[HA for DROKU] A Day in the life of DJ Young

In July of 1997, Young John Kim, the man who is now DJ Young flew from Santa Monica to Korea to go through several auditions he had landed. Hearing that he might have a chance in the entertainment industry, DJ Young returned Stateside to clear out his apartment, threw all his belongings into storage, and booked a one-way ticket back to Korea.

At the time, Young says, there were few Koreans in entertainment, and Asians were only offered stereotypical roles like “the Vietcong,” the “guy who can’t speak English,” the “karate fighter,” or the “liquor shop owner.”

“So I decided that I was going to make something out of myself in the Korean entertainment industry,” explains DJ Young.
“To achieve a dream, to be a star,” he says, “everyone dreams of or has dreamt of it. Only a small percentage actually walk the walk to make the dream a reality. I didn’t want to live my one life I was given without at least trying.”

What followed was a series of auditions for companies large and small. Any available time was spent running around, working in the studio, submitting demo tapes, and attending an acting academy. After seven months, dealing with severe culture shock and no signs of changing luck, DJ Young began hanging out with his friend Steve Kim – an old friend from U.S. who was in a group called Uptown.

Only then did DJ Young begin meeting major players in the industry, including up-and-coming artists like Tiger JK and DJ Shine. One of Uptown’s management people heard DJ Young’s story and set up an audition for him at World Music, one of the powerhouses of Korea’s entertainment scene at the time, before companies like SM and JYP came to the fore.

DJ Young didn’t land a deal right away, but he did earn an invitation to come in and practice everyday. It wasn’t glamorous, but he also had the opportunity to build relationships as he worked as a trainee – making coffee, translating, running errands, making phone calls, and doing whatever he was asked to do.

In the midst of his training, DJ Young received a call from Kim, saying that there was a producer looking for a rapper and that he would set up another audition – an audition that DJ Young would land in July 1998. He signed to debut with the then five-member group S#ARP (pronounced “sharp”).

Recording, practicing, debuting was all one rushed blur for DJ Young, a rollercoaster ride as they sought to climb to the top. DJ Young does remember, however, his first performance with vivid clarity.

“The very first stage performance was nerve-wracking,” he says. “I remember it clearly. I hated my outfit. Rain was there in his group back then, FANCLUB. I remember seeing him, just a skinny dude. He stood out because he was the scrawniest guy. If you told me back then what he was to become, I would have laughed.”

The moment they got out onto the stage, DJ Young recalls hearing the crowd wonder who they were and make brutal comments comparing them to the stars they came to see.

“You might be surprised at what you can see from the stage. You can see everything. Every face, everything they’re wearing, every camera, every expression,” says DJ Young.

“Then the music starts and it’s more like a reflex. It’s the hours and hours of training that makes your first stage. You get used to it though and you begin to make the stage yours. They used to say that on your first stage, you see black,” he goes on. “And I did.”

It wasn’t until DJ Young gained more exposure appearing on television shows and began being recognized on the street that he felt he had finally achieved a level of success. And meeting the artists he had grown up watching – he cites DEUX and Solid as major influences – also left a deep impression on him. DJ Young’s acting career, however, never really took off.

“The acting thing never really worked out because of my Korean pronunciation,” says DJ Young ruefully.

“There’s a double standard for gyopos (people of Korean descent living outside Korea),” he explains. “Since you look Korean, they expect you to speak Korean. My Korean was terrible back then.”
“It’s funny how people like Daniel Henney can get away with speaking English everywhere he goes. Helps to be good looking,” he jokes.

Today, DJ Young is known primarily as the host of KBS World Radio’s Kpop Connection. Along with co-host Angie Park, DJ Young appears on the daily radio program broadcasted on KBS World, picking his own playlists as well as writing the script for the show.

“I basically put K-Pop Connection together,” DJ Young says.

