SKINSHIP MIXSET | THE ROMANTIC ERA | EXPLANATION

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THE ROMANTIC ERA _ SKINSHIP

I think the power of music is amazing.

For me, music is a medium that can express myself and tell my story.

If we see a ‘painting’ of a child crying, we're like, "Oh, that's a painting of a child crying."

But when we give ‘sound’ of a child crying, don't you think Westerners imagine a Western child and Easterners imagine an Eastern child?

I think the song’s title and album cover are the first impression of tracks before listening to them. I've explained the song to people who are curious.

Lots of people said it’s really interesting.

So, in this mixtape, I thought I'd write down a little bit of the narrative and inspiration that I'm always thinking about while composing.

Think of it as a 30-minute exhibition. An infinite exhibition where the listener doesn't see one painting, but imagines a different one each time.

I think you can enjoy more deeply with lyrics when you listen to tracks :)

So let's start explaining the tracks.

1 / Duty To Dance - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Duty to Dance" | 0 - 02:15

The inspiration for the song was Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.

However, I wanted it to be more of a quiet, focused speech rather than a powerful one.

By the end of the first verse, it’s an image of me dance around while speeching, in the 2nd verse, it’s an image of you and I are dancing together.

2 / Spotlight - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Spotlight" | 02:15 - 04:15

I wrote this song with you in mind. I wanted the listener to feel like they're in the spotlight, just like the title says.

Every day of your life, you're the star of your own show. You can hear the camera shot in the 2nd verse.

As you know, we take pictures when we want to remember our day.

Take a picture of your day, and remember forever :)

3 / Graffiti - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Graffiti" | 04:15 - 06:45

I started by looking at a graffiti, and express skate park with composition and sounds.

Capturing the colorfulness and and making it 'dynamic and groovy' was the point.

Just wanted it to feel like colorful skatepark with lots of graffitis, people showing their coolness with skate tricks, and people who love this culture.

4 / Funky Jam - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Funky Jam" | 06:45 - 10:00

This song tells the story exactly as the title and lyrics say.

Everyone has their own vibe. I wanted to create an overall danceable scene with a jazzy vibe and a bit of sillyness.

I wanted to create a sense of communication with the listener, not just a monologue, so I wrote the song with a structure in which the vocalist speaks and the synths (melody) respond.

PS. My first inspiration was a jackpot machine.

5 / Tune - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Melody and Harmony" | 10:00 - 11:45

This song expresses the tuning of a single electronic melody like a radio frequency.

You've heard the messy noise that happens when the frequency isn't right, and you tune in by flipping through the channels, the goal being to get the frequency of the desired channel.

In the first verse, we've got a bunch of disjointed sounds, a buildup in the middle that we're trying to orchestrate the sound, and a cool drop in the second verse that hits the right frequency.

6 / Don't Give Up - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Don't Give Up" | 11:45 - 14:25

Who doesn’t have a single story in their lives?  We've all had moments when we want to give up.

The song's storytelling begins with you watching rock legends play on an analog TV.

You're focused on the music, but then you start to see strange stuffs, and miniature versions of the legends jump out of the TV and start playing.

I hope you live like the lyrics. Don’t give up on anything. Because, there’s no world without you.

There was no specific inspiration, but as I was working on it, I thought of the movie School of Rock and Bohemian Rhapsody.

PS. The part when miniature of legends come out. (12:31 - 12:40)

7 / Set Me Free - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Liberation" | 14:25 - 16:25

I wanted to write a song with a cool synthline.

The vocal is somewhat known as the set me free track of D.O.D. I used the same sample as the vocal line in my sketch project and finished it again this time. 

An atmosphere where everyone is playing with their hands in the air was my imagination.

The refreshing but soulful vocals and the matching top line are the listening points.

8 / Love Sensation - Loleatta Holloway (SKINSHIP Remix)

"Love Sensation" | 16:25 - 18:55

Released in the 1980s, Love Sensation features the vocals of American legendary R&B singer Loleatta Holloway, and has been sampled by countless songwriters.

When I do a remake or remix, I always write down the original song and put my name in the back.

I think it's a sign of respect for the original artist, but it's also the least I can do for the listener.

