The third guest of the series “IT’S MY LIFE,” which tells stories of PNU alumni walking in a way unrelated to their graduation major, is Kang Hyung-Ho. He enrolled at PNU as a student in the Department of Chemical Engineering in 2007, and he graduated. He is working as a vocalist in a crossover group called Forestella and a band called PITTA. 

Kang Hyung-Ho passed an audition program while he was working in a chemical company after he graduated from PNU. Then, he debuted as part of the crossover group Forestella. The people who have listened to his singing called his voice a “Voice like Heaven,” but he always acts with modesty. On April 5th, Channel PNU listened to his sincere story in a face-to-face interview. 

Q. How did you become a singer?

A. I had stopped dreaming of becoming a singer while I was working, but I steadily sang in a band of co-workers as my hobby. Then, when I was 30, I heard that there was an audition called “Phantom Singer 2”. To get rid of my regret about singing, I seriously decided to try it for the last time. Luckily, I won the audition, and I started singing vocals in Forestella.

Q. Were there no concerns by people around you when you decided to quit a stable job?

A. Basically, everyone. Everyone, including my family and my colleagues at work, had worried a lot. However, I could have decided better because of my company’s good care. The company gave me one year of break time so that I could decide by doing many singing activities. With that one year, I gained more confidence by working very hard on music with my Forestella members, and I am really happy with my job as a singer. 

Q. Please tell us about the most memorable aspects of campus life. Were there any activities that helped you to become a singer?

A. The most memorable moment of my campus life was a year before I entered the army. It was the moment that I took time off from university that year, and I only did music, spending money from my parents. I promised my parents that I would only put my all effort into “Studying.” And that is why my parents supported me in making music at that moment. I think that was the most unconstrained moment in my music life. I thought that I could never have that moment again, but look, my whole life is with music now. 

Moreover, The engineering approach I learned from studying my major helped. Analyzing the field of music and coming up with solutions to the problems I found are the same as the engineering approach. The concepts of engineering and fluid dynamics and the habits of graphing and tabulating were really helpful in understanding music, especially the sound. I believe that every experience in life is helpful for the future in some way. 

Q. Maybe the experiences from the work helped your life too. 

A. While I was working at a chemistry company, I did many experiments to find the best efficiency or to find the best condition of mixing to get the desired property of matter, and this helped me to analyze the voice in a quartet. My social life and experiences from work, as well as the extracurricular activities from PNU, all became a driving force to deal wisely with unfamiliar situations. 

Q. Where do you get the resource for the music?

A. I take often take notes about my personal philosophy, feelings, and melody to look up to during my music work time. 

Q. Please tell us how different are the two groups, Forestella and PITTA. 

A. I am trying to make songs differently in two different groups. Well, not the song. My roles are different in two groups. My goal in PITTA is to make music that shows deep, individual, and unique music, unlike in Forestella. 

Q. Is there any reason why you keep using the name of the band group of workers, “PITTA”?

A. To not forget the thankfulness of members of PITTA and to make the music with them at any chance. There is a song called “The Phantom of the Opera,” OST of The Phantom of the Opera, that made people get attention during “Phantom Singer 2”. That song is precious because I practiced hard with the members who had been with me since my campus club called “Mechanics” and won various competitions at that time. Without those members, the road I am walking on today would not be possible. 

Q. You are the only one who does not graduate with a major that relates to music. Did you not have any worries about this?

A. The title of nonscience major was great for me. Therefore, I tried really hard not to get left behind. I studied a lot to get a lot of knowledge of music. Also, since I am not a major in music, it seems possible to make music like Forestella and PITTA without being confined to classical or popular music. 

Q. Have you ever worried about the popularity of music or the music charts? 

A. The part of popularity and charts, I always have thought about and longed for them. However, I came up with a conclusion that I should not be too greedy in this area because of the characteristic of the genre, crossover. I am working with the belief that if my group steadily makes our own music and progresses step by step, we someday will stand on a peak that does not collapse.

Q. Did you have any difficulties during your music life? 

A. I had a vocal cord nodule last year, but it is not a problem anymore. On the contrary, I think it has improved me overall. The experience of researching and practicing how to sing with a vocal cord nodule allowed me to grow further in terms of vocals. 

Q. Is there any significance you want to find during your music life?

A. I want to construct our own music that makes people think “It’s like Forrestella.” Also, I want to give messages through music. Many messages exist, but the lyric of my first single, “Universe,” came up now, “There is no unmeaningful time at all.”

Q. Lastly, maybe some PNU students are walking another way that does not have anything to do with their dreams. Anyway, you have succeeded in following your real dream. In the position of getting an answer to the challenge, do you have any words for PNU students?

A. I can never say, “Follow your dream!” I can not say that because it is an irresponsible phrase, I think. Just for you to know, I was super lucky. However, I want to say that if you have a dream that you really long for, you need an objective sight of yourself. It is important to know how talented you are, how is your background, and your weakness is. With all that, I think you can increase the possibility of reaching the dream. 

Also, I recommend you to have a plan B always. Even if the sky collapses, there must be a hole through which to rise. Some people say that you should go all in because you only live once, but I think plan B is even more necessary as everyone gets just one life. Having a plan B also helps with your mental health. 

One important thing! Never give up on your dream! I believe chances come for you if you are preparing steadily, little by little. I want to say that when you think it is the chance, that moment, shoot everything out. In addition, I want you to know that there are many ways to do something similar, even if it does not completely match your dream. 

Reporter Im Ha-Eun

Translated by Yun Chae-Eun