Korean rock bands are making inroads into the United States and Canada this month in a bid to introduce the country’s unique indie music culture to the West.

“From indie clubs to international festivals, SEOULSONIC pushes the tempo of Korean music acts making waves across and beyond Asia,” said DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based music agency. The project features talented Korean rock bands Yellow Monsters, 3rd Line Butterfly and Crying Nut. SEOULSONIC is the latest project developed by the agency, which also has been providing overseas distribution services for more than 350 Korean artists.

Starting in Northern California for the San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival on March 11, SEOULSONIC will take the Korean rock bands to America’s largest new music festival, South By Southwest, on March 13-18.

The artists will continue their journey to Canada’s longest running music festival, Canadian Music Week, on March 21-25. The bands will give additional concerts in New York on March 29-30; in San Diego on April 1; and Los Angeles on April 5.

The project will also feature other Korean bands on North American tours.

“Hip-hop trio Aziatix and psychedelic garage rockers Galaxy Express are now confirmed to share the same stage with 2012 SEOULSONIC artists at this year’s SXSW,” the agency added.

Yellow Monsters is a three-member alternative rock band, and was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 2012 Korean Music Awards. 3rd Line Butterfly is a post-modern rock band representing the Korean underground with its “moody guitars and smoky vocals.” The quartet was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 2010 Korean Music Awards.

Crying Nut, a leading punk rock band here and across Asia, also joins the project. The five-member band gained popularity in the mainstream music scene here with its debut album “Speed Up Losers” in 1998. More than 100,000 copies of the album were sold, helping them gain the title of “best-selling Korean indie band of all-time” for the last 15 years with their six acclaimed albums, DFSB said. The band, famous for its energetic live shows, has performed on the main stages of Asia’s top music festivals.

For more information, visit www.seoulsonic.kr.


By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)