A new music venue emerges in Seoul

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A new music venue emerges in Seoul

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Rebecca Cant, third from left, performs with other amateur musicians at Orange Tree, a bar in Haebangchon, Yongsan, Seoul, Saturday. By Moon Gwang-lip

The Orange Tree, a second-floor bar in Haebangchon, next to the Yongsan U.S. military compound, was packed Saturday night where Brit Rebecca Cant performed in a duet, a trio and then a quartet.
Cant, who teaches English in Bundang, usually sings and plays guitar solo on her days off in Itaewon and Hongdae, popular music areas for many expatriates in Seoul.
But she teamed up with other amateur musicians, including a rapper, for the Haebangchon Music Festival, which featured as many as 28 musical acts in four local bars on July 14.
Haebangchon, known as a residential area popular with expats, has evolved into a kind of cultural center, Cant said.
“That was an experiment,” Cant said outside the Orange Tree, referring to her just-finished one-hour performance.
“It’s really fun to play in this festival, because the atmosphere is really good. People are very kind to new performers.”
In neighboring Itaewon, Cant said people go out for dates, but Haebangchon is concentrating on the arts.
“Haebangchon is a new cultural center. It is very supportive of art, music and film, and that’s great,” she said.
The Haebangchon Music Festival, among other things, has contributed to it, Cant said.
Organized by Jim Gaynor, Lance Regan-Diehl and Conor O’Reilly, all Haebangchon residents, the festival has been held four times a year since last year.
It features a whole day of musical acts ranging from folk, rock, jazz and blues, as well as poetry performed in neighborhood bars, which also include VFW, Ssen Bar and Phillies.
O’Reilly, who is from Ireland, said the festival was initiated to provide a stage for many musically talented denizens of Haebangchon.
“There are so many great musicians in Haebangchon,” O’Reilly said. “All they want to do is play. They don’t look for money ― all they want is a place to sit down and play,” he said.
According to O’Reilly, the event Saturday was proof of the festival’s growing popularity.
He said the number of bands and the audiences have been growing.
Jeremy Toombs, a 29-year-old English teacher from Kentucky, said, “We’ve got hip-hop, rock, poetry, folk ― all genres of music are represented here.”
This was Toombs’ third time at the festival. He said it gets more varied in terms of musical forms.
“The diversity will help make it more popular. As word gets out, it will get bigger and bigger,” said Toombs, a harmonica player who performed with Cant.
Solar C, the first hip-hop musician in the festival, agrees.
The African-Canadian, whose off-stage name is Colin Allum, said he hopes to continue to represent hip-hop in the festival.
“I think that the variety of music is definitely a good direction,” Allum said.
“A lot of people are now into hip-hop. I definitely think that hip-hop should be featured more in the music festival, if possible.”
O’Reilly said more expats have begun to regard the Haebangchon festival as a coveted stage similar to venues in Hongdae, the neighborhood around Hongik University popular among expats and young music aficionados.
“These great musicians drink just a few beers here and then go to Hongdae [to play],” O’Reilly said.
“And now what we are doing is taking the musicians out of Hongdae and putting them into the home neighborhood. They play for free and everyone has a great time.
“This year, the festival has been promoted more than ever. The next time around, people will realize that they want to have their names here and they want everyone to know about it.”


By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Writer [joe@joongang.co.kr]
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