Diaspora musician Janice Jo Lee brings 'Ancestor Songs' to Korea

Janice Jo Lee / Courtesy of Becca Redden

In order to perform in the land of her ancestors, Korean Canadian folk musician Janice Jo Lee had to cast aside a part of herself: her citizenship.

"Because at the time of my birth in Canada, my parents both held Korean citizenship, I held a claim to Korean citizenship," she said. "For the year of my birth, Korea does not allow me to hold dual citizenship. So Korea required me to renounce my claim to Korean citizenship, and apply for a work visa solely as a Canadian. It was a bureaucratic nightmare."

This problem derailed earlier tour plans for her cute and radical folk-fusion band, Toronto-based Janice Jo Lee and the QTs.

"We had to cancel our tour last year because of how long the process ended up taking," she said. "My bandmates who are Canadian without Korean heritage, it was easier for them to get a work visa than me."

The bitter ironies are compounded by the circumstances that led Lee to plan a Korea tour. Kim Hee-sun, then the artistic director of Jeonju International Sori Festival, caught a performance by the QTs in Ottawa and extended an invitation.

"She came backstage and told me the way I sing about my grandmother, the deep melancholy in the melodies — my music was more Korean that I understood," Lee said. "That was a huge validating moment for me."

Lee's father's family comes from North Gyeongsang Province's Ulleung Island and her mother's side comes from Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. Lee grew up speaking Korean at home in Toronto, going to Korean church and practicing Korean traditions like "jesa" (ancestral rites) and celebrating the Lunar New Year with her family. She practiced Korean traditional music, or gugak, and dance from a young age.

"For children of diaspora in Canada, a 'gyopo' like me, when we grow up here we are made to feel like we are not Canadian enough because we are not white. There is a sense of being an outsider, and we are often reaching for the homeland," she said.

"It's ironic because it was the racism I experienced my whole life that pushed me back to explore my roots. As a folk musician in Canada, I've showcased at many major Canada-U.S. folk events, but festival directors don't know what to do with me, a Korean woman with a guitar."

After experiencing what she called "my life's greatest spiritual destruction/burnout" about a decade ago, Lee had to rebuild her love of music.

"My personal and artistic journey for the past 10 years has been about reconnecting with my roots," she said. "My whole body of work as an artist explores my Korean heritage, my lineage and what I call my 'Ancestor Songs,' — the music and voice I inherited through my family."

Janice Jo Lee plays the janggu (Korean hourglass-shaped drum). Courtesy of Milton Young

Her music is dramatic and rootsy, combining folk storytelling traditions with blues and elements of traditional Korean music.

In 2018, she told her father that she wanted to learn how to play "janggu," a traditional Korean hourglass-shaped drum. Shortly after, he was at a Korean grocery store when he ran into a janggu teacher. He called her up and handed over the phone, and soon she started taking private lessons.

"Learning janggu changed my musical life. Gugak rhythms felt so different in my body. Compared to Western classical music, Korean rhythms are syncopated, less square, lilting — you have to feel them in your body rather than count them in your head. I tried composing songs to janggu rhythms and it was impossible at first to sing to these rhythms. I had never done it before," she said. "So that process became a literal decolonizing of my body of Western classical, to teach my body how to feel Korean rhythms. And when I figured it out, it felt aligned. You can hear it in my song 'Years of Secret Melody.'"

Another Korean musical tradition that inspired her was pansori.

"Hearing pansori for the first time was earth-shaking," she said. "I was like 'What is this magic?'"

It inspired her to compose the song "Swim Forever," with help from her mother, Young Hee Kim, a poet who translated the lyrics into Korean. "Without having pansori training, that song is me reaching for pansori," she said.

Lee is not shy about the political influences that go into her songs.

"I try to apply principles of human rights and self-determination to how I run my band, and in my lyrics," she said. "I write a lot about the Earth, and how capitalism and industry destroy the Earth and our souls. My new song 'Fire Fire' is about the grief and destruction of fire around the world. I find myself wailing for the Earth, the forests, the oceans."

Janice Jo Lee, third from left, and the QTs / Courtesy of Janice Jo Lee

As a band leader, she considers herself a small business owner. She laments how technology has made it harder to make a living.

"Big Tech has taken away our main product — the recording — and social media has made us give away our other product — performances," she said. "Because we have to put all our music online for free now, the last remaining product is the concert. It's tough to break even but I am committed to fair working conditions for my bandmates, my workers."

The band members include Camilo Consuelo Esperanza on voice and keyboard, Nim Agalawatte on bass, and Vania Lee on drums. Together, they form a very multicultural ensemble, with ties to China, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Catalonia.

The name of the band sounds like "cuties," but offers more meaning: "QTs stands for queer/trans cuties," she explained.

"Asians are often called cute, and I used to resent that, because I felt it was infantilizing. But now I have embraced it more, because I think cute means delightful and full of light, which I am. And I also have no problem fighting with anyone who disrespects me. You can be cute and ferocious."

Janice Jo Lee and the QTs will kick off the tour on Friday at Busan's HQ Bar, with Nereidas opening. Next they will come to Seoul for two shows. The first one on Saturday will be at Uplift with Hurricane Kimchi, Kontrajelly and Rhino Rainbow, with a portion of proceeds going to the Beyond The Rainbow Foundation. On Sunday they'll perform at Seendosi in downtown Seoul with Haepa and Howaho. On Aug. 13, they'll be performing at the Jeonju International Sori Festival in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.

This will only be Lee's third time visiting Korea.

"I hope that people connect with my music," Lee said when asked about her expectations for the tour. "I want my aunt to come to my concert. Most of my family hasn't heard me play music live. I'm excited to take my best friend and bandmate Camilo to Ulleung Island and swim in the ocean. I hope I sell some CDs. I hope we don't get harassed for being queer trans. I hope people are willing to take a chance and come to our concerts. I hope my Korean speaking is OK, or at least comes off cute that I'm trying."

Visit janicejolee.ca for more information.

A poster for Janice Jo Lee and the QTs' Korea Tour / Courtesy of Emily Jung