Posts

Sultan Of The Disco Does Funky Right At Seoulsonic NYC 2015 [Interview]

/in /by

sotd2Seoulsonic returned to New York City last week as part of CMJ’s 2015 music marathon with a new set of acts performing at SOBs (Sounds of Brazil) in Manhattan on Oct. 15. Three Korean indie acts — Sultan of the Disco, HEO, and WYM— performed throughout the night to showcase the music coming out of South Korea’s indie scene nowadays. I had a chance to speak to each of the acts before the show to hear about their careers and experiences at Seoulsonic.

[This is the second of a three-part interview/review series from the event. The interviews with HEO and WYM can be read HERE and HERE.]

Seoulsonic NYC 2015 began around midnight, but when Sultan of the Disco took to the stage wearing dragon-covered robes, shower shoes, and headbands, it was clear that the night was just getting started. The ‘70s inspired funk band hit all the right notes for the audience, getting everyone involved right away. With a full-fledged band onstage plus one member of the band dancing along to the rest with major aplomb, it was hard to not clap along and move to the sounds.

Sultan of the Disco is, when broken down, physical comedy meeting Korean musical innovation. Singing in both English and Korean, the group began its life as a dance troupe named Sultan of the Disco but over the years transitioned into a band with a heavy emphasis on dance. Their first single, “Magic Prince,” was released in 2007, and their latest song “SQ (We Don’t Need No EQ IQ)” came out this past July. Surpassing language barriers, the group’s played overseas in the past, although this was their first show in New York.

Lead vocalist Nahzam Sue sat down with me for a few minutes before the show began to tell me a bit about the band.

Also on KultScene: Topp Dogg’s ‘The Beat’ Album Review

“We want the immediate reaction of the audience to be able to dance and enjoy it,” Nahzam told me before explaining the band’s unusual inclusion of a member who just dances along while the rest of the band performs. “One dancer remains in our team, so there’s that spirit. He just dances… There’s a lot of energy [shared] between us and the audience.”

And indeed, on stage later that night, J.J Hassan stood there on stage, dancing alongside the other members as they played their music. Nahzam also had his own moves to show off while he sang, going back to the group’s origins as a dance team.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“At the beginning, it was me and three other guys. It wasn’t an official band, but a dance team,” said Nahzam. “One by one, during sessions, guys who played instruments joined us and the Sultan of the Disco dance group became the band we are now.”

The band that they are now has had an album, 2013’s “The Golden Age,” nominated as the best electronic/dance album at the Korean Music Awards, but they’re moving onto the future.

Also on KultScene: This is NOT a Competition, Jessi Slayed her Los Angeles Show

“We’re working on a new single now, that will be released by the end of the year,” the lead singer said. “The single will be a lot slower, a slow jam that’s different from what we’ve done. Even though our music is based in humor, we want to make our music maybe a little slower, groovier in the future [with more meaning.]. We want to be a more emotional band.”

Being emotional seemed like the last thing on their minds that night, though, as Sultan of the Disco connected with the audience through music, dance, and trying their best at talking in English. Pumping up the crowd in all the right ways possible, the band made a lasting impression at Seoulsonic NYC 2015 that the had us all wishing we were living in the disco age.

What do you like the most about Sultan of the Disco? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear you thoughts and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.

WYM Created Haunting Electronic Music At Seoulsonic NYC 2015 [Interview]

/in , /by

WYM2
Seoulsonic returned to New York City last week as part of CMJ’s 2015 music marathon, with a new set of acts performing at SOBs (Sounds of Brazil) in Manhattan on Oct. 15. Three Korean indie acts — Sultan of the Disco, HEO, and WYM— performed throughout the night to showcase the music coming out of South Korea’s indie scene nowadays, brought together by Seoulsonic. I had a chance to speak to each of the acts before the show to hear about their careers and experiences at Seoulsonic.

[This is the second of a three-part interview/review series from the event. The first interview with HEO can be read HERE.]

