demon Hunters.
Making his first radio appearance, Lee Jae also revealed behind-the-scenes details of working on K-pop Demon Hunters. Lee Jae said, "I was so busy while working. When I first joined, it was through a friend I had worked with. When we started there were only five of us. We were involved even before making the script. We were there before the studio took it on, and what we did was create the sounds for important scenes."
Lee Jae said the reason he joined the project was, "I thought I absolutely had to do it. As a Korean, I love animation. There aren't many animations about Korea, and I loved it so much that I decided I had to do it. I wanted to do my best and show it in the United States. Director Maggie felt the same way."
In particular, Lee Jae, the composer, also made his debut as a singer by directly singing the song for the character Lumi of the Huntrix in the drama. Lee Jae said, "I had a bit of a complex about my voice, so when I heard things like that I was touched. They told me my voice was really good, which gave me confidence, so I sang hard."
Lee Jae said, "I was grateful to be given the opportunity when I first started composing, and I cried a little when I finished and did the demo recording. It was a difficult time, and the song was a comfort to me. It gives me strength, and since it now gives strength to everyone, as a composer I feel most proud."
Regarding the hit song "Golden," Lee Jae said, "This song itself is not a song for a singer but for the animation and for the character. They said we should intentionally include high notes that go up. It was made that way to express Lumi's earnestness, so we intentionally made it like that," and added, "Lumi felt the pressure, and I feel it too," drawing attention.
"Golden" rode the popularity of K-pop Demon Hunters and held the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 for eight weeks. On that, Lee Jae said, "The best way to describe it now is that it doesn't feel real. It's amazing. I didn't expect it at all. I never imagined it would be this big. It was unbelievable. I thought, 'Am I dreaming?' It wasn't exactly a 'surprise,' but when we made 'Golden' it was number one for us. Everyone worked so hard, we really pulled many all-nighters and worked extremely hard," he said.
[Photo] A capture of the visible radio on "Lee Eun-ji's Gayo Plaza."
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