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Saturday, May 30
Galaxy Express Prove They Are Not "Walking On Empty"
Fans of the Korean rock scene will know of Galaxy Express for their high octane, runaway bullet train escapades. A scintillating tour de force trio, Park Jonghyun, Lee Juhyun and Kim Heekwon wildly whiplash audiences with a centrifugal forging of raw, sweaty, psychedelic rock’n’roll. Their new album “Walking on Empty” was released on 6 August and pays homage to their past as well as paving a new future of strength with their growth into new adventures.
The band had toured the UK back in 2013 – just as the hype for the Korean indie scene began to make a stir, and with a mix of explosive performances accompanied by their garage rock, punk, and psychedelic sounds, the trio have wowed audiences all over the world by holding gigs in Canada, the US, Taiwan, France, China, Japan and Russia. MTV Iggy wrote about the band, describing how, “With their amped energy and stage exhibitionism, they’re the best live act to come out of Korea since… well, maybe ever.” The group’s unique sound, which is pretty far from mainstream, means they stand out from the crowd, and for all the right reasons.
On 1 April 2010, the members announced that they planned to write, record and release an album within just 30 days: this was rightly titled “Wild Days”. True to their word, a month later the album was released and went on to win the band “Musician of the Year” at the 2011 Korean Music Awards. The trio went on to perform at a multitude of stages at some big events, such as South by Southwest (SXSW), Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival and they were even the opening act for Linkin Park when they toured South Korea.
Skipping forward to 2014, their new album “Walking On Empty” was recorded over a year, with the music being recorded in May 2014 and the vocals recorded in April 2015. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Hall, known for his work with Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode and Ray Davies, it was mastered at the famed Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell, who has worked with legends such as Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Underworld.
Of the new album, guitarist and vocalist Park Jonghyun says, “We took a lot more time making this album than we have with our past albums. I think having no set deadline to meet gave us more time to think about what exactly we wanted to do and allowed us to create an album that is a lot calmer and more detail-oriented than our previous offerings. With ‘Walking on Empty’ all ten of the tracks have their own unique feel and character. We’re really happy with how the album turned out and we think it’s really good… but then we think all of our albums are really good.”
When asked about why he chose to work with Adrian Hall and Miles Showell, Jonghyun happily replies, “We wanted to try something different that we’d never done before. We’ve made some rough recordings in the past but this time we thought it would be cool to try and make a more polished, professional-sounding album. And we have wanted the chance to work with renowned engineers for several years now, so it seemed like a good time to finally do it with this album. When we started Galaxy Express, we never imagined that we’d one day have an album that was associated with Abbey Road in any way!”
If you are in Korea between 2-4 October, the Zandari Festa will be taking place and is a chance to see Galaxy Express as well as a whole plethora of acts from around the world performing along the streets and inside the famous indie clubs of Hongdae.
Galaxy Express are also interested in returning to Europe. Says Jonghyun, “We are hoping to play abroad again soon. It’s always a blast getting to travel and share our music with different people around the world. Hopefully we can visit some more new places and get back to some of the great countries we’ve played already again in the future.” So keep your eyes peeled.
Be sure to keep checking back to MCM Buzz for more coverage of the band, as well as other great music from all areas of the Korean music industry. If you have the chance, be sure to check out Galaxy Express on iTunes and show your support for the band’s latest album “Walking on Empty”. In the meantime prepare to tap your feet and nod along to their latest music video release “Time Keeps Rollin’ By”.
Galaxy Express Prove They Are Not “Walking On Empty”
Fans of the Korean rock scene will know of Galaxy Express for their high octane, runaway bullet train escapades. A scintillating tour de force trio, Park Jonghyun, Lee Juhyun and Kim Heekwon wildly whiplash audiences with a centrifugal forging of raw, sweaty, psychedelic rock’n’roll. Their new album “Walking on Empty” was released on 6 August and pays homage to their past as well as paving a new future of strength with their growth into new adventures.
The band had toured the UK back in 2013 – just as the hype for the Korean indie scene began to make a stir, and with a mix of explosive performances accompanied by their garage rock, punk, and psychedelic sounds, the trio have wowed audiences all over the world by holding gigs in Canada, the US, Taiwan, France, China, Japan and Russia. MTV Iggy wrote about the band, describing how, “With their amped energy and stage exhibitionism, they’re the best live act to come out of Korea since… well, maybe ever.” The group’s unique sound, which is pretty far from mainstream, means they stand out from the crowd, and for all the right reasons.
On 1 April 2010, the members announced that they planned to write, record and release an album within just 30 days: this was rightly titled “Wild Days”. True to their word, a month later the album was released and went on to win the band “Musician of the Year” at the 2011 Korean Music Awards. The trio went on to perform at a multitude of stages at some big events, such as South by Southwest (SXSW), Japan’s Summer Sonic Festival and they were even the opening act for Linkin Park when they toured South Korea.
