Pearl Lam (林明珠): Hello, this is the Pearl Lam Podcast. Today I’m in Seoul and I’m really happy. Today I’m sitting with Raiden in his production company. I mean, Raiden, I think you, let’s let you know most of the people, I don’t know how many audience I hear are from the music industry, but just in case they’re not from the music in industry, can you generally give a introduction of yourself? Of course.

Raiden: Hi, this is Raiden. I’m DJ producer from Korea based in Seoul. I travel a lot around the world, for DJing, writing music, producing songs for other artists. Yeah, that’s my job.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Hey, Raiden. I mean, I think, let us all start from the very beginning. And what age did you realise that you wanted to be a musician? You know to to be in this music business?

Raiden: I think it was when I was 13 years old.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): 13?

Raiden: Yeah, I was a video game geek, so I used to go to the video game arcade centre. Then I found this game called the Drum Mania. It’s basically playing drums with like rhythm patterns. Then there was my first time, a very first time playing instrument as like not classical music and it was more like rock, like funky jazz. So that’s how I started to listen music seriously.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): It’s very funny. From video games, Yeah. Yeah. Wow.

Raiden: So after like a few months, I was curious about the real instrument. So I asked my dad to buy me a drum kit and I tried it, but actually the real drum was very difficult for me. So that’s how I start to playing guitar because like at that moment, I already start listening to rock music and and my mom’s driver, he was huge rock fan. So when I would go to school every morning, he.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Recommended me.

Raiden: Yeah, like like Led Zeppelin, like every like Jimi Hendrix things. And then very naturally I was influenced from him and yeah, then.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): I’m surprised that your parents would give you a drum, a drum set which makes so much noise.

Raiden: That’s a long story.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): And then and then, yeah. And then you, you went to Japan to do six years of guitar. I mean, you’re from this big Asian family. Why would they allow a man, a boy who supposedly to go to family business? Why would I mean, how did you get get, how did you persuade your parents to let you to, to play guitar as a profession and and to learn guitar in university? So that’s pretty amazing.

Raiden: Yeah, I mean, it’s like maybe it was a 17. My mom asked me. Like, it’s like, what do you think about, like, schools and, like, your future careers? And I had a, like, very professional, famous guitarist teacher. So he convinced my mom that like, yeah, like, he doesn’t need to go college. But at that time, like, he was very shock for my mom because like in Korea especially, like parents, they always want.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Of course. Tiger mom. Yeah.

Raiden: Yeah, so, but no, I have coolest mom in Korea, so she.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Your mother is cool.

Raiden: Yeah, you know how she is. She let me keep playing guitar, but I promised her to I I’ll finish the school. So after high school I I went to Japan for music college.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): You are very lucky, my father said over his dead body. I mean, I couldn’t, I couldn’t study art, I could not study architecture. So.

Raiden: Yeah, I’m very lucky and.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Very lucky. Six years. Not just, you know.

Raiden: You know, my uncles, they they were still like, not satisfied with my, you know, like music.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Because because music is supposedly a hobby, right? Right, right. I mean, it’s like art is a hobby. You cannot be a main career and then your uncle say anything to your mother.

Raiden: They did, they did. Like yes, something like that. Keep it as a hobby like you should quit.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): You should quit.

Raiden: But you know, my mom, she also studied art that she she her major was Asian painting. So she’s more like artist side. So she understood like what I’m thinking and I want.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): What you aspire to, to do and and then all through the six years she was happy. She never asked me to do a proper career.

Raiden: Six years in, living in Tokyo was very tough for me because I I have no cars. I have like gears, like instruments. It’s like taking subways to go like live house without the audience playing, playing like only few fans and but you know, like those experience made me.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Toughen you up. Yeah, you need that.

Raiden: Cause after I started DJ I, I experienced a lot of, you know, like playing empty.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): An empty venue?

Raiden: Even festivals, no crowds. But I, I didn’t, you know, like feel any…

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Know OK, OK, let’s let’s talk about your six years in Japan, how to shape your career because you were doing guitar, you were doing electronic music, but how come later on it becomes DJ? Mean how did this evolution started?

