I have a question about K-pop: Are all the groups mainly about people singing and dancing? Are there groups where the members play different instruments? I was thinking about groups like CNBLUE, where you have different members handling guitar/vocals, drums, and bass, but I’m not sure if they qualify as “K-pop”? I’d be very keen to hear your thoughts, and if you have any resources (articles or videos) to share. Thank you 😊
There’s Day6, quite similar to CNBLUE. In the eyes of the Korean entertainment, both groups are under Kpop 😅 Korea does not have a genre/branch like Japan has between Jpop & Jrock.
interesting thanks. I looked up a few clips. It’s nice that they show the members playing their instruments. I’ve always found MVs where it’s about everyone dancing around a little overwhelming.
Thank you for asking this question, and for this entire thread! I, too, feel overwhelmed by a lot of the K-pop MVs. I prefer lyrical and contemporary dance over street and commercial dance, so I suppose part of it is a matter of taste. I also love watching people play instruments and am a huge fan of Hoppipolla, so I will check out LUCY (and the other recommendations) thanks to this discussion.😊
There are a number of kpop bands. They tend to be much more popular in Korea and Japan (even more so sometimes) than further abroad but some have gotten big in other international markets. Ones currently popular are Day6 and N. Flying. Onewe is gaining traction as well. Busker Busker was really big a few years ago but they have disbanded. CN Blue is still active and hopefully FT Island will be too once Hongki is discharged. Part of the difficulty of bands is that music shows don’t really like dealing with them. They don’t care to put in the effort of putting up the equipment and taking it down. Many bands have had to air play cause the music shows wouldn’t bother with plugging in everything and would just put on the backtrack. The lead singer would be the only live mic. This has changed a little over the years as bands have gained traction and have a little more say in their performances. But, you’ll still end up finding more bands in k-indie rather than k-pop.
Oh that’s quite a few more than I imagined. I must now go and check out all these folks.
It’s such a shame that they don’t get to play their music live, because it’s not like the technology isn’t there or the equipment is that complicated (reminds me of The Liar and His Lover). Setting up elaborate dance stages would be equally complicated, IMO.
As a follow up question, have the groups you mention emerged from the same “idol training” institutes like more mainstream k-pop bands, i.e., have they been artificially put together? Or do they tend to come together more organically?
I’ve definitely spotted a few groups in k-indie, which is why I was curious to know if k-pop had similar sounds.
Mostly they are put together by the company, but you do have some k-indie bands already formed who then are signed on to a kpop company.
Of course for either kind of band, training is a little bit different since dancing isn’t a factor but they would have the same kind of singing and PR training then separate instrument training. Sometimes someone would be scouted as a bass guitarist but then asked to learn electric guitar if that’s the hole needing to be filled. I believe that happened with Day6.
I don’t listen to k-indie much with bands, but I’d say the sound differs and you have the same commentary as you do in America of bands “selling out” and changing their sound once they sign with a company.
It seems to me that distinctions between k-indie and k-pop in some kinds of sounds tend to be grey. Some of the bands that have been identified in this conversation, for instance, I would have intuitively classified as indie rather than pop, going purely by their sound.
I imagine also that the idol training process and the artificial composition of bands (and the forced switching of instruments, as in the case of Day6 that you describe) *takes away* from nurturing genuine / natural musical talent. Perhaps this is something that the Korean music industry is losing out on, as a result. (I’m sure there are many more negatives to the way the industry and business has developed)
I’ve always taken indie more as not signed to a label than an actual sound. You’ll have a range of sounds in kpop and kindie bands.
The music industries in most (I want to say all) countries are artificial and it’s just a matter of marketing on how well they hide the artificial. K-pop doesn’t bother to hide it at all, while America does such a good job at hiding it that people don’t realize how manufactured mainstream music is here. I would say it takes genuine talent whether you build yourself up from ground up and are doing your own thing or joining a company and going through the rigors of their program. It’s like comparing a dancer who only knows how to do beautiful freestyle versus a dancer who can only perfectly execute choreography taught them. Neither is a lesser talent but they have different focuses. I’ve always found it irrelevant that people harp on that and I actually appreciate how open kpop is about being manufactured, though they have their own tricks and secrets unknown to the general public.
My understanding of indie was the same too, i.e., non-affiliation to a label. But some conversations suggested that there was a certain quality to the sound that made it Indie and not pop. Maybe I just listen to the same kind of music among indie artists 😂
I agree with what you say about music industries all over the world – they are all constructs and have their specialties and means to market (or hide) whatever it is they want to reveal (or not). You rightly pick on my incorrect use of “talent”, but I think I was getting at the point that the manufacturing process tends to highlight the one kind of skill over another. Consequently, those who do not have that desired skill do not get to participate in the manufacturing process. Etc. Etc.
Another group to check out is LUCY. They’re a newer group. I believe they debuted officially last year. This group was actually formed on a competition show for bands.
They stand out, to me, as one of the members plays violin. My favorite song by them is ‘Flowering’.
I’m a big fan of instrumental music, so I also love ‘INTRO’ from this same album (called DEAR.) from them.
Ooh this band reminds me of Hoppipolla, where one of the band members is a cellist, IIRC. Interesting that they are classified as Kpop. I’d have thought of them as k-indie.
I think they were actually in the same show… Not sure. Their music hasn’t drawn me in as much compared to LUCY, so I’m not too familiar with them.
They may very well be considered K-indie. I know a K-pop reviewer I follow has reviewed their newest song (Snooze), so at least they’re getting a little more attention than I’m sure some other indie groups that I’m not familiar with.
I just checked – it seems Hoppipolla won, and LUCY came second.
All of your comments on bands made me wonder why it’s all men, as well. When I checked out the description of the show (Superband), I was disappointed to read that their call for participants actually restricted it to men only!! (apparently following the logic that viewers are mostly female). :/
I’ve yet to actually listen to them, but Rolling Quartz is a newly debuted all-female band.
After Wonder Girls came back together they formed a band, but that only lasted for a couple of releases before they disbanded.
AOA started out with a hybrid dance and band concept, but once they hit it big with their more generic dance songs they sadly abandoned the band part (and their poor drummer).
Also I can’t believe that Isaac Hong (who I definitely rate as “indie”) participated in the contest and was not part of any winning team.😳 (was he a dummy contestant, maybe – just for the eyeballs)
@nightmoon I don’t know if he’s been in a group before, but I’ve heard him as a solo artist. He’s done a few OSTs (I had to check – Strangers from Hell, Uncanny Counter), and he’s come on some of these reality shows (I can see your voice, and Superband, of course). he’s got an incredibly powerful and beautiful voice, and whatever I’ve heard of his, I’ve loved.
Sorry to get back to you so late. Got super busy and forgot to check DB.
He’s got a fantastic voice! Loved the Strangers from Hell song sung by him. It looks like his other music seems to veer more towards the ballad side, though. Would love to see him sing something more like this song.
I love Every Single Day. I think many will be familiar with them but I just want to give them a shout out. They did many drama ost’s like IHYV, Pinocchio, BTLIOF and Go back couple. They have a drummer, guitarist and the lead singer plays jazz.
Oh nice, I must listen to those OSTs again, then! I’m partial to a jazz sound, although my current favourite Korean jazz pianist is Jeong Donghwan (of Melomance). From what I see, they’re considered an indie band, and aren’t affiliated to a big label.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 7:57 PM
I have a question about K-pop: Are all the groups mainly about people singing and dancing? Are there groups where the members play different instruments? I was thinking about groups like CNBLUE, where you have different members handling guitar/vocals, drums, and bass, but I’m not sure if they qualify as “K-pop”? I’d be very keen to hear your thoughts, and if you have any resources (articles or videos) to share. Thank you 😊
neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
January 17, 2021 at 8:04 PM
There’s Day6, quite similar to CNBLUE. In the eyes of the Korean entertainment, both groups are under Kpop 😅 Korea does not have a genre/branch like Japan has between Jpop & Jrock.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 8:12 PM
interesting thanks. I looked up a few clips. It’s nice that they show the members playing their instruments. I’ve always found MVs where it’s about everyone dancing around a little overwhelming.
neener ~ Inside the Magic Shop ~
January 18, 2021 at 12:28 AM
The dancing esp gets overwhelming during concerts. Sometimes I just want them to walk around while singing.
I´m slowly discovering Day6 so I don´t know much but
here`s a clip in one of their concerts, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siF3GM68IDE
and a fave from their latest album The Book of Us: The Demon , Afraid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNhyVOuHkqA
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 2:12 AM
ooh thank you for the links! I will listen!!
dramadillo
January 19, 2021 at 12:23 PM
Thank you for asking this question, and for this entire thread! I, too, feel overwhelmed by a lot of the K-pop MVs. I prefer lyrical and contemporary dance over street and commercial dance, so I suppose part of it is a matter of taste. I also love watching people play instruments and am a huge fan of Hoppipolla, so I will check out LUCY (and the other recommendations) thanks to this discussion.😊
If you like dance too, I wanted to recommend some of my favourite MVs with different styles of dance in them (although these are not Korean):
1. Imagine Dragons – Bad Liar: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I-QfPUz1es8
2. Christine and the Queens – Tilted: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9RBzsjga73s
3. Pink – Try: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yTCDVfMz15M
4. K-OS – Man I Used to Be (it’s mostly breakdancing, but my favourite choreographer, Victor Quijada, is in this from about the 2 min mark for a short sequence, although his style of choreography is seen from about 1 min 45s): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAeRXArVHY
5. Imagine Dragons – Thunder (this will not be to everyone’s taste, so click out if it puts you off!): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fKopy74weus
I’m off to check out these other bands!😁
pickleddragon
January 19, 2021 at 7:19 PM
Comment was deleted
pickleddragon
January 19, 2021 at 7:20 PM
I agree on the thread!! This has turned out to be *such* an interesting conversation!!
