Imported Music: Gwangju’s International Bands

Note: The band Poster Child was dissolved after the publication of this story.

12 years ago, a Canadian musician named Dave Martin traveled to Seoul in order to recruit musicians to play at Speakeasy, his pub in Gwangju. He found some and after their positive experiences, word quickly spread that Speakeasy was a great place for bands to play. Derek Hannon, the bar’s current owner, has seen a great many musical talents come through over the years, and enjoyed the ride.

“Even if they aren’t from Gwangju, most bands want to play their last gig here,” Derek explained. “Nobody sits. Everybody is in your face dancing. It gets nutty when bands come.”

One local musical gem which occasionally plays there is Malarkey. The band began as a trio of heavy rockers but has since evolved to showcase more diverse musical styles and appeal to a wider audience. Now they perform as a cover band as well as compose music of their own. The band has toured all over South Korea, but the recent exodus of a few members left the group seeking new musicians.

Its lone original member, Dan Lloyd, has been a part of the Gwangju music scene for many years, playing in the locally popular band Feed the Boats and the Dave Martin Band. He explained that one of the biggest difficulties of having a band in South Korea is that many expats are more interested in traveling and pursuing other experiences than committing to practice and performing regularly, so recruiting new members is hard.

However, Malarkey has re-vamped its line-up with a new lead guitarist, bassist and keyboardist. At time of writing, the members were excited to play their next live show at Speakeasy’s Halloween party on Saturday, November 1. The returning band members spoke of the last show they played at Speakeasy as the most fun they have had in the band. “It was our home crowd. We fed them energy and they fed us energy.”

A new addition to the waeguk music scene is a band named Poster Child, which began six months ago when singer Lisa Crone decided to try her hand at starting a band. Poster Child is a cover band with a growing arsenal of songs. Like Malarkey, they are also working on developing their own original content. Most of their shows have been at Speakeasy on Jazz Night, but their last performance was at AlleyCon, where they pleased the crowd by rocking the house in original Star Trek outfits.

The members of these bands have varying levels of musical experience, but they share common ideas and sentiments about playing in a band. They are passionate about music and entertainment, enjoy the connections they make with each other and their audiences, and maintain a high work ethic, sacrificing their time and energy to prepare for performances.

“You have to make a choice; it’s an everyday decision to put forth the effort,” said Dan from Malarkey.

Go out and support our local foreigner bands while they treat you to great times and performances. The dates for upcoming shows at Speakeasy include: Saturday, November 1 (Halloween Party with Malarkey); Saturday, November 8 (Hypnotic’s Album Release); Friday, November 14 (Jazz Night with Flying Jazz); and Saturday, November 29 (Angry Bear).