Blowing Minds: Interview with …Whatever That Means

Korea has a very healthy underground music scene. It is filled with the gritty, discordant bands made up of rebels, free thinkers and highly creative individuals fighting to express themselves in unique ways. Forget K-Pop – the best music in Korea is coming out of the porous underbelly of Seoul and other cities around Korea. One such band, …Whatever That Means refuses to conform to the mainstream, continuously releasing songs that cry out at the established “norms” of Korean society. They are about to release a split EP with US band Burn Burn Burn, titled Blowing Minds and Melting Faces. Then later this month they’ll be embarking on their second US tour  across the West Coast.

We were lucky enough to grab a few moments of their time as they hurry to get ready for the tour.

...Whatever That Means 2016 (with logo)

Will you give the YAM readers a quick intro, in your own words?

Trash: Hi, we’re …Whatever That Means. We’re a melodic punk rock band from Seoul, Korea. We’ve been playing since 2009, have toured throughout Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and are about to head out of the country for our second US tour.  While we’re in the US, we’ll be releasing a split seven-inch record with Burn Burn Burn, a great punk band from Seattle, Washington.

How excited are you to be coming back to the US for the second time?

Trash: We’re very excited! We’ve been waiting for this for a while. It’s been almost five years since the first time we went, and we never intended for it to take this long to get back.

What are you looking forward to the most about your time here?

Jeff: We met so many great people on the road the first time around. We’ve stayed in touch with a lot of them over the years, and we’re excited to see them again. We’ve also got a lot of friends we met here in Korea who have left, and they’ll be coming out to see us for the first time in years. Beyond that, we’re just excited to be back out on the road touring again. Touring in Southeast Asia is always fun, but there’s something different about piling into a van and traveling around the States.

How did the split EP with Burn Burn Burn come about?  Will this be your first vinyl release?

Jeff: We met Drew, Burn’s singer, on our last tour. We played a house show in Tacoma that he helped run. It was one of the coolest shows we’ve ever played. Drew and I have kept in touch over the years, and when we decided we were definitely going to the US for another tour, I asked Drew if they’d be down to release a split with us. It was as simple as that. Burn Burn Burn already has several vinyl releases. They put out a great seven inch earlier this year called Have Fun. For us, it’ll be our first time being pressed on vinyl, so we’re really excited about that.

Jenna

Part-time student, full-time media whore, fan of all things Asian.

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