Powerful Sound: Interview With Jambinai

Who writes most of the music? Do you write as a collaborative effort?

I write nearly all of the music. When a song is about 90% finished, I present it to the other members. They add their own touches and we finish the songs together.

What is your writing process like? 

I like to think about music when I go for walks. I try to imagine different rhythms and melodies. Sometimes I record the things I thought about immediately after returning home. Other times, I’ll just keep the ideas in my head and then explain them to my band mates the next time we all meet.

You opened the night at K-Pop Night Out, what do you think of the reaction of the crowd?  Did you have a favorite performance during SXSW?

I was a bit worried about playing at K-Pop Night Out because our music is very different from K-pop, but the crowd’s reaction during our set was very good. We did five shows during SXSW. Three of them were official SXSW showcases, and the other two were unofficial daytime gigs.

My favorite show during SXSW was our last concert in Austin, which was an unofficial show at Spider House as part of American Icon Records’ Texas Rock N Roll Massacre 2 party. We played outside and the weather and reaction of the crowd were fantastic. Some audience members were so touched by our performance that they cried.

Lady Gaga showed up in K-Pop Night Out, and Sean Lennon posted about your performance at Hotel Vegas, what do you think about these celebrities having interest in Korean music?

I think more celebrities are becoming aware of Korea because of famous Koreans like Psy, Yuna Kim, etc. Anything that exposes more people to Korean music is a good thing.