Chapter 102 Chapter 102

On the flight to Osaka, Lia lay at the small table, writing and drawing with a pen in hand. Sunlight slanted down the edge of the window, refracting circles of soft light. She wore headphones, and the song playing repeatedly in her ears...

It was the demo she and Isaac Kim recently completed. This collaboration went surprisingly smoothly. The material they selected,

It started as a random loop Isaac recorded late one night. The guitar chords were soft and relaxed, with a hint of Neo-Soul, and Lia immediately had a picture in her head.

She quickly wrote a melody based on the loop, and in less than a week, the two of them completed the first prototype.

Isaac's skill in tonal construction is impressive, and his handling of spatial reverberation is just right, like a gentle breeze blowing through the morning mist. He is a well-known figure in the Los Angeles independent music scene, having produced EPs for several mid-sized labels.

He has also dabbled in advertising and game soundtracks, and has steadily updated channels on YouTube and Bandcamp. His works often appear on lo-fi and indie recommendation lists, and he has accumulated a group of loyal listeners.

After the song was completed, the two agreed that Isaac would release it through his own distribution channels, mainly targeting overseas platforms, and it is expected to be released in the second half of the year.

Lia will also release behind-the-scenes production records on her own channel to supplement the story of the work's birth - for them, this is both a work and an attempt at creative record.

All that remained was fine-tuning the mix and selecting versions. Lia had specially brought along a draft of her project and a worksheet, intending to use the uninterrupted time of the flight to further refine her release cadence, draft visual concepts, and the order of material releases.

Isaac was surprised by her hands-on approach to work.

He's accustomed to the entire process of building a song from scratch. Arranging, recording, mixing, cover design, copyright processing, distribution...every detail is handled almost entirely by himself. He understands the complexity of this process, as well as the burden and freedom of operating independently.

But Lia is different. She is backed by YG, one of the most mature entertainment systems in South Korea.

In Isaac's original idea, creators like Lia should be better at music itself, and leave the publishing and coordination to the team - this is the norm for the operation of the mainstream system.

However, after actual cooperation, he found that Lia not only had a clear aesthetic and technical judgment of music structure, but also had a complete set of systematic thinking in terms of visual concepts, rhythm planning, and audience delivery.

She even referred to Spotify's playback data and Bandcamp's user activity curve to sort out the best release time period for this song on different platforms.

"So does everyone else at YG work this way?" he couldn't help but ask during the call. "Of course not." Lia laughed. In fact, she didn't know much about these things in the past.

She started with some keywords Isaac mentioned casually - Spotify recommendation mechanism, YouTube

Click composition of Shorts, active hours on Bandcamp, differences in cover cropping on different devices...

This made her realize that independent distribution is not simply uploading music, but a complete set of sophisticated and strategic processes.

She began recording, searching, and watching relevant interview videos, and sometimes consulted industry experts introduced by Baoheng, gradually filling in her own knowledge gaps. She is good at summarizing and generalizing.

She quickly built her own content management process, simulated a complete launch schedule, and designed several cover art and visual flow proposals. She even drafted a copywriting strategy for the song across three different platforms to suit different audiences.

She didn't find it all tedious or troublesome. On the contrary, she was excited by the sense of control that came with this systematic learning.

Rather than copying the work path of independent musicians, it is better to say that, like album production, she quickly learned and absorbed, and then built a set of methodologies of her own.

The music in the headphones was still playing slowly, and Kush would occasionally look at her. She was so focused that she hardly looked up the whole time.

Seeing her so focused, Kush tactfully avoided interrupting her and sat quietly until the plane began to descend, then he came out to cause trouble. "We're almost there. The world won't be destroyed if we don't work for a while!" He grinned and took off Lia's headphones.

The plane was passing through a thin veil of cloud, and the light outside the window had softened. It was dusk, and the Kansai sky was tinged with a rich orange-red, while the sea shimmered in the evening light.

The coastline is just around the corner, with straight embankments and well-arranged container terminals on the shore. Occasionally, you can see docked large cargo ships and tower cranes on the berths, like stationary metal behemoths.

A little closer, the edge of the airport's dedicated reclaimed island reached its limit. The broad runway stretched as far as the eye could see, and on the ground, the airport's commuter vehicles scurried by like a swarm of hurried ants. A gentle sea breeze brushed past the window, leaving a fine mist on the surface that, as the light drifted, cast a faint iridescence.

Lia looked out the window, her expression softening unconsciously. She had never been to Japan. More precisely, aside from South Korea, she had never really set foot in any other Asian country.

She came from Los Angeles and was trapped in the practice room, working and training day after day, almost forgetting how big the world outside was. Kush followed her gaze and glanced out the window, without saying a word, just letting out a satisfied "wow".

The plane taxied smoothly, and the landing signal sounded over the PA system. Their Japan trip had officially begun. * Kwon Ji-yong had booked rooms for Big Bang directly at their hotel.

The hotel is located near the Osaka Dome and not far from popular attractions such as Saebashi. Not long after the taxi left the airport, it drove onto the city's main road.

Unlike the densely populated Seoul, Osaka's streets feel more open. Low-rise buildings, clean pavement, and tram tracks meander past. From the train window, you can occasionally spot elementary school students holding umbrellas standing outside convenience stores, or well-dressed office workers selecting drinks from vending machines.

Japan was one of the earliest markets for K-pop, and this tour marks Bigbang's largest overseas outing since their debut. On their way from the airport to the hotel, they spotted a surprising amount of fan support: giant banners bearing the members' portraits, posters outside department stores... There were even small fan booths set up at the entrances of shopping districts, marking the start of their roadshow.

Kush watched with fascination, taking out his phone from time to time to take pictures. "This isn't about rescuing a lonely dragon, it's clearly about making a pilgrimage to a lonely god." Kento joined in the fun. Lia didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The three of them arrived at the hotel amidst Kush's clamor. However, unlike Kush's original fantasy of "traveling hand in hand in Kansai", as soon as the front desk finished checking them in, this fragile team of three disbanded on the spot.

Bigbang is still rehearsing in the venue, and according to Kwon Ji-yong, they will not be back until late at night; Kento has friends he wants to meet in Osaka, and Lia has made a plan in advance and plans to go there on her own.

In a flash, Kush was the only one left of the entire "rescue team," standing alone in the hotel lobby, staring blankly at the people coming and going. He glanced down at the group chat, then at the empty room around him. Kush: Speechless, staring up at the sky.

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