It’s been weeks since K-pop Vaganza Party, but we’re sure that a lot of ONers who attended the show could still feel the joy from that day. K-pop Vaganza is one of the projects from KOCCA (Korean Creative Contain Agency) to maintain the Hallyu fever in Indonesia. The mission is accomplished because even until now, RekON can still feel the euphoria of the show and the friendliness shown by every performer of the event held in November 24, 2013. The main guests for this time were Phantom and Geeks, two Hip-hop groups from South Korea. They had been successfully invited to Indonesia thanks to KOCCA, Dreamers Radio, BIG Entertainment, YS Entertainment together with WA Entertainment and Rainbowbridge Agency Inc., the second home for both groups.

Just several hours before the show started, RekON, along with several partners from television, print and online media had had the chance to interview Phantom and Geeks. Now, we will take you, ONers, to get closer to Phantom and Geeks, to find out what their impression was while in Indonesia and how it feels to be people’s favourite Hip-hop groups these days.

According to the schedule, RekON as an online media had the turn at the third session. However, due to the limited time, we joined the colleagues from the printed media at the second session. At a restaurant in Gandaria City, Lil Boi, Louie, Sanchez, Hanhae and Kiggen had already sat nicely waiting for the reporters in a special room. With happy and friendly faces, those five artists welcomed the reporters. Just by seeing their happy faces, RekON felt lighthearted. Accompanied by the translator of the day, Tae Hyung, Sanchez of Phantom greeted the reporters with “Annyeonghaseyo” and then followed by the rest of them.

These days, Hip-hop music has been growing rapidly and becomes the center of attention in South Korea. A lot of musicians, both from underground scene and major-label, emerged and became famous either in South Korea or other countries. When asked what makes Phantom and Geeks different from other Hip-hop musicians, Louie from Geeks answered, “Our basic music is still Hip-hop. The difference is just the lyrics that Geeks write. We write our own lyrics and the contents are usually about our own personal experiences.” Meanwhile, Sanchez thought that Phantom’s music is more like hybrid with basic of Hip-hop, “Our basic music is Hip-hop but we combine it with Jazz, classical and many others. Our music is hybrid.” About Hip-hop musicians in Indonesia, Geeks said that they didn’t know any of them, and neither did Phantom. However, Sanchez stated that some fans from Indonesia told him about Yacko, an Indonesian Hip-hop female musician, via Twitter. It’s too bad he didn’t have the time yet to listen to her music.

Although not very well-known in Indonesia, Phantom and Geeks are already famous and have a lot of fans in their own country. Geeks and Phantom, who previously shared music only in underground scene, attracted more attention after they joined a major label. When asked what they feel after being famous and what differences happened to them, Geeks said that personally, they did not think they were famous because they can still walk around in the crowd freely. “We don’t think we’re famous. Back in our hometown, we are still able to walk around in the crowd like usual. Even when we meet a fan who recognizes us, we just smile like usual.” said Lil’ Boi. “Well, the only difference is maybe we cannot litter anymore, “ said Louie jokingly, making all of the reporters laugh. Hmmm … Louie used to have such habit.

Just like Geeks’ members, Phantom’s members did not feel that they are famous, either in South Korea or other countries. “Nothing changes between the old and the new me.” said Hanhae. Kiggen agreed with Hanhae’s answer because Phantom just focused on making music or performing on music shows without making any appearance in variety shows. For Sanchez, the only difference happened to him was that he concerned more about his appearance in public. He will make sure he’s shaved and clean before he gets out.

As we know, the Korean Hallyu wave, which already became the center of worlds’ attention, focuses on ‘Idol’ or Korean pop music. It could be one of the reasons they did not feel that they are famous, even in their own country. Nonetheless, the world’s focus on ‘Idol’ or Korean pop music is the right time for them to emerge and be famous. At least it’s what Hanhae thought when asked how they survive among ‘K-pop’ music. Kiggen and Sanchez thanked the fans who listened to their music and also to the reporters who covered and took pictures of them in shows like K-pop Vaganza. To the same question, Geeks answered that they only work hard and focus on making music. They only found out about their fame from their close friends and parents. “Twitter. We’re famous in Twitter. Lots of fans promote us in Twitter.” said Louie.

Regarding inspiration and role model in music, Louie answered, “Inspiration comes from life experience, while Geeks’ role models are the senior musicians in Hip-hop who are close with us and also the musicians that we like. To me, my father is my role model. My father is a good person and in my opinion, when we are close to good people and goodness itself, we’ll be able to produce good music.” What a wise man we have here! While Kiggen, on behalf of Phantom, said that their inspiration is from daily life or when they visit other countries, such as Indonesia. That kind of experience will inspire them. Kiggen also said that he got inspired when they visited Indonesia last year. He also added that the three of them love Michael Jackson and made him their role model.

When asked about Phantom’s solo concert in Seoul, Kiggen said that they had a lot of concerns while preparing the concert: will a lot of people come? Will the fans know the songs they rarely sing on television? Or will the fans sing along with them during the concert? But their anxiety proved to be wrong because there were a lot of Phantomisms from South Korea and other countries attended the concert held in Uniqlo AX Hall on May 17, 2013. Not only singing along, the fans also danced together with Phantom and other guest stars that night. We  hope that one day Phantom will be able to hold their solo concert here. Raise your hand if you agree!

Phantom and Geeks were happy to be invited to Indonesia for K-pop Vaganza. This was Phantom’s second time to visit Indonesia and Geeks’ first. Geeks were surprised because they just found out that there were a lot of Nerds (fans of Geeks) in Indonesia. Louie said that he was happy to be in Indonesia and felt that Indonesians were kind and friendly; it made him feel close with Indonesian fans. He also stated his happiness if he was invited again to Indonesia.

Due to the limited time, the interview session only lasted for approximately twenty minutes. The photographers were then allowed to take pictures of Phantom and Geeks. In the last minutes, we managed to take Polaroid pictures of Phantom and Geeks, although sadly we only got Lil Boi’s signature.

For the coverage and photos from K-pop Vaganza, go check our next post!

Thank you to Phantom and Geeks, WA Entertainment, Mr. Bae Seok Won from Rainbowbridge Agency Inc., Mas Adhi from BIG HIT Entertainment, Ginza, Sisy and all crew of Dreamers Radio for the opportunity and cooperation.