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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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 Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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ah, yes, living at home. the essence of punk rock. "MOM!!! I need more hair dye!"
basically, i don't really differentiate between korea or japan. this is asia. for the vast majority of people involved, it's a fashion thing primarily, and a music taste secondarily - and it hasn't been much more than that in the west for a couple of decades either. i mean i remember being a kid and making fun of hot topic......it's a lot worse here. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
ah, yes, living at home. the essence of punk rock. "MOM!!! I need more hair dye!"
basically, i don't really differentiate between korea or japan. this is asia. for the vast majority of people involved, it's a fashion thing primarily, and a music taste secondarily - and it hasn't been much more than that in the west for a couple of decades either. i mean i remember being a kid and making fun of hot topic......it's a lot worse here. |
Actually, I'd say that punks in Asia are very interested in the philosophical offerings of punk, while Hot Topic is taking over in the west. I'd say it's primarily about the lifestyle, followed by fashion and music.
You're right that a lot of them are leeching off their parents, even quite a few of the ones who preach the working class.
And Korea and Japan are very, very different when it comes to counterculture. Japan is very postmodern about it ("Look Mom! I'm a gothic skinabilly juggalo lolita!") while in Korea it's social outcasts rebelling from a more repressive culture. |
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oneofthesarahs
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Location: Sacheon City
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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Oh man, expect to see a lot of me when I move to Seoul. That's one of the things that has been hardest about living in the boonies...no live music, and no "scene" to speak of.
Racetraitor, expect a PM from me when I get get into Seoul. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:36 pm Post subject: |
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when did japan become some sort of free-love hippie utopia though? i honestly don't believe that. i think conformity is just as important in that country as here. i think all ths cosplay kids or whatever, they're definitely in the minority.
anyway, it just seems all very superficial to me. it's definitely a great time, but hard as i try, i don't see many of them following any sort of "lifestyle" except for a very isolated few. that doesn't mean i don't think some of them are very cool kids with some interesting ideas - they are. but revolutionary to this repressive culture? overblowing it. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
anyway, it just seems all very superficial to me. it's definitely a great time, but hard as i try, i don't see many of them following any sort of "lifestyle" except for a very isolated few. that doesn't mean i don't think some of them are very cool kids with some interesting ideas - they are. but revolutionary to this repressive culture? overblowing it. |
That's a common reaction that foreigners have. I don't see it at all. It affects every aspect of their lives, for the rest of their lives. Go to a Warped Tour show in America if you want to see weekend punks who will be listening to hip-hop next month.
And I wouldn't call them revolutionary, just rebellious. Well, minus the Chaos Class kids of course. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| yeah. warped tour's a joke. some punk bands played at pentaport festival though...are the spectators there representative of the korean punk scene? |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
| yeah. warped tour's a joke. some punk bands played at pentaport festival though...are the spectators there representative of the korean punk scene? |
No.
Every time I go to one of those festivals, I see kids show up with their designer brand punk clothes who have never been to Skunk or any of the Hongdae clubs before.
And for that matter, I don't recall what punk bands were playing Pentaport this year. Obviously Crying Nut and No Brain but they don't really count, but other than that it was all pop-punk bands. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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i was actually referring to rux and johnny royal. havent heard the latter in ages though, so i guess that might be the pop punk you were referring to (dont remember how they sound). anyway, i didn't go, but both were/are on the 2007 lineup page along with crying nut, who doesn't count (?).
point is, it's basically the same thing as a warped tour. no one would call a lot of the bands on that anything except pop punk or surf pop punk or skate pop punk. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| reactionary wrote: |
i was actually referring to rux and johnny royal. havent heard the latter in ages though, so i guess that might be the pop punk you were referring to (dont remember how they sound). anyway, i didn't go, but both were/are on the 2007 lineup page along with crying nut, who doesn't count (?).
point is, it's basically the same thing as a warped tour. no one would call a lot of the bands on that anything except pop punk or surf pop punk or skate pop punk. |
You're right, I wasn't aware Johnny Royal and Rux played at Pentaport. They probably got paid handsomely for performing, which both the clubs they own (Skunk and Minor League) desperately needed to stay afloat. Rux is a streetpunk band that's kind of halfway between Cock Sparrer and Rancid, and Johnny Royal is a hardcore band with up to three lead singers. Their performances would be much different on their home territory, of course. Particularly, the spectators at festivals are really, really not representative of spectators at Hongdae shows, which is what I thought you were asking.
And Crying Nut is as much of a punk band as Green Day is, by the way. They make a handsome living as musicians.
Last edited by RACETRAITOR on Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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| See, reading through all this stuff is exactly the kind of thing I'd be interesting in documenting through a photo essay. For some reaqson I find the idea of a Korean pizza chef by day/punk scenster by night very interesting. PM coming your way shortly, RT. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| indytrucks wrote: |
| See, reading through all this stuff is exactly the kind of thing I'd be interesting in documenting through a photo essay. For some reaqson I find the idea of a Korean pizza chef by day/punk scenster by night very interesting. PM coming your way shortly, RT. |
Sounds good. I'll be waiting for both you and oneofthesarahs and whoever else.
Now that would be an interesting idea, following these guys to work to photograph them there. |
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Bernard_Carleton
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Location: Out in the open, but you can't see me.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| And Crying Nut is as much of a punk band as Green Day is, by the way. They make a handsome living as musicians. |
Why does becoming "successful" mean you are no longer a punk band? Why is making "a handsome living" seen negatively, as I assume you mean it to be. I find the Skunk scene to often be somewhat elitist in this regard. Crying Nut is as much a punk band as any out there, plus they happen to be very good musicians, talented performers, and have the brains to hire a competent manager. Sure they make money now and so that is all they do, play and practice. I think they are a shining example of what a punk band should aspire too. Sure they are the "grandfathers" of Korean punk, 10 years older than most of the newer bands, but that is the point isn't it? To not have to do Chinese delivery jobs all their lives and to make a career of being a musician?
If the heights of being in a punk band are being penniless, pissed-off, and provocative, then I think they should set higher goals. Sure Joe Strummer said, "Turning rebellion into cash"... and I think there is nothing wrong with that at all. Personally I think Skunk (and the Hongdae scene in general) is somewhat stale. As one of our friends-in-common wrote, "Skunk needs an STD"... something to liven it up. Crying Nut has been dissed for being successful. What does that say about those who are doing the dissing? They have nto sold out any more than any other band does. No one, and I mean no one maintains that angst for more than 10 years, not with several real albums under their belt, and playing regularly to throngs of screaming fans. RT, drop by my club sometime during a Crying Nut show and I challenge you to not be entertained. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm not putting Crying Nut down. They themselves have actively moved away from that label. |
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indytrucks
Joined: 09 Apr 2003
Location: The Shelf
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
| Now that would be an interesting idea, following these guys to work to photograph them there. |
Exactly along similar lines of the project I had in mind. I'm hosting a dinner party this weekend, but will be free after that. I'll be in touch. |
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