Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
Local punk band introduces big plans for 10th anniversary
The four members of melodic punk band ...Whatever That Means / Courtesy of ...Whatever That Means
By Jon Dunbar
By Jon Dunbar
This year marks the 10th anniversary not just of Jeff Moses and Trash Yang Moses' marriage, but also of their punk band,
. And they have big plans, including an anniversary show, a new full-length album and a free music festival on a Korean island that is sure to make Fyre Festival look like a bad memory.
It was almost 10 years ago, on Feb. 28, 2009, that a punk wedding united Jeff Moses and Trash Yang. For their afterparty, Jeff put together a show at Hongdae's now-defunct Club Spot, and formed a one-off band, which ended up on the poster as “Jeff … Whatever That Means.”
“We really didn't have any idea what we were doing when we started,” Jeff told The Korea Times. “I had never been the songwriter for a band. We've all learned a lot about songwriting and arranging over the years. We're all older and have made life decisions, probably bad ones, to make sure that we still have time to play shows regularly and tour a little.”
Ten years on, …Whatever That Means (WTM) is one of Korea's hardest-working punk bands. Jeff and Trash front the band, with Polish national Bialy on guitar and Woojoon on drums. They also run the
international DIY record label World Domination, Inc. (WDI)
and the
recording studio Thunderhorse Studios
, along with Kirk Kwon who used to run Thunderhorse Tavern near Noksapyeong Station.
“Married life is great, and a big part of that is the band,” Jeff said. “We've always got mutual goals that we're working towards. We've always got new adventures to go on together. It's pretty sweet.”
The members of ...Whatever That Means / Courtesy of Ken Robinson
Jeff, now a university professor, came to Korea in 2007 and quickly fell in with the small but passionate local punk scene.
Trash, who refused to disclose her real name, now
. It took her American in-laws years before they would call her by her chosen name.
“I've always hated my Korean name because it has a really pretty, girly meaning, and in Korea, people expect you to be what your name says,” she explained. Her trashy nickname originated from when she joined an online forum in the 1990s under the name “Dances with Trash.” She explained, “It just kind of stuck, and I like it a lot more than my Korean name, which I'm not going to tell you.”
She grew up listening to vintage Korean rock music and joined a high school rock band club. But it wasn't until a friend brought back Green Day's album “Dookie” that she found her calling.
“From then on, I was way more into punk music than anything else,” she said. “I found out about Club Drug in Hongdae. I started going there, became Trash, and the rest is history.”
She played in a few bands, most notably BB Lucky Town, before meeting Jeff. After their wedding, she joined WTM as bassist, and over the years has taken on more responsibilities as vocalist.
“Most of us got into punk rock when we were young because we weren't happy with the normal way things are done,” she said. “Especially here in Korea, life is really hard on kids. Society just beats them down until they're all exactly the same. If kids in this country ever realize how angry they should be, punk rock could be a huge release for all of them.”
Jeff and Trash moved together to the U.S. in 2011 for Jeff to complete his Master's degree, taking the opportunity to bring their band on tour with them before settling down. They recorded the first “Them and Us” compilation, featuring 11 local bands, which they handed out for free during their tour to proselytize for the Korean scene in America.
“Korea has so many amazing bands that people have never heard of,” Jeff said. “I guess you could say that's true everywhere, but it just feels like it's even more so here. Until very recently, it was really rare for Korean bands to tour abroad. Any time you get DIY bands traveling abroad, meeting new people, and building up that touring network, they realize that people all over the world are a lot more similar than they are different. That's one of the coolest things about touring. Pulling into a small town in the U.S. or Southeast Asia and meeting a group of people you have so much in common with.”
WTM celebrates 10 years with a concert
this Saturday at Club SHARP in Mangwon-dong, where they will preview the songs of their upcoming album and record the show for a live album.
“So anyone who has ever wanted to be on a live album, come to the show and yell a lot,” Trash said.
Opening bands include Full Garage, Dead Buttons, 57, A'Z Bus, Talkbats, Drinking Boys and Girls Choir and Green Flame Boys.
“When we started booking our 10-year anniversary show, we wanted to book some bands we've been playing with the whole time, and then we realized there really aren't many left from the early days,” Trash said. “Attacking Forces, 99Anger, The Rance, The Tremors. They're all gone now.”
They have also launched a
crowdfunding campaign for It's a Fest!
, a free festival on Muui Island's Hanagae Beach, the place where Jeff asked Trash to marry him, just a stone's throw from Incheon Airport.
The festival is set for June 15 and 16, featuring 18 bands including two from Malaysia and Singapore, with more announced soon. Donors receive special incentives such as beach bungalow bookings or tents and sleeping bags.
“2019 is gonna be a big year,” Jeff said.
The poster for It's a Fest / Courtesy of World Domination, Inc.