“KPop Demon Hunters” and its song “Golden” continue to dominate music seven months after the film’s release.
Earlier this week, the song reached 5x platinum status, adding to its record-breaking achievements.
It took a mighty group of songwriters to deliver “Golden.” That group included EJAE, who also provides the singing voice of Rumi, Mark Sonnenblick and South Korean hit factory The Black Label – IDO (Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Zhun.
When it came to collaborating, Zhun, speaking through a translator, told Variety, “The production team wanted us to work on the drum loop. They wanted it to be a very specific BPM between 100 and 120, so we developed the drum loop first and went from there.”
As they were developing the first demo, Nam explained that the song followed a very traditional structure of a KPop song. “We had two voices, two verses and a bridge.”
Additionally, they received the notes from filmmakers Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans with a very specific request – that the song needed to have a high note. “This was a very important component to the song itself,” Zhun said.
That note was A5 and written in intentionally by EJAE — who would also have to perform it when recording the vocals. When IDO first heard it, Zhun says their reaction was one of awe. “There’s a limit to how high a note can be, so we weren’t expecting to include a note so high. It’s really incredible to see her hit that note.”
In addition to working on the music for “Golden” and songs sung by the film’s all-female group Huntr/x, IDO also wrote the music for the Saja Boys.
In writing that music, Zhun explains that the film’s music producer Ian Eisendrath played a key part in helping to create two distinct sounds for the bands in the movie. “They inhabit very different roles within the story itself; it was relatively easy to approach them in a different way. Saja Boys are a group that’s actually evil, that’s pretending to be kind, whereas Huntr/x is a group that is expressing frustration, and they are the heroines of the story itself. So that was able to lead us in the development of the music.” He continued that it was Eisendrath whose experience as a music producer helped mesh the music into the visual image of writing music for film, and was committed to providing feedback so the song could come together. Zhun said, ”We come from a KPop background, and we didn’t have much experience doing scores for visual media. He played a role in directing us and guiding us in creating these two sounds. You feel his influence and direction, the music coming together with the visual image, because it feels completely different than standalone music.”
As for the lyric that resonates the most, Lee said, “I’m done hiding, now I’m shining” shows the inner growth of Rumi. “That moment really moved me.”
For Nam and Zhun, it was the Korean lyrics being featured in a song that went on to become a global hit. “That brings me a great sense of pride, and to see people singing along to these Korean lyrics is a very moving moment for me.”