In the case of Love Sensation, I love the original song, and I highly recommend you check it out.

As for the remix itself, I really like the rich house feel of the original song, so I tried to take advantage of that by making the drops higher and more tense.

I envisioned a great stage performance, where the band and the audience are one, and it makes you smile just looking at it.

I used saxophone for the jazzy part and guitar riffs for the funky part, making use of the gradual build-up to make the remix an exciting song that can be listened to anywhere, anytime.

PS. The scene where the guitarists exchange solos face to face. (17:49 - 18:00)

9 / Drug Addiction - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Drug Addiction" | 18:55 - 21:00

I wrote this song after accidentally watching a video about drugs.

I heard that when you do drugs, abnormal dopamine is released beyond the level of pleasure that a person can feel in a lifetime.

Eventually, if you do drugs even once, you can no longer be happy no matter what you do, because the threshold of dopamine that makes you feel satisfied and happy has been raised.

I wanted to capture the process of the drug spreading through the body.

The scenario of the song is as follows.

Verse - The drug ingestion process

Verse 1 Buildup - The "focus" of the "mind" after ingestion

Verse 1 drop - "Concentration" of all "senses" of the body

Verse 2 buildup - Drug starts to spread throughout the body - dopamine rush underway

Verse 2 drop - All "senses" of the body "expand"

PS. This song is from an imaginary scenario, so don't get me wrong, I don't do drugs.

10 / Do U Wanna B - Lorenz Rhode (SKINSHIP REMIX)

| 21:00 - 23:15

Do U Wanna B's vocals are trending in the Korean club scene these days, and I wanted the listener to enjoy it with more tension, so I remixed it to the psytrance.

POINT : A moody pure vocal drop in the first drop, and the 808 bridge (used in the middle to bring the energy back to the song), and short build-up to write the 2nd verse.

11 / Erva da Jamaica & Universo - SKINSHIP Mashup

| 23:15 - 26:00

Simple Mashup - Edited & mashed up to fit local club tunes.

12 / Identity - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

“Identity” | 26:00 - 27:45

Probably the song that expresses the word that everyone always keeps in their heart.

Even if your taste changes, even if your appearance changes, even if your gender changes, you are who you are. As identity is the theme, this track also gave me a strong feeling of "emergence".

13 / Feed Your Soul - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

“Fill with emotion” | 27:45 - 30:00

This song features soulful and emotional vocals.

I want to write a song people can feel the rhythm naturally with classic tech house mood.

I think music that can be enjoyed easily and comfortably is characterized by soft sounds and predictable composition rather than intense sounds and twists.

The mild yet rough beats and the soulful vocals that give off refreshingly in between are the listening points.

14 / Bad Boy - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Bad Boy" | 30:00 - 32:20

I thought of a bully who bullies people to hide his tenderness. He's a big guy, but he doesn't use violence.

The bully's rough body is created with a dull kick and bass, and the tenderness is created with a saxophone.

I tried to add a lightness to the mood of the track.

15 / Factory - SKINSHIP (Original Mix)

"Factory" | 32:20 - end

It's literally a factory.

The inspiration for the song comes from two of my personal favorite films, The Golden Age (1925) and Modern Times (1936).

Charlie Chaplin, the master of silent cinema, used only images and no sound to criticize the industrial revolution of the time, and I've watched them over and over again.

Charlie Chaplin's gestures are ridiculous, but they also contain a certain sadness.

I wanted to use the characteristics of the music to criticize the time period using only sound as an imagined part rather than what is actually seen.

In fact, I don't know if you've noticed, but the themes and titles of the previous mixsets are also about modern criticism. - SKINSHIP Mixset #5 - "PROPAGANDA" / Mixset #6 - "PARADIGM SHIFT"

Time is "the same" for everyone 24 hours a day.

How many people would take that money if they couldn't live tomorrow in exchange for 100 billion today?

I don't think you can put a monetary value on "today" because it's the same for everyone.

I think it's up to you to decide how you want to live your life.

No one else is going to live your life for you.

If it's true that everyone is living their own time, just like everyone is living their own life,

then are you living in a romantic era?

 - The Romantic Era. THE END -