– Nico H.

It was June on the nineteenth when Red Velvet opened the doors for the first day of their ReVe Festival. And the song that greeted visitors and listeners alike was “Zimzalabim,” a zany and colorful dance track that borders on the avant-garde. The bells and the bass and the synths loop through one another with drops like rollercoasters. And when colored with Red Velvet’s vocals and harmonies does the song truly hypnotise and mesmerise. “Zimzalabim” is a firecracker of a song.

The ReVe Festival: Day 1 then continues that momentum with “Sunny Side Up!” and “Milkshake.” The group’s melodies shimmer in the former and give a breezy chill in the former before propelling forward through the rest of the mini-album. With so many sights and sounds to be experienced, Red Velvet’s dreamy fantastical festival is worth revisiting for another day or two or even three.

And the ringleaders responsible for the theme park’s theme song is none other than Caesar & Loui, with the following two attractions provided by Moonshine, neither of which are strangers to Red Velvet’s ouvre nor to Balloon Day. They helped shape the sound and aesthetic of The ReVe Festival: Day 1 and helped propel it to becoming Red Velvet’s best selling album.

I’ve spoken with Caser & Loui and Moonshine on previous occasions, and I’ve had the opportunity to do so once again, to talk to them about their respective songs and their experience and position in the world of K-Pop. Enjoy, everybody.

BD: I wanted to get right to it. The instrumental for Zimzalabim has very many moving parts, shifting from one musical idea to the other. What was the process in putting the song together?

Caesar & Loui: We wrote the song almost six years ago. Around that time we were introduced to the K-pop genre and one of the first songs we really liked was ”I Got A Boy” by Girls’ Generation. We also got inspired by the song ”I AM THE BEST” by 2NE1. At this time we called ourselves D3O and we worked together with a third guy called Ollipop. We’ve done a lot of songs with him. f(x), Detonate, Girls’ Generation’s “All Night,” among others.

It all started with us finding one of the key elements in the track, the bell sound that is playing throughout the song. So we started building the track around that sound and just sang melodies and tried them out. In one part of the session Ollipop said, ”We should call this song Zimzalabim.” From the title we started singing the chorus-hook. Once we had the hook we continued developing the rest of the song and building the track around it. We also wanted to build the vibe of the track around the title ”Zimzalabim,” like putting in sounds that sounded magical and put you in that vibe. After we had all the parts for the song we wrote the lyrics and then recorded it with the amazing writer/singer Hayley Aitken.

BD: Red Velvet has brought on a lot of talented producers over the years and albums, and now that Moonshine has previously produced two title tracks and have two songs on this album, what would you say defines your sound? And what does Moonshine deliver to Red Velvet’s?

Moonshine: Now that we’ve had the honor of having a handful of songs released with Red Velvet we’ve really realized the songs that we’ve had the most fun making are the most interesting and genuine songs.

We always strive to find something new, whether if it’s a weird combination of genres or a cool soundscape. The very foundation of our sound is “fun & experimental” and that’s why Red Velvet is such a great group to work towards. The girls always embrace being different and unique. They can literally do any concept and that makes them really easy and fun to work with.

BD: Was there anything in particular you wanted to accomplish when making these instrumentals?

Caesar & Loui: Like I mentioned in the first question, we really wanted to create a vibe like everything felt magical. The bell sound, the timpani, and the percussions, almost create like a circus, funfair atmosphere.

Moonshine: We were aiming for two different types of summersongs. “Sunny Side Up!” being a relaxed ragga inspired song perfect for hot days just chilling by the pool. Meanwhile “Milkshake” is a flirt between a bright retro sound and modern funk great for a summer road trip.

In general both songs are all about bringing the good vibes while still keeping it interesting and fun, songs that we hope the fans will party to, for days.

BD: Artistically, how would this song fit among the other songs you’ve written for other K-pop groups, including Red Velvet?

Caesar & Loui: It’s probably one of the most special songs we’ve done. It has a special structure and does not have a traditional style chorus. It also changes a lot throughout the song in a special way. The thing we think makes it fit among our other songs is the energy and catchiness of the melodies. Once you hear the hook it’s hard to get it out of your head.

Moonshine: As mentioned before, we always want to raise the bar further with every song we do, both with sound and harmony, these songs are no different. Especially writing for RV we feel like we have a challenge to take their sound further. Funny enough, we don’t feel it as a “pressure” since we always have the most fun when we do their songs. Fun makes perfect (lol)!

BD: Zimzalabim, musically and structurally, stands out in a way that is immediate and endlessly enthralling. Did you set out with the intention to experiment or did it happen along the way?

Caesar & Loui: We were really inspired by the special structure of ”I Got A Boy” and wanted to create a really cool song. During this time I think we did a few songs with that song in mind as a reference. So yes, we were trying to create something with a special feeling.