Having put his time as a pop star behind him, DJ Young says he admires media personalities like Chick Hearn, Larry King, Oprah, and even Ryan Seacrest and aspires to be Korean comedian and TV show host Yoo Jae-suk’s sidekick, or to host KIIS FM in Los Angeles.
In fact, he has considered moving his act back to the States, he says, because he feels that he’s not yet on a big enough stage doing what he does in Korea. At the same time, DJ Young knows well the challenges involved in starting over – he’s waiting for just the right opportunity.

“Live without regrets,” he says. “Try everything and make the most out of the potential you possess.”

DJ Young’s typical day:

6 AM I generally wake up and [use the toilet]. That’s the first thing I like to do. If I don’t get that out of the way, the day feels really weird for some reason. I should go for my daily dose of the 8K run but I usually don’t during the winter. Too cold, so I sit there and watch the news and see what’s been going on in the world, while I write my scripts for KBS World Kpop Connection and choose the playlist for the show.

8 AM I leave the house and get to work at about 9 AM.I trade a couple of jokes with Luke Cleary, the contracted white boy, and start getting the show ready. I print the scripts, throw the music in the system and record the show. Basically, I write and put together Kpop Connection.

11 AM I’m heading out of KBS and heading to Arirang.

12 PM Between 12 and 2, I do necessary recordings and other side recordings I need to do. For example, “Pops in Seoul,” documentaries, entertainment programs.

2 PM TheKpop Zone.

4 PM 4 to 7 is my time for other recordings for other companies and such. Sometimes it’s TV stuff, [sometimes]it’s other stuff. If I don’t have anything, I’ll go work out.

7 PM From 7 on is Generally my free time. I go out and get wasted with friends, or I go home and enjoy the ambient noises of home. When we’re doing “Let’s Speak Korean,” we’ll do our tapings on Saturdays and Sundays.

There really is no flexibility in our business because we can’t call in sick one day and say, “I can’t do my show. “Rain or snow, hail or sleet – it doesn’t matter if I have the bubonic plague. The work I do right now is work that only I can do. I have to physically be there or the show will not go on. Vacation…what’s that?

QUICK Q&A with DJ Young

DROKU: What was the most memorable moment in your career thus far?
The day Isak told me she was going on a diet.

DROKU: What about an exotic or unique dish (food)?
Grasshoppers. In Thailand.

DROKU: Who is your favorite Korean artist?
I have many favorite Korean artists, but I tend to lean toward the indie guys or the guys who aren’t idols. I like the guys who are in it for the music, not the stardom. I respect that. The people who do it for the passion of music.
I guess that’s what I didn’t like about myself as a musician. It was all about the music at first, but it got warped. That’s probably why I’m not doing it anymore. And the fact that there’s not much money involved especially if you do the music you want to do.

DROKU: If you could adopt any animal as a pet, which animal would you choose and what would you name it?
A brachiosaurus. I’ll name him Bracky.

DROKU: Which musical instrument describes you and why?
I’ve always been a guitar guy. I’ve played guitar since I was in elementary, and if I really worked on it, I would have become a great guitarist. In junior high, we formed a band where we’d play covers to bands like Guns n Roses and Skid Row. But I liked and still like hanging out and talking with friends and entertaining them. I still play but not with the passion I did once before.

DROKU: Which film or drama/soap opera is a mirror of your life and why?
“Lost.” Because I still don’t know the damn secret of the island. Honestly, I still feel like I’m running around the island trying to figure out how to get off.

DROKU: What is your dream house like? Do you want your house to have a yard or not? Why? Where would it be located (fictional or non-fictional)?
My dream house would be up in the cliffs of Malibu. You know what? I really don’t dream of something that big. Actually, I can just imagine myself living in a pretty decent suburban neighborhood in a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house. Nothing super fancy, but it has to have a yard. I want a couple of dogs. Or a yard big enough to fit a brachiosaurus if they ever find a way to do what they did in “Jurassic Park.”

Interview By: Diana Kamel and Diana Truong