US hardcore band Bootcamp ready for Korea tour

Bootcamp plays at Music Bar Journey in Yokohama, Japan, July 6. Courtesy of Yukiko Ono

By Jon Dunbar

• Published Jul 14, 2025 5:30 AM KST
• Updated Jul 14, 2025 1:50 PM KST

U.S. hardcore punk band Bootcamp is currently on an East Asian tour that is taking them through Japan, with two shows in Korea coming up this weekend.

With three of four members identifying as fem, the band members expressed simultaneous wishes to set an example as fem punks and to move forward on gender issues.

"In 2025 the tokenism of fem people in hardcore does absolutely nothing for the scene as a whole," Molly, Juliette and Dolly, three of the band's four members, said in a statement written for The Korea Times. "We want people to fuck with our music because they dig it and care about what we’re saying."

At the same time, they acknowledged that society has not moved beyond gender-based discrimination, even in underground music.

"A dynamic still exists where we are not perceived as tough or edgy enough, even though a band of all dudes easily gets perceived in that way," they said. "We also, on an unfortunately often basis, all have experienced people making us uncomfortable, even though men being weird to fem performers is perceived as having gone away."

Bootcamp formed in the spring of 2023, but all of its members were already well-known in their local scene, each having a long resume of prior and still-active music projects, as well as other contributions.

Vocalist Juliette is also a visual artist and has done album art, flyers, shirt designs and buttons within her regional scene. Guitarist Dolly has started multiple live music venues as well as Pokey's Records, a small label that has released music from Bootcamp and several other bands. Bassist Molly is also in garage punk band Good Habits and pop punk band Death Kill Overdrive, alongside Bootcamp's drummer, Oliver. Oliver has been in several bands and was recently elected to Iowa City's city council.

"The profound experience of getting to inspire fem people around the world so that they can also make loud fast music and be themselves is what drives us to create," they said. "Shout out to the community of girlies and everyone in between we get to share punk with."

It's hardly a novelty anymore to see a fem-fronted punk or hardcore band. Korea has had several, some of which have earned worldwide recognition even if they're less well known in their home country. One of these is Slant, which recently completed tours of Southeast Asia and the U.S.

"They’re one of the reasons we decided to come," Juliette said.

According to Juliette and Oliver, they initially planned for just a tour of Japan. Many other bands they knew had already done so, and they were easily able to find contacts to set up an eight-date tour.

"Oliver always has crazy and wacky ideas when traveling and planning tours," Juliette said. "When he realized we could fly to Korea for relatively cheap, he thought, 'When’s the next time we’d be able to do that?' and started asking around for more contacts."

"We began to hear that many times bands skip Korea and only tour in Japan, which made us want to play Korea more," Oliver said. "We are from a small city in the United States that bands always skip as well, so we know how bad that feels."

Bootcamp has so far released two mini-albums, "Bootcamp '23" in 2023 and "Controlled Burn" in 2024. Their music is uncompromising, aggressive and political. The title track criticizes their state's factory farming practices, which have been destructive to the environment.

On "Kissinger," they ask former U.S. diplomat and accused war criminal Henry Kissinger, "How the fuck do you still breathe? How the fuck are you still free?" His death in November 2023, half a year before the recording was released, may have caught the band by surprise, but they're still glad he's dead.

"While it is sad that someone as monstrous as Henry Kissinger, who was responsible for so much violence and suffering throughout the world, was able to live a long and healthy life filled with riches and esteem, we are glad this Earth is finally rid of him," Oliver, the song's writer, said. "I hope our song, in some cosmic way, contributed to his demise."

The world is in much worse shape today, thanks to Kissinger and people like him who are in power now, as the members of Bootcamp are well aware.

"The world is more than justified to be extremely angry at the U.S.," Oliver said. "It’s a country that laughably postures as 'global peacekeepers' and 'spreaders of democracy,' when in reality it’s the opposite, whose main export is violence and intimidation. Especially so now with such an embarrassingly destructive, stupid, right-wing administration."

Rather than feel defensive as the U.S. leader tears apart the global order, Oliver said Bootcamp finds solidarity with like-minded people whenever they go abroad.

"What we’ve experienced traveling abroad is that people recognize that our respective states/governments we live under do not represent many who live under them," he said. "Working-class people of the United States, of Japan, of Korea, are siblings in our struggle for a better and more humane world. Because of this, we have been met with extreme kindness and compassion. Workers/punks from different countries know that we have so much more in common with each other than we do with a Donald Trump, or any other cruel and useless ruler."

For their first Seoul show, Bootcamp will be at Infinity Club in Sinchon in western Seoul this Friday, with opening bands including Desonide, Paper Cruise, turnyourbackonme and Things We Say. Entry costs 25,000 won, or 10,000 won for minors, and the doors open at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Bootcamp will join Japanese powerviolence band Fight It Out for a show at Baby Doll. Joining the two touring bands are local bands Baan, No Shelter and Palecistus. Tickets cost 30,000 won, or 40,000 won at the door, and minors pay 10,000 won.

"Punk is such a universal language that I know we will meet amazing people and see incredible bands!!" Juliette said. "We want to play everywhere and we just like to have a good time no matter what."

Follow @bootcamphotties on Instagram for more information.