Bytailored Indie Rock Festival

If one tried to recite the entire history of Korean indie rock, even 5,700 characters would not be enough. In the beginning, there was the U.S. Eighth Army; that was where Korean rock began to take shape, and the true beginning of indie rock came with punk rock centered around Hongdae’s live club Drug, modern rock bands formed through PC communications… and so on and so forth.

Trying to write it all down would become far too long-winded, and there are still living witnesses to history who could add their own words, so no one can claim, “This is the one true history and canonical text.”

But one thing is certain: indie rock is still rock. And the rock listeners who remain to this day say every day, “I don’t listen to music for old fogies,” while expressing their distaste for music that is ‘Too Mainstream.’

But they are still people who enjoy rock. In other words, when they encounter the ‘roots’… they are doomed to be the kind of people who cannot help but respond.

The guitar produced a sound that was not quite a note. Along with the unmistakably tentative sound, the drums that had been rumbling softly died down. And the venue fell silent.

Just when the audience, curious about what kind of music would come next, began wondering, ‘Was that a mistake?’ Suyeon started strumming the guitar again.

It was unmistakably a sound built on a pentatonic-scale shuffle rhythm—a bluesy sound that did not suit a ‘girl band’ or a ‘high-school girls’ band’—and it rang out through the venue’s speakers.

‘I’ve heard this somewhere before…?’

Just as those who prided themselves on having listened to quite a lot of rock began rummaging through their memories, Suyeon opened her mouth.

“What the—!”...