Seoul indie-rock band Pop Ents ready to entertain

From left, singer Chorion, keyboardist Joon, drummer Konan, album producer Jaeseon, guitarist Dave and bassist John / Courtesy of Pop Ents

By Jon Dunbar

The Seoul-based alt-rock band Pop Ents took aim at self-help grifters, calling out "inauthentic self-help gurus, political grifters and podcast prophets in popular culture" throughout their first full-length album, "Best Seller," released last September. They even released a small zine titled "How to Win at Life & Unfuck Yourself."

"Dave and I hate a lot of the same people," John, bassist and vocalist, said of himself and guitarist-vocalist Dave. "This was our way of slandering all of those jabronis while promoting our album at the same time. At its core it is anti-self-help, but if it's helped a couple of people in any way then that is fine by us."

"Self-help grifters really just say one thing to their victims: 'yes, you are the problem!' And their solution to you is a laundry list of the most banal things you could do to basically become less of a weirdo," Dave added. "We're saying being a weirdo is the way, and you should seek out your fellow weirdoes. Also, a lot of problems are external. Normal sucks. A lot of the way the world is doesn't make sense. But there's a lot of beauty, too, if you can look at that confused kid and realize that angst is just a pure heart reconciling with a deeply imperfect reality."

Pop Ents came together in 2019 after three English teachers working together decided to start making music.

"We all worked together at a big hagwon ― I won't name it ― and eventually we got into a room and played," said Dave, 33, who came to Korea in 2013. "It was fate. Terrible, whimsical fate."

"When I moved to Korea I didn't even bring my bass," said John, 30, who moved here in 2017. "It wasn't long until I got my hands on another."

The original core three members of Pop Ents / Courtesy of Pop Ents

After putting together a few songs, the band needed a name, and they didn't settle on Pop Ents right off the bat. "We used some company time and threw ideas at the wall for a few hours," John recalled. "One of our coworkers jokingly said, 'Just call yourself Popular Entertainers.' We thought it would be a funny and vague thing to put on flyers. After a few shows it's too late to turn back. You've already branded yourself. You may as well lean into it."

"It was meant to be ironic, like Big Star or The Replacements, but it seemed like a joke we had to explain over and over again," Dave said. He credited the shortened version of the name to Kimin, a member of the band GoryMurgy, who tried chanting the band's name during a show. But what came out was an "ugly mouthful," so he shortened it to Pop Ents.

"Shortening it was a smart move," John said. "It was punchy and gave us a little mystique … I guess until this interview."

They had a Korean drummer for a time. After he left they moved founding member Adam to drums and played as a trio for a while, completing their first EP in this configuration. But then Adam moved back to Canada. It took a while to replace him, but they ended up not having to look far for their third drummer.

"When Adam left back to Canada, I literally just walked into the big main office full of native teachers and asked, 'For the love of God, can anybody play drums!?'" Dave said.

That's how they found Konan Sur, their current drummer.

They rounded out the lineup with Joon, a member of the band Sark, playing the keyboard. He also proved to be a natural on guitar, but then he left the country.

A group photo of Pop Ents, including Desert Flower's Jaeseon, lower left, who produced Pop Ents' EP and album, and singer Chorion, middle. / Courtesy of Pop Ents

The hole left by Joon has been filled by Jinu Konda, a Korean guitarist and activist who has been a member of several other bands.

John recalled how their friendship with Konda began when they were playing an open mic in Itaewon.

"We played like three songs before the cops dropped in after a noise complaint from the cafe (on another floor)," he said. "Jinu was our only supporter in that entire room and we became fast friends. He's stuck with us from the beginning and still comes through when we need him."

"Pop Ents has gotten so many ― so many ― noise complaints," Dave added. "Our first show was shut down by the police a few songs in. John and I have made an enemy of every neighbor we've ever had. We even got in trouble at a practice room once for being too loud, which was really frustrating."

They sing about these experiences in the song "Noise Complaint," a punkish party anthem that also draws from experiences back in North America being at house parties getting shut down by the cops.

"The idea of a high school house party is a fantasy for Korean teens," John said. "For Dave and I it was our youth. Maybe it's an ode for us not to lose ours."

Many of their songs draw on experiences before coming to Korea, but they also have a few that are about life in Korea. In "One for the Ditch," the lyrics are mostly in Korean as they tell the narrative of a Korean middle-aged man coming home from a night on the town to an angry wife. "We found ourselves playing for a pretty old crowd down in Suwon once, and I kid you not, ajeosshis and ajummas were dancing together toasting each other through the choruses," Dave said.

They're also sometimes joined by guest vocalist Chorion, who appears in three songs on their album.

"Maybe it's weird to outsiders, but we have an open door policy, and it has zero to do with ethnicity or background," Dave said. "While John and I have a Lennon/McCartney thing going between us, we also want to collaborate with amazing musicians, so that's what we're doing."

Pop Ents members John, left, and Dave, Oct. 26, 2020 / Courtesy of Pop Ents

"Some folks here act like their member is cheating on them if they play around with other groups," John added. "Every musician we work with has other projects. With all the talent in Seoul, it would be a shame not to cross-pollinate and make each other's songs better."

They've had the benefit of playing shows in the Hongdae area around western Seoul's Hongik University, as well as venues around Itaewon and Haebangchon (HBC), the foreign center of the city, maybe thanks to the band's multicultural lineup, or possibly due to the blurring of lines.

"We found the Hongdae bands, which tend to be more Korean, to actually be more accepting of us. Probably because we actually listen to the same music and can't wait to argue about albums we like after we play. There's a supportive foundation there," Dave said. "We root for Desert Flower and GoryMurgy to succeed, even if they leave us in the dust someday. We're at these shows because we like music, right? But those bands play with us in Itaewon and Hongdae all the same these days."

He added, "The honest truth about the difference is that HBC tends to have more foreigners (of course). And to be honest, some of those foreigners are weirdly territorial and dramatic. They don't want to share their neighborhood ― this is actually a disastrous attitude for a music scene to have. I could go on about how petty and backbiting some of these guys are when something happens and they're not the center of attention."

But he was quick to make an exception to this ― Jamie Finn, chief editor of Platform Magazine, who is putting on their next show this Saturday as part of his "HOLY MOLY!" monthly concert series.

"This specific show … came up while he was doing an interview with us for Platform, and we sort of jokingly asserted that we should be on the show," Dave said. "He gave us a grin and said 'OK,' so we thought he was joking to sort of diffuse the situation."

"It never hurts to ask," John added.

They'll be sharing the stage with GoryMurgy and Busan band Say Sue Me. "I paid 50,000 won to see them last summer and now we're playing with them," John said. "How rad is that?!"?

They'll also be playing with their keyboardist/guitarist Joon, who's back in Korea for a visit.

The show starts at 7 p.m. at The Studio HBC. Entry costs 40,000 won.

"Anyone that moves halfway across the world in their early 20s is bound to do some growing," John said. "You have to start from scratch making friends and building networks. That can be extremely isolating. I know it can be tough for the expat artists living here that don't have any kind of release. Pop Ents has given us an outlet to work through the confusion and struggles of life abroad in a meaningful way. The longer I've been here I've noticed that most artists struggle with the same sort of things, Korean or American. People aren't all that different."

Listen to the band at popents.bandcamp.com or follow Instagram @holymoly.seoul for more about the show