Canadian art rock band Suuns rise on Seoul
Canadian art rock band Suuns / Image courtesy of Suuns
By Jon Stein
Canadian art rockers
will take to the stage at HanaTour V Hall in the Hongik University area on Sunday, June 17, together with Detroit post-punk outfit
and Korea's own indie darlings,
.
Suuns (pronounced “Soons”) formed in 2007. Their sound is fairly eclectic, blending elements of electronic music and jazz improvisation, but Shemie, the lead singer, maintains that at heart they're a rock band.
“At the end of the day, we're four guys with guitars and drums and synths” he told The Korea Times while relaxing in Paris before embarking on the band's Asian tour.
“The band has a certain energy to it, a rock band attitude.” To date, the band has four studio albums, with the most recent, “Felt,” being released earlier this year. They tour frequently, especially around Europe, where they have a dedicated fan base.
Shemie attributes part of their success as a band to their hometown of Montreal, Quebec. “It's an excellent place to be a band. I can't think of a better place to be a band to be honest,” he said.
“There's a lot of places to play ― a lot of venues, a lot of opportunity for bands and musicians. And it's cheap ― it's a place where you can do your weird art and be able to afford it without having to have seven jobs on the side.”
They'll be sharing the stage with Protomartyr, another four-man band whose noisy, angry brand of post-punk has garnered them critical acclaim. “It's a bit serendipitous,” Shemie said.
“There wasn't like a big master plan to do a tour with them or anything like that. It just kind of happened, because we were both in Asia at the same time.”
Shemie is excited at the prospect of playing in Korea for the first time. “It's definitely a place we've wanted to play for a long time,” he said, “but I don't really know what to expect... I'm excited for the unknown. The main thing that I want is just for people to show up! As long as there are people in the room, I feel confident we can put on a good show.”
Shemie attributes that confidence to how long the band has been performing together for, and how much touring they've been doing.
“You play in a band for a long time, you tour a lot, and you slowly, slowly build a kind of confidence in your ability to perform... I have a lot more confidence as a singer, in my voice, what I'm able to say, what I'm willing to try,” he said.
This sense of confidence isn't restricted to their live performances, either _ it's also apparent in their recent recorded output. “I would never have had the confidence to record a song like Make It Real five years ago”, he said about the process behind recording the new album.
“Not because I wasn't capable, but because I wouldn't have felt confident enough to do it.”
It's not every weekend
a band of Suuns' caliber passes through Seoul
. It was made possible thanks to event organizers
and
Jon Stein posts about the Seoul music scene at
Seoultronic