And I will check out the dance MVs! I tend to focus on the music usually, but good dancing is something that always stands out!
Jig
January 17, 2021 at 8:11 PM
There are a number of kpop bands. They tend to be much more popular in Korea and Japan (even more so sometimes) than further abroad but some have gotten big in other international markets. Ones currently popular are Day6 and N. Flying. Onewe is gaining traction as well. Busker Busker was really big a few years ago but they have disbanded. CN Blue is still active and hopefully FT Island will be too once Hongki is discharged. Part of the difficulty of bands is that music shows don’t really like dealing with them. They don’t care to put in the effort of putting up the equipment and taking it down. Many bands have had to air play cause the music shows wouldn’t bother with plugging in everything and would just put on the backtrack. The lead singer would be the only live mic. This has changed a little over the years as bands have gained traction and have a little more say in their performances. But, you’ll still end up finding more bands in k-indie rather than k-pop.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 8:18 PM
Oh that’s quite a few more than I imagined. I must now go and check out all these folks.
It’s such a shame that they don’t get to play their music live, because it’s not like the technology isn’t there or the equipment is that complicated (reminds me of The Liar and His Lover). Setting up elaborate dance stages would be equally complicated, IMO.
As a follow up question, have the groups you mention emerged from the same “idol training” institutes like more mainstream k-pop bands, i.e., have they been artificially put together? Or do they tend to come together more organically?
I’ve definitely spotted a few groups in k-indie, which is why I was curious to know if k-pop had similar sounds.
Jig
January 18, 2021 at 9:51 AM
Mostly they are put together by the company, but you do have some k-indie bands already formed who then are signed on to a kpop company.
Of course for either kind of band, training is a little bit different since dancing isn’t a factor but they would have the same kind of singing and PR training then separate instrument training. Sometimes someone would be scouted as a bass guitarist but then asked to learn electric guitar if that’s the hole needing to be filled. I believe that happened with Day6.
I don’t listen to k-indie much with bands, but I’d say the sound differs and you have the same commentary as you do in America of bands “selling out” and changing their sound once they sign with a company.
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 9:10 PM
Makes sense!
It seems to me that distinctions between k-indie and k-pop in some kinds of sounds tend to be grey. Some of the bands that have been identified in this conversation, for instance, I would have intuitively classified as indie rather than pop, going purely by their sound.
I imagine also that the idol training process and the artificial composition of bands (and the forced switching of instruments, as in the case of Day6 that you describe) *takes away* from nurturing genuine / natural musical talent. Perhaps this is something that the Korean music industry is losing out on, as a result. (I’m sure there are many more negatives to the way the industry and business has developed)
Jig
January 19, 2021 at 12:17 PM
I’ve always taken indie more as not signed to a label than an actual sound. You’ll have a range of sounds in kpop and kindie bands.
The music industries in most (I want to say all) countries are artificial and it’s just a matter of marketing on how well they hide the artificial. K-pop doesn’t bother to hide it at all, while America does such a good job at hiding it that people don’t realize how manufactured mainstream music is here. I would say it takes genuine talent whether you build yourself up from ground up and are doing your own thing or joining a company and going through the rigors of their program. It’s like comparing a dancer who only knows how to do beautiful freestyle versus a dancer who can only perfectly execute choreography taught them. Neither is a lesser talent but they have different focuses. I’ve always found it irrelevant that people harp on that and I actually appreciate how open kpop is about being manufactured, though they have their own tricks and secrets unknown to the general public.
pickleddragon
January 19, 2021 at 7:26 PM
My understanding of indie was the same too, i.e., non-affiliation to a label. But some conversations suggested that there was a certain quality to the sound that made it Indie and not pop. Maybe I just listen to the same kind of music among indie artists 😂
I agree with what you say about music industries all over the world – they are all constructs and have their specialties and means to market (or hide) whatever it is they want to reveal (or not). You rightly pick on my incorrect use of “talent”, but I think I was getting at the point that the manufacturing process tends to highlight the one kind of skill over another. Consequently, those who do not have that desired skill do not get to participate in the manufacturing process. Etc. Etc.
nightmoon
January 17, 2021 at 8:30 PM
Another group to check out is LUCY. They’re a newer group. I believe they debuted officially last year. This group was actually formed on a competition show for bands.