BD: Despite the uniqueness and eccentricities of Zimzalabim, all ideas and inspirations have to come from somewhere. Were there any artists you had in mind while producing this track?

Caesar & Loui: Of course, we were working a lot with SM and we had their artists in mind. At the time Red Velvet had not debuted so we probably had f(x) and GG in mind.

BD: Sunny Side Up! and Milkshake are very much like companion pieces on the album, how were those instrumentals put together? Were they made around the same time?

Moonshine: Actually no, “Sunny Side Up!” was made about a year ago while “Milkshake” was made last winter. We never even thought about the possibility of having them both on the same album but we agree they complement each other quite nicely. A great choice by SM and Red Velvet if you ask us!

BD: Was there any unique challenges or hurdles to overcome while you were composing these songs?

Caesar & Loui: We remember we had some trouble finding the way to the chorus. We wanted to have the chorus like a surprise element but also wanted the melodies to flow naturally up to the chorus. So we struggled some time to get the melodies in the verses right. We actually had all the ideas for the verse pretty early on of writing the song. But they were in different places, so it took some time to realize where to put them and which one of them was the best choice.

Moonshine: Yeah, it’s really hard to come up with titles that is also something you can eat. If someone has any suggestions please contact us. We’re tapped out (lol!)

BD: Comparing your work for other groups, and even hearing what other groups have to offer, it seems that K-pop groups features a large variety of sounds and styles across a wide market. Despite the mass appeal, do you see K-pop as an avenue for pushing musical boundaries and experimentation?

Caesar & Loui: Yes, we think K-pop always had an edge and is one of the Pop styles in the world that actually dares to experiment with music and take risks. For us, that is the thing that got us interested in the genre from the start. Right now there is an exciting time in the music world because it’s more global. So the styles mix more naturally. It’s really fun to be a part of that journey. You can see it the Spanish style combined with the US market, but also now with the K-pop market.

Moonshine: Yes definitely! What we love about K-pop is the playfulness that comes with it. We love that we always have to reinvent ourselves and do new stuff. When we write for other markets we often feel that you have to do things in a very particular way. With K-pop there is a “formula” you have to take into account but you have a lot more space to be creative which is fantastic!

BD: Zimzalabim’s instrumental has a lot of layers and interlocking parts that build the song to what it is. But is there a specific detail you want to point out for listeners?

Caesar & Loui: We think the mix of the sounds is pretty interesting, from twenty-two seconds into the song you can hear a really electro bass mixing with the acoustic marching drum. The mix of the electro and acoustic elements in the track is probably the thing we want to point out. In the chorus, about fifty-two seconds in, you’ll hear the 808 bass sub combined with the organic bell-sound.

BD: Is there a certain pressure you put on yourself to deliver better and better work as you continue composing songs for various K-pop groups?

Caesar & Loui: Yes of course, we always want to develop our sound and push ourselves to find new ways to create music. Both of us are energetic and we easily get bored by old sounds so we tend to move in new directions after every song we make. Not every time it turns out to be a hit but it’s the searching and experimenting that leads us towards new sounds and styles.

Moonshine: Absolutely, but we don’t see it as writing better songs than before. But more about always writing the best song possible.

BD: For Moonshine, since producing Power Up and Peek-A-Boo, was there anything you learned during the process of making those songs that you applied to Sunny Side Up! and Milkshake?

Moonshine: Yes of course, by now we have written a lot of songs for Red Velvet and everytime we do that you get a better idéa of what they can do and how our ideas and demos translate into the final songs that they release. So when we wrote “Sunny Side Up!” and “Milkshake” we applied a lot of what we knew would work for the girls.

BD: This would now be the third time I’ve spoken to [Moonshine] about your music. How you would say you’ve grown as artists since our first interview together?

Moonshine: We’re always trying to grow and evolve, and it’s hard to look back and see what has happened. But the main thing that has happened since the first time we talked is that we’ve collected a lot of experience. Mainly because we traveled a lot to Seoul to write and produce songs up front with SM and their artists but also because we written so much music for different acts that we feel that we know what works and doesn’t for K-pop in general.

BD: Finishing it off with Caeser & Loui, in producing Zimzalabim, is there anything you learned from the process that you want to take with you moving forward to other projects?

Caesar & Loui: It was such a long time ago so we were pretty new with working as songwriters at the time. So we’ve learned a lot since then. We remember we had so much energy in the session which is a good thing of course, but we ended up getting so tired and maybe we lost focus sometimes during the process. Today we are more calm in creating songs and use our energy when we need it. It makes it easier for us to work everyday and create new music without losing our concentration. We try not to work too many hours everyday so we get to rest after long sessions. We also take the weekends off so we get time away from music every week. Actually we get a lot of inspiration not being in the studio. A lot of the best ideas come when we’re just doing other things like taking the subway, exercising, taking long walks and so on.