Shin Hae-chul

Shin Hae-chul (Hangul: 신해철; May 6, 1968 – October 27, 2014) was a South Korean singer-songwriter and record producer known for being a pioneer of Korean experimental rock music.

He was referred to by fans as the "Demon Lord" or "The Devil" for his charismatic stage presence.

Shin Hae-chul was born on May 6, 1968.

He enrolled in Sogang University in 1987, where he studied philosophy until he dropped out to focus on his music career.

Shin and his band Muhangwedo debuted at the 1988 MBC Campus Music Festival, where the band won first place for the song "To You."

Shin formed the band Muhangwedo (Hangul: 무한궤도) in 1988 when he was a sophomore at Sogang University.

The band received national attention when it appeared on the televised 1988 MBC Campus Music Festival, a singing competition for amateurs.

Muhangwedo won first place for the song "To You" (그대에게) which was written by Shin.

The band released one album, 1989's When Our Lives Are Almost Over (Hangul: 우리 앞의 생이 끝나갈 때).

Shin released his first solo album in 1990, which included a song that had an English rap, which was unconventional in the Korean music scene at the time.

The album was a huge hit, leading to Shin rising to the top of Korean pop music charts and receiving multiple Korean pop music awards.

His second solo album, Myself, was released in 1991, which was first album in Korea to have used midi.

He also started a gig as a radio DJ on MBC FM.

He formed the experimental rock band N.EX.T in 1992.

In 1992, Shin formed the band N.EX.T — moving from pop music to rock.

Their first album, Home, was a concept album.

While his previous songs were mainly about love or heartache, here Shin started to write more about social issues, such as criticizing the fast lifestyle of urbanites in "City People".

The group's second album was released in 1994 titled The Return of N.EX.T Part 1: The Being where Shin introduced more philosophical lyrics, such as questioning the meaning of life in the song "The Ocean: About Immortality".

The band's third album, The Return of N.EX.T Part 2: World.

Some of the band members changed over time, with Shin being the constant lead singer/songwriter.

During this time he also did a one-time collaboration with singer Yoon Sang to form Nodance, wrote the original sound track for the Korean movie Jungle Story, and was the DJ for the MBC FM radio program FM Music City from 1996 to 1997.

In 1996, he created his own label, Big Bang Music.

In 1997 N.EX.T released a rock ballad single, "Here, I Stand for You" which sold 500,000 copies in South Korea.

(The lyrics of this song are engraved on his tombstone).

The band went on to release their fourth album Lazenca: A Space Rock Opera in November 1997, which was also the original sound track for the television animation series Lazenca.

The band split up after this- Shin went on to study music producing in London.

In London, Shin re-named himself Crom (inspired by Cromwell) and released a techno album Crom's Techno Works in 1998.

The following year, he formed a project group Monocrom with guitarist Chris Tsangarides and released the eponymous project album Monocrom.

The music in the album was experimental, combining heavy metal with Korean folk music, rap, and lyrical rock ballads.

Most of the songs in this album were in English, which he collaborated with lyricist D. Yvette Wohn.

After the release of Monocrom, Shin went to New York where he worked on producing his live album and some Korean movie soundtracks.

In 2000, he created a three-man band Wittgenstein to produce a home studio album of the same name.

He also wrote the song "Zergs are Coming" for the StarCraft music album.

He was also known for hosting a radio show from 2001 to 2012.

Shin returned to Korea in 2002 and worked on various projects, mainly writing songs for other artists or for movie soundtracks.

In 2004, he re-formed the group N.EX.T although the members were different, and released a double album The Return of N.EX.T Part 3: 개한민국.

He also started DJing for a late night radio show Ghost Nation that became extremely popular.

In 2007, N.EX.T released a jazz album The Songs for the One inspired by his newborn daughter.

In 2008, the band released the album 666 Trilogy.

Shin died as a result of medical malpractice after undergoing surgery in 2014.