They stand out, to me, as one of the members plays violin. My favorite song by them is ‘Flowering’.
I’m a big fan of instrumental music, so I also love ‘INTRO’ from this same album (called DEAR.) from them.
‘Snooze’ is also pretty good.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 8:39 PM
Ooh this band reminds me of Hoppipolla, where one of the band members is a cellist, IIRC. Interesting that they are classified as Kpop. I’d have thought of them as k-indie.
nightmoon
January 17, 2021 at 9:24 PM
I think they were actually in the same show… Not sure. Their music hasn’t drawn me in as much compared to LUCY, so I’m not too familiar with them.
They may very well be considered K-indie. I know a K-pop reviewer I follow has reviewed their newest song (Snooze), so at least they’re getting a little more attention than I’m sure some other indie groups that I’m not familiar with.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 9:42 PM
I just checked – it seems Hoppipolla won, and LUCY came second.
All of your comments on bands made me wonder why it’s all men, as well. When I checked out the description of the show (Superband), I was disappointed to read that their call for participants actually restricted it to men only!! (apparently following the logic that viewers are mostly female). :/
mindy
January 18, 2021 at 3:05 AM
I’ve yet to actually listen to them, but Rolling Quartz is a newly debuted all-female band.
After Wonder Girls came back together they formed a band, but that only lasted for a couple of releases before they disbanded.
AOA started out with a hybrid dance and band concept, but once they hit it big with their more generic dance songs they sadly abandoned the band part (and their poor drummer).
nightmoon
January 18, 2021 at 10:08 AM
I had never event thought about it. There’s so few that I know, that it just never even occurred tot me that there should be all-female groups.
I actually remember seeing a cover Rolling Quartz did that of BTS’s Dynamite a while ago. Didn’t realize they were actually an official group.
pickleddragon
January 17, 2021 at 9:50 PM
Also I can’t believe that Isaac Hong (who I definitely rate as “indie”) participated in the contest and was not part of any winning team.😳 (was he a dummy contestant, maybe – just for the eyeballs)
nightmoon
January 18, 2021 at 10:09 AM
I’m not familiar with him. Has he been in a group before that you know him from?
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 7:29 PM
@nightmoon I don’t know if he’s been in a group before, but I’ve heard him as a solo artist. He’s done a few OSTs (I had to check – Strangers from Hell, Uncanny Counter), and he’s come on some of these reality shows (I can see your voice, and Superband, of course). he’s got an incredibly powerful and beautiful voice, and whatever I’ve heard of his, I’ve loved.
His YT channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/IsaacHongOfficial
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 7:32 PM
ooh Isaac Hong also did an unplugged (audience-less) I’m Live a few days ago! I gotta check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XY7PtfbAzw
nightmoon
January 20, 2021 at 9:40 PM
Sorry to get back to you so late. Got super busy and forgot to check DB.
He’s got a fantastic voice! Loved the Strangers from Hell song sung by him. It looks like his other music seems to veer more towards the ballad side, though. Would love to see him sing something more like this song.
Mani-chan
January 17, 2021 at 9:06 PM
The Rose is also there. I’m just praying their contract with their current agency ends and they are able to move on to a better one
nightmoon
January 17, 2021 at 9:26 PM
I loved The Rose. Who knows what will happen. I would just hate for their talent to go to waste as they seemed to have a decent fanbase.
Mani-chan
January 17, 2021 at 10:31 PM
yesss. I love them and it honestly would be a tragedy if their talent is wasted
mindy
January 18, 2021 at 3:06 AM
You probably know them from their song for Run On, Pickle 🙂
https://youtu.be/NmW5g5diTMQ
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 3:28 AM
Ooooh nice! I hadn’t made the connection, thank you 😊
Orientedstar
January 18, 2021 at 10:42 AM
I love Every Single Day. I think many will be familiar with them but I just want to give them a shout out. They did many drama ost’s like IHYV, Pinocchio, BTLIOF and Go back couple. They have a drummer, guitarist and the lead singer plays jazz.
pickleddragon
January 18, 2021 at 7:22 PM
Oh nice, I must listen to those OSTs again, then! I’m partial to a jazz sound, although my current favourite Korean jazz pianist is Jeong Donghwan (of Melomance). From what I see, they’re considered an indie band, and aren’t affiliated to a big label.
Orientedstar
January 18, 2021 at 9:38 PM
Oops sorry the singer does’nt play jazz but a bassist. I got confused.