Raiden: I was never interested in electronic music before I started DJing. But I have one friend in Australia. So he he kept sending me like this crazy like party music and I was like very like I was very stubborn about the music. So I only listen like rock, more like organic music. One day I was walking in Shibuya St and there was a big screen promotion of the festivals. They showed Daft Punk’s new album and like I remember it was a robot rock. The song name was very shocked because they’re playing guitar, but the music is electronic dance. That’s the first time I’ve heard seriously like electronic music. So yeah, I mean, living in Tokyo was a great experience for me ’cause they have all the like, British music, American Music.

Pearl Lam (林明珠): Very classic.

Raiden: Every week like big acts at concerts, like I went to ACDC, Rolling Stones. It was great experience for me. Like to get inspired.

Pearl Lam: But but then you know after that you change, you drop all that and you become a DJ. Do you still write music?

Raiden: Yeah, of course, I, I had to come back to Korea because of, you know, men’s mandatory.

Pearl Lam: Army. Army, yeah.

Raiden: So I had a quick break up my band, then I was looking for something I can do by my own and one night I was invited to the club because my friends was DJing at this nightclub. I was very shocked because this electronic music was very very similar with rock. So I was like, I can do this better than him. So that’s how I started DJ.

Pearl Lam: Mean being a DJ is you need to be very familiar with all the music which is which is coming, you know, which is from all over international. So you must be every day you must be listening yeah to a lot of music. So how do you find time to write your own music?

Raiden: But I I didn’t feel this is my job or work because it was very.

Pearl Lam: Your pleasure? Yeah.

Raiden: Like happy to listening and learning new music and new ideas and creativity. Because after I start DJ, I had a more opportunities to go abroad like Europe, like other East Asia, even like US that those experience made my career easily so.

Pearl Lam: It grows your career. Yeah. Yeah. OK. I mean, I read that you did this. You created this music together with the K Pop Group boys for the TT1S sport, for the League of Legends Championship. How do you, I mean how, how you know you are doing? DJ is different musician so now you’re working with one band, 1 pop, K pop band. So what is the difference and how and how and how do you feel about that?

Raiden: You know the best thing about being DJ is you can collaborate anything or anyone, any genre. Cause yeah, it’s doing by yourself alone, but you’re very open to mix everything yeah to music, even the good visuals. As you mentioned about the E sports. I, I, I don’t play the League of Legend game, but I, I knew that the game was like huge all around the world. And at the moment the champion team called T1, they looking for the music for their theme song. And I, I heard many of K pop artists there playing the Lego Legend games. So it was very naturally proceeded about to working together and I had a song for perfect song for them and I showed it to the K Pop artists and let’s pitch to them and we’re gonna make something fresh things and we did it and.

Pearl Lam: They loved it.

Raiden: Yeah, ’cause the music, what I do, electronic music plus the K pop and the visuals of the the professional gamers, it fit perfectly. So yeah, there was another game changer in my career.

Pearl Lam: So do you think that K culture, you know, when the when the West is now so obsessed with K culture, this this passion for it that they did help your career growth? Do you think that it helps your own career?

Raiden: Course, I feel very lucky that, you know, like now like the K pop music is very globally famous and it’s also one of the jungle now. And it’s all connected with other culture like such as like art, like drama, movies.

Pearl Lam: Dance, Yeah.

Raiden: Dance performance.

Pearl Lam: Is crazy dance.

Raiden: Yeah, I guess.

Pearl Lam: Those K pop dance is very difficult. You know, I tried to do do K pop dance in London. We have this teacher. It was it, it was impossible. The move? It’s not easy at all.

Raiden: It’s very attractive because it’s not only about music, it includes like performance also like visuals and concept everything in one song or like on video. Also they’re like trained since they’re kids. So like it’s, it’s like very professional, can I say like Carter.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, it’s it’s sorry, it’s very hot. I need to have air con.

