Musician and composer Rock Choi is an outstanding lead guitar player born in Seoul, South Korea. The New York-based music man discovered the music of The Beatles and AC/DC and immediately found a passion for the sound of the electric guitar. From 19 years old, Rock released his original songs and has honed his craft by studying at the prestigious Seoul Institute of the Arts, Berklee College of Music, and New York University.
As a live performer and artist, Rock has worked with some of the music industry’s biggest names, and has garnered multiple sponsorship deals with D’Angelico Guitars, D’Addario, and Jim Dunlop.
Rock worked in London, England on the music video for “Clueless” with recording artist Lina Maxine, which is out now on all platforms. We caught up with Rock to chat about all things “Clueless”.
Welcome Rock! Tell us about the project “Clueless.”
The music video for the song, “Clueless” that I filmed with the artist, Lina Maxine. It was filmed in London, England. It was a pleasure to be invited to be a part of this project. Since I have never been to London before at that time, it means a lot to me. I met so many talented crew members who set up the whole place for shooting, fascinating make-up artists, and photo / videographers. It was truly a fresh and inspiring project that I could meet new people. It turned out to be one of the memorable projects that I’ve done. I started playing the guitar for fun at first but became a guitarist and traveled overseas to share my talents. This project was one of them that I went abroad, and it helped me to think more about what I want for my life, which is traveling to as many countries as possible, getting inspired and feel appreciated about it. Being featured and putting my name on whoever the talented artist like Lina, it means a lot to me. It was one of the most memorable projects that I’ve done.
Who is the inspiration behind the project?
Lina Maxine wrote a song and sent me the recording track. I was thinking of how to make my guitar sound well on the music. It was rock music, so Rock Choi played rock music. I am glad that I became a part of this song.
How did you get involved?
A couple of years ago, I got to perform for her debut show in NYC. It was meeting her in person for the first time through social media, 2 days of quick rehearsing and we made a show successfully. Since that first show, we kept in touch about future recordings and video work, and eventually we made those projects into reality. It was about building trust as a music colleague. It became one of the memorable experiences in my music career.
Tell us about the process you went through?
Because of the time difference between New York and London, and due to the baby’s crying noise in the plane, I couldn’t take a rest on the way to London unfortunately, but shooting after I stayed up the whole night was worth it. It was a big fun session to be there meeting new people and getting inspired by people who have different backgrounds. The fact that I had to copy my guitar solo’s hand movement because it was only for the scenes not capturing the actual sound of the guitar, it was like an acting. I enjoyed it a lot. I wished I could dance well while I was shooting.
How can people watch the music video and hear the song?
You can find the video on YouTube, it has more than 170k views. I love the results of the video, and also the music. “Clueless” by Lina Maxine (feat. Rock Choi).
Watch “Clueless” here:
Can you tell us 3 things nobody really knows about you?
Ok! I am obsessed with jewelry, especially rings. Genuine 14K or 18K solid gold only, I have one arm full sleeve, one leg full sleeve tattooed, and I am partial to Guinness draft beer!
Do you have anything coming up next?
I have a world tour for next year which is going to be the biggest project ever. I am going to focus on more live shows as a performer. I love that aspect of my job.
What’s the best way to follow you online?
I am on Instagram which has all fresh updates about my music career.