Beyond K-pop: 10 Korean Indie Artists You Should Know

From veteran artists to today’s hottest acts, here are some K-indie musicians you should add to your playlist.

COURTESY OF JANUARY, INTERPARK ENTERTAINMENT, HYUN WOO MIN/MAGIC STRAWBERRY SOUND, THE BLACK SKIRTS / DESIGN BY LEAH ROMERO

K-pop idols like BTS and BLACKPINK may have taken over the world, but in South Korea, another kind of music has captured legions of listeners for decades: Korean indie rock. Although long beloved in its home country for its stirring melodies and powerful lyricism, K-indie rock hasn’t yet achieved the level of international attention that idol K-pop has because, as blogger Ask A Korean! put it back in 2013, “Korean rock, unlike Korean idol groups, is not systematically pushed abroad by well-capitalized management companies.”

The origins of Korean rock can be traced back to the 1950s, when American soldiers fighting in the Korean War brought their music with them. Local musicians like Shin Joong-hyun, often called the “Godfather of Korean Rock,” performed American-style rock ‘n’ roll on U.S. military bases to entertain the soldiers. In the 1960s and 1970s South Korea was ruled by a repressive military dictatorship, but there were still music lounges in Seoul that people frequented to listen to live performances, such as the famed C’est Si Bon, which was the birthplace of Korean acoustic folk and launched the careers of legendary Korean artists like Cho Young-nam, Song Chang-sik, Yoon Hyung-joo, Kim Se-hwan, Lee Jang-hee, and Han Dae-soo. The 1980s, known as the golden age of Korean rock, saw a proliferation of rock bands—including the rise of heavy metal—before interest in rock waned in the early 1990s.

But Korean rock experienced a revival in the mid-1990s, this time in the form of new indie bands that began performing in Hongdae, the hip, artsy neighborhood near Hongik University in Seoul that has become the heart of South Korea’s vibrant indie scene. K-indie pioneers like Crying Nut and No Brain (both considered to be the godfathers of Korean punk rock), as well as many later indie artists—including some of the ones listed below—got their start playing in the streets and clubs of Hongdae.

Today, K-indie has diversified into many different types of genres and subgenres, but for this article, we’ve focused mainly on indie pop and rock artists. Note that this list includes a very tiny selection of artists who are currently active and is meant to give only a glimpse into the K-indie talent that’s out there. Of course, there are hundreds of other K-indie acts that deserve a listen, including classic ones of yesteryear like Deulgukhwa and Sanullim; those who have disbanded (like Loveholic, Busker Busker or Kiha & The Faces) or passed away (such as Kim Kwang-seok); and indie legends like Peppertones and Nell that are still going strong. (If you want to sample these and other incredible K-indie artists that we weren’t able to include here, try this playlist.)

So whether you’re looking to explore Korean music outside of K-pop, are hoping to improve your Korean language skills, or simply want to impress your Korean friends, here are 10 K-indie artists you need to check out, in no particular order:

Read the full article on ELLE.com.