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July 26, 2011 - KBC Relay Interview"Singer to the Korean President... Oh, and Restaurateur, Too!” Ryan Goessl Director of Camarata Music Company Ryan was interviewed by Wally Nes.

Wally: Please introduce yourself.

Ryan: My name is Ryan Goessl and I am the founder of the Camarata Music Company, in Korea.

Wally: When did you come to Korea?

Ryan: I came to Korea back in October of 2006.

Wally: And why was that exactly?

Ryan: Good question. I finished my Master’s degree at USC and I was planning to go over and audition for opera houses in Europe. But I needed money first so I thought “Hey, why not go overseas to Asia for a year and experience that, and then afterwards go to Europe.” Then that one year turned into five, and hopefully, many more.

Wally: Did you come here with a plan to make money through music?

Ryan: No, I came here as an English teacher. I was just going to be here for 6 months and skedaddle, but things changed.

Wally: So, you are currently working in music as the founder of your own music company. How does your chosen career path compare to the one you would have taken in the US?

Ryan: Back in the US or Europe I would have been more involved with the performance side of things, working as a singer. Here I am getting more involved with the business side of things. So not only am I performing, but I am doing a lot of the things required to run a company, which I really enjoy, too. Also here, I can be young and still do the kind of music I want, when I want. By comparison, in the US or EU I would be doing whatever I’d get hired for. Globally, it’s quite nice. It’s got its benefits and drawbacks.

Wally: That takes care of my next prepared question of whether you enjoy these differences. What obstacles have being in Korea presented you with that you didn’t expect?

Ryan: Well, there’s always the language barrier. Although I was expecting that, so that doesn’t fall in line with your question. I thought Korea would be very accepting of a foreign musician. And to an extent, yes, they are. But I found that running an organization as a foreigner is much more difficult. There are things like national pride, and it’s hard to get taken seriously at first. There are not a lot of foreigners setting up organizations here, but like everything it just takes time.

Wally: Well, if you had problems being taken seriously at first, I believe it was 2 months ago that you performed at the Blue House in front of the President?

Ryan: The President and a lot of Ambassadors. Many of the ministers were there as well.

Wally: I can’t imagine that that hasn’t helped.

Ryan: It has, actually. Ever since the people at the Chosun Ilbon did an article about us 4 months ago, we have been taken a lot more seriously. The interview with the Chosun Ilbon, which is a very respected newspaper, led to us singing at the Blue House. Because we sang at the Blue House, we got a second performance of Mozart’s Requiem. This led to a KBS interview on KBS TV, then one on Arirang TV. We have gotten a range of coverage by a number of different TV channels. So it’s just been waiting for that break. And after that one break people start taking you seriously.

Wally: Backing away from the business side of things for a little bit to stay with the music. What are the differences in classical music (not business) and its participants, in Korea and the US/EU?

Ryan: There is a lot more emphasis on the people in my choir to participate because they really enjoy it, because they love music. That’s not very common here in Asia. Most groups, choirs, or orchestras you hear in Asia insist on being technically perfect first. But as we are an organization that prides itself on different cultures and nationalities, everyone joins because of the love of music. Everyone joins in because they really like it and artistically speaking, that results in a so much more enjoyable performance.  Back in the States or in Europe it would be more technical and of course in my choir there is less push to be perfect and more of a push to be stylistically or emotionally better.

Wally: There is a discussion on the KBC regarding K-POP and its growing popularity abroad. As someone in the music industry, how do you feel about popular music, Korean and otherwise?

Ryan: [laughs.] You really want to know how I feel about Korean pop? There are parts of it that are enjoyable. A lot of the Korean videos have a nice beat. I think everything is very similar though, I don’t think there’s much variety. Artistically speaking, there’s not that much to separate one girl group from another. It’s either one girl group of 10 singers that have choreographed dance moves, or its another girl group of 11 singers that have choreographed dance moves, with different outfits and makeup, but the beat is the same. The music is very similar.  I would like to see more of a stylistic and artistic diversification in music here. I think we have that more in the West; there are a lot of different movements. Here, pop music is all the same. There’s pop and there’s the alternative scene in Hongdae and I believe that’s pretty much it.

Wally: Going back to the business side of things: You are currently officially side-stepping from music to restaurants. How did that come about, and where do you think that will take you?

Ryan: I have no idea yet where that will take me. It came about because I eat at that particular restaurant a lot. Over the years I’ve been coming there, I have pitched a few ideas and the ones they implemented generally had positive impact. We are getting into a partnership where I will be doing a lot of marketing and trying to bring in new customers. The owners are good friends of mine. They want to have more of a foreign influence there and they think I can provide that.

Wally: Do you have any career advice for other music professionals trying to make a go of it in Korea?

Ryan: Keep trying your best. Constantly audition, learn the language, do your voice lessons. And meet as many people as possible.

Wally: Thank you for this interview.

Ryan: My pleasure.