A lot of people face the dilemma of making a choice between an ideal, such as what they have passion for, and reality, but Kwon Soon Seok (’21, Division of International Studies), known to listeners by his stage name Liam K, has managed to achieve both. He has been involved in the music industry for over seven years, with over 3,000 followers on SoundCloud and acting as a producer for hip-hop artists such as OVAN and VINXEN. The Granite Tower (GT) interviewed Liam K to take a closer look at his double life as a student at Korea University (KU) and a music producer.

About Liam K

Liam K is a freshman studying at KU’s Division of International Studies as well as a music producer. Liam K mainly works on composition and arrangement and creates in various genres, including hip-hop, R&B, pop, and electronic. He is recognizable for his participation in songs such as “Summer!,” a collaboration between Dingo FreeStyle and Yng&Rich Records, and “Miss Fortune” by OVAN. To find out more about the music Liam K has helped make, readers can visit his Instagram account (@ liamkwon_).

GT: Please tell us the background to your involvement in the music industry. How did you decide to get involved? What drew you to the music industry?

Liam K: Before I started in music, I was a kid with low self-esteem. I wished I could get along well with my peers, but I often lost confidence in myself after seeing how different I was from others. My favorite thing to do was to get home after school and listen to music on my own. As I listened to music, my respect for people who actually produced the songs became greater and greater, and I thought that if I also became an admirable person like them, I would be able to shift my perspective on life and my behavior. With this idea, I gained courage and started to write music after installing a music production program on my computer for the first time. This was the beginning of my music career.

GT: It is hard to imagine working on production jobs and studying for college entrance at the same time, yet you were successful at both. How did you manage that?

Liam K: It was not easy doing both at the same time, but songwriting itself is not something that makes me tired but rather something that takes me a step closer to the person I want to become, so producing was not a burden for me. During my senior year, I headed back home as soon as my academy lessons finished and used all of my spare time to make music, which is how I de-stressed. Also, my parents were very supportive and encouraging. They had faith in me that I would do well and encouraged me, so I could have confidence in myself.

GT: Did you ever consider focusing entirely on music production? If you did, why did you pursue studying and producing music simultaneously?

Liam K: Yes, I did once consider focusing my career entirely on music production. When I encountered the burden of college entrance at high school, I occasionally forgot my academic goals and wandered mentally. I ultimately decided to focus on both my studies and music because I wanted to make a less risky choice in consideration of the future. The path to success as a music producer that I saw at that time seemed to be unpredictable and uncertain, so I put effort into studying as well.

GT: What is your most memorable piece of work?

Liam K: I have been writing songs for about seven years since I was 14 years old, and I have worked on a lot of different productions, but my most memorable work is my own album. This album has not been released yet, but it is a project that I started preparing for about a year and a half ago. During that period, I put a lot of effort and consideration into this album, and I went through a lot of ups and downs in the process.

GT: How is your college life so far as Kwon Soon Seok, a student at KU? How do you manage to work on music as well as study at the university level at the same time?

Liam K: I am very satisfied with my life as a freshman at KU. Last year, during the initial stages of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), I was a student at another university. However, due to COVID-19, my first year of college was quite different from what I expected at high school, so it felt very incomplete. In contrast, this year, there have been a lot of different programs where I could bond with my fellow department freshmen, even in online settings. All my fellow department freshmen have been very warm and welcoming, so I am enjoying my time at KU. I still write songs when I am not too busy with classes and assignments. Doing both at the same time is challenging and sometimes I fall behind on my assignment schedule (laugh), but I am trying to get a grip on it!

GT: Do you have anything to say to anyone facing the dilemma of whether to follow their passion or stick to reality?

Liam K: I feel like I face this dilemma between my ideals and reality very often, but it is hard for me to tell you which one to choose. I do want to say, however, that there are so many walls that you encounter when you face reality, walls that cannot be easily overcome, that make you surrender in the process of chasing your ideals. Even if this happens, for you to leave with less regret, I think it is important to act on your passion and become really engrossed in it while you can without being too mindful of how other people view you.