Kim Se-hwang

Kim Se-hwang (Korean: 김세황; born November 16, 1971) is a South Korean guitarist, singer-songwriter and arranger. In 1991, he formed Downtown, a rock group, and produced their self-titled debut album in 1993. He was a member of the rock band N.EX.T, which he joined in 1994, the metal band NovaSonic and the rock band 2Cell.[1][2][3] In 2011, he produced the album Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, reinterpreting portions of The Four Seasons with an electric guitar.[1] In 2014, he became the first Korean artist to have his guitar displayed in the Guitar Center store in Hollywood, at "Hollywood's RockWalk", a hall of fame honoring musical artists.[4][5]

Kim Se-hwang
Birth name김세황
Also known asJames Kim
Born (1971-11-16) November 16, 1971
South Korea
Genres
  • Pop
  • rock
  • classical
Occupation(s)
  • Guitarist
  • singer-songwriter
  • arranger
Instruments
  • Guitar
Years active1991–present
Associated actsN.EX.T, NovaSonic, 2Cell
Websitekimsehwang.com

Life and career

Early life in the U.S.

Kim was born in South Korea and started playing guitar when he was 4 years old,[2] with his first introduction from his mother who had been a classical guitarist. His father was a South Korean diplomat and the family was stationed in Washington, D.C. from 1974 to 1986. Although his mother gave up a professional career after marriage, she gave performances to represent South Korean culture at diplomatic parties, including the Smithsonian, and continued to teach and share classical music with him at home. She also liked 70's guitar music such as Santana and Jeff Beck and made music education a part of his childhood.[1] He said he grew up in a family environment "filled with a desire for unification" because his father was from Hamhung, a city in North Korea, which helped him develop his personality as a musician who seeks a peaceful consensus.[6]

He returned to South Korea in 1986, after twelve years in America, and started his career in the early nineties.[7]

N.EX.T and other bands

He debuted with a rock band of his own called "Downtown" in 1991, with bassist Jung Han-jeong and drummer Lee Chang-hyun; and produced their album DOWNTOWN in 1993.[1][5] In 1994, N.EX.T's lead singer and founder Shin Hae-chul met with him and invited him to join the band as a guitarist, and he was with them until they disbanded in early 1998.[5] That year, 1998, he formed the metal band NovaSonic with two other N.EX.T members, Kim Seung-hwan and Lee Su-yong, joined by rapper Kim Jin-pyo; remaining with them until 2005.[8] He rejoined N.EX.T, when they regrouped in 2005, and remained with them until 2012.[5] Also, during N.EX.T's hiatus, he played in the rock band 2Cell; and performed on albums for all three bands.[1][3][9]

Kim remembers favorite performances with N.EX.T, reheasing at the Royal Albert Hall, performing concerts in South Korea with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and recording their 1997 album Lazenca (A Space Rock Opera) with the London Symphony Orchestra.[1][9] He performed with the band again on August 8, 2015, for their last appearance at the Pentaport Rock Festival, along with other band members Kim Young-seok and Lee Su-yong, and other musicians, for a special memorial stage for their leader Shin,[10] who died on October 27, 2014.[11]

Performances and collaborations

He has performed and collaborated with musicians including Joe Lynn Turner and Deep Purple,[12] Stuart Hamm, Scott Henderson, Guthrie Govan, Martin Taylor, Akira Jimbo, Steve Vai, Loudness, Lee Ritenour and Vinnie Moore.[1][2][13]

He has also performed for and represented brands such as Orange Amp, Yamaha, Boss, Roland, D'Addario, Carvin, EMG, Tronical, Suhr Guitars and Gibson.[2][13]

Classical music

He expanded his musical career with a crossover between rock and roll and classical music on June 23, 2011 with the release of his album Vivaldi: The Four Seasons with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.[1] He said he always liked Vivaldi's piece, which he often heard his mother play, as a child. He kept postponing playing it himself until his interest was revived in May 2010 when he performed a duet on the SBS program Stocking with electronic violinist Eugene Park, who also plays the Vivaldi piece. Then on October 24, 2010, he made his classical debut at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts when he performed "Winter" of "Four Seasons" with violin and cello.[7][14] He described preparing for the album, practicing twelve hours a day, as passionate as a middle schooler learning guitar. He said he wanted to accommodate the differences in the sounds of the violin, which has no breaks, compared to the guitar.[7] On the album he used his Suhr "Kim Se-hwang Modern Custom" guitar, provided for him by the company, to his specifications, after he joined them as a representative in 2010.[5]

A year later, in June 2012, he performed Luis Bacalov's "Concerto Grosso" for I Musici's 60th Anniversary during their South Korean tour.[15]

Television and public appearances

In addition to performing on musical programs, he appeared on television as a judge for KBS's 2012 Top Band Season 2 and MBC Music's 2014 Green Song Contest.[6][9] In the fall of 2015 through January 2016, he was an original cast member of Knowing Bros, his debut performance in an entertainment show.[16][17] The show's production team referred to him as "one of the three biggest guitarists in Asia" during one episode.[18]

On August 9, 2012 he performed and served as an events judge with other musicians at the "Pyeongchang Special Music Festival" for mentally disabled musicians, in commemoration of the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games.[19] And he served on the judging committee at the Ministry of Unification's music contest "Uni Music Race 2016 (UMR2016)".[6]

Lectures and music education

He lectures on music and the philosophy of music and has been a practicing music instructor at Dongduk Women's University,[20] faculty at Seoul Arts College (SAC);[21] and as of 2016, current faculty at Kimpo University[13] and Hanyang University's Social Education Center.[22]

Style and influences

He has described his inspirations as a long list of "Guitar Gods" that increases daily, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, AC/DC, Santana, B.B. King, Prince, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Def Leppard, and more.[1]

Guitarist Stuart Hamm compares his sound to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.[13]

Honors and awards

In 1997, he received an endorsement guitar, a sky-blue "P4 limited" from Washburn Guitars, which to his knowledge, was the first for a South Korean instrumentalist from a western company.[5] He was the first Korean performer at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California in 2013[2] In 2014, he donated his signature red Yamaha Pacifica Artist Custom "Kim Se Hwang" guitar for display at the Guitar Center store when he was inducted into "Hollywood's RockWalk", alongside those of guitarists Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Kirk Hammett and Slash, among others.[4][5] In May 2014, he was the first Asian to receive an "Honorary Doctorate of Music in Performance" from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood.[1] In May 2016, he was appointed as the first Korean artist to represent the guitar brand Gibson.[22]

Personal

On January 12, 2008 he married Jeong Ae-Hwa, a twenty-eight-year old corporate designer, introduced by friends in 2000,[23][24] and they have a daughter and son.[5] On November 20, 2014, he performed in a parent's concert at his daughter's kindergarten.[25]

Discography
See also: N.EX.T § Discography

Downtown
  • DOWNTOWN (1993)[1]

NovaSonic
  • NOVASONIC (1999)[8][26]
  • NOVASONIC 2 (2000)
  • NOVASONIC 3 (2001)
  • 4th House Han (2003)

2Cell
  • 2Cell (2004)[9]

Studio albums
  • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (2011)[9]

Singles
  • "Nostalgia" SM Station Season 2, with Jungmo (2016)[9]
  • "DCT(Dreams Come True) feat. Simon Phillips, Stuart Hamm (2017)[9]
  • "WE NEED A CHANGE" by Linah London (feat. Sehwang Kim, Karl Kula) (2018) (YouTube) → The song was ranked No.10 on the UK Pop Club Chart, Feb 15 2019.[27]

Filmography
YearTitleRoleNetworkNote(s)
2015-2016 Knowing Bros Cast JTBC Episodes 1-7

References
  1. Yoon, So-jung (March 16, 2018). "Expanding his reach in music: guitarist Kim Se-hwang". Korea.net. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  2. "본격적 미국 진출 앞두고 SXSW 찾아". The Korea Daily (in Korean). March 16, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  3. "What's on This Week". ArirangTV. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  4. "Korean guitarist's treasured item put on display in Hollywood". Yonhap. March 13, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  5. MacDonald, Susan Lee (August 17, 2013). "INNERView Ep121 A world-class guitarist, Kim Se-hwang". ArirangTV/YouTube. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  6. Kim, Yong-il (June 14, 2016). "김세황, '유니뮤직레이스' 심사위원 위촉". Newsin (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  7. Seo, Jung-min (July 10, 2011). "기타 한계 극복하려 하루 12시간씩 연습". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  8. "'화려한 록, 숨쉴틈 없는 랩' 노바소닉 콘서트". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). February 25, 2002. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  9. 김세황 (Se Hwang Kim) 가수, 기타리스트 (in Korean). Naver Music. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  10. Kim, Bo-kyung (June 8, 2015). "'펜타포트 록페스티벌'서 신해철 추모콘서트 열린다". Yonhap (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  11. Lee, Hyo-won (October 31, 2014). "Psy, Others Push for Autopsy of Korean Rock Legend". Billboard. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  12. Kwon, Suk-jeong (May 19, 2014). "기타리스트 김세황, 한국인 최초 MI 음악학 명예박사 학위 수여". Ten Asia (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  13. BP Staff (May 27, 2016). "Bass Player Extraordinaire Stu Hamm Brings His Rock Experience to the U.S This Summer". Bass Player. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  14. "<기타리스트 김세황 "'사계' 연주는 오랜 꿈">". Yonhap (in Korean). July 10, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  15. "I Musici to hold seven concerts in South Korea". Yonhap (in Korean). June 13, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  16. "'아는 형님' 강호동, 이수근과 전성기 되찾나? 대세 '총출동'". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). November 11, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  17. "'아는형님' 황치열 하차NO·김세황 하차 '후임없다'[공식입장]". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). January 5, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  18. "[TV톡톡] '아는 형님'이 병풍 김세황 옹을 살리는 법". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). December 13, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  19. Shung, Kang-hyun (August 17, 2013). "Making music do the talking". JoongAng Ilbo. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  20. Park, Jae-deok (May 21, 2008). "넥스트 김세황, '5월 록 축제' 특강". INews24 (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  21. Park, Si-soo (March 20, 2014). "Entertainers take on teaching role". The Korea Times. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  22. Seok, Kyeong (June 30, 2016). "김세황, 한국인 최초 '깁슨 아티스트'". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  23. Lee, Eun-jung (October 31, 2007). "넥스트 김세황, 내년 1월 디자이너와 결혼". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  24. Ko, Seung-hee (January 12, 2008). "넥스트 김세황, 8세 연하 신부와 백년가약". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  25. Na, Hyung-joo (December 21, 2014). "스트 김세황, 딸 학예회서 '명품 공연' 선봬 (영상)". Insight (in Korean). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  26. 노바소닉(Novasonic) (in Korean). Naver Music. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  27. "'비손콘텐츠'가 제작 'FrontRow', 'DIOCIAN'이 참여한 글로벌 콜라보 프로젝트, 'WE NEED A CHANGE' 싱글 발매". 문화뉴스 (in Korean). November 27, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
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