KoME had the pleasure of meeting Sungha Jung some hours before his concert at Le Café de la Danse in Paris, on March 11th, 2012.
Sungha Jung is a young South-Korean guitarist who gained popularity thanks to his videos posted on Youtube. His reaction:
"I didn't expect that much success. When I posted my first video on the internet with my father, it was just for fun."
Even though his first video was posted only five years ago, Sungha is already a well-known guitarist and his Youtube channel has more than 440,000,000 views so far. He has already released two albums, entitled Perfect Blue and Irony. But the young man is still humble:
"Many people say that I'm really talented, that I'm gifted; but I don't really think so. However I think I've improved a lot since the release of my first album."
He revisits several tracks through his videos, making most of the arrangements himself. Rock, pop, classical music, OST - Sungha can play all music styles. However, when he's asked about his personal music tastes and his favorite artists, he answers without hesitation:
"I really like Big Bang. My favorite member is G-Dragon, and I'd like to work with them."
But among all his collaborations and experiences, his favorite was his meeting with the American guitarist Trace Bundy for two tours in the USA.
And when he's asked about his future, Sungha, ambitious, answers:
"I'd like to make my passion become my job. However, I don't want to be a guitarist only, but a musician."
Sungha then left to play on Le Café de la Danse's stage, in front of a full-house.
Starting with one of his self-composed songs called Irony, he continued with Adele's Rolling In The Deep and Someone Like You, followed by Sting's Fragile. He continued with 2NE1's Lonely and BIG BANG's latest song Blue, receiving a lot of enthusiasm from the audience, obviously biased toward K-Pop.
He then played Theme Of Lupin III arranged by Tanaka Akihiro, before performing a duet with the 16-year-old French guitarist Illona Bolou, playing Hazy Sunshine. The young girl seemed quite nervous but very honored to be able to play with Sungha.
After a little break, he was back on stage with another self-composed song entitled I Remember You, followed by Merry-Go-Round from the "Howl's Moving Castle" OST. Sungha then unveiled his latest composition, Sorry, playing it live for the very first time. He carried on with Phantom Of The Opera and Sungha's Waltz, a quite special song since it was written by Michel Haumont, a French guitarist, for Sungha himself. The concert ended with My Favorite Things from the musical "The Sound Of Music." Michel Haumont, who seems to be particularly attached to Sungha, joined him on stage to play the last two songs: Farewell and Mr Picking.
The event ended with a signing session, and fans also had the opportunity to take some pictures with the guitarist.
After they left, Sungha Jung shared his impressions with us:
"This was my first concert in Paris, I really enjoyed the audience. Everything went well and I think I did well too. Thank you!"
KoME would like to thank Denis Leblond from Tempo Spectable, Sungha Jung and his manager Dee Kim for making this interview possible.
