Band with unspeakable name brings families closer together

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 09:55

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Band with unspeakable name brings families closer together

Posted : 2022-07-26 16:36

Updated : 2022-07-26 17:30

Incestual Lust performs at Phillies on June 4. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

Sirius Hunter Lee and his bandmates were on the bus heading to a show on June 4, when an elderly man with an ROTC hat saw their guitars and started talking to them.

"He was asking us all sorts of questions," Lee, a metalhead with long, straight, black Korean hair, who wears cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, told The Korea Times. "He started showing us photos of his daughter, son, and his wife. He showed us photos from his honeymoon and his trips to Australia and even Hawaii! Mind you his English wasn't too great so we had a hard time understanding him."

The man handed over his phone to Taylor, the female bassist, who asked, "Does he want my number or something?"

Lee grabbed the phone from her and used an online map to show him the venue they were playing: the basement of Phillies, a mainstay of Haebangchon celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

"I know Phillies!" the old man exclaimed. Later, he showed up on time to see their performance, towing along his adult daughter.

"Over 80 years old and rocked out drinking his Budweiser with us," Lee remarked. "If he only knew our band name…"

This story loses its sweetness when you know the band was named "Incestual Lust."

Incestual Lust performs at Phillies on June 4. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Lee was quick to point out that the members of the band aren't related, not even distantly. He also hasn't disclosed it to his family, and he plans to keep it that way.

"The band name 'Incestual Lust' started as an inside joke," he said. "We call each other Mommy, Daddy, Hun, you name it. Later on our drummer told us that his ultimate goal was to come up with a band name that's gonna offend everyone ― not just certain groups of people but everyone. And thus, Incestual Lust was born."

He said most people love the name, but one venue owner reportedly wouldn't let them play with that name. "He said people wouldn't come to the show because the name of our band would be too offensive," Lee said, "but at the same time, that's the point right?"

The band has since changed the spelling of its name slightly to "Incestrul Lust," hoping to have more opportunities for shows if they ease off on the whole incest thing, but this interview was conducted earlier.

Incestual Lust is a three-piece metal band playing a style called southern metal, coming out of southern U.S. states including Texas and also sometimes California. Its influence comes from southern rock, as well as sludge metal and stoner metal.

"We'd play northern metal if it had more incest," Lee said. "Back in 2015 when I was 13, I was listening to AC/DC on YouTube. Then I dropped my phone and I think I accidentally touched something and it started playing 'Mouth for War' by Pantera and it was mind-blowing. Pantera became my all-time favorite."

At the June 4 show, Incestual Lust played at the end of the night, to a small but very drunk, very excited crowd. For a cover of "Tennessee Jack" by Assjack, they invited Bovver, a skinhead friend who moved to Korea from Japan recently, to sing guest vocals, which consisted of chanting "Oi!" When they covered "Walk" by Pantera, Lee asked if anyone wanted to come up on stage and sing it, which was answered by Matt, guitarist of punk band 18Fevers. A third guy came up for another song later, although Lee seems to have blacked out this part of the night.

The band will be playing this Friday at The Studio HBC, along with pogo punk band SBW Riders, reggae band the Reseters, oi! punk band Oily Rag and Sweet Gasoline. Entry costs 6,000 won.

Follow @1ncestuallust on Instagram to learn more about the band. Note that the first letter is replaced by the number one. "They said Incestuallust, Incestual lust and Incestual lust with random numbers were taken already," Lee added, "but I think they just don't allow the word 'Incestual.'"

jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr