It was an evening Ok-Pop followers world wide wouldn’t overlook: Famous person teams Huntrix and Saja Boys would go face to face at this 12 months’s Worldwide Idol Awards.
There was just one catch: the Worldwide Idol Awards aren’t actual — and neither are these teams. Each teams might be seen in Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, a slick animated function that chronicles the adventures of Huntrix, a lady group comprised of three members who simply occur to additionally combat monsters from the underworld. Whereas the movie has grow to be the streamers newest shock hit, much more stunning is the truth that its soundtrack has taken the real-world web, and music charts, by storm.
Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, Demon Hunters follows Huntrix members Rumi, Mira and Zoey as they carry out undeniably catchy Ok-pop tracks by day and battle demons by night time. The ladies spend the movie going through off in opposition to a newly-formed boy band Saja Boys, a gaggle of secret demons who’re utilizing their reputation to steal souls.
The musical fantasy movie incorporates a slew of Ok-pop tracks for his or her fictional teams, and now the soundtrack has hit quantity 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and produced two entries on Billboard’s Sizzling 100 (Saja Boy’s “Your Idol” at No. 77 and Huntrix’s “Golden” at No. 81). KPop Demon Hunter’s government music producer Ian Eisendrath says the movie plans to submit Huntrix’s “Golden” as their awards music. Saja Boys, who were inspired by Ok-pop teams like Tomorrow X Collectively, BTS, Stray Youngsters, ATEEZ, BigBang and Monsta X, simply surpassed BTS as the very best charting Ok-pop boy group on Spotify’s every day international chart by hitting No. 2 (BTS’ 2020 single “Dynamite” hit No. 3, though members of the group have hit the highest spot as soloists).
Eisendrath says at all times knew the challenge was particular, however says he’d “hoped for like 2% of the reception that we’ve had.” Eisendrath spoke with THR about how the music got here collectively and why the songs have discovered mainstream success.
What has the response to KPop Demon Hunters been like?
It’s been so gratifying and so thrilling. I’ve at all times believed in these songs and what we’ve achieved as an actual group of music makers, and I’ve been so honored to work with these Ok-pop hitmakers. I at all times was [saying] this was going to be particular. That is going to be wonderful. However I’d hoped for like two p.c of the reception that we’ve had, so it’s thoughts boggling.
We’ve all been at this and executed a ton of movies and theater and all these narrative, music-driven genres, however this has at all times been my dream. To work on one thing that everybody responds actually emotionally and strongly to — the story and characters — however past that these songs are beloved as songs themselves. That was our objective from day one, and that was a extremely steep ask as a result of it’s really easy for it to teeter come what may. In [some] movies, there’s some actually nice character narrative songs, which utterly work for the movie and work for a fan base, however don’t fairly have the common pop reception. Then there’s loads of movies which have nice pop songs, however they don’t essentially serve the movie or the characters. I feel it’s the alchemy of those two worlds coming collectively, cinema and Ok-pop, that [makes it] simply so gratifying to see folks embracing it. An actual second for us was when Twice was introduced on board and wished to sing one in every of these songs. Everyone seems to be creating one thing that one of many greatest Ok-pop teams believes is one thing price recording.
The fictional lady group Huntrix from ‘KPop Demon Hunters.’
Courtesy of Netflix
You could have an enormous musical theater background. I feel there’s a powerful crossover between Ok-pop and musical theater. How does that work into it?
A thousand p.c, and I’ve been saying that since day one. When Sony known as and supplied me this job, it was wonderful. I’ve at all times felt like Ok-pop might be essentially the most theatrical, dramatic style of music right now. If you consider simply the density even of what a Ok-pop music is… In every of those songs, we have now lots of of layers of vocals. The tracks are dense, every little thing is excessive drama, excessive vitality, and that simply lends itself so fantastically to filling the theatrical area. Movie songs typically need to be much more excessive vitality, much more multilayered to essentially pop. What was cool with this style is you didn’t need to drive it. It’s simply there. I’ve at all times been eager about what if Ok-pop songs did have a little bit extra story and a little bit extra content material to the lyrics? I’ve to suppose that along with the unbelievable music facet of it, that these lyrics appear to be hitting deep with folks as a result of there may be such density and depth to what’s being mentioned with out getting in the way in which of it. We wished to have drops. These songs will not be overwhelming [with] 10,000 phrases coming at you at a mile a minute.
Whenever you’re tackling a challenge like this one, it’s fairly straightforward to pick the inspiration for songs coming from a sure sort of Ok-pop as a result of it’s so diverse.
A beauty of it, like theater, is that the entire thing must not be the identical sound over and again and again.
Did you say ‘we would like one in every of this type of music or that form of music’?
