Indie music festival answers Busan's calling
DDBB performs at Ol' 55 in Busan for Debaser Festival, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
Five music venues across Busan will unite this weekend, hosting over 30 live music acts for the first ever Busan Calling Music Festival on Friday and Saturday.
Although in its first year, this festival is actually a rebrand of last year's Debaser Fest, run by Jamie Finn, editor of Debaser Magazine.
"I was never super keen on the name Debaser Fest. It was a decision made with deadlines approaching. So, to keep things simple, I named it after the mag," Finn admitted.
"We've called it Busan Calling to reflect the aims of the fest, which is to build a bridge between the really underrated Busan music community with other musical places."
Barbie Dolls perform at Ol' 55 for Debaser Festival, June 6, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
Finn has been heavily active for years supporting the local music scene across Korea, publishing his own magazine, running a massive English-language Kakao group chat and organizing music festivals.
As well as Busan Calling and Debaser Fest, he's also been running Block Party, a similar multi-venue event in Seoul, for the last four years. Finn added that planning has already begun for Block Party's return to central Seoul's Haebangchon and Gyeongnidan in September.
Daegu band Sindosi performs at Ol' 55 in Busan for Debaser Festival, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
Having spent years living in both Busan and Seoul, Finn is closely familiar with the music scenes of both cities.
Although Busan has a few factors working against it — Finn cited its sprawling layout and rapidly aging population — it has a passionate music scene that has produced several of Korea's finest indie bands.
"Busan's music scene is much, much smaller, even relative to its population," Finn said. "But there's so much passion and love here for music. The community here is really tight and committed. That's why the music venues here get so much love and respect. They're keeping things exciting and connected even in the face of the challenges Busan faces."
The two-day schedule for Busan Calling is aimed to maximize the excitement, while giving people a day of rest before Monday hits.
Bandits perform at Ovantgarde in Busan for Debaser Festival, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
The festival kicks off on Friday night at HQ Bar overlooking Gwangalli Beach, featuring three bands: Bandits, Seoul Electric Band and Yajasu. However, although they appear at the top of the poster, that doesn't quite make them headliners.
Yajasu performs at Ovantgarde in Busan for Debaser Festival, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
"Honestly, for years I did posters where the 'big names' were up at the top," Finn admitted. "But what the fuck does that mean? I no longer care how popular an artist is or how many followers you have in Twitter. There's no hierarchy here. Honestly, we get just as much buzz from the so-called 'smaller' bands as we do the big ones. We put all our posters alphabetical now."
Kang New performs with Fat Hamster (not pictured) for Debaser Festival in Busan, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
Saturday will bring a couple dozen music performances to four venues: Dengue Fever, Ol' 55, Ovantgarde and Nogada Music Pub, which Finn says are all "a maximum five minutes walk" between each other.
"These four are shockingly easy to get to," he said. "The distance between these venues makes Block Party look like a hike."
Rumkicks performs at Pawn Shop in Edmonton, Canada, April 22, opening for the Casualties as part of their first Canadian tour. The all-girl punk band will be part of Busan Calling on Saturday. Courtesy of @brittnydawn.photography
Busan bands like Barbie Dolls, Daisy Gun, End These Days, Erotic Worms Exhibition and End These Days. Many performers will be coming up from Seoul, including Rumkicks, the Jonnybirds and Yamagata Tweakster. There will also be a few from Daegu — Drinking Boys and Girls Choir and Sindosi. They even have two acts coming from Japan — Beatniq and Tomoya Ogishiba.
Erotic Worms Exhibition perform at Ovantgarde in Busan for Debaser Festival, June 7, 2025. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
When asked to pick out a few highlights from the schedule, Finn was ready with an answer:
"I probably don't need to tell you I'm a Kirara fanboy. I also think Danpyunsun and the Moments Ensemble might be the best live act in the country today. Lang Lee is a bit of a legend and I've been dying to get her at one of our events for years," he said. "Finally DJ Jamie. Handsome bastard him."
Jamie Finn appears in clown facepaint during Block Party in central Seoul's Haebangchon, Sept. 21. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Finn's music festivals are known for including events beyond live music. He's teaming up again this year with Liquid Arts Network, a group known for live events that will present a mix of poetry, storytelling, comedy, song and improv.
"Liquid Arts is thrilled to be collaborating with Jamie Finn again," said Kenneth May, the founder and creative director of Liquid Arts.
Participants in this event include Anu, host of a new open mic event series called "NaNuJa," as well as Jordan Brown's improv group and more.
Regarding what to expect, May said, "We are fully beyond the COVID pandemic era and artists seem to be engaging new themes and content about where the world is and where it might be going."
Liquid Arts Network will take the stage at Dengue Fever from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
A poster for Busan Calling on June 19 and 20 / Courtesy of Debaser Magazine
Tickets cost 60,000 won each. Follow @busancalling on Instagram for more information.