‘Sansanjogak’ made its debut at the 27th Jeonju International Film Festival! This project is both Jang Ki-ha’s first solo full-length album and a film based on his own poetry.
The directing duo ‘Moraenae Geodong Susangjadeul’ (Yoon Sang-woon and Hwang In-sung) wrote the scenario from Jang Ki-ha’s poems and created a silent film. Jang Ki-ha then used that silent film as the foundation to create the album ‘Sansanjogak’.
In a unique twist, ‘Sansanjogak’ is a film, a soundtrack, and a complete album all at once. The album features 9 songs, and both the music and the silent film run for exactly 33 minutes.
“These days, we aren’t in an era where people listen to music for long periods. With ‘Shorts’ becoming the norm, I feel like I should be grateful to anyone who listens to a whole song,” Jang Ki-ha shared. “I spent a lot of time thinking about how to get people today to listen to an album from start to finish and how to make 30 to 40 minutes engaging.”
During the ‘Young-teuk-han Dae-hwa’ program at the Jeonju International Film Festival held on May 2 at CGV Jeonju Gosa, Jang Ki-ha explained that this album reflects his thoughts on the age of short-form content.
‘Sansanjogak’, featuring visuals by Moraenae Geodong Susangjadeul and music by Jang Ki-ha, is having special screenings during the festival. After the screening, Jang Ki-ha met with the audience through the ‘Young-teuk-han Dae-hwa’ program to discuss the film.
Jang Ki-ha revealed that this unconventional working method was a way to push past his creative limits and fixed patterns. Previously, his process was simply looking into his heart and writing lyrics and songs.
“Since I went straight from my heart to the song, a certain pattern emerged,” he explained. “I wondered if there was a way to overcome those limits, so I thought a different approach would naturally emerge if I went from heart to poem, poem to video, and video to song.”
To keep things fresh, the creative team worked by interpreting the results of the previous stage without much direct communication. This led to spontaneous concepts that weren’t in the original poems, such as the ‘Pillow Man’ character in the film.
Jang Ki-ha expressed satisfaction with this new method, saying, “The change from the poem to the final music was drastic. I tried hard to intentionally forget the previous stages so that elements I couldn’t have imagined on my own would emerge during the process.”
This approach brought a unique vibe to both the film and the album. The film features movements that are too exaggerated for normal acting but not structured enough to be choreography, reflecting the grammar of silent films where everything must be expressed without sound. Jang Ki-ha, who also appears in the film, explored these expressions through a two-month movement workshop with choreographer Lee Yoon-jung.
The second track, ‘Mal-do An-dweneun Yaegi’, is played on the guitar by Jang Ki-ha himself. This is quite rare, as he usually doesn’t play most of the songs himself due to focal dystonia (a condition where fingers don’t move as intended).
Laughing, he said, “A trained guitarist couldn’t capture the feeling I wanted, so I had no choice but to do it myself. I was sweating all over while recording, but I’m happy with the result. It’s practically like my debut as a guitarist in my musical life.”
He put a lot of effort into the music itself, traveling to a studio in Hamburg, Germany, for precise sound tuning and recording orchestral sounds in Budapest, Hungary.
Jang Ki-ha’s first solo album ‘Sansanjogak’ will be officially released this September. He teased that he will meet fans through various events, including theater screenings and live performances.
“After seeing it screened in a theater, I felt I wanted more opportunities to show and play this for people. I’ll discuss some fun ideas with my colleagues. I’ll also work hard on the preparations for a great solo concert.”