Hundred p.c. I spent a substantial amount of time with the administrators, who’ve an unbelievable imaginative and prescient for [the] characters, story and tone, and the music has such a deep influence on that, that step one was temping in different songs into the storyboards. That was a approach to discover the actual vitality. All the things began not as an unique music, however with varied songs, temped in. We like that tempo, we like that pulse, we like that type. Then once we would launch the varied songwriters on these songs, we’d give them an inventory of references, and we’d be like, “Oh, we love how this bridge feels due to these particular particulars.” As soon as we handed it off to songwriters and began working with them, there was no try and mimic or copy what’s there, but it surely helped us converse the identical language, after which clearly our movie has its personal voice and musical language. However completely, the unbelievable Ok-pop teams on the market and number of music impacted how we developed these songs.
Saja Boys from ‘KPop Demon Hunters.’
Courtesy of Netflix
It needs to be the one approach you’ll be able to deal with one thing as giant in scope as Ok-pop.
What was so cool — I don’t suppose everybody will completely know — is that Spring Aspers, the president of music at Sony, she put collectively this secure of artists. This was a movie made by a musical group, versus one or two folks. There was a lot crossover in that one individual can be like, oh my gosh, we love that manufacturing, let’s now throw this to a different individual to work on a prime line. Let’s carry these three folks collectively to work on lyric. There was simply all these loopy collaborations and crossover that I actually suppose is the important thing to the movie’s success. It’s actual alchemy. This was simply distinctive as a result of we began with folks steeped in writing on this style after which introduced them over to the movie facet.
Listening to you discuss concerning the collaboration between artists, one factor that got here throughout in each the movie and songs is that everybody concerned appears to deeply care about Ok-pop. Folks can see Ok-pop as one thing they will, for lack of a greater time period, money in on with out actually understanding it. However KPop Demon Hunters appears to grasp it.
That was the mission from day one, which began from prime down management. We wished to go to the those who have lived this music. I feel that was what was so thrilling, and I discovered a lot from all of them. There was an actual need and a lot vitality spent on that includes, uplifting and authenticating this style of music by having the actual music makers from this style create [the music].
It was so thrilling. We had so many conferences with The Black Label [Teddy Park]. It was humbling and funky. [For the] recording periods, we did vocals in Korea, we did vocals in L.A., we did vocals in New York — dozens and dozens of hours with every particular person singer. I might report everybody remoted on their very own. Even that was a cool course of, persevering with to stack and add folks after which find yourself with this unbelievable sound and alchemy. That’s additionally one thing distinctive about this: for lots of pop songs there’s a lead vocal and that very same lead vocalist is doing all their background vocals. For this movie, the Saja Boys have 5 members. They’re all doing their lead, and so they’re all singing backup vocals. It’s only a wealthy texture. I’ve to throw some actual credit score to EJAE Kim, who I actually really feel like helped develop the sound of Huntrix … when it comes to the vocals. She and I co-arranged the vocals, however my objective was to essentially construct and notice her extremely distinctive and innate language and musical type.
Saja Boys’ Jinu (voiced by Ahn Hyo-Seop) and Huntrix’s Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho) within the Netflix movie.
Courtesy of Netflix
Clearly, the response to the movie and music has been nice however do you may have some other hopes for this challenge?
I would like Ok-pop — not that it hasn’t already — however I would like it to crossover to everybody. I really like that it’s going approach past the followers. I would like that to proceed. I need to see extra movies made this manner. I need to see extra musicals. I really feel like this movie has proven folks that you would be able to really create a musical that speaks to the pop music tradition and the common viewers at giant. I additionally need to see all these artists which have created [on this film] embraced. I need to point out our vocalists, the singers. We had Audrey Nuna, EJAE Kim and Rei Ami [as Huntrix]. I need to see them explode as singers. Every of our Saja Boys: Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Samuil [Lee], Kevin Woo and Danny Chung. All of the songwriters — Steven Kirk, Jenna Andrews, Lindgren, The Black Label, EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick… That’d be my dream, to simply see all of them blow up and for all of it to win a bunch of awards.
That’s the hope, proper?
Yeah. I’m actually enthusiastic about “Golden” being the music that’s going to be the awards music. I responded to it with deep emotion and pleasure because it was being constructed, as did the administrators. We had 5 to 6 songs written for that slot, and we simply saved going till it was the correct vitality. The administrators are robust prospects, in the very best approach, and so they had an actual imaginative and prescient for what this wanted to be. We simply saved on launching songs, making an attempt completely different writers and determining the best way to make this music accomplish a lot. And I feel you’ll perceive this, [like] in theater, it was their “I would like” music. [“Golden”] was an “I would like” that … needed to do a ton of exposition and backstory. And it completely needed to be not an approximation of, however a legit Ok-pop hit single. I feel that was in all probability essentially the most difficult music [because we had to] have all of these issues align. It’s actually gratifying to see it embraced a lot. I feel that melody that seems within the pre-chorus and the tip of the refrain is so lovely, and the manufacturing from The Black Label simply makes me smile each time.