soundtrack

BIOGRAPHY
Some children are encouraged from a young age to immerse themselves in the world of musical expression, to explore its dynamics and its intimate connection with the human experience. Peter Kim was not one of those children. He was told that he would not be able to make a living as a professional musician, so for years he was plagued by the kind of self-doubt and inner conflict that is responsible for some of the world’s most beloved and enduring masterworks.
By age 6, he’d taught himself to play piano by ear, and by age 8 he was already writing complex digital arrangements. His grasp of music theory and of “what makes a hit” was acquired by studying popular radio, which is to say, he is entirely self-taught. In fact, he says, the only formal training he ever had was a couple of semesters of recording technique, which he only did to gain late-night access to his college’s studio.
This tortured love affair with music resulted in his decision, only recently, that “life is too short to ignore the call of your heart,” and he took up the name soundtrack based on his ability to create original music in any genre that inspires him, as if life is a movie. He is an anomaly because he perfected his craft in private for more than 20 years before ever trying to share his music with the world.
But now here he is, executive producer and creative director of HANIBL, an ambitious production team from Chicago responsible for expanding a subgenre of hip-hop first made popular by LL Cool J and Heavy D, which they call “intimate hip-hop.” Kim is the mastermind behind this movement, with award-winning South Side poet/MC/activist Armen Rah and North Side MC/rapper Phee. HANIBL has recorded over 70+ songs in 18 months. “Big Windy,” their demo, was recorded in a week, and then, later, remixed into an all-original, 40-minute club/dance mix that has been featured at a variety of listening parties and cardio fitness classes in Chicago.
Kim is also co-creator the multimedia fitness experience, “Body and Soul” and helped coordinate Kollaboration IV, a Korean-American talent show that began in Los Angeles and spread to Chicago, and the 12th Korean-American Street Festival of Chicago. He has contributed work to Iris K. Shim’s upcoming “The House of Suh” documentary, had two songs selected to the score of director Don Likovich’s acclaimed “World on Fire” (2005), and wrote a commercial for a local Chicago auto body shop. He also produced two songs for Peanut Butter Jesus, a Christian worship band from Whittier, California.
soundtrack is currently wrapping up production on Phee’s solo album, Armen Rah’s solo mixtape, his own solo album, and HANIBL’s collective-effort second album. Meanwhile, Kim is seeking to join a major label as a producer, ghostwriter, or staff songwriter. After years of hiding his craft from the world he is unleashed, and the resulting sonic assault has been incredible. Keep an ear on this talent - the music industry hasn’t seen anyone this prodigious since Quincy Jones, Jr., also from Chicago. And we all know how that turned out...