Music to their ears: Foreigners pursue solo acts
Nico performs at Buskers@Bedrock in Haebangchon last week. / Photo by John Redmond
By John Redmond
A popular pastime for many foreigners in Korea is spending weekends exploring the peninsula’s many live music venues. This has also led to a surge in expat indie bands performing at club and pub venues around the country.
However, as Korea’s foreign population is made up of mostly temporary residents, many bands have found themselves in a constant state of hiring and rehearsing new members and, sadly, in a lot of cases, dissolving the band.
This has led to a glut of musicians with a lot of material, and no band.
With advances in audio technology, utilizing smaller and better sound systems, venues not associated with live music embraced the concept of providing sound stages more suited to solo singer/songwriters and small acoustic bands while still giving access to larger cabaret-style performances.
One such venue is Buskers at Bedrock in Haebangchon, in the expat enclave of central Seoul.
Boasting a Wednesday “Open Mic” (open microphone) night, a term coined from the early days of stand-up comedy from coffee shops, artists are invited to provide audiences with 15 minutes of performance.
Originally started by Mimi Roh in May 2016, the venue has seen comedy, songs, spoken word, dancing, poetry and even burlesque performers who are given free rein to engage the audience in their art.
Current host Steven Manning, who took over as host last year, has seen growth in this style of performance.
“People are responding to it very well,” Manning said.
“It has been a place where the musicians can get together to perform and work on new songs on Wednesday nights, and sometimes on Friday or Saturday nights, too.”
Sadly, venues like Dojo and Rocky Mountain Tavern, also promoters of independent musicians in the Itaewon area, have since seen the ways of skyrocketing gentrification. The bigger question is, is another CU convenience store gentrification or an inconvenience? That’s what happened to Dojo.
Venues such as the Upper Deck in Kyungridan and the Hidden Cellar in Haebangchon are fighting back.
Seeing the need to preserve the organic integrity of the neighborhood, the owners of these establishments are offering musicians new options.
The Upper Deck offers a Friday Night Live night. Essentially, it operates on a first-come, first-perform basis. Artists who sign up can have three songs or perform for 15 minutes.
“We have a small P.A. (public address system) that allows a microphone, one instrument and a channel for a backing track,” manager Michael Ganje said.
“It’s perfect for the solo musician or small band. And the neighbors don’t complain.”
Geoffrey Lewis
Musician Geoffrey Lewis, who discovered the live solo scene almost by accident, shared his thoughts.
“When I first arrived in Korea, I really didn't play music,” Lewis said. “I first got a guitar about one year before and knew a few chords but I loved music -- live music, electronic, hip-hop, and almost anything. Through the expat community, I became friends with people who were already involved in music. Many were DJs, some were in bands, and others just singer-songwriters. Mostly everything was located in Hongdae. I would go see my friends DJ at M2 or see some bands at Club FF.”
He noticed the development of the scene in the expat neighborhoods of Seoul.
“Over the last few years, Itaewon, Kyungridan and Haebangchon have really developed,” Lewis said. “In my opinion, many of the people who were here in the early 2000s began to settle in these areas and many opened restaurants, pubs or clubs to cater to the expat scene.
“Literally, you can perform Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday if you want. Whether it's singer-songwriter, stand-up comedy, beatboxing, spoken word, all are welcome.”
Lewis plays mostly original songs.
For more information, visit the Buskers at Bedrock, The Hidden Cellar Acoustic night and the Upper Deck Friday Night Live pages on Facebook.