Hi, my name is Jimmy Strain.
It's a brand that a man created to expand and distribute his creative works in an one-man band form.
I have produced various types of music from classical instrumental songs to ear-aching deathmetal.
And that diversity in an album made people confused, it's very understandable and natural:
No one would expect growling metal vocal tracks in Madonna or Taylor Swift's record and vice versa.
Because of this 'having far left and right all together' attitude, the album sales have never been good
and I always have hard time when I have to tag and register my album or a song into specific genre.
You see this is a tragedy that I brought to myself.
When there's a line with the sign saying "follow the line" then in most cases,
you will feel comfortable and easy by accepting those rules given to you.
But there're those people who walk outside the line or never put themselves at the end of crowd - well, I'm just another one of'em.
I think genres were created to get the results from creators fit in industry-friendly forms,
thus creators and distributors can sell easily and widely. But that doesn't mean creators and their works must be defined
or able to be categorized by genre. If you find 'M' size fits you better than 'L' size, then you go with M,
but that doesn't mean 'you should not have L.'
You may need a shirt with a little extra room within on Sundays and 'L' size is not harmful to your 'M' body.
For my 4th album, 'JIMMY STRAIN', I decided not to give M or L sized shirt,
but to give you the whole drawer of shirts: S, M, L, XL, Black, White and full colored ones are all included.
It contains 60 songs in 6 CDs and 6 LP(Vinyl) records, the record plays for about 4 hours.
As far as I know and as professional critic Han Dong-yun said, it's the largest creation in South Korean music history.
LP version of 'JIMMY STRAIN' is available in only 314 copies.
'JIMMY STRAIN' is expensive and it doesn't include any posters, T-shirt, stickers, buttons/badges or fancy candies.
Because it’s a record - not a hamburger, not a bowl of bibimbap.
So I don’t put anything nor everything, just because it has some taste of its own.
I'm a multi-instrumentalist. I can play various instruments but I don’t play something, just because I can.
I always try to ask and figure out what sound a song require, then I seek for that sound.
It can be achieved by playing guitar or piano, sometimes big pipe and a voice recorder, etc.
Not only sound making devices but also the other methods of expression are defined as instruments in my mind.
Painting, photographing and writing are some of my favorite instruments, too.
I think all the creative works, whether it’s a song, a novel or a painting, shine brightest
when it becomes the tool to remind us the fact that we can always be better mortals than we think.
Luckily, I’ve been growing with my creations.
I think I became not only a better musician but also a better human being by dedicating myself and doing my best for them.
Here are some samples that can show gradation in style: