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.
Japanese hardcore band KLONNS comes to Korea for 'revenge tour'
Japanese hardcore band KLONNS / Courtesy of Chihiro Yoshikawa
By Jon Dunbar
By Jon Dunbar
The Japanese hardcore band KLONNS is coming to Korea this weekend seeking revenge.
“It's revenge,” said Korean noise musician and promoter Park Daham, who helped make the tour happen. “Revenge against COVID-19 and the world. Because they had planned to come to Korea originally in 2020, and COVID-19 stopped that.”
“We're happy to be able to fulfill that promise after three years,” KLONNS vocalist Shu Oshima said in a statement in Japanese translated to English for The Korea Times by Park. “I know that there are many great bands and artists in Korea, and many of my friends' bands and artists have toured Korea, and everyone says they had a great experience, so I thought that if I had the opportunity, I would absolutely want to go.”
KLONNS is signed to the Seattle-based label Iron Lung Records, which has also signed the Korean bands
and Slant, the latter of which will be sharing the stage with them on the second show here.
“I'm checking out the bands around them, and I'm looking forward to playing with them,” Shu said.
He mentioned a tour of Korean experimental acts earlier this year, which he and Park helped make happen. In March, they worked together to send the Seoul-based performers Joyul, Yeong Die and Jiyoung Wi to Japan.
“I think the experimental scene in Korea has a strong resonance with the Japanese scene,” Shu said.
Japanese hardcore band KLONNS performs live. Courtesy of Kenta Nakano
will be Shu's first time in Korea.
“I am happy to be able to reunite the Korean friends I met in Japan, and I am also looking forward to meeting new friends,” he said.
For this tour, the band will be playing a late-night show at Channel1969 starting at 11 p.m. on Friday, and a more standard punk show beginning at 6 p.m. the next day at Club SHARP in Mangwon-dong. The first show will feature the acts Keanu, fuckyouiworkfortraitor, Yetsuby and Roze. The second show will feature the hardcore punk bands Martyrs, Obaltan, No Shelter and Slant.
“That was Park's idea, and it is an honor to be able to play not only in the punk/hardcore scene, but also in late-night clubs,” Shu said. “I think it is good to transcend barriers and deepen solidarity as fellow Asians who love music.”
KLONNS, which Shu explained is a “meaningless coined word” like British hardcore band Amebix, was formed in 2016, aiming to establish a new wave of Japanese hardcore. Their sound incorporates U.S. hardcore punk with Japanese hardcore bands like Lipcream and Bastard.
“When we first formed, the sound we were aiming for was something that had never been seen before in the Japanese scene,” Shu said, saying they wished to “freely explore new possibilities of hardcore punk on our own, without being bound by the Japanese hardcore concept or scene.”
Japanese hardcore band KLONNS performs live. Courtesy of Chen Wei-lun
The band has released eight albums so far, each one a harsh burst of aggressive, angry, raw sound.
“I have a sense that the world is getting worse and worse, so I'm naturally angry,” Shu said. “But I think hardcore punk is one way for us to survive without being dominated by negative emotions.”
Visit
for more information about the band, or
to hear their music. Information about the tour is available at
smallshowsinseoul.blogspot.com
.