Cheonanite encourages music lovers to 'Look Beyond'

The interior of Victor Ha's newly opened Look Beyond Music & Skate shop in Cheonan / Courtesy of Look Beyond

By Jon Dunbar

Cheonan, a relatively minor stop on the cross-country rail networks, seems an unlikely place to find indie music, but 23-year local resident Victor Ha has made it his mission to put this South Chungcheong Province city on the map.

“Indie music is what I enjoy the most,” he told The Korea Times. “I just wanted to put on shows with my favorite bands wishing people could recognize a live music scene exists in Cheonan.”

Ha has done it all: singing for the now-defunct

, making merch for the scene through his micro-enterprise

, and self-publishing fanzines “Break the Shell” (started in 2004) and “In Walnut We Trust” (2011), both clearly referencing Cheonan's staple food, the walnut. Oh, he's also into competitive downhill skateboarding and kendama, a Japanese cup-and-ball skill toy. Somehow on the side of all this he's found the time to raise a family of three daughters.

Victor Ha performs with his band Things We Say at Skunk Hell in Seoul on June 30, 2007. / Image by Jon Dunbar

“I don't think everyone should listen to hardcore, but I think K-pop fans need to know that K-pop idol groups don't represent the whole of Korean music. All kinds of music genres exist here and more of them are independent and do a lot of stuff on their own. To me, hardcore music taught me the true DIY culture. I could just start a band, write songs and play shows without thinking of any big goal.”

These days, Ha, now in his early 40s, is all about

, his own brand which encompasses a newly opened skateboard shop next to Cheonan Station and a growing project to promote indie music in Cheonan. He runs the shop in the off hours after he's finished work at his academy.

“Everyone is welcome to visit me at the shop,” Ha said. “Both music and skateboarding are my passions in life and I've been always wanting to own a skateboard shop where bands play every weekend.”

The shop is too small to hold concerts, but with local government support he's been able to hold concerts in various other spaces.

He receives support from the Chungnam Culture Technology Industry Agency (CTIA) through its division Chungnam Music Factory. He also has a concert coming later this month supported by Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). And last month he held the three-day Look Beyond Urban Rock Festival with support from the urban regeneration division of Cheonan City Hall.

“I try to apply all the programs they have, if I think it suits me,” he said. “The local government is trying to restore the area around Cheonan Station. It was the busiest back in the day but it ran down. Many stores shut, and there are many empty buildings. The city thinks the shows I do can bring young people to the area. So it looks like the local government and I have something for each other.”

Ha says he's “definitely” made progress since starting Look Beyond last year, putting on six shows and the festival, as well as opening the skateboarding shop and putting on two more upcoming shows this month.

Seoul band Se So Neon performs at Cheonan's CN Music Factory Live Hall for the first official Look Beyond concert on Nov. 4, 2017. / Courtesy of Look Beyond

This Friday at CN Music Factory Live Hall, he offers the free

with bands

and

, as well as

and a

On Nov. 17, with KOCCA support he presents the

at In the Gallery, with bands

, Frame and

“It is going to be greater every year,” he said.

hardcore punk band Things We Say

Button King

Look Beyond