K-Pop is the current shit with sold out concerts and increasing record sales all over the world. But what about K-Indie? Never heard of it? Well, maybe you should continue reading then.. We talked with Korean band HERD about everything you should know about a massively underrated music genre.
„As you know, people take more time to understand songs in foreign languages and they don’t get its meaning directly; that’s exactly what I want.
Hi guys, we’re glad to have you here! First of all it would be nice if you could introduce yourselves. What do we need to know about your band and who you are?
HERD: Jaehyuk (26, vocal and guitar), Eunsu (26, drum) and Jeongwon (24, lead guitar). We met in the same university and made a band when we were twenty. Later due to Korean military duty, we went separate ways. When we thought it’s time for a new band, we gathered again to do different music to the ones we did back at age twenty. At this time Dabin (26, bass) joined and we became HERD, never be stuck in one genre. (This is the band’s motto)
What does the name HERD mean to you / why did you chose it? Is it because you are good friends like a pack of wolves? Did you already know that the word means „stove“ in German?
HERD: We needed a short name which can be easily called by anyone, either Koreans or foreigners. As you already said, it basically means a pack of animals and we are actually a group of people (humans can be also classified as animals). But it’s tacky just to be called ‘a group of people’; that’s why we picked the name HERD. It seems you guessed it right! Between we had no idea it also means ’stove‘ in German. (laughs)
Your songs are a mixture of Korean and English. Is it very hard for you to translate your thoughts into a foreign language? Why didn‘t you choose to sing only Korean?
HERD (Jaehyuk speaking): Well, it is hard to express my thoughts in a foreign language, making them not mistakenly conveyed. But there are two reasons why I choose to sing both in Korean and English. Firstly all the songs I grew up with were English songs from UK and US. Second of all, I don’t want the meaning of songs to be directly conveyed to listeners because I’m shy. As you know, people take more time to understand songs in foreign languages and they don’t get its meaning directly; that’s exactly what I want.
When you create a song, what‘s the first thing on your mind? Do you start with the melodies or the lyrics?
HERD (Jaehyuk speaking): I always think of both melodies and lyrics and I record them with my phone. Mostly melody comes first. Then I put suitable lyrics among what I’ve already thought of.
Are you currently working on an album? The EP was released in November 2018, is there already more to expect soon?
HERD: Yes, we are currently working on a new single album which will be released this year. Right after that, we will release another new EP with five songs on it. We hope you’ll like it.
„People love K-Pop and are crazy about it. But they don’t really care about Indie music.
What is your main inspiration for your songs? Do you have any musical heroes or idols?
HERD (Jaehyuk speaking): I get inspired from daily relationships like hanging out with friends. I think other members have their own musical heroes but mine is the Beatles. I’ve learnt a lot from them and my musical life has been led by them. We all have different inspirations and different favourite music artists but I’m sure that all these are well shown in the music.
How is the indie scene in Korea? How do you get gigs? In the UK bands and musicians have to start very low and play every pub they can find, sometimes with only 3 people in the audience. In America even bigger bands have to travel through the whole country and play in small towns to reach their fans. In Germany you start with small venues and clubs, most often as a support for bigger acts. How does it work in Korea? Is it a big scene or just a small one? Do the bands support each other or is everyone minding their own business?
HERD (Jaehyuk and Eunsu speaking): It’s not really good. People love K-Pop and are crazy about it. But they don’t really care about Indie music. Many Koreans even don’t know Korean Indie music.
Just as same as UK, US and Germany, we start from small gigs (there’re not many places we can play because only few people listen to it). Here in Korea the bands tend to help each other.
K-Pop is booming worldwide now, but did you also notice a higher interest in other Korean music genres?
HERD (Dabin speaking): I’m not sure but I guess there are some interests in other Korean music genres. Well, if there’s none, how could we do this interview? This interview just proves it. (laughs)
Do you sometimes have to deal with prejudices against Korean music because of the bad reputation K-Pop receives that it‘s all fake and high pressure and nothing „real“, only a massive cash cow? Do people compare what you do to that?
HERD: No, we never had to stuggle with it. It is true that Indie music is not popular in Korea. However, people tend to think that Indie music is artistic and unique unlikely to K-Pop.
Would you like to visit Germany anytime soon? What would you expect it to be like? What are your ideas of Germany and the people or concert crowds here?
HERD: It is rare to go abroad as Indie musicians. We don’t have plans on visiting Germany at the moment, but we’ll definitely go to Germany when we get a chance. If we come to visit Germany, it would be great because we do our best wherever we go. As we said earlier, we never get stuck in only one genre so we’ll be able to show various performances with various songs.
What can people do to support you if they found you on Spotify like we did or somewhere else? Is there something we all can do to spread the word or to make an European Tour possible?
HERD: First of all, we need to do better to promote ourselves. For the audience, sharing and expressing your interests on social media are always helpful. If Korean people and production companies know that people in other countries have interest in us, we might be more popular in Korea and able to tour around the world. It would be lovely if everyone, who likes our songs including you and readers, share and express to Koreans that they are enjoying our music through social media.
If this interview made you curious, go and check out HERD on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music or wherever the f*ck you want. Just do it! It’s worth it, promised!