Skipping forward to 2014, their new album “Walking On Empty” was recorded over a year, with the music being recorded in May 2014 and the vocals recorded in April 2015. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Hall, known for his work with Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode and Ray Davies, it was mastered at the famed Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell, who has worked with legends such as Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and Underworld.
Of the new album, guitarist and vocalist Park Jonghyun says, “We took a lot more time making this album than we have with our past albums. I think having no set deadline to meet gave us more time to think about what exactly we wanted to do and allowed us to create an album that is a lot calmer and more detail-oriented than our previous offerings. With ‘Walking on Empty’ all ten of the tracks have their own unique feel and character. We’re really happy with how the album turned out and we think it’s really good… but then we think all of our albums are really good.”
When asked about why he chose to work with Adrian Hall and Miles Showell, Jonghyun happily replies, “We wanted to try something different that we’d never done before. We’ve made some rough recordings in the past but this time we thought it would be cool to try and make a more polished, professional-sounding album. And we have wanted the chance to work with renowned engineers for several years now, so it seemed like a good time to finally do it with this album. When we started Galaxy Express, we never imagined that we’d one day have an album that was associated with Abbey Road in any way!”
If you are in Korea between 2-4 October, the Zandari Festa will be taking place and is a chance to see Galaxy Express as well as a whole plethora of acts from around the world performing along the streets and inside the famous indie clubs of Hongdae.
Galaxy Express are also interested in returning to Europe. Says Jonghyun, “We are hoping to play abroad again soon. It’s always a blast getting to travel and share our music with different people around the world. Hopefully we can visit some more new places and get back to some of the great countries we’ve played already again in the future.” So keep your eyes peeled.
Be sure to keep checking back to MCM Buzz for more coverage of the band, as well as other great music from all areas of the Korean music industry. If you have the chance, be sure to check out Galaxy Express on iTunes and show your support for the band’s latest album “Walking on Empty”. In the meantime prepare to tap your feet and nod along to their latest music video release “Time Keeps Rollin’ By”.
Exclusive Interview With Korean Indie Hybrid Punk Rockers PATiENTS
The Korean music industry is forever growing in size and expanding into new genres. While K-pop and hip-hop still dominate the Korean music scene, K-indie is gaining international fame, with many Korean punk and rock stars now becoming as well-loved as mainstream performers. I was lucky enough to get the chance to interview PATiENTS when they performed in the UK during a mini tour in May, and got to know the band a little bit better whilst exploring a whole new world within the K-indie scene.
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Hi guys, could you please introduce yourselves?
Hi there, I’m Sumin Jo and I play bass and handle lead vocals in PATiENTS. Hyuckjang Kwon is the keyboardist and Jaehyuk Lee is our drummer. PATiENTS is based in Seoul, Korea and we play a style of music we like to call “hybrid punk”. In April, we released our second full-length album, called “18.” And last month we did a UK tour, playing concerts in London and at Liverpool Sound City.
This wasn’t your first time playing in the UK: is there anything that was particularly memorable for you from your previous visit?
Our 2014 UK tour went great. We got to play for some great crowds in London, Liverpool Sound City and at WTFest in Southampton, we met some really cool bands, and made some new friends. Things went even better during our shows this past May. It was great to catch up with some of the friends we met in 2014, and some people who saw us play in 2014 came back again to see us this year. We’re so grateful for their support. One really cool thing about our second UK tour was that we actually sold out of the CDs we brought. We filled a suitcase full of copies of 18, but we sold them all during our first two concerts. I thought I had packed more than enough albums, but we didn’t have any for our final gig in the UK! Thanks to everyone who bought our new album. You guys made my luggage much easier to carry on the way back to Korea! Next time we come, we’ll definitely need to pack a lot more albums.
Korean Indie music is becoming a hot topic, not just in the UK, but throughout the whole of Europe. Do you feel the market growth as performers in the middle of the bustle? What impact do you feel PATiENTS has on the way Korean indie music is portrayed in Europe?
We’ve definitely noticed an increase in the international attention Korean indie music is receiving, and we’re very happy about this! The market is still very small, but it’s cool that more and more bands are getting to share their music with a worldwide audience. As for PATiENTS, we’re trying hard to make a good impression on audiences with our music and our performances. Hopefully, if someone likes us, they’ll check out more Korean indie music too and discover the wealth of talent in our country’s indie scene. We’re learning lots every time we tour outside of Korea. We’re trying to share this information with other bands so that the whole indie scene can grow together.
My personal favourite song of yours is “Hybrid”. Which song is your ultimate favourite to perform?
I really love playing all of our songs, but if I have to choose favourites, I’ll say “Sipalsegi” and “Let’s Drive, Let’s Go!” I think the hardest song to perform is “High Level Darling”. When we wrote the song, we wanted to make it great so we made it kind of difficult. But thanks to lots of practice we’ve gotten used to it and we think we’re performing it well.
