“It’s been an incredible journey so far. To be frank, I never dreamed of becoming a professional musician until one or two years ago,” Kostadinov told The Korea Herald last week.

“I started singing with friends in my home town Sevlievo, a small town in north-central Bulgaria, and busked whenever I got low on cash.”

Performing on the streets proved to be useful for Kostadinov, who claimed he was shy and shaky at start. Aside from earning quick cash, the experience empowered him with a shrewd sense of live performance, audience interaction and song selection.

The up-and-coming artist visited Korea in early October at the invitation of the Korea Foundation. He performed at the Multicultural Arirang Music Festival in Changwon City on Oct. 4, Korea Foundation’s Cheonggyecheon Music Festival in Seoul on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11 and at the opening ceremony of Citadines Haeundae Hotel in Busan on Oct. 13.

Kostadinov also recorded a session of the variety show “A song for you” with Korean pop group CNBlue, which will be aired on KBS2 on Oct. 25. 

“Korean music is exceptional in that the producers are really smart and know how to make international hits,” he said. “K-pop artists are very passionate, talented and well-trained, and can dance and sing like no other.”

“When all these things come together,” he explained, “it translates into a formula for the Korean Wave.”

The tall singer with a sturdy, husky voice said that a key part of hallyu’s universal vogue had to do with linguistics.

“The Korean language has musical qualities because of the way it sounds,” he highlighted. “In music, word intonation is important and Korean sounds very melodic. I think it’s one of the reasons why K-pop is so popular globally.”

Koreans also know how to promote their music, he noted, pointing out that K-pop was readily audible and visible compared to music from other Asian countries. “People all over the world can just stumble upon K-pop and once they hear the music and see the dance and music video, they simply fall in love with it.”

In July, Kostadinov witnessed firsthand the power of hallyu in Bulgaria when he was invited to be on the jury of a K-pop festival organized by the Korean embassy in Sofia.

“It was incredible to see thousands of Bulgarians singing and dancing along K-pop songs by heart, so perfectly in Korean language,” he said. “It wasn’t just music, but a whole frenzied culture that included album sales, Korean people and food stalls on the sides.”

Although Bulgaria and Korea are physically far apart, he argued that fans could connect through K-pop.

From 2012 to 2014, Kostadinov studied art and design at the University of Huddersfield in England. He graduated with a first honors degree and was granted a master’s scholarship, but decided to pursue a music career back home instead.

“So far in Bulgaria, we haven’t had companies supporting individual songwriters. Many singers parrot labels presented to them,” Kostadinov said.

During his two-week visit here, he performed various songs, including “Arirang,” “The Sound of Silence” and “Love Somebody,” as well as his compositions “Inner Demons” and “I Won’t Pray.”

He added, “If you have a style that you are good with, you need to stick with it and do everything you can to improve it and be recognized for that style.” 

The young singer with raven hair and a beard, wearing a black hoodie, noted that diverse music genres have begun to spring up in Bulgaria over the past several years, triggered by people’s avant-garde desires.

“Many talented artists perform underground and are not yet exposed through the mass media,” he said. “Over the next few years, I think there will be a qualitative shift in Bulgaria’s music industry, because people are simply fed up with the same, flat commercial scores.”

Next year, Kostadinov plans to release four to five singles with videos, possibly an album, on top of performances around the world.

“My ultimate dream is to be one of the most recognized musicians in the world,” he said smiling. “So far, it seems to be going perfectly well. I can’t wait to achieve them all, so I’m always rushing ― ‘ppalli-ppalli.’”

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)