Written by: Ivana E. Morales | @Iv_Morales
Meet songwriter Keynon Moore, better known as KC, and one of the masterminds that crafted NCT Dream’s “BOOM” and 127’s “Punch,” leading singles that became hits in both the South Korean and international markets. KC’s journey went from experimenting with an old keyboard in Indiana to recording in a small closet in LA, to eventually landing in the heart of Seoul where he learned and mastered the formula that led him to collaborate with K-pop giants.
EnVi had the opportunity to chat with KC about his upbringing, creative process, his leap into the K-pop world, and of course, his work with Neo Culture Technology.
EnVi: Can you please tell me a little bit about your career beginnings? What motivated you to immerse yourself in the music industry?
My stepdad had a studio in the basement and he would do weird jingles — they were pretty terrible [laughs] — and my mom started writing music for herself, so she bought this 4-track tape player and I started tinkering with that. I also had this crappy keyboard so I started messing with that as well and making little tracks on there. When I got a computer, I was able to get software and work on instrumentals from there and it kept escalating and MySpace came around. I put music on there and that’s when I met a lot of different people through that community. It helped motivate me to keep going and keep practicing. I had a friend that moved out to LA and he told me that If I really wanted to do music as music is, I needed to be in LA. I took that and the next year I decided to come here.
EnVi: What kind of challenges did you face at the start of your career?
KC: I think my main one is that I am pretty much an introvert. If I don’t know someone, I am really shy and I just stand back, but this industry is so cutthroat and they say that you have to be an extrovert in order to get in these rooms and work and be heard. It is the hardest thing because some people aren’t like that (extrovert) so, I think trying to learn how to have a balance with it and knowing when to push out of my shell. I think early on, it was such a challenge, but now I try to let the stress and anxiety go away and just do what I got to do.
EnVi: What is the driving force behind your compositions?
KC: Emotions. Everyday you wake up and you are going to feel certain way because something happened or you watched this or that, so emotions are always changing. To grow as a songwriter you really need to constantly utilize those little things.
EnVi: You have collaborated with artists on both sides of the globe, what do you consider is the biggest difference between American music and K-pop?
KC: The artist development is totally different. In K-pop, they really mold the artists since they are children. It used to be like that in America back in the 80s, 90s or even early 2000s, but now it is a little less in artist development and a lot of it is based on popularity and social media. That is why I really love K-pop because I latched on into it and all of the idols can sing, some of them can sing and rap, and all of them can dance their asses off. I just love that. I think also fan support is a huge thing. They are very supportive over there — sometimes too supportive [laughs].
EnVi: Can you explain how was your transition into K-pop? How did you become involved?
KC: It was really just random. The first song I ever did for K-pop is called “First Love” [by EXO] and it came out in 2015, but I had it for three years. When I got the call and my managers told me I had a placement in Korea, I’d never heard of K-pop and it was very new. I was like “Oh ok, that sounds cool, whatever” and then when the song came out, I realized there was such a big support. I started to doing research and everything about it and I was like “Wow, this is a huge market and a huge world of music that I had no idea about.” That was the first taste of it and after that, I started to get different briefs from there and would always submit, but nothing would pick up. It was because I didn’t know the elements, or the formula for how to really do a K-pop song. After the second EXO placement, “Trauma”, I started to get the hang of what they were looking for. Ryan Jhun and Marcan Entertainment reached out and invited me to a producing camp in South Korea.
EnVi: NCT has been labeled as “noise pop” and they are known for breaking boundaries when it comes to genre, from your perspective, how would you define NCT’s music style?
KC: I’ve been seeing that noise pop thing all around and I get it. I am guessing what it means is taking multiple genres and matching them together in a way that, people would say, the sound is noisy and really busy, but it just flows well. I think, for me, that’s what music has always being about. I think that as NCT, they always been taking that risk of creating things that just sound different from all the other groups. It was a very exciting thing working on something like that.
EnVi: Boom and Punch. There is a clear contrast between both songs, but, while listening to them you have that feeling of “Ah, this is NCT” because of their unique sound and complexity. When did you begin working in them? Can you please tell the readers about the song production and creation process?
KC: For “BOOM,” I was living in this apartment with a roommate and I used to record in my closet, but it was too hot [laughs]. One day, I received the record from Ced “Da BenchWarma” Smith and I remember hearing the beginning of the song and I thought it was interesting. The next day, I remember pressing the recorder on the part where the hook is and going just, “boom, boom, boom,” and from there, it kinda just flowed. When I sent it to Ryan Jhun, he freaked out and said: “This is it! this is it! Just fix certain things.” And, oh my god, we had to do a million edits to that song, but the initial structure of the song was there in two days, and still, I wasn’t so sure about it but, I knew there was something with it.
EnVi: And Punch?
KC: This is a more lavish story [laughs]. I was in Korea for my second producing camp (in September 2019). That day I was supposed to work with Alawn then they [the staff] came in and told me ‘Hey, we need you to come to this room’ and then they played these tracks from Dem Jointz. We picked a few and then I met Kenzie. I’d heard of Kenzie, I know her track record and it is just ridiculous, so I was so nervous. I drank coffee that morning and I had anxiety. I was like “I cannot work with her, she is going to hate me!” Then I met her, she is super sweet by the way, and we got in the room and they played the Punch instrumental. I remember me and Kenzie, it was really nice because that is how I think it should be in every setting when you are co-writing with someone. It’s just playing off with each other but no ego. Just bouncing ideas off of each other and she would say things like “Oh, that sounds cool’ or ‘that sounds amazing’ and then we would just figure it out and write some lyrics to it.
EnVi: What is your favorite thing about collaborating with NCT?
KC: Just knowing they were going to execute. Even though Dream and 127 are different, they are still in the same group and I think that everyone in NCT, period, has a level of how they do things. Even visually, they still kill it a lot more than, I feel, maybe other groups could. They are just really a sync group and they have been doing it for a very long time and they are great.
EnVi: The music industry can be brutal. What advice do you want to share to with those new talents who are trying to create a path in this field?
KC: Just stay grounded, because a lot people, and I hate so say it, get mass success and they change real quick. They think that they will always be successful, but tomorrow is not a promise. The next hit song is not a promise you know, none of that is a promise. Also, staying humble and being patient because it does not happen overnight. Relationships are key, so if you are an introvert, you gotta find a way to meet people and that’s the great thing about social media. Researching is also key, know who you are writing for when you get to that point. Find ways to improve yourself, maybe learn instruments, take a class. Nothing is the real right answer as long as you stay grounded, humble and actually love it.
