Korean, US punk bands team up for split album

The members of Seoul punk band WinningShot / Courtesy of WinningShot

By Jon Dunbar

Live music venues are closed these days, some until the pandemic ends and some permanently, but punk bands here and in other countries are still making good use of their time.

The members of Korean pop-punk band WinningShot haven't let the cancellations get them down.

"It's a tough situation, but we are overcoming it in our own way," WinningShot guitarist/vocalist Kwon Ki-hwan told The Korea Times.

They were set to tour Japan last year, where they would have crossed paths with Kids On Fire, a melodic street pop-punk band from Seattle. The two bands would have played the same show on March 19, but the pandemic got in the way.

When the tour fell through, Jeff Moses at WinningShot's Seoul-based label, World Domination, Inc. (WDI), reached out to Kids On Fire and proposed putting together a split album with WinningShot.

"Actually this is one of the few positives that came out of the pandemic," said Kevin LaBarre, drummer of Kids On Fire, which is named after a religious group from the 2006 documentary, "Jesus Camp," that amused them. "We jumped at the opportunity to make some new friends and put out an awesome 7" with another killer band."

Both bands contributed two songs each, and the untitled album came out on Feb. 19. WinningShot recorded at Binary Studios in Seoul, run by WDI. The Korean album cover was designed by Moses' wife, Trash, president of WDI and owner of Rebellion Ink tattoo shop near Ewha Womans University. The U.S. version has different album art.

WinningShot's two songs are both about the "pain of creation." According to Kwon, the song "198" is about how passion helps overcome the pain caused by creation, and "The Sweetest Pain" is about all the memories they've created and now moved beyond.

Members of the Seoul punk band WinningShot pose with copies of their split record with Seattle band, Kids On Fire. / Courtesy of World Domination, Inc.

Kids On Fire's song, "Raise Your Glass," is about taking stock of one's life and pushing forward to overcome obstacles, and "Different Chords" is about the comfort offered by punk music.

"Punk rock has always been there to make us feel better," said Mikey Haha, guitarist/vocalist of Kids On Fire. "Playing just three simple chords has the capacity to change your outlook or raise your spirits, give you confidence to keep moving and a way to express yourself. For a lot of us, this music is what fuels us and keeps us feeling alive. It keeps us going, so this song was meant to celebrate that and celebrate the music that fulfills and completes us."

"We appreciate everyone who buys our music and we don't want to let them down at the same time," Kwon said. "Right after completing everything, I always wonder if this was the best we could do. Now, I just want people who bought the album not to regret it."

"WinningShot kicked it out of the park," LaBarre said. "Their recordings sound awesome and we can't wait to reschedule our Japan tour once things open back up. We plan to add a few extra days to the tour for South Korea so we can come over and play some shows with WinningShot. Also we hope to have them come over to the U.S. so we can do a tour with them stateside."

The Korean band came "out of nowhere" in 2018, releasing a handful of small recordings and touring Malaysia before the pandemic hit.

"The first time I heard WinningShot was two years ago through a live video someone posted on Facebook," Moses recalled. "I remember I called Trash up immediately and was like 'How is there a band this good in Korea and we don't know anyone in the band?' We knew right away that we wanted them on the label."

Moses paired WinningShot together with Kids On Fire, a band he's taken an interest in. "We always pair up bands who like each other's music," he explained.

"Whenever we send WDI bands on tour in the U.S., they always spend a good amount of time playing shows around the Pacific Northwest, so I always try to keep track of the bands from there. Seattle has a great punk scene and Kids On Fire is one of the best new pop-punk bands to come out of that scene."

The Seattle punk band, Kids On Fire / Courtesy of Kids On Fire

Kids On Fire has been working hard despite the pandemic cutting the band off from performing in front of live audiences.

"Although there haven't been any live shows in the last year, most bands we know, including ourselves, are writing new albums, doing livestreams and coming up with cool ideas to keep things going while we wait for things to open back up," LaBarre said. "As soon as shows start again, there are going to be a lot of bands here that will definitely be coming out swinging."

The band is finishing up its second full-length album and recently released a video for the song, "Rain City Forever," which is a love song to Seattle, with videos of friends and fans singing along while stuck at home.

Kids On Fire is on the Seattle label, Tiny Dragon Music, run by Drew Smith. The two labels began their relationship in 2011 when Moses toured the U.S. with his own band, …Whatever That Means (WTM). Smith returned the favor by touring Korea in 2017 with his band, Burn Burn Burn. The two bands released a similar format seven-inch split album on vinyl in 2016. The labels also released another split between Korean band, Full Garage and U.S. band Crab Legs, as well as a mini-album for Busan punk band, Sidecar.

Moses explained this method of "seven-inch diplomacy" WDI has pursued, which is intended to support Korean bands touring overseas.

"Split albums are a great way for bands to get exposure in other parts of the world," he said. "We try to pair WDI bands with bands in parts of the world they want to tour in the future. That way, when they get there, some people already know who they are."

Copies of the album are available in Korea and the U.S., in both vinyl and mp3 format. The vinyl makes a great collector's item, and the digital version is available for convenience.

"There's just something that feels good about holding a vinyl record with your music on it," he said. "It's way more satisfying that clicking on an mp3. The average Korean punk fan would be just as happy with mp3s or a CD, but I think more and more of them are starting to appreciate the records. And we always make sure to include free mp3 downloads, since a lot of them don't actually have record players."

WDI recently released its third "World Domination" album, which features one song each from four bands from four countries. It is also gearing up to release its third "Them and Us" full-length album, which features almost a dozen bands contributing two songs each: a cover and an original. The list of bands includes his own WTM, as well as the Daejeon band, Burning Hepburn, along with Beacon, Ultralazy, TalkBats!, Smoking Goose and of course WinningShot.

Visit fb.com/winningshot.kr or wdikorea.com for more information, or winningshot-kr.bandcamp.com to listen to the mini-album.