K-popped! stumbled upon Double Dragon Productions, the company that translated Rain’s Rainism and Love Story into English. Liz hunts the Korean-Canadian brothers down to ask about their production company, working with Rain and…err, Rain’s Magic Stick (whee!).
Tell us about Double Dragon Productions.
Double Dragon consists of Elmo & Roy Chong. We are ACTUALLY brothers and not two guys who are just good friends.
Like almost every other Asian kid, we grew up playing classical instruments: Roy on the violin and Elmo on the cello. Our mother was a piano teacher, so we grew up doing dorky things like playing Christmas carols as a trio at home. In retrospect, these were some of our fondest memories.
Which artists have you worked with?
Drunken Tiger
Yoonmirae (T/Tasha)
Rain
Lee Ssang
Yang Dong Geun
Bobby Kim
Buga Kingz
Dynamic Duo
Double K
Bizzy B
Lady Ann
Roscoe Umali
Nas
Swollen Members (Canadian hip-hop group)
Souls of Mischief (LA hip-hop group)
Da’Truth (Christian hip-hop artist)
Buckwild (Producer for Nas, Jay-Z, Biggie)
How did you end up translating and recording with Rain?
A hyung (big brother) of ours introduced us to one of Rain’s managers in Korea a while back. We stayed in touch and one day got a call to translate two of Rain’s singles. We jumped at the opportunity and over the following 4 days wrote the English version and demoed up the song as well.
What are the challenges when translating a song from Korean to English?
The biggest challenge when doing a translation like this is to make sure that everything matches syllabically. In the case of Love Story, the rhythm of the translation had to match the way Rain sang the original.
Essentially, the English version is a re-written song based on the concepts and ideas that Rain had in the original version. (Note: Check out the ORIGINAL direct translations of the lyrics and Double Dragon’s re-written version that was recorded by Rain here!) PLS. SEE BELOW :
Our friend Paul helped us with the direct translation. We used that as a guide for writing, then listened to the Korean version syllable by syllable and wrote new lyrics that married everything together – it was a very time consuming process.
We then had to record a demo of what we wrote in order for Rain to have a vocal reference to practice. Due to a time crunch I (Roy) had to demo up the vocals myself – that version is staying in the vault though (laughs). Every time I picture him (Rain) listening to me singing his song and imitating my pronunciation, I laugh to myself.
How do you respond to:
a. people saying that the English version of Love Story is one of the better Korean to English-translated songs around?
We’re definitely thankful!! No one really pays attention to what goes on behind the scenes so it’s nice to see some interest in it.
I think it was helpful that we are producers/writers to begin with. It allowed us to offer more to the project than just translating. I also realized how much fans in other countries need good English versions of their favorite Korean songs. (Hear! Hear!)
b. questions like “What on earth is Rain’s Magic Stick”?
Haha… I guess that one will have to be left up to one’s imagination.
Do you think you will collaborate with Rain again in future projects?
Yes, we’re planning on working with him when he starts on his next album.
Of all the projects you’ve worked on so far, what (and with whom) is the most memorable one, and why?
For sure working with Rain was a great experience for us. Mostly because of the magnitude of his success and presence in the entertainment industry. He was also personable. He asked us about our life in Canada and we got to share our backgrounds a bit.
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