You may know that Derrick Kim is a creative director at 18 Feet and Rising. What you may not know is that he’s also a professional Psy impersonator who’s been so successful, he’s transforming the persona into a K-pop alter-ego called Teddy Kim.
The Sydney-based creative is just weeks away from releasing his first single under the new name, and is confident it will hit a high note with local and international fans.
Kim is currently absorbing his side career, a professional Psy impersonator called Syp, into Teddy Kim. The original alter-ego sprung from a casual appearance as Psy at an event for client Korean Tourism, which he did simply for “a good laugh”. He has since been in high demand from Australian and international brands, and performed ‘Gangnam Style’ for a 5,000-plus EYEcrowd at a party for professional US baseball team the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s also picked up a major fan base along the way, with over 144,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook.
While he will remove Syp from the spotlight, the creative will keep performing in the meantime to fund the new persona. He will debut Teddy Kim’s first single, ‘Colourman’, in mid-May on YouTube and iTunes. Kim wrote the track and has choreographed and produced the music video.
Kim said the new persona stemmed from a lack of K-pop artists in the local scene and it was for “young Australian K-pop fans”. His music may even be so great it will see Korean fans of the genre look to Australia for such music, he said. Kim even hopes to collaborate with high-profile artists such as will.i.am, and of course, Psy.
But fame and fortune aside, Kim will keep his day job – at least for the meantime. “Advertising has been my passion for more than a decade,” he said. “It’s part of what I do now, not all I do. I enjoy being a creative in an office – it’s strangely soothing – and a performer on stage. It’s like living two different lives. But if my music career becomes too big then I’ll have to sit down and think hard about it.”
Check him out here.
This article first appeared in the 19 April 2013 edition of AdNews, in print and on iPad. Click here to subscribe for more news, features and opinion.
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