Mate

If I ever joined a singing competition and they asked me to sing a song from my "idol", I would have a hard time convincing the judges. It is either Sara Bareilles for the English song or Tanya Chua for the Chinese or Mate for the Korean.

Mate. 메이트.

I think people who follow me on Twitter and Facebook would be screaming if they hear another word about Mate.

Truth is, I don't know why I love them so much. I just do.

Is it because of their arrangements? Possibly. Is it because of their singing? Not really since they aren't technically superb singers (though they are better than many). Is it because of their cute drummer? Eh, not really. I mean Hyun-Jae is cute and can play a mean drum, but he's not the sole reason why I love Mate.

I think Mate is just that kind of ice cream that you can't really describe the flavor but you just like it a lot.

Mate consists of three guys (poor bassist):

Jung Jun-il 정준일 - vocals, keyboards
Im Heon-il 임헌일 - vocals, guitar
Lee Hyun-Jae 이현재 - drums


Interview with Yoo Hee Yeol.

Honestly, this is a group that I couldn't care less about their appearance, their charisma, their birth dates, favorite pet, etc. This is that kind of group that the talent mattered the most. Now now, I'm not saying that liking Super Junior or Big Bang are entirely for superficial reasons. I know Siwon is good looking and TOP is hot, but that's another matter altogether. Not that I remember their birthdays either. I'm that much of a non-fan. Teehee.

Back to the point. Mate's that group that has the voices that blends with their compositions as well as arrangements that just gets me in a puddle of goo. I think it's because they write and arrange everything. They write well, they sing well, they arrange well. Their lyrics aren't entirely original in the sense of ideas and expression though I am too lazy to try to decipher every song. Besides, excellent lyrics come from Tablo and Mithra of Epik High. But their lyrics are poetic enough, for the ones I know. At least this is one group that doesn't just sing about love. (Ironically, their title song for their mini album is All About Love...haha.) They do talk about chasing your dreams (하늘을 날아 - Flying In The Sky), standing beside you when you feel like the world is falling (이제 다시 - Now Again), saying thank you to their fans (Dear My Mate) and conquer the worlds (Yeah).



Mate doesn't stray too far away from their styles for the past few albums, though they do surprise you still. Even if 안녕 (Goodbye) from the first album sounds like 이제 다시 (Now Again), even if 늦은 아침 (Late Morning) sounds similar to 긴 시간의 끝에 (At The End of A Long Time)..they still surprise me. All the time. I always find something new. Even if Mate is currently on break since Heon-il is in the army, Jun-il released his solo L9o3ve4rs (Lovers) and his compositions sound similar to the contributions in Mate...it is still different. It's not boring. I can listen to their album again and again. And they get better with each album.

I think their latest album "Play" (their OST to their movie of the same name, released in 2011) is the best. Of course I'm bias as anything, since to be honest, Mate has only released 3 albums. Hahaha.

In "Play", they kind of departs from their usual style found in the first album "Be Mate", adding edgier rock sounds but at the same time, you hear it and you know it's so Mate. (In the interview posted above, 'Yeah' and 'Run' are from their 'Transform' single which portrayed a more edgier rock sound but they said this was their natural sound. Doesn't matter to me. I think the two songs are great like the rest.)



The funny thing about Mate is that until now, I still can't really differentiate between Heon-il's voice with Jun-il's voice. Both have similar texture to their voices, which is good and not. Good because the song feels like one. Bad because I can't tell the difference! LOL. So much for being a fan. I kinda get that Heon-il's voice is clearer, whereas Jun-il's voice has more resonance. Heon-il tends to emphasize his ㅅ (s'es) so when he does that, then I'd know it's him. But most of the time, I'm clueless. I think it's because Jun-il carries the songs for most of the time. Here in 이제 다시, Jun-il kinda sings from chorus till the end when Heon-il only sings about one verse at the start. Hee.



One instance when I was watching Kpop Star and one of the contestants Yun Hyeon-Sang sang a song from Lee So-ra, who's another force to be reckoned with. He sang '바람이 분다' (The Wind Blows) and when the song plays, the rearrangement reminded me of Mate. It's not exactly how they would arrange it, but it does sound like it would fit their style completely (especially the starting bit. The end bit would have been rearranged to Mate style fully). And Jun-il would have blew that song to pieces with that kind of arrangement. Not putting down Hyeon-Sang but I immediately thought of Jun-il and his strong voice would carry this song much better. :))

Link to the song. Can't embed it.

Mate can do both rock songs and ballads. Heon-il and Jun-il's voices can carry both genres well and I guess that's what makes their albums exciting. Of course many artists do that, but somehow Mate's way of rearranging them gets me. Their rock songs would be up-tempo and loud, then their ballads will be so quiet.




To the extend of buying their movie drama 'Play' just because Mate is starring in it (almost gonna be so tempted to buy Shut Up Flower Boy Band because of Hyun-Jae being one of the main leads, though my bias is not Hyun-Jae. It's Jun-il, even with his orange hair!) kinda seals the deal for me.

I don't even care if I don't know their birth dates. As long they keep on releasing new albums I'm happy. That's the kind of fandom I'm in for Mate.


헌일 오빠, 빨리 돌아와요!