[Herald Interview] Lee Mu-jin hopes to leave deep, permanent footprint on music scene

Singer-songwriter Lee Mu-jin wants to continue making songs that can be easily sung, listened to and sympathized with by many.

True to his words, he tells the story of a boy with a crush in bright song “Ordinary Confession.”

“Most of my songs loved by listeners were bright songs in which I try to portray the certain feelings and emotions of a moment with a melody. In this single, I tried to write about a feeling that most of us have experienced in our lives -- the feeling of anxiousness and excitement right before professing love to someone,” Lee told The Korea Herald.

The artist also likes to make songs that remind one of a specific season when listening to it.

“I hope that listening to this song can remind people of the warm sunshine of May just like how my previous songs, such as ‘Fall in Fall,’ ‘Rain and You,’ and ‘When it Snows,’ bring memories of a certain season,” added Lee.

This single comes 11 months since his last, as he has been keeping his schedule full with solo concerts across the nation as well as running his own show called “Lee Mu-jin Service” on YouTube.

“It was my first tour in the country and to be honest, I was not quite sure whether I would be able to fill the stage with great performances in front of a big audience by myself. But carrying it out, helped me gain the confidence that I am capable of grasping the audience and also enhanced my performance,” he said.

He has also been highly evaluated as a host running his show for a year and three months.

“Being a host makes me think as a producer because I need to contemplate what kind of synergy I can show with my guest artists to the audience. I think our viewers love the show because they recognize such effort,” remarked Lee.

Lee Mu-jin also tried acting for the first time in the music video for the new single, but that does not mean that he is looking forward to expanding his career spectrum to other sectors, he says.

“It was a fun experience but I hope to focus more on becoming a singer who can leave a deep and permanent footprint on the music scene,” he said.

The singer-songwriter showed persistent love of live band sounds.

“I think my musical muse is the music of previous generations that mainly revolves around live sounds. I think the harmonious sound made by the combination of musical instruments and vocals is very attractive,” said Lee. “My personal goal is to make people love music with band sounds in it. I hope that the sounds of musical instruments played by talented artists are used in many songs.”

He marked his fifth debut anniversary early this month but the humble artist still thinks he is not ready to release a full-length album.

“I want to drop a full-length album when I can be applauded for all my works. I want to be evaluated as an artist who makes good music, for songs that are also good commercial songs, before dropping an LP. Meanwhile, starting with this single, I am going to be working actively this year to show more of myself through the media and communicate with my fans.”