Invasion from Seoul (1)

Invasion from Seoul. The name was taken from the British Invasion (the event in which British rock bands, epitomized by the Beatles, sent shock waves through the American music market), which was naturally what came to mind when one heard “invasion” in a rock-scene context.

Was From Seoul added because they wanted the bands selected through this audition to have enough impact to be called a Seoul Invasion? Myeongjeon thought it was hard not to call it arrogant to slap the title “Invasion” onto an ordinary broadcasting station’s audition show.

And it seemed Myeongjeon was not the only one who had thought so. He had heard that the first Invasion from Seoul had received a fairly good response from rock fans, but had failed to make much of an impact with the general public.

The production staff had published an article implying, ‘If we pick better bands and make the whole thing bigger, we’ll get a much stronger response!’ but Myeongjeon could more or less understand why that had happened.

‘Rock no longer resonates with the public.’

As Bae Cheol-su had said, “Rock used to be music itself. But now rock is merely one branch of music,” the music market was no longer one in which rock bands could control everything.

But what the production staff thought, or what the future of Korean rock would be, was of little importance at this stage.

What mattered to Myeongjeon now was how to win the audition his ‘mother’ had asked him to enter, not what came afterward.

“You’re entering an audition show?”

“Well, that’s how it turned out.”...