Zandari Festa turns Hongdae to city of music

The New Investors bring Denmark’s sunshine and beaches to Zandari Festa, playing Freebird Saturday 6 p.m. / Photo by Camilla Hylleberg

By Jon Dunbar

This three-day weekend, over 100 of Korea’s greatest least-known musical acts will take part in the fifth annual Zandari Festa, the country’s greatest showcase of its indie music scene.

First held in 2012, the music festival is named after a street running through the Hongdae area which means small bridge in Korean. “I hope people will experience the broader world through this small bridge,” said festival founder Kong Yoon-young, better known as Dalse.

Over 160 bands playing rock, folk, surf, psychedelic and many more genres will perform 163 individual concerts at 12 venues throughout the Hongik University area in western Seoul, known as Hongdae, ground zero for Korean indie music culture. More than 100 Korean bands will joined by musicians from 18 countries, coming from as far away as the U.S., South Africa and Denmark, plus music industry delegates from around the world.

At Zandari Festa 2015, Japanese punk band Jungles!!! are joined by Korean punk band Crying Nut’s keyboardist Kim Insoo at an unscheduled late-night performance at Strange Fruit. Crying Nut perform Monday 9 p.m. at Yes24 Muv Hall. / Photo by Jon Dunbar

One of the many local festival highlights is 57, a rock duo founded in Jeonju. They play Saturday 7 p.m. at Club Steel Face.

“Zandari is different because when a band has finished their showcase, their festival experience isn’t over yet as there’re lots of other showcases to watch, people to meet and parties to attend,” said 57’s drummer Sur. “During Zandari, the vibe in Hongdae is different. It feels almost like a city of music.”

Last year, a delegate invited 57 to play Liverpool Sound City Music Festival 2016, along with DTSQ, Patients, Laybricks and Dead Buttons, the latter which also signed with U.K. indie record label Bella Union for an album deal with worldwide distribution.

At Zandari Festa 2015, Japanese punk band TsuShiMaMiRe haul their gear out after performing at Salon Badabie. / Photo by JonDunbar

Since the beginning, invited delegates of the U.K. festival as well as Russia’s V-ROX, the U.S.’s SXSW and numerous other tour bookers and record labels have been inviting bands to their own festivals, on tours and into recording studios.

“We’re very thankful for that experience,” said Sur. “We’re hoping we can have more experiences and do business in other parts of the world.”

The local bands also get to connect with their international musical peers. Of the 56 international bands, Japan is sending the most at 13, followed by the U.K. and Poland at nine each and France with seven. This year will introduce two special branded showcases, a British night Saturday 10:30 p.m. at Freebird and French night Sunday 10 p.m. at Yes24 Muv Hall.

Peruvian-French musician Djang San brings his electrified zhongruan to Zandari Festa. / Photo courtesy of Djang San

“The bands coming in from abroad are all very focused on the business side of things. Right from the get-go they want to know who is going to be there, what the options are for meeting them, etc.,” said Patrick Connor, the overseas coordinator for Zandari and curator of the DoIndie showcase at Steel Face 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Monday.

One band invited to Zandari is the New Investors, a Danish band who plays an unexpectedly colorful combination of psychedelic, surf and pop considering their cold Nordic home base.

“We have never done shows outside of Europe so we thought it would be a great experience and maybe also a good Investment,” said guitarist/vocalist Glenn Muller. “We heard there's a very lively music scene in Korea and that a lot of people from the international music industry are attending, so it made perfect sense to go.”

The New Investors play Saturday 6 p.m. at Freebird.

“At this moment our knowledge about Korean music is very limited,” said Muller. “Of course we know the Gangnam Style song which is funny and the guy who made the song looks awesome, but I don't believe that it represents all the kinds of music Korea has to offer. We hope that's true.”

Traveling a shorter distance is Djang San, a Peruvian-French expat living in Beijing where he innovates with electrified traditional Chinese instruments such as zhongruan and pipa.

“The goal here is to expand the possibilities of music,” he said, “to use the past into the present and the future, to give a new meaning for instruments of the past that have been neglected, into modern music.”

Last year he met Jambinai, a post-rock band that similarly incorporates traditional Korean instruments including haegeum, piri and geomungo.

Djang San brought his trio to Zandari 2015 but this year he returns solo, a strategy he has tested at festivals around China. Djang San is also touring Korea more extensively this time. Having already played two Seoul gigs, tonight he’s in Vinyl Underground Busan and Saturday he hits Retro City Daegu, before returning to Seoul for Zandari Sunday 6 p.m. at Freebird and playing one final show Tuesday at Strange Fruit.

“The festival last year was an amazing opportunity to meet people from all around the world and it pushed me to develop outside of China too,” said Djang San.

Visit zfesta.com for a full list of bands and a schedule.

“I want Zandari Festa to be a festival for those who enjoy playing music, listening to music and promoting music,” said Dalse. “Appreciators should interact with a creator’s expression, to feel the creator’s emotion. Culture needs its own power and value which cannot be violated by capital. A cultural product should not be a capitalistic commodity.”

Advance tickets for Zandari Festa cost 30,000 won for a day, 50,000 won for two days or 100,000 won for a special pass. They are also available at any participating venue for 33,000 won, 55,000 won and 110,000 won.