Unfortunately, other kinds of music besides K-pop, K-ballads and K-hiphop are not promoted a lot (if at all) within the Western Korean music scene. So when people hear your Korean punk music, what are the initial reactions? What do you feel could be done to change people’s preconceptions about Korean music?
We toured in Korea, the UK, and Taiwan and the reactions to our music have all been very positive. I’m not sure what can be done to change people’s preconceptions of Korean music. I guess Korean bands doing more tours and getting more media attention would help. It would be great to have more people know about PATiENTS’ music, but that’s not our goal. We just want to share good music and a positive attitude with anyone around the world who wants to listen. Even if the number of people is small, that’s okay. The most important thing is being able to do what we want, having fun, and living happily.
You’re pretty unique to the scene. Who are you inspired by when creating your music? And if you could collaborate with anyone at all, who would you chose?
Yes, our keyboard, bass, and drums set-up is definitely different in Korea’s indie scene. And each of us has different taste in music, which adds even more variety and colour to PATiENTS’ sound. If we could collaborate with anyone, I’d like for it to be Beethoven. It’s obviously never going to happen, but that’s still my dream pairing for us.
What can your fans in the UK expect to see from you in the future? Do you have any special plans for the rest of the year?
They can expect us to keep getting better and better. Our ultimate goal is just to be a band that has lots of awesome songs and puts on awesome live shows. Our plan is to keep working hard to make this happen. But this is actually a really good question! We’ve never thought much about fans’ expectations, but maybe we should. We’ve always just wanted to bring lots of fun to stages to share with them. If fans want PATiENTS to try to do other things in addition to that, please let us know! We love talking to people and are open to suggestions.
If you could say anything to your fans what would it be? Do you have a message for the readers of MCM Buzz?
Thanks so much for reading about PATiENTS. We’ve had a blast playing in the UK in 2014 and 2015 and want to try to come back again next year. We hope to see you in Korea, the UK, or somewhere else in the world soon!
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If you get the chance to check these guys out live, I definitely recommend it! They know how to make a crowd move, and they rock it out pretty hard! As you can see from the interview, this band is a little different in terms of why they do what they do: it’s not always about the fame and the money, or the lavish lifestyle and the travelling. For PATiENTS, it’s all about conveying a sound, a song, or a movement to people around the world and introducing them to unexplored areas of the music industry. Yes, we all love our K-pop, but when you find bands like PATiENTS who are a whole new ball game both musically and personality-wise, it leads you to wonder what else might be out there.
PATiENTS’ latest album 18 is available to download from iTunes for $9.99 and is also on Bandcamp, priced at $5. Be sure to show your support to the band by following their Facebook page, or check out Sumin Jo on Twitter. A big thank you to Shawn Despres for his help.
Check out the video below of the band playing “Sipalsegi” and “Spanking Jenny” live at the Liverpool Sound City event:
Creators of Time Of Eve Launch Kickstarter for International Blu-ray
A Kickstarter campaign has been launched to release an international Blu-ray edition of Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s Time Of Eve film. Pied Piper, DIRECTIONS, and Studio Rikka are the companies that helped to create Time Of Eve and they are behind this campaign. The film, made in 2010, added new scenes, a new ending, and a theme song to the original six-episode anime series.
The Kickstarter is aiming to raise $18,000 (approximately £12,000) by 22 June. Planned features for the Blu-ray editions sold though the Kickstarter campaign include Time of Eve: The Movie with English subtitles, bonus video features such as interviews with the main cast and Yoshiura, a 40-page art book and eight postcards.
The 10 people who pledge $150 or more will receive an original drawing of Nagi by character designer Ryuusuke Chayama, the five who pledge $200 can pick their favourite character for Chayama to draw, and the first one who pledged $500 or more will receive the last original set of scripts from the film signed by director Yoshiura.
The film is available digitally on iTunes – the creators thought this would be enough, but fans kept requesting a Blu-ray edition.
Wreck-It Ralph game smashes its way into iTunes store
Wreck-It Ralph might not hit UK cinemas until 15 February 2013 (it’s out tomorrow in the US), but fans with Apple devices can get a taste of the 8-bit character’s world today.
Disney Mobile Games has launched Wreck-It Ralph for iOS devices on the App Store so players get to experience the big-screen adventures in his arcade universe for themselves.
Following the film’s plot, players venture forth from Game Central Station through the 8-bit graphic world of Fix-It Felix, Jr, the cy-bug blasting action of Hero’s Duty and the sugarcoated heights of Sweet Climber.
The achievements system in Wreck-It Ralph offers players worldwide the ability to share their scores on Facebook. Players can also watch their Wreck-It Ralph universe grow with all-new mini-game updates such as the upcoming classic car racing game Turbo Time.
Wreck-It Ralph is now available for £0.69 now on the App Store.
The Wreck-It Ralph movie is released in US cinemas on 2 November 2012 and in UK cinemas on 15 February 2013.