At the 2024 “Revolt of Youth College Song Festival”, the Kyung Hee University (KHU) band Behold the Blue Wind won the gold prize. The band earned high praise for their performance of the original song, “The End of Polar Night”.

The University Life interviewed two band members, vocalist Kang Min-seo and guitarist Lim Ji-yong, to hear about their experiences and reflections on the festival.

About Behold the Blue Wind

Behold the Blue Wind is a band consisted of seven students from KHU’s Dept. of Postmodern Music: vocalist Kang Min-seo, pianists Lim Dong-in and Lee Ha-rin, guitarists Lim Ji-yong and Jung Won-jin, bassist Park Ha-min, and drummer Lim Jin-eon. The team’s guitarist, Lim, shared, “We naturally became a team after enrolling at KHU, as we began playing music together with our peers.”

Kang explained that the band’s distinctive name was inspired by Native American naming traditions, which often draw from nature, as well as her personal affinity for bohemian and hippie aesthetics. “We combined the symbol of youth represented by the color blue with the sensation of music expressed as wind. That is how Behold the Blue Wind came to life,” she said. She also cited the song “Colors of the Wind” from the movie “Pocahontas” as an additional source of inspiration.

When describing their music style, Lim and Kang highlighted the band’s ability to harness the dynamics of large ensemble to create rich and spacious sounds. “It is indeed challenging to coordinate activities without any member missing,” she admitted, “However, having everyone together allows us to produce great sounds, which forms our band’s identity.”

The band’s signature elements include guitar string sounds and performances using a flag. During their “The End of Polar Night” performance at the festival, Kang waved a big flag with KHU’s name, adding a striking visual element.

When asked to describe the band in one phrase, Lim confidently stated, “We are a band destined for greatness.” Kang added, “We are like a small flame shining in the darkness. Even the smallest light can provide comfort in the dark. We believe that even if we may not be famous, as long as we bring solace to just one person, we have succeeded.”

“Revolt of Youth College Song Festival”

The band's unique musical feature was recognized at the "Revolt of Youth College Song Festival”, a public interest project funded by unallocated royalties for music performers. It has been held annually since 2020 by the Federation of Korean Music Performers, with this year’s event hosted by Stn Sports and sponsored by the Korea Copyright Commission and the Korea Copyright Protection Agency.

The festival accepted applications from late June to mid-July, inviting university student bands to participate. Applicants were required to submit unpublished compositions of their own regardless of genre. Behold the Blue Wind joined the festival with their original song, “The End of Polar Night”. After the preliminaries on July 23, the finals took place over three days from August 23 to 25 at the Sangsang Platform in Incheon.

Regarding their purpose of participation in the festival, Lim explained, “We used to perform within the University, only around the people we already know. This time, we thought that we should take a bigger challenge and join the contest with a goal of winning.”

As a result, the grand prize was awarded to Lif, a band formed by students from Sejong Cyber University, Jeonnam State University, and Dankook University. They received 10 million won, artwork, and overall support for their debut stage and album production as rewards. The runner-up, Behold the Blue Wind, won the gold prize, receiving five million won and a trophy.

Reflecting on the festival experience, Lim said, “Our preparation for the festival went very smoothly. After the performance, we became even more certain that we would swing good results. Although we aimed for a grand prize, we are still very satisfied with what we have achieved.”

“The End of Polar Night”, a Song of Hope

“The End of Polar Night”, the song performed in the festival, is an autobiographical piece by guitarist Lim, who wrote and composed the song. Drawing from his difficult high school years spent in solitude, he attributed those times to a polar night and conveyed a message of hope that such dark times shall eventually pass, enabling one to move forward.

He reflected, “After wandering for a while, I realized what I needed was people. With the support of those around me, my polar night came to an end. That inspired me to write this song with the message: Even on the longest nights, the sun will eventually rise.”

The band also credited their musical inspiration to the band Jannabi. Lim shared how their hopeful messages helped him through tough times and made him aspire to write songs like them.

While Lim established the band’s collective effort in creating the song, he specifically thanked Kang for helping him refining the lyrics. “She helped concretize the ideas in my head into the form of lyrics. I have also asked her to be the vocalist of the song since she knows me best. Fortunately, her voice suited the song very well,” he said.

Kang elaborated her thoughts on the song, saying, “Reality can be quite bleak, but we did not want to bring that negativity into our music. While there is a period of darkness, there is also hope and love. We aim to create music that resonates and offers comfort.”

Both members highlighted their favorite lyric: “I will end the polar night, cast off the darkness surrounding me, and go to you, embracing love,” which best represents the band’s intentions.

Behold the Blue Wind performing at the KHU Global Campus' fall festival

Photo by Oh, Eun-je / The University Life
 

While the band performed “The End of Polar Night” during the university’s fall festival, they noted that they do not have concrete plans afterward. “We are facing realistic problems such as military services,” Lim said. Nevertheless, Kang has affirmed their will to continue activities as a band. She revealed, “We are currently recording “The End of Polar Night” to release it on music streaming platforms.” She also shared her plans for solo activities as a singer-songwriter.

Having confidently showcased their unique identity at the “Revolt of Youth College Song Festival”, Behold the Blue Wind’s future endeavors are highly anticipated.