John Park has finally returned on stage.

After finishing as runner-up on "Super Star K2" he has come back with his debut album.

During the interview at a café, he was brimming with confidence.

A year and a half back, He had come to Korea from the U.S. to participate in the auditions. He had been too busy during Super Star K but when he was preparing his album after the show, an unfamiliar sense of loneliness suddenly hit him.

"The preparation period after the auditions was so hard. I felt so lonely and literally spent weeks by myself. I did not speak to anyone and I think I may have even been depressed."

During the emotional crisis, singer Kim Dong Ryul was a big help. He listened to John's concerns as would a brother and encouraged him on.

"I felt so much better after I started working with Kim Dong Ryul. I think I was intimidated to make my debut. It was such a big change for me. I did not know what to do and didn't want to meet anyone."

What started as pressure later started to suffocate him. But after a bit, he started to feel hopeful.

"I even started talking to myself because I had no one else to talk to. I asked myself what I was doing, what it meant to succeed as a musician, why I was going through all this and what not. And after this thought process, I got the determination to persevere with my album."

The days and weeks spent on reflecting only led him to one conclusion: that he should express everything through his music.

"I want to communicate my message through the lyrics and make music that I like. It was not the fame or popularity but the act of making music itself that made me happy. I think I was too focused on success because I'd been concerned that I would not be able to make it big after the end of Super Star K2. But after realizing that the most important thing was to make music that I like, I felt so much better."

His collaboration with Kim Dong Ryul received a lot of attention from the start. To John Park, Kim Dong Ryul is more than just a mentor.

"Working with him is so much fun. He taught me a lot about the importance of conveying the message in the lyrics. And I worked on my Korean pronunciation. But he also gave me a lot of emotional support and really helped me through the difficult times. Just the fact that he was there meant so much to me. It made me realize that I wanted to honestly express myself through music."

With Kim Dong Ryul as the producer, the album resembles Kim's style of music. But there are also songs that are much different from what John Park sang during the auditions.

"Contrary to the audition programs, I want to use my album to show off many different sides of me as an artist. The title track 'Falling' uses a lot of falsetto which I really liked. Well the fact that I wrote the lyrics for the song means a lot to me too."

John Park is an introvert. "I've always been shy. But people don't notice it because I smile a lot and try to take initiative among others. I'd always been on stage with other friends due to my experience in a band but it was my first time performing by myself which was intimidating. I'm used to it now and I'm trying to build more confidence."

John Park added that "I hope this album shows the seriousness in me. It really is my promise and determination to persevere as an honest artist."