Retro synthpop is at its best with the one man band WYM, the final act of the night at this year’s Seoulsonic NYC. Described as sexy danceable music by WYM, his music incorporates electronica elements and intense drum beats.

WYM, or Byun Joon Hyung, is a one-man band, created by the South Korean artist known as Bjorn, the Scandinavian word for ‘bear.’ “A lot of people outside of Korea can’t really pronounce my Korean name, but my surname is Byun and a friend suggested I use ‘Bjorn’ as my artist name,” WYM explained during our interview. The band name in turn stands for “Would You Mind?” and the Korean phrase, “우주마인드,” (lit. “space mind”) pronounced “wujumaindeu.”

Also on KultScene: TWICE “Like OOH-AHH” Music Video & Song Review

On stage at Seoulsonic, WYM had an unpretentious stage manner and image, a sharp contrast from the heavily coordinated K-pop artists that have popularized South Korean music in the world. WYM stood behind a wide array of synthesizers, with the plastic tube of a talk box in his mouth to aid him in vocal distortion. A backing drummer, truly excellent at his craft, provided the only traditional instrument on stage during the set as WYM created his dark, wailing dance music.

The musician studied in the United States and collaborated early on in his career with a friend to create the project band MDS, which released remix music of Korean song in an electronic style. MDS released an album and a few singles before WYM was created.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“I felt like I had to do something,” WYM said. “That MDS thing, I still wanted to do it. But I wanted to concentrate more on something that I really like and want to express, and show people what I can do, what I believe, what I can sound like. I started as a soloist under the name Bjorn, then I released a single “Empty Desire” in 2011. Then I thought I needed to do more band-ish stuff. But alone. So I created a name, WYM, as my solo project name. So under WYM I made an album and released it last year.”

The LP “After Moon” was released in 2014 and proved WYM’s worth as an artist whose songs you want to listen to while dancing in a club and then ruminating in a drunken state afterwards.

“I want to make sexy music. That sounds, like, really sexy but also danceable stuff. That, and I really want to do some really emotional stuff too. On the album, there’s some of all of that. I have everything, I think. “

What WYM can do is outstanding. On stage, in front of Seoulsonic’s eyes, he went above and beyond, transforming his normal voice into a mechanized instrument and creating beats that were at once fun, introspective, and haunting. The five-song set included synth and distorted elements, but also showed hints of reggae and rock before settling firmly in the world of electronic dance music. The thumping beats of the drums were just as important to the music as WYM’s electronic sounds, both coming together to get the crowd moving.

Also on KultScene: This is NOT a Competition, Jessi Slayed her Los Angeles Show

A year after releasing WYM’s first EP, it’s a big deal for him to be a closing act at CMJ’s Seoulsonic and he hopes to perform at this year’s SXSW, despite the difficulties of being a Korean indie musician.

“As an indie artist in the electronic form of music in Korea, it’s a really hard life, it’s not easy,” he explained. “People don’t really like electronic. I mean, people go to clubs to listen to really mainstream EDM stuff but not a lot of people listen to the kind of washed out stuff in Korea. It’s hard to be recognized, I think, but I was happy [to be nominated for the 2015 Korean Music Awards Electronic Dance Album of the year award]. With that nomination, Seoulsonic asked me to join. I was very honored to be recognized.”

The show ended with the audience cheering for WYM, as the tunes went in and out of danceable melancholy and euphoria, ending the show with “Trying.” Despite the late hour, WYM’s energetic electronica had us all moving to the rhythm before 2015’s CMJ Seoulsonic came to an end.

Do you like WYM? What’s your favorite Korean indie band? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear you thoughts and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.

