Haebangchon braces for multiple music festivals

The poster for Block Party / Courtesy of Block Party

By Jon Dunbar

Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon neighborhood had been gearing up for three multi-venue live music festivals over the next month ― sarcastically referred to as "Rocktober" by one participating musician in light of the confusion over the different events ― but the number has now been reduced to two.

The first festival coming to the neighborhood is Block Party, happening this month on Sept. 24. It's the work of Platform Magazine, a locally made English-language magazine that's released four issues so far.

The event is happening close to the birthday of Platform co-founder Jamie Finn, who confided that he thought it was the only way to get a good group of people out to celebrate his birthday.

"Please don't tell anