Bus King looks to foster touring in Korea


Bus King, a new booking agency run by event organizer Super Color Super, is looking to make touring a regular thing for bands in Korea.

Super Color Super has taken dozens of bands to tour Korea from overseas over the last few years, but head organizer Sean Maylone said that this project would ensure they could put on regular live music in these places, rather than occasional international acts.

“Club FF (in Hongdae) is a good example of somewhere people go to, not knowing what they’re playing, because they’ve built up a reputation of being the spot that has this strata of shows,” he said.

“We want to make a few places in a few cities the spot to be at and get bands on the road.

“Another little hope is that Korean bands learn to love touring and build their skill set for that.”

The agency has poster artists and teams in each city who put up posters and help with online promotion, and it also organizes accommodation, venues, travel and other essentials.

They also coordinate between the venues and the bands to take care of non-standard requirements.

He said bands in Korea did not usually tour, and were a bit daunted by the idea, partly because of the lack of contacts and experience. But Maylone thinks they worry more than they need to, such as with No Respect for Beauty, one of the first bands Bus King is arranging a tour for.

“We booked them across six cities and they actually did really well … the club owner almost every time said, ‘Who are these guys? I want to buy their CD.’ But the band doesn’t think they have enough audience to justify it.”

Maylone said the cost of touring a domestic act in Korea meant that it was not a huge risk.

“As long as they’re having fun and making a few fans each time, they can maybe build their name and grow their fanbase. But when they’re out there there’s a huge response so I’m not worried about that.”

Maylone said that another act he was touring, Yamagata Tweakster, was one of the rare independent artists in Korea to focus on living off his music, which may have given him a better idea of what it takes to make a tour viable.

“He’s like the indie Pied Piper ― he’s really well connected in the scene and that’s his angle,” Maylone said. “But he can only sell so many CDs in Seoul. He’s got to get in front of other people. People need to send them out.

“He’s good about carrying his merch, but some bands in Korea, they don’t bring their CDs to shows because they only play in Hongdae to the same people … nine times out of 10 the band won’t have their CD at their show and its really bad discipline.

“If they’re on the road they would realize that every 10 bucks towards gas or another meal is a big deal and they need to hustle that and spread their music, but when you only play in Seoul you don’t build these things up.”

Bus King has booklets with tips for bands including how to save money while touring.

“We try and give them as much help beforehand, but I think they’re going to have to go through it a little bit to learn it. But then if they go to the States then they’re ready for that.”

He points out that a recent tour of the U.S. by Korean bands, organized by a big company, involved flying between big cities.

“Small bands don’t do that, but because it was all on the company’s dime, the bands didn’t really learn any of the skills they need.”

The agency works with venues in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Jeonju, Cheonan and Jeju.

Bands who want a tour arranged should fill in an application form on the agency website. The costs of the tour are made up in ticket prices, which are then divided between the agency and the bands. As an example, for a tour that costs 500,000 won and charges 15,000 won a ticket, bands would start seeing money coming in from the 35th ticket onward.

The first two tours are already arranged. Black Bag and Fantastic Drugstore play Jeonju, Daegu, Busan and Cheonan from Sept. 13-16, and No Respect for Beauty and Yamagata Tweakster play the same cities, plus Daejeon and Seoul, from Sept. 17-22.

For more information visit www.buskingkorea.com.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)