 Linkin Park’s Korean-American DJ, Joe Hahn, waited around before the Yokohama concert, looking like he had just stepped out of a library. He didn’t have a single tattoo and wasn't wearing a black heavy-metal T-shirt. The other members were wearing baseball caps, but Hahn had on a fishing hat. The first ethnic Korean to win a Grammy, Hahn was born not in Los Angeles, but in Texas.
"I speak Korean with my parents, but I’m not very good," he says. "I urged the band to play in Korea. Korea is my country, and we have many fans there too."
Hahn attended the Pasadena Art Center College, a school famous for design, and has tried visual producing as well. He directed the band’s music video himself. "I knew I was the first Korean to receive a Grammy Award because my mother told me," he said. "Now I want to be the first Korean to receive an Academy Award."
"I’m still interested in music videos, animation, and illustration. I especially like cartoons and the special effects used in portraying unreal images," he added. Perhaps this was why in a previous interview with MTV Japan, Han joked, "I’m actually here to buy comic books and toys, not to perform."
"Our band’s music is a mix of heavy metal and pop melodies. We listen to all sorts of music. It all gets mixed up into ours. Actually, the melody is very important. You hum the melody when you’re taking a shower in the morning. Even if you don’t the lyrics, that is," he said.
Hahn is fond of Korean barbecue and rice cakes, but has little interest in Korean music. "I don’t listen to Korean popular music much, but it’s because it isn’t the kind of music I want to play. I really want to meet Korean fans soon. I can't wait to show the other band members Korea."
(Han Hyun-woo, hwhan@chosun.com )
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