Lee Hom's " Forever 1st Day " Album Diary

89/11/18~89/11/24 @ Part 24

Dear Friends,

Outside is 50 degrees Celsius, and I am chilly sitting by the window. At this moment, I am flying twelve kilometers over the clouds above Lake Michigan, having just crossed the border from Canada to the United States. It was a beautiful sunrise this morning?the entire circumference of sky was arched in red flame. The cloud formations had a lumpy texture and looked like glowing magma in the stomach of a volcano. I wish you all could have seen it, motionless above the world, this palette was spectacular. Witnessing the sunrise from an airplane make you humble before what great powers lie beyond the distance. And it is a small portion indeed of this distance over which I traveled today. Fifteen hours ago my plane left Hong Kong, stopped in Tokyo and now is about to have another layover in Detroit. In four more hours, I'll arrive at my home in Rochester, New York. It's been a year since I've been back?

Wow! Here I am! Back in my own room, working on my own computer, using my own mouse and sitting in my own chair. These things make me happy not because of any attachment to material things, but because they fall into my hands like familiar friends. Being home recalibrates my meters. Having spent every night in different hotels for the last eight months, I have become adrift, like a ship with no anchor, or a kite with no string. Nothing holds me down, I have no base on which to rest or lean upon, and there is little constant in my life except for my music. It accompanies me wherever I go. Although this is a fun way to live, being home reminds me that things can be different, and more down to earth. Being home lets me be myself: 100 percent just a normal guy.

For the next five days that I am in the States, I plan on taking it easy, eating and sleeping a lot, and preparing the vocal recording session for Norika Fujiwara at Sony Music Studios, Tokyo. This third task is not trivial. Being a good producer means preparing and thinking ahead of any situations that might arise. Also, it is my responsibility to book the studios in Japan with engineers who are fluent in English so that I can communicate with them properly. My job also includes having the computer software and recording equipment that I am most comfortable using ready at the studio when I arrive on the 26th. And of course, the most important job of the producer is getting the best sounding vocal performance out of Norika for her half of the duet, as this is the first time she has ever sung on an album!

For the most part, here in New York, I am ready to relax, enjoy the snow and spend time with my family. This Thanksgiving is a long awaited respite in the crazy world of being a pop musician in Asia. The snow falling makes things quiet in the neighborhood, the soothing whir of my G3, and my soft breathing through a slightly stuffed up nose are the sounds as I sit in front of my computer at 2:14 a.m. finishing this letter. Though it's cold outside, even my feet are warm inside my house. I can almost hear my heartbeat, it's a happy one. It's good to be home.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Lee-hom Wang