Beyond K-pop: Seoul’s underground music scene where soul, funk, R&B and psychedelia reign
- The Hongdae district is the beating heart of a live music scene that began with American GIs in the 1960s
- Disreputable furniture, vinyl counters and tattered record sleeves still decorate some of the best live venues
The bar, Gopchang Jeongol – literally meaning “beef tripe hotpot”, though small English text on the sign reads, “Korean Traditional Pop’s Club Since 2001 … ” – actually opened in 1999, I’m told, and is a temple to South Korea’s rock ’n’ roll history. A wall of records, all by Korean artists, stands behind the DJ booth, their dust jackets tattered and worn, although each is now further encased in a plastic sleeve. The place smells of cigarettes and soju, an appealing aroma, apparently, for the hipsters who flock here on weekends to dance.
When it comes to music, South Korea may be best known for K-pop, but Seoul has a thriving underground scene, which revolves around converted basement music rooms and vinyl bars built on a solid half-century of rock ’n’ roll tradition, from the “go-go” era of the 1960s to soul, funk and psychedelia. If this scene could be pinned to a single neighbourhood, it would be Hongdae, a sprawling low-rise zone of 24-hour barbecue restaurants, cheap fashion, karaoke parlours and bars and clubs, hundreds of them. Its denizens are the capital’s gregarious youth, from K-pop kids to scenesters with dyed hair, tattoos and vintage clothes.
Winding through Hongdae’s bowels, Jandari Street is lined with live-music venues and provides the name for the annual Zandari Festa, a SXSW-like showcase held every autumn in 13 of the district’s clubs. The festival organisers throw legendary parties and promote the event with the ominous hashtag #prayforyourliver.
Hard drinking, for better or worse, is a fact of Korean life. One Hongdae icon – the makgeolli man – dresses in rags and spends most nights, from dusk to dawn, pedalling a cart laden with cheap, sweet rice wine around the streets. His makgeolli gives drinkers a hunger for “hangover soup”. I try a spicy beef bone and cabbage version at chain restaurant Boseung Hall but hearty bowls can be found all over Hongdae: kimchi soups; beef or miso-based broths; and, at the Baek Nyeon Baekse Ginseng Chicken Soup shop, a particularly filling version with a small chicken stuffed with glutinous rice that comes in a clay bowl.
