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09 January 2021

Sponge Cola releases K-drama inspired tune, Siguro Nga

01/03/2021 09:02:25 PM


As a kickoff to the new year and shed a high note on 2020, Sponge Cola released a new song that was inspired by today's popular Korean drama show.

In a press release, the alt-pop outfit said the song titled 'Siguro Nga' is inspired by the hit K-drama series Start-Up. It was specifically born out of vocalist and guitarist Yael Yuzon’s love for Han Ji-Pyeong, a prominent character whose unconventional upbringing and misfortunes in life enabled him to become a principled, self-made man with a tough exterior and unbeknownst to everyone—a tender heart. 
“Immediately after the shock of episode 9, I literally picked up a guitar and began writing the song,” said Yuzon. “I didn't know how the story was going to unfold, but at that point, I felt like it wasn't going to work out for Han Ji Pyeong's character. And while heartbreak wouldn't ravage him, it leaves him with an undulating kind of pain.”
Siguro Nga builds on this nuanced character study of a man realizing that he’s lost the love of his life, after spending a great deal of time living a lie to protect the person he’s pining for, from emotional harm and trauma. It’s a soaring acoustic number that is propelled by a genuine reverence for empathy and romantic yearning, but never quite reaches a climactic run arrangements-wise, as it ends on a miserable note, with the subject of the song stuck in a rut, hoping to relive his past to undo his mistakes.

It's no stranger that Sponge Cola has been known to create music out of anything they love –  be it cinema, theatrical play, an episode in a television series, or anything related to pop culture. That speaks the story behind the name of their album in 2005 (Pabalas), right? 

While 2020 has been a bearer of heartbreaking drastic-shifting bad news, some of the upsides are Start-Up being part of the most-beloved Korea-produced blockbuster television shows, and Sponge Cola's return to Sony Music Philippines. In fact, this hitmaking-group is set to release a new album later this year.
“The process was a bit more theatrical than what we're accustomed to,” he admits. “As a singer, I had to be in character, which made the recording process a bit grueling.” 
In order to capture the very essence of the song, Yuzon had to experience some of Han Ji Pyeong’s crucial scenes in the series, including having to bask in the rain for minutes and reliving the memories of standing next to a corn dog stall. “I also had to face someone looking at me with ‘those eyes’ while pretending to be fine. Couple that with the idea of multiple takes, it was tiring but ultimately fulfilling.” 
“Like most of our songs from the previous albums, we started by recording a very basic acoustic guitar as a foundation,” Armo Arvorit explained the story of how the arrangements of this song were done. “Yael himself played the rhythm to make it consistent with how he initially wrote the song and his melody. Everything else on top of that is layers of sound to decorate and enhance the song's emotional content.” 
Bassist Gosh Dilay added, “We tried some experimentation in terms of overall sound-- but we reserved a version specifically for future live performances of the song.”
As the song “Siguro Nga” was recorded at Love One Another studios Armovit, have nothing but praises for Joey Santos, after doing an excellent job in designing sounds and layering them to tell a story. 
“His familiarity with a wide range of music, and the ability to create the appropriate textures for the song was a very welcome and refreshing addition to the production process. Everything you hear that isn’t the usual drums, bass, vocals, and guitar are all him.”

Author: slickmaster | © 2021 The SlickMaster's Files

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