Pearl Lam: So why is K pop so popular? What is it so different from the other genre? I mean, my question is, I mean, the whole Western world is embracing it, not just, I mean, you know, when we go to Africa, people know about K pop. Of course they talk about Afro beats, but K pop is so huge. Can you? Can you actually explain how and why it becomes so popular?

Raiden: Actually, K Pop has a long story. It’s not about like suddenly break out because it’s always on the process like as I mentioned, like they’re trained since they’re.

Pearl Lam: Since they were young, you said.

Raiden: Like they I guess the first big movement was from South America. BTS was a huge break out there.

Pearl Lam: Oh, South America.

Raiden: Yeah. So after that, you know, like, you know, they have many families in like US, like it spreads out and now people easy to, you know, see this on like YouTube or like social medias and they they found it out. Wow, this kind of music and visuals exist and the music of our K pop is very interesting because like it’s not one genre. Like they’re put it rap like hip hop on like electronic dance music.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, they mix everything.

Raiden: Yeah, R&B, sometimes Latin, like Legaton these days, like maybe like reggae, like Afrobeats.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, Afrobeats. I love Afrobeats.

Raiden: I want to try it, but yeah, anyway, it’s very attractive to watch their music video, not only listen.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, it’s yeah, officially to.

Raiden: Watch together like with music so.

Pearl Lam: That’s so if you say like this, then then when people buy the record of a cake pot, it doesn’t have the total appreciation. You have to see the total package right?

Raiden: Then you go to.

Pearl Lam: Music videos.

Raiden: Yeah, then then you get into when being fan of them and you go to concert then it’s a big word about K pop.

Pearl Lam: And you also has this big turning point of your career when you did your closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics, right? And, and in that Winter Olympics, what music did you play with that?

Raiden: Was my lifetime honour to be perform at Olympic. So I only had a 3 minutes to show myself, express myself. So I decide to go. Not the music, I you.

Pearl Lam: Usually play.

Raiden: Yeah, I, I, I decide to go like what I really want. And so I made a song based on rock music with electronic so. So I played a live guitar at the performance at like during the DJ. Yeah, yeah, I went up the stage and.

Pearl Lam: Played so it.

Raiden: Was the very biggest moment of my life.

Pearl Lam: Was this a big break to your career and it and you push you up?

Raiden: So after the Olympic performance I was booked by like festivals such as a small land, even like Ibiza, then those big events they notice me. Then through those lives and experience, I met many people of the industries artists like those connections keep running and. Finally I met this label called the Protocol from Holland.

Pearl Lam: Yeah. Oh, Holland has very good DJs, Yeah.

Raiden: I had an opportunity to work with them and I started to release my songs. That’s there was like a first Asian, Asian DJ start, you know, in Europe and yeah, it was very like crazy days.

Pearl Lam: OK.

Raiden: I don’t remember all like.

Pearl Lam: OK, this is something I want to ask you, are there a lot of Asian DJs in this global DJ world? Because those who can go international, I mean, there’s definitely not many Koreans, but are there a lot of, I know there’s Japanese, OK, but are there other nationalities who’s in this big DJ world that goes around the world? Because what is in what is amazing is you are a Korean DJ, you play your own sort of music. You, you mix with K pop, you mix with, with, with R&B. You, you did this OK. And I recently met an an African DJ who’s also an artist and she plays with the arrow and Afrobeats and then she comes to Korea and she goes. So all of you have something to offer. Where where in the West? They don’t have this culture point. I mean, I mean this culture to to anchor it, but how about the other the other Asian, the Asian DJ? I haven’t seen any.

Raiden: I know those like OG Japanese DJ’s they they were huge back in the days but.

Pearl Lam: I’m talking about current contemporary.

Raiden: Yeah, so I know the Peggy who is doing good because she she’s not imitating like Western music. She’s putting more like Korean things like using Korean words or like Korean instrument. In my case, I’m combining the K pop music bring like K pop artists to be more dance music scene. I think that kind of something like unique thing essentials should be in your music or that’s the secret and it’s the secret, but this.

Pearl Lam: Like basic, That’s your signature, yeah.

Raiden: Signature sound.

Pearl Lam: But do you? I mean, you must be very rare.

Raiden: For now, yeah.

Pearl Lam: In this DJ world, right? Because you don’t play like other big DJs like Eminem and all that, because they all play very, very different music. But you also use electronic music that mix with K pop, which I never heard. Heard anybody who’s done that.

Raiden: I think I’m like a platform that connecting K pop to other artists or like K rapper to bring it to like K pop or like other like western DJs. It’s very funny then. Interesting position.

Pearl Lam: How did you, I mean, you were just mentioning before that when you were first playing your guitar and later on you were doing DJ when your venue has nobody, how do you feel? You did not, you know, did you feel any disappointment, depression or what must be really. It’s like an artist having an exhibition and not that no one buys, but you know, no one even came and visit the the exhibition. How do you feel as an artist?

Raiden: Hmm, if it happens now, maybe. I feel so far. Well, yeah.

Pearl Lam: When you first begin, you don’t feel so much.

Raiden: But you know, before being a DJ when I was in band, it’s different because this is a more like show the audience that like shut up and listen my music, you know? But the what I learned from DJ is to be a communicate with audience. Like you see a crowds reactions and you can switch the direction of your yeah, yeah, yeah, It’s all about communicate. And like you, you, you lead them to to.

Pearl Lam: Get excited, yeah.

Raiden: Excited dance jump that’s.

Pearl Lam: This is in your control, absolutely right.

Raiden: You’re the control crowd, yeah.

Pearl Lam: How do you feel that social media has and has helped K pop or your music or your career? Because social media must be one of the reason why K pop becomes so so so worldwide. You know, worldwide people has has very easily hearing their music. Same thing with you. Do you do like TikTok, Instagram and all that? Obviously, Yeah, right. So do you think that social media has has helped you, has helped your career?

Raiden: I still believe that social media is the best platform to show yourself to work like like best way to promote ’cause it’s very easy to, you know, approach to anything. Like even like I never had a interested about chef, but you know, like they shows like foods and cooking videos and like, oh wow, they have many of these like legendary chefs in New York and I like you realise like that.

Pearl Lam: Oh, so you learn about the legendary chef from the social media.

Raiden: Yeah. Yeah, it is.

Pearl Lam: Actually, yeah, because it’s true, because there’s a lot of emerging artists, people finding emerging artists from Instagram. Do they do it for as a DJ as well?

Raiden: Yeah, DJ’s, but in other wise like sometimes I feel sad because some DJ’s only focus for like attention on the social media, not the music. It’s like many of like bedroom DJ they have an opportunity to even you don’t have a show I mean you didn’t booked you can play YouTube by yourself with like these kind.

Pearl Lam: Of yeah, of course.

Raiden: And this people going to watch this more than, you know, actual crowd. So that’s the really funny thing about this social media. But I still accept that that kind of way to promote themselves is good.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, because I mean, not, not many people will have the opportunity to meet the music, I mean the music executives. So to do that and they have the audience is I think it’s a very beautiful idea. So that so that all the artists won’t be so frustrated that, you know, when you do arts, you want to have audience. You want to have people to look at what you do.

Raiden: I learned guitar or DJ at school or teacher, but even me I like watch like tutorials on Instagram, like like 15 second video of like tutorial. I I still learn from this Instagram reels video yeah. I think it’s incredible to, yeah.

Pearl Lam: How do you how do you see your career is going to evolve? Because now you have your own production company, you’re producing music, you’re writing music. I mean, are you trying to give a platform for and for younger artists who want to find opportunities so you can guide them? What’s what is your what’s your plan and what’s your how do you see this this you’re growing?

Raiden: So besides DJ Project I realised that I love produce for someone and I have a plan that like invest or I produce Scouts like artists and make music for them and direct give them the direction of you know like concert music theme.

Pearl Lam: So far, how many? How many of these younger artists are you working with?

Raiden: Less than 30.

Pearl Lam: Wow, less than 30 is a lot.

Raiden: Yeah, but, you know, like, there’s so many talented guys these days. Like even when you watch the audition show.

Pearl Lam: Wow, that’s very impressive. My God. So. So how many music have you been write, writing? Have you been writing any music? When do you have time?

Raiden: Maybe 50 songs in here.

Pearl Lam: 50 songs.

Raiden: Yeah, but I think that’s still low. Other producer has more and more. Well, I my style is not the like fast working music. I’m I focus more details and pick a few songs and give them yeah energy.

Pearl Lam: I want to go back to talk about this Olympics. How did you get this commission from the Olympics because it’s such a big deal And why would they find a DJ instead of, you know, AK pop music, K pop band?

Raiden: This is a very stressful story for me, but it’s long story. To be short, I.

Pearl Lam: You don’t need to summarise, you can give us the juice.

Raiden: So I knew when Korea’s going to do the.

Pearl Lam: Winter.

Raiden: I expect, OK, they’re going to bring K pop artists. Yeah, but that’s very like, you can expect who’s going to perform it. And I watched the Rio Olympic that the DJ Kygo was playing at the closing ceremony. Also, like Tiësto, he did perform at Athens Olympics 2004. So I found the director of the Olympic ceremony and I invite her to come to my festival.

Pearl Lam: Wow.

Raiden: And she, she actually came with like 10 her staff, of course, they watched all my set. But after my set, you know, more like bigger headliner DJs came up the stage and they’re playing like controlling crowd and like 50,000 people, they jump together and the director, she’s very shocked. Like what kind of like so it’s this like I never seen like whole crowd jumping. So I told her, yeah, even like biggest K pop, you know, artist perform, it’s not going to happen because these people not came to see watch DJ, they came to party like it’s DJ music is all about party like dancing together. So this it’s a little bit different watching performance from like K pop artists. So after that we had like many rounds of meetings and I convinced them to show them. I educate them about this DJ scene.

Pearl Lam: I’m very impressed because Raiden, I never knew that you’re such a good set.

Raiden: More than year, almost two years.

Pearl Lam: So you actually cultivate their interests and educate them about DJ because they’re all the older generation. They don’t go for nightclubs, DJ music and all that.

Raiden: All of the Korean people, they expect size gonna closing the show, Yeah, but.

Pearl Lam: When you start closing the that show show how does people you know? What was the general comment after that?

Raiden: Even you know the uncle, my uncle who didn’t like my music, well, he, he came to see it.

Pearl Lam: The closing, Yeah, yeah.

Raiden: Then he texted my mom like so proud of him.

Pearl Lam: Now he accepts that you can be a musician, right?

Raiden: Because they accept my long stories. They watched it and I kept this job.

Pearl Lam: Like, long time. Yeah, yeah, now.

Raiden: They love, they support me a lot.

Pearl Lam: After how many years? After 20 years? Yeah, After 20 years.

Raiden: More than 15 years.

Pearl Lam: More than 15 years, they come around and say, OK, Raiden.

Raiden: So anyway, so the athletes from the Olympics, they came to party of my set. I, you know, I didn’t feel this 3 minutes gonna be that huge.

Pearl Lam: The turning point, yeah.

Raiden: Because after the show, I opened my phone and wow like crazy. Like Facebook messages came from like Russia, like, like Hungary’s all around the world, like wow, I, I liked yours. What’s that?

Pearl Lam: That’s great.

Raiden: So many messages like yeah, was very.

Pearl Lam: When was that? When was that?

Raiden: 2018.

Pearl Lam: 2018 so and so that must have determined.

Raiden: Like one year right after I start DJ.

Pearl Lam: That must have determined your growth of your career. That is this. That is really the critical point, right, right. Must be. I mean, how did you get these, you know, Olympics are the older crowd, the establishment? How did you get the establishment joining dancing, You know, DJ, you have to dance. You cannot just, you know.

Raiden: But like that opportunity came too early for my career, but I couldn’t give off this opportunity because this happened. You you don’t know when it’s gonna next happening in Korea or.

Pearl Lam: Hey, tell me, tell me your experience with K Pop band. What is your highlight of of working with K Pop band and and tell me in general which is your I mean your most in I mean most memorable experience?

Raiden: It wasn’t easy to work with K Pop artist because it’s not only about like booking them for my featuring artist, you have to be friends with them and like share the moment together, listening music, go out together. It takes time and if it’s not there not gonna understand my music or any get interested about this electronic dance music except they’re if they’re not DJ. So I think my biggest song in K pop was with Tanya from EXO, together with Chung MO and Lehi, their R&B and pop singer. These people, I mean artists, they’re totally different each, you know, like they are very.

Pearl Lam: Different so.

Raiden: And I’m doing like.

Pearl Lam: You’re mixing it.

Raiden: And I’m combining these people all together in one song was a very.

Pearl Lam: Must be challenging.:

Raiden: Yeah, challenging because I didn’t expect what people gonna react and maybe some of them that I hate this music weird, but after like one year preparing, I got to be friend with them and got good cooperation from them. So we we did. We finished the track very luckily, very fast after the. Release, right? It went off charts up so fast.

Pearl Lam: Wow it.

Raiden: Was #3.

Pearl Lam: Wow, the.

Raiden: Heist Chart.

Pearl Lam: And has this really been been released internationally or not? Yeah, yeah. Wow, though. Wow. That’s very, very impressive.

Raiden: Yeah, but I was stupid that expect releasing the song is easy, but it always takes a process. A lot of you know, business paperwork because like each artist has their own schedule, planning the release schedule. It’s very difficult to bring them all one time.

Pearl Lam: Hey, we were just talking that, that you’re going to go to LA, right? You’re going to be playing in LA.

Raiden: There is a festival.

Pearl Lam: There’s a festival. And what festival is that? So. So audience from LA can join your festival. Yeah. What is that? That festival?

Raiden: It’s called Water Bomb. It’s basically they shoot the water cannon to.

Pearl Lam: I love it and.

Raiden: The water guns also audience can shoot the artists.

Pearl Lam: OK, also can shoot all of you. So are you on a on a plastic shield to cover all your machines?

Raiden: So yeah, the K Pop artist and Korean DJ’s mix of the timetables, they’re going to do 2 days and I believe this is the first time they’re doing in LA mean in US. It’s going to be huge.

Pearl Lam: Wow, you should come. How exciting. Which date is that?

Raiden: It’s September 27 and 28th most days.

Pearl Lam: Maybe I can stay one day more you.

Raiden: Should come.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, I would definitely join you.

Raiden: With my mum and sister.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m supposed to leave on 27th. I leave on 28th. I’ll come on 27th. Definitely. And also, you know, you just know, you mentioned about K pop singers, they’re being trained from young. Can you, can you tell us, can you share your knowledge about these keep up because keep up becomes so big. And why are they? I mean, are they, I mean, their training must be very different than than singers from the West, right? Can you give us a little bit more information on that?

Raiden: I guess it’s about competitive, competitive with other artists, so that’s why.

Pearl Lam: Competitive, yeah.

Raiden: You know the Korean parents, also Korean teachers. I know Korean producers.

Pearl Lam: I know they’re like, they’re like Chinese tiger mom and Koreans are.

Raiden: Like Army? Yeah.

Pearl Lam: Because they have high expectation and and high work ethics. So you’re supposed to get up at six and work throughout the whole day, No rest. I mean, I know when when I study abroad, people would say that, OK, it’s playtime. You know, there’s no playtime, you know, or Asian culture, no playtime. You just. So are you saying that at what age do they start this military train training to be K pop artist?

Raiden: Six years.

Pearl Lam: Six years. So how do you know that they can become K pop singers? I’m.

Raiden: Sorry, you know, like after this long years they don’t know they’re gonna debut or picked by producer or by company ’cause there’s still too many, you know, like trainees.

Pearl Lam: Wow, out there. So then they must have a system like good old days, the Chinese opera, the Chinese opera, they take in girls, boys at a very young age. So they train on that and then you don’t know whether this will be a star or this will be ended up sweeping the floor. So is it the same idea of that?

Raiden: Yeah, because especially like these days, some of them, they don’t go school. So imagine like if you spend these old times all these times and you don’t.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, exactly. But who’s writing the song then?

Raiden: It’s like producers of.

Pearl Lam: Like so they will commission people to write songs. Do you have a very famous song, a songwriter of K Pop song or yeah or they have several and then they just Commission a song to be written?

Raiden: K Pop usually they don’t hire like only one writer like they they hire like at least 4–5 writers because.

Pearl Lam: And then they combine. Yeah.

Raiden: Because each part is from different.

Pearl Lam: Wow genre, amazing to be a producer, must be very interesting.

Raiden: Yeah, because you have to. Yeah. Manage them. Yeah, one song.

Pearl Lam: So are you and are you doing these? Are you working as a producer when you’re working with?

Raiden: Them yeah, especially when I am visiting LA, I look forward to great studio session with other writers because sometimes you don’t get anything the session, but it’s good to find the correct right person.

Pearl Lam: Yes, of course.

Raiden: I can you know, develop after the studio session.

Pearl Lam: Very interesting, I didn’t realise that this is like the traditional Chinese opera, a system.

Raiden: You know, but in the end, once you debut as K Pop Idol.

Pearl Lam: Everything but, but we’re talking about 1% of these kids will ever become such big, big thing, right? It’s not every single one.

Raiden: Company they teach you like even like Chinese Japanese, English ’cause you have to go work at like each country is like big main markets oh so even like fashions like you have to be in being more like trend setters like.

Pearl Lam: Like so so so now you’re working with SM Media. What do you feel about now having a big production company managing your career?

Raiden: I’m trying to be help them for more like DJ side because there are mainly businesses for K pop.

Pearl Lam: Yeah, because they have a lot of K pop bands. They represent a lot of K pop bands so.

Raiden: It’s good to bring their artists to make new opportunities cause when they sing in in their group they don’t find their their other talents. Like some of them is good to sing but his position is like rap. Like if if you don’t give them opportunity to sing like you never know is talent.

Pearl Lam: Absolutely.

Raiden: I’m trying to bring their talents to out.

Pearl Lam: What will you advise if there are, you know, these kids who wanted to to join the music business? Will you encourage them or not encourage them? What will you advise them?

Raiden: That’s the difficult question.

Pearl Lam: Because it’s a tough business you.

Raiden: Know it’s very tough.

Pearl Lam: Very tough, you know, if you want to be.

Raiden: A kid popular.

Pearl Lam: Yeah. What would you advise them?

Raiden: Yeah, I’ll, I’ll cheer them ‘up cause even you know you.

Pearl Lam: Need to have certain personality, right? Pure determination.

Raiden: My mom waited for to see my talents. Maybe more than three years.

Pearl Lam: Two years is nothing. OK. Yeah, two years is nothing.

Raiden: But, you know, like it in yeah, it’s similar the way I experienced that, you know, I I didn’t know I have talents, but my guitar teacher, he.

Pearl Lam: He encourage you? Yeah, he.

Raiden: Encourage me.

Pearl Lam: So, so all the young people there has to be encouraged, but they really need to have, you know, a certain person but you.

Raiden: Really have to be talented. Yeah, that’s the thing. Like.

Pearl Lam: The competition is so huge. So on this hand, I want to thank you, Raiden, for a lovely session, podcast session with me. And then I’m definitely in LA joining your events. But I don’t want water to be pouring on me. OK, So. So I have to bring the raincoat. A raincoat so hot as well. OK, well.

Raiden: You can watch behind backstage.

Pearl Lam: I would love, I would love. I can’t. I mean, I’m dying to go. So thank you very much, Rayden.

Raiden: Thanks for visiting my studio.