unreleased performances
Recommendation
prolog

Chapter 1 X Intro The music that made me, the music I made
Chapter 2 X Verse The Taste of Life
Chapter 3 X Bridge In the end, people
Chapter 4 X Hook It's still hot like the heat of midday
Chapter 5 X Outro I want to keep liking you

Epilogue
supplement

Life is a sad yet beautiful piece of music.
It's okay to wander, it's okay to be slow, as long as you don't stop.

There are songs whose melodies automatically play in your head just by hearing the first note.
Without even trying to remember, you'll soon find yourself humming the lyrics out loud.
Many of these songs, such as Kim Kwang-seok's "For the Reason of Love," Park Jin-young's "Behind You," Kim Gun-mo's "Beautiful Goodbye," and Shin Seung-hoon's "I Believe," which at one point resonated through TV and radio, as well as in cafes and karaoke rooms, and brought tears to many people's eyes, were created by Kim Hyung-seok and became hits.
The fact that the popular sentiment that captivates all who listen to it still lives on is the reason why these songs, released over 20 years ago, are considered masterpieces by anyone who lived through that era.
Composer Kim Hyung-seok knows how to strike a delicate balance between the uniqueness and popularity that pop music should possess.
These qualities are ones he has honed over a long period of time while quietly creating his own music.


Kim Hyung-seok is not a person who stands still.
He is a person who moves forward little by little, even if it is slow, and he is a person who readily accepts changes in the world and industry and thinks hard about incorporating those changes into his work.
In addition to composing, as his career grew, he established and operated a practical music academy and a planning company to discover new singers. In the music industry, when the metaverse and MFT were hot topics, he created the planning company 'NoNeuni Special Forces Entertainment' and produced and debuted the virtual band 'Sagongiho' and also collaborated with various companies.
From the days when he listened to music on cassette tapes to now when AI can compose a song in an instant, he has been active in various fields without losing his own unique style.
However, he still creates music, loves music, and enjoys music, which are things that will never change for him, so he greedily dreams of changing many things in the future to create an environment where others can enjoy music like he does.
In a complex world, his ultimate goal is meditative music that can be delivered to people as a healer.


In "The Speed ​​of Life is Andante," composer Kim Hyung-seok tells the story of how he continues his work while maintaining his own beliefs in a changing world.
The history of Kim Hyung-seok's music is also the history of Korean popular music, so looking back on his life holds more value than simply examining the life of an individual.


I'm not an anthropologist or an AI
I'm not an expert and I don't know anything about Go.
I just think about where I stand at this moment and where I am headed in the music.
The process of making music, the way people listen to it, the form of the community, and the music market have all changed to an extent that is difficult to predict.
Still, I still make music, I still love music, I still enjoy music.
The intermediate process will change in the future, but my unwavering love for music will remain constant.
_From 〈Prologue〉

Perfection and imperfection, purity and sensitivity,
His songs were born between failure and success.

Kim Hyung-seok draws the first lines of the melody from imperfect and sensitive emotions.
He believes that dark and fragile emotions dominate us more often and more than bright and dazzling emotions, and that sad music provides more comfort to the listener than the power of exciting and cheerful music.
Perhaps that's why many of his songs are particularly sad and hazy.
In the past, he had suffered from the artist's agony, armed with melancholy, sadness, pity, and sensitivity, but now he learned to control those emotions.
As I grew older, I realized that even if it is a failure, it cannot be defined as a failure in a long life.
The first pop song he ambitiously composed, which was included in Kim Kwang-seok's first album, did not gain popularity, but "For the Reason of Love" from Kim Kwang-seok's second album, which he wrote lightly after getting another chance, became a famous ballad of the century.
Kim Hyung-seok, who believes that all the failures and frustrations of his youth were necessary for him to become a popular music composer, advises readers who are on the difficult journey of life not to be easily discouraged.
Just as he comforted our sorrow with songs made from sorrow, Kim Hyung-seok comforts our failures with his own stories of failure in this book.
To all who are sensitive and imperfect, there will be a time when another door will open, so wait for that time.

Perfect composition, perfect music is more of an illusion.
Just as my existence is flawed, my music is imperfect, and I still find composition difficult.
In the midst of countless changes in time, only this fact seems to remain constant.
It's full of contradictions, but this imperfection still allows me to live in music, create music, and breathe music.
I guess I'm wandering around the piano forest again today to fill in the gap between my imperfection and anxiety.
_From 〈I Still Have Difficulty Composing〉

Only those who open the door inside me
You can open other people's hearts too

For Kim Hyung-seok, who says that making music is a conversation with others, ‘people’ and ‘relationships’ are extremely important.
Even when he creates a song, he doesn't complete it on his own and then pass it on to the singer to sing.
I believe that music work is all about harmony, so I listen to the singer's opinions, reflect them, and modify the melody accordingly.
He also rejects the idea of ​​a 'mentor' being determined by age or experience.
For him, who believes that if there is something to learn, one should learn regardless of age, the best mentors are 'young mentors'.
One of them is a young friend who travels around the world studying humanities and linguistics.
From that friend I learn insight into humanity.
Kim Hyung-seok does not easily withhold his affection from singers who do not overestimate their talent and put in effort.
So, he has maintained a close relationship with junior singers who have both genius-level talent and humility, such as Park Jin-young and Kim Jo-han, for a long time.
Meanwhile, living as a father gave Kim Hyung-seok a sense of responsibility for someone.
My teenage daughter has changed the landscape of my world and taught me that this life is the most precious thing.


All the relationships he had in his life remained in his memory as music.
At one time, I even wrote several breakup songs to heal my wounds from the same breakup.
In this essay, he shares various episodes with important people in his life that he has not mentioned elsewhere.
The source of his ability to consistently create music is people, so his future music will also stem from his current relationship with Kim Hyung-seok.
I hope that a warmer song will reach us.

Life doesn't go as planned.
Surprisingly, more brilliant results can be created in unexpected places.
After experiencing a few major failures, every little moment becomes precious.
Just like discovering a hidden treasure, great talent can pop up from unexpected places.
Failure is still a scary thing.
But if there are many people running together like this, it seems like the storm can run as fast as it wants.
Let's run again, healthy.
_From 〈Every moment is precious〉