by Cho Yong-Pil, BTS Jungkook, Twice, Red Velvet, EXO, Monsta X…. The songs of many K-pop singers have flowed far from Stockholm, Sweden. From the composer duo Luis Frick Sven (28) and Maria Marcus (42) there.
Sven and Marcus, who recently visited Seoul, met at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. At the Swedish National Day event held on the 7th at Gavit Island in Seocho-gu, the people who visited Korea at the invitation of the Swedish Embassy in Korea performed a celebration stage by singing four songs, including a Korean song they wrote themselves and a Swedish song such as ABBA’s ‘Thank You for the Music.’
“I was always engrossed in making other people’s songs in a small studio, but I was nervous when I stood on stage and sang.” (Sven)
Markus was a spherical face when a reporter was invited to the Swedish royal family to cover the local music industry in 2017. At that time, Cho Yong-Pil’s ‘Hello’ and Red Velvet’s Sewol Ferry commemoration ballad ‘July 7’ became a hot topics.
“Five years ago, my fellow composers in Scandinavia, who used to be very upset about composing K-pop, are now shouting, ‘Tell me how to do K-pop too’ these days. I am busy attending special lectures on K-pop production in Finland, Denmark, and the UK. The number of competitors increased so much that it became difficult.” (Markus) In the
Meantime, K-pop, led by BTS and Blackpink, has caused a global boom, and the Korean music and drama craze is blowing in Scandinavia.
Sven, under 14, who joined as an intern at Cosmos Music, a composer company to which they belong, has increased and has become a fantastic composition duo with Marcus in recent years. Marcus has strengths in verse melodies, rapping, and overall arrangement, and Sven, who has excellent singing ability and uses the main piece well, has been reborn as an ‘Abba’ in the K-pop world. The two chose BTS Jungkook’s ‘Stay Alive’ (released in February) as the best joint performance.
“The competition between lyricists and composers to participate in BTS’ songs is bloody. It’s the ‘squid game’ of K-pop composers around the world. We are proud that we did it.” (Markus)
Sven said, “Suga’s production and Jungkook’s singing were all perfect. K-pop is attractive because it always completes the drafts we throw into the perfect audiovisual result.”
Sweden, which produced Abba and Avicii, is the world’s third-largest music copyright exporter after the United States and the United Kingdom. Dennis Pop, who had the American Backstreet Voices and NSync, and Max Martin, who created songs for numerous singers, including Lady Gaga and The Weeknd, are Swedish producers.
“Sweden has a very detailed and thorough music education curriculum from elementary school.” (Sven)
“There is a tradition that always puts the melody first when listening to or making music” (Marcus).
Sven said that he is learning Korean these days. After he started composing K-pop, he fell in love with Korean culture. He even dreamed of moving to Korea permanently. He said, “If you look at ‘Parasite’ and ‘Squid Game,’ there is a strong plot twist, and the characters and expressions are vivid. The K-pop system works according to elaborate schedules and plans,” he said.
“I think the advancement of Korean culture has just begun. It is an indescribable reward for the two of us, from a small town in Sweden, to have contributed to this great wave.” (Marcus)
