Indie rock makes comeback as veterans return to Hongdae roots and newcomers find stage success

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Indie rock makes comeback as veterans return to Hongdae roots and newcomers find stage success

Published: 17 Dec. 2025, 07:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Indie rock band Crying Nut performs at its 30th anniversary concert [CAPTAIN ROCK COMPANY]

Three decades after the birth of Korea’s indie music scene in Hongdae, western Seoul, first-generation bands are returning to small clubs while a new wave of artists fills major concert halls, signaling a renewed vitality after years of pandemic-era stagnation.

That generational overlap came into focus on Dec. 8, when rock band Crying Nut marked its 30th anniversary at KT&G Sangsangmadang Hongdae Live Hall in Mapo District, western Seoul, with a collaborative performance that doubled as a celebration of the scene’s past and its present.

Crying Nut shared the stage with Kwon Jung-yeol of fellow indie band 10cm for a performance of the band’s signature song “Myeongdong Calling” (1999).

As he sang, Kwon changed the original lyric “we were always a movie” to “Crying Nut was always a movie,” drawing cheers from about 400 fans who filled the venue. The moment captured the spirit of Nut 30, a concert series designed to honor the band’s long-running presence in Korea’s indie landscape.

The domestic indie music scene has regained momentum after a prolonged slowdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. While first-generation musicians continue to perform, younger bands have expanded stylistic boundaries and attracted new audiences.

Many in the music industry trace the origins of Korea’s indie scene to 1995, when a memorial concert for Nirvana's Kurt Cobain took place at Club Drug in Hongdae.

This year, venues across Hongdae including LiveClub BBang, Rolling Hall and Sangsangmadang have hosted a steady stream of concerts commemorating the indie scene’s 30th anniversary.

Veteran bands such as YB and No Brain also returned to Hongdae stages that shaped their early careers.

Crying Nut launched its Nut 30 series in November and will continue performances through Jan. 30 next year, inviting musicians such as Kim Chang-wan Band, Jannabi, Chang Ki-ha and Kim Soo-chul to join the lineup.

Several first-generation musicians have also reappeared with new projects.

Nu metal band Sekimal features DJ Jeung-jae of Yellow Puffer, vocalist 710 and TJ of Lazybone. The group released its first single album “Break it” in May and has performed mainly at Hongdae venues such as Big Team and Club FF.

Nu metal band Sekimal performing [MAPO FOUNDATION FOR ARTS AND CULTURE]

Cha Seung-woo, a former first-generation member of rock band No Brain, formed Cha Seungwoo & The Cousins and returned to the Hongdae club circuit this year.

While veteran acts go back to smaller venues, emerging bands have found success on much larger stages outside Hongdae.

Rock band Touched, which debuted in 2021, sold out its solo concert Highlight III at the 3,000-seat Olympic Hall in southern Seoul in January this year and will hold another solo show, Highlight IV, at the 5,000-seat Ticket Link Live Arena in southern Seoul in January next year.

Jisokuryclub, formed in 2022, sold out all seats at the 900-seat Shinhan Card SOL Pay Square in western Seoul in March and again filled the 2,000-seat Yes24 Live Hall in eastern Seoul for its Dec. 6 and 7 concerts.

Music industry observers expect the trend to continue.

“More listeners are turning to the indie scene to find musical diversity that K-pop, which leans heavily toward dance music, does not fully provide,” pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun said. “Online platforms also allow listeners to discover music they like without necessarily going to venues.”

The return of offline stages has also helped fuel the revival. University festivals and large-scale music festivals have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Band Jisokuryclub and fans. [JISOKURYCLUB]

EBS's “Space Sympathy” will resume its free concert series next year, while the emerging-artist program “Hello Rookie Contest” will also return after budget constraints halted the projects in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Programs that support indie bands’ live performances and music releases are also thriving.

Competition for the CJ Cultural Foundation’s Tune Up program, a program that discovers emerging indie musicians and provides funding and mentorship, intensified to 131 applicants per slot this year after falling to 91 applicants per slot during the pandemic.

Public institutions such as Gyeonggi Content Agency’s Indiestance and Seoul Indie Platform’s Indiescovery have also expanded support by providing stage opportunities, production assistance and structured programs that help indie musicians release music and build live performance experience.

“By opening audition stages to the public, we offer residents access to good music and give musicians opportunities to grow,” said Go Young-geun, head of Seoul Indie Platform.

Some critics, however, caution that quantitative growth does not guarantee artistic depth.

“The current indie boom owes more to changes in listening environments than to efforts within the scene itself,” Kim Do-heon, a pop culture critic, said.

Kim Cheon-seong, CEO of the Rollinghall music venue, said some indie labels now resemble K-pop agencies by training musicians and cultivating fandoms.

“This is a moment to rethink what independence in indie music truly means,” Kim said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI MIN-JI [[email protected]]