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.
Banjo player releases music video set in Gamcheon
Banjo player Swanny G, left, leans on a tree stump. A colorful alley in Busan's Gamcheon Art Village is featured in his latest music video. / Courtesy of Swanny G, Ali Safavi
By Jon Dunbar
By Jon Dunbar
The banjo, although not native to Korea, has been combined to great effect in a recent music video recorded in Busan's hilly Gamcheon Culture Village. The banjo, considered a “hillbilly” instrument in U.S. culture, couldn't be more alien to Korea, but somehow the music and the visuals come together.
Daniel Swanson, a former expat resident of Korea, plays the banjo and belts out lyrics under the name Swanny G. His song “Four Wheels” is set to a video of scenes around Busan and Gamcheon, a brightly decorated mountainside village in Busan's Saha-gu that has become a major tourist attraction.
Swanson, originally from County Durham, England, didn't pick up the banjo until he moved to Korea and a Canadian friend lent him one. It began a Pete Seeger obsession and led him to play the banjo himself.
He spent 2014 to 2016 teaching at an English academy and living in Ulsan, before moving to Seoul to work for the British Council in 2017 and 2018. After spending some time working on a farm in Australia, he now works for the British Council in Jakarta, Indonesia. “Truly the lifestyle of a 21st-century roving banjo player,” he remarked to The Korea Times in an interview.
He paired his song “Four Wheels,” produced by David Rickles, to video footage shot on an iPhone by Ali Safavi, a British resident of Busan better known for his film photography and performing in various bands himself. The video shows Gamcheon's iconic colorful box-shaped shacks, as well as tourists, residents and animals exploring the rugged urban terrain, plus laundry hung to dry, signs of gentrification and a lazily rotating slush machine. It gives a folksy, comfortable vibe that suits the song's devil-may-care attitude.
“Gamcheon lends itself perfectly to any photographer, but Ali was able to capture a subtle pace and space that I believe compliments the song really well,” Swanson said.
Swanson himself recalls visiting Gamcheon on two occasions. “Both were joyful,” he said. “My opinion is it is an uplifting environment. Sometimes Korea lacks a bit of color.”
The song “Four Wheels” he says is first and foremost a love song. With lyrics like “you're from a distant star,” “you don't sing the blues” and “I'm wrong in the head,” he explained “The lyrics praise the object of affection but concede something is distant and not quite aligned.”
He added, “I mean you can draw a parallel to not being able to ever truly fit into Korean society as a foreigner, but it's really just about being happy despite things not being perfect.”
The banjo and related genres of music ― mainly bluegrass and country ― aren't widespread in Korea, but Swanson sees a lot of affinity for his music here.
“The banjo is generally well-received wherever I go,” he said. “There's a novelty and playfulness to them but also a familiarity that people respond to.”