HEO’s Ambient Rock Sound Takes The Stage At Seoulsonic 2015 [Interview]

/in , /by

HEO1
Seoulsonic returned to New York City last week as part of CMJ’s 2015 music marathon, with a new set of acts performing at SOBs (Sounds of Brazil) in Manhattan on Oct. 15. Three Korean indie acts- Sultan of the Disco, HEO, and WYM- performed throughout the night to showcase the music coming out of South Korea’s indie scene nowadays, brought together by Seoulsonic. I had a chance to speak to each of the acts before the show to hear about their careers and experiences at Seoulsonic.

[This is the first of a three-part interview/review series from the event.]

Hard rock meets ambience in the Korean duo HEO, comprised of male vocalist/guitarist/producer Heo and female vocalist/bassist/keyboardist Bo-yeong. During the live show, the pair and a drummer created a new take on dreamy indie rock, combining rock instruments with synthesizers and vocal distortion. The result was something akin to a waking dream, where music acts as the guide into wonderland.

The music during HEO’s set, the second of three at Seoulsonic’s New York City show, tip-toed the narrow line between the genres, never going too far off into either the rock or electronic genres at any one moment, but instead bringing them together to become a perfect indie rock dreamscape.

Also on KultScene: 6 Bands To Check Out At Zandari Festa 2015

Even before the show, it was clear that the pair were consummate musicians, with Heo and Bo-yeong discussing their career passionately. Despite the fact that HEO had won the electronic dance album of the year award at this year’s Korean Music Awards for their LP, “Structure,” the pair still has a lot that they want to achieve.

The pair has been together since 2014, when Heo decided to bring in another vocalist. He knew Bo-yeong from their college days, when she was an underclassmen. “I already knew that she played keyboard and vocals, so I suggested, ‘let’s play together’ for the second album.”

On stage, despite the fact that the band is named after Heo, it is clear that the two are a pair and neither one overpowers the other. Heo’s intensity on stage as he sings, wails on occasion, and creates the electronic elements contrasts sharply with Bo-yeong’s blank gaze as she sings in her Lana Del Rey-esque voice and plays her bass and keyboard, but the songs would feel empty without one of the pair on stage. If anything, the two came off that night as living embodiments of indie meets rock: Bo-yeong wore the favored fringe and body glitter popular at indie music festivals, while Heo wore the iconic black leather jacket of classic rock.

HEO played at SXSW earlier this year, and the CMJ show was the second part of that journey with Seoulsonic. “This time around, touring with my band, especially coming to New York, which is world famous, it’s a huge honor and privilege,” said Heo. “Especially because so many of our favorite bands have played in New York and a lot of our favorite movies take place in New York so it’s very exciting.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Heo had appeared at Seoulsonic 2012 as a session guitarist for 3rd Line Butterfly, and was already familiar with Seoulsonic and the tour before HEO was brought on to the tour as the duo gained attention in South Korea and abroad.

Winning the Korean Music award for “Structure” was a big deal for the pair. “We couldn’t believe that we had won. It was a bit of a surprise that someone relatively unknown could win such a big prize.”

But despite the prize, they don’t feel like they’re famous yet.

“This whole album [“Structure”] was made without aiming for the mainstream,” explained HEO. “So as to why it even won is still a mystery.”

“If there’s anyone reason for why we won. It may be the fact the style of music is something that others haven’t really seen or heard before. It was very much a hybrid mix between rock and electronic, and while others have kind of experimented with mixing it, nobody else has really done it in Korea to this degree, with such a full force approach.”

Also on KultScene: BIGBANG’s New Jersey Concert Made Fans Say ‘Wow, Fantastic Baby’

With twelve tracks, many of which HEO performed at Seoulsonic, “Structure” is a full length LP of electronic rock songs that sound like the average night’s dreams on a lot of acid.

As for plans after they head back to Korea? “We’re going to go back to the studios and start working on songs, with the goal to release a new single every month. Hopefully by next spring, we’ll have enough to release an EP or a full length album from all of those singles. More importantly, we’re releasing a vinyl album.”

Do you have a favorite song by HEO? What’s your favorite Korean indie band? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear you thoughts and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and Bloglovin’ so you can keep up with all our posts.