Australian siblings return to Korea for punk tour
Australian band Apteria perform in Busan's Club Realize last Saturday. / Courtesy of Jiney Kim
By Jon Dunbar
For expats, farewells become a fact of life as friends move away. Stay here longer, and you're bound to experience reunions, as friends return, either seeking jobs when things don't work out in their home countries, or just to visit. For siblings Amanda and Aaron M, they're returning to Korea on tour with their
.
“What I miss most about Seoul, aside from friends, is living in a big city surrounded by mountains,” Aaron told The Korea Times. “Australia is kinda…sparse. I also miss the public transport system and cheap cigarettes. I definitely don't miss the brutal winters or cycling through Seoul traffic.”
Aaron came to Korea in 2004 to visit his younger sister Amanda who was about to move back to Australia after a year teaching English here.
“I visited Seoul to hang with Mandy and was intrigued by the culture and the city, and ended up living there for the better part of 10 years,” he said.
While in Korea, he played bass for some of Korea's earliest extreme punk bands, including
and
. He ended up marrying Dok, a drummer who played in punk bands including The Patients.
Then in 2012, they moved back to Australia, where they work in community service, supporting children, the elderly and the disabled, a far cry from teaching wealthy Korean children at English academies.
He has continued performing, with the
. In 2016, Terania released a split 7” record with
, itself a spinoff band from his former Korean band Chadburger. In 2017 he joined Apteria with his sister and two other members.
“Being in a band with anyone is kinda like family,” he said. “There's a persistent bond even though you might not always get along or agree on things.”
They provide “pissed off, raw D-beat crust punk… standing in firm opposition to colonisation, border imperialism, racism and gender phobia” in Adelaide's underground music scene.
“Like Seoul, the Adelaide scene is very small, with a few key people in multiple bands and involved in multiple ways,” he said. “We are lucky to have some really great people here that do a lot of good work. They have helped build a small but active community.”
These days, Aaron returns to Korea every couple years, mostly to visit in-laws. On his previous visit in 2016,
. This time, he convinced the rest of Apteria to come along.
“Korea will always be a part of our lives,” he said. “Dok and I definitely plan to spend more time there in the future, but we both suck at long-term plans.”
Apteria has two dates in Seoul this weekend, first
, western Seoul, on Friday, and then
, southwestern Seoul, on Saturday. Both shows have several local opening acts and are low-priced, with discounts for minors.