Interview with Total Art Performance Group, EE

I had the chance to ask a few questions to a personal favourite group of mine, EE, who recently released an EP titled Dear Door and performed at this year's SXSW Festival. Mixing elements often found in modern fine art with music, EE calls themselves a "total art" performance group, not limiting themselves to just music. Lil E (Yunjoung Lee), the one-half of the husband-wife duo, answered the questions. Be sure to check out their EP "Dear Door," and their crazy music video for "Wiggy Dawn" below!

Hello! Please introduce yourselves first. 

We are EE, also known as EETOTALART. You can consider us as an amalgamation of culture, hidden in the city, more than simply a music group. 

How would you describe your latest EP, Dear Door? What does the “door” in the title mean? 

“Door” is a symbolic word that creates curiosity. It’s also the biggest medium in traveling between spaces. What happens when you open a door further symbolizes the escape from reality, and the thirst for something new. 

“Wiggy Dawn” is about a mother’s door to temptation, while “Knock the Door” is about a door of fabrication. “No.417” is a story about the door that will never be opened again.

I feel like when you first encounter EE’s music, they become engrossed in the catchy sounds and the striking visuals. But once you start listening to the lyrics properly, you begin to think, ah, this isn’t just some silly music. Even on the latest EP, track titled “No.417” is about the Sewol Ferry incident, right? How did you come about writing this song? 

We were personally affected greatly by the incident, and wanted to find something we could do. We didn’t try to approach it politically, and instead chose to tell the story of that day from a 16 year-old girl's perspective. We are hoping that it won’t be ever forgotten. 

Are there any other particular issues or topics you want to talk about in your art in the future? 

We will continue to talk about the small and big issues of the contemporary society. We’ve done so since the beginning, and there aren't any positive or negative opinions on our end about that. So sometimes our messages are misunderstood by the listener. 

Electronica is at the basis of EE’s music but from your first album Curiosity Kills to the recently-released Dear Door, there’s been a significant change in sound. Do you actively try to change your sound with each of your releases? 

There’s nothing we are actively pursuing. Musician, genre, vocal abilities, things like these aren’t important to us. As most stages available to us are pop stages, those are the ones we go on. It may appear like pop, but if you look closely [at our art], there’s something very fun and complicated inside. You could consider it an artistic performance. 

I personally love EE’s music videos! The music video for “WIGGY DAWN” that just came out was really interesting too. How do you conceptualize the visual elements for your videos?

It hasn’t been the easiest for us financially and we were in a hurry. As we tried to take care of it ourselves, we came up with the photo booth idea, something we often played around with when we were living in UK. This is the first time we’ve gotten so many “WTF” comments. We love it. 

Hyeonjoon is active as a visual artist as well as EE. How do EE’s “total art performance” and his personal artworks differ? 
It seems very different but similar at the same time.
It’s just like his personality, the performances and videos are his complete EE side. But Lee Hyeonjoon as an artist is like an old man, who only focuses on his art without saying a word. Even when he’s working with the same topic, it’s completely different…

Yunjoung is also part of the legendary PiPi Band, and 2015 will be PiPi Band’s 20th anniversary since debut. I remember seeing an article last year that Yunjoung will be having a comeback as Pipi Band... Can we expect a Pipi Band album any time soon? 
I think it will be out before the summer. This is just a teaser, haha.
We’re progressing really quickly, as if we’re meeting everyday.

And how was your experience at SXSW?
We went, believing that we will open their mouths and make them jump. And it was proven. Not only that, performing in the streets was very memorable. It feels like we had an unforgettable party with numerous musicians. If we are offered another opportunity, we want to prepare an even crazier and fun stage.
We want to applaud everyone who enjoyed our stage!

What are your plans for EE? 
We’ve had so many exciting things happen without planning, and we continue to fall into the most interesting situations that come to us. Coachella was like that, and same with SXSW, performances at National Museum of Contemporary Art. We arrived at our desired destinations as we ran towards what we wanted. If anybody wants to have a strange but a fun experience, give us a shout.



EE's Dear Door EP can be purchased on iTunes US here.
EE on Facebook | Soundcloud 

All images in the post belong to the band. Interview translated from Korean by Sangha. 

Interview with Korean Glam Metal Band, Victim Mentality

I recently had the opportunity to ask Kyung Ho Sohn, the guitarist of glam metal band Victim Mentality, a few questions about their career, their stint at SXSW this week, among other things. Heavily inspired by 80's glam metal, the quartet produces humorous and at times thought-provoking music while donning heavy makeup and a lot of leopard prints. They recently performed at SXSW, their first gig abroad. They have another show coming up tonight at The Majestic as part of the Korea Night Out series by Seoulsonic, so if you are in the area and still haven't seen them, you definitely should go check them out!

Can you introduce yourselves first? 
Hello! We are Victim Mentality. We are mostly active in Seoul. We formed in 2009 and we play glam metal with roots in heavy metal. Krocodile is on vocals, Kyung Ho Sohn is on guitar, Scorpion on bass, and Tarantula on drums.

I see a lot of 80’s glam metal in Victim Mentality. Are there any glam bands that you’re into? Any particular role models for the band?
Most of 80’s heavy metal bands were our idols. We first started Victim Mentality by copying bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Then we started to change our band’s direction into glam metal, and we were really inspired by music by artists like Motley Crue. When I (Kyung Ho) was young, I really enjoyed Poison, Cinderella, and Vixen, and I think I naturally was inspired by them. Of course, we took a lot of inspiration from traditional heavy metal bands like WASP and Stryper.

Your lyrics are always so great! Really easy to relate to. “Don’t Spit on Me” is particularly great. Where do you get the inspirations for your lyrics? 
It’s all things that happen around us. We sing about normal things that happen around us, instead of fantasy fiction, sci-fi, or something philosophical like life and death. We usually sing about the hardships and love of youth, or the struggles of the working people.



Do you coordinate your own outfits? They’re always so outrageous.
We get the fabric from the market in DDM. We even have a wholesaler we often buy from as well. When we get the fabric, we go to a costume shop in Itaewon. We request the clothes to be made to fit our bodies there. They’re all custom-made, as we design on the spot or bring references.

Are any of the members active in bands outside of Victim Mentality? 
I’m part of a symphonic black metal band called Dark Mirror ov Tragedy. I’ve been originally interested in all aspects of metal music, and I’ve been active in a melodic death metal band since I was 20. I like what they usually call extreme metal, so I’ve been active in Dark Mirror ov Tragedy for 7 years. The other members are only part of Victim Mentality.

If you take a look at the members’ names… Krocodile, Scorpion, Tarantula… Kyungho, why don’t you use a stage name? If you had to choose one right now, what would it be? 
I actually use “Senyt” as my stage name for Dark Mirror ov Tragedy. I originally planned on using a stage name for Victim Mentality, but since I’ve been using a stage name since I was 20, I wanted to use my real name for once when Victim Mentality debuted. But I sometimes regret it, when I look at myself in makeup and leopard.

The upcoming SXSW shows are your first show abroad. Is there anything in particular you are preparing for these shows? Anything you’re worried about, or really excited about? 
Our goal is to show 100% of our charm. Glam metal is from the US. I think the audience will understand what we are doing, and what we are trying to express. So we’re really curious as to how they will react.

Are there any bands that you are looking forward to seeing at SXSW? 
We’ve liked a melodic death metal band called Allegaeon, and we heard that they will be at SXSW. We’ll be definitely checking them out.

What about any cities or festivals you want to perform at?
We want to perform at Sunset Street in LA, the home of glam metal. 

Your first full-length album “Heavy Metal Is Back” will be released soon. What kind of album will it be? How different is it going to be from “Magic Finger?” 
“Magic Finger” is an album consisting of the early songs we wrote after forming Victim Mentality. So the traditional heavy metal elements are strong. Because like I’ve said earlier, Victim Mentality was a straight-up heavy metal band inspired by bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. As time went by and we positioned ourselves as a glam metal band, we created “Heavy Metal Is Back.” Of course, there’s still the heavy metal element we pursued in “Magic Finger,” but we also tried to put in a more melodic and mellow element. If “Magic Finger” was about the primitive metal disposition, “Heavy Metal Is Back” tried to make various elements and emotions of heavy metal into a Victim Mentality style.

The upcoming SXSW shows, first album release, anything else you guys are planning at the moment? 
We will be continuing with performing. And we plan to release a single album near the end of the year. We want to get Victim Mentality known through live performances.

I found out that Krocodile is the leader (?!) of Free Meat Eaters’ Union, while researching for the interview… Do the other members also like meat? If you all had to choose your favorite kind of meat, what would it be? 
We all like meat. I’m particularly lazy with grilling them though, so I like beef or when someone else cooks it for me. I like cow intestines a lot too.

Thank you! I hope you enjoy some great BBQ in Austin.
Thanks! This was a fun interview.

http://phusmetal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/phusmetal/
https://twitter.com/phusmetal
https://soundcloud.com/victim-mentality
http://www.youtube.com/user/PHUSMETALTV

[interview] 장기하와 얼굴들 (Kiha And The Faces) talks 3rd album

With critically acclaimed first and second album, a mega-hit tune part of the soundtrack for 2012's Nameless Gangsters, and with fantastic collaboration with Infinity Challenge in 2013 - Kiha & The Faces are probably the hottest band in Korea right now. I posted about their upcoming American tour earlier this month which I was really excited about (along with many others who were planning on attending, I'm sure), but I am deeply sorry to announce that all their American shows have been cancelled due to visa issues. Shaking my fist at America and its immigration! 

Initially I interviewed the band mostly about their American shows, which I was planning on posting last week. However, as with each cancellation update I had to push off on posting the interview because a lot of it had to do with their American tour. Now that it's completely cancelled, I thought about not posting it at all because it was too damn sad. But I still wanted to share some more information about the band with the international fans out there and decided to post parts of the interview that has to do with their music and their upcoming third album in particular. 

Check out the interview below for some information on their upcoming third album, Kiha's side activities, and their plans for the future. 

[interview] Apollo 18 Talks Canadian Tour, Music and Poutine.

Apollo 18 is a post rock band that's been causing quite a scene both in Korea and internationally since their breakthrough in the Korean indie scene. They're quite the decorated band; they won the "Rookie of the Year" award at the 2010 Korean Music Awards and the Grand Prize at the "Hello Rookie Award" the same year. And their Blue album is seriously one of the best harder rock stuff I listen to, if that means anything. They've also made quite the progress abroad as well, performing at SXSW Music Festival last year, and finishing their very first Canadian tour just a couple of weeks ago. I had the chance to ask them some questions about their Canadian tour and music.

Click the cut to read what they had to say about their Canadian tour, possibility of a Jellyboy album, some Korean bands they think are worth checking out, and what they thought about real Canadian poutine. Oh, and some hilarious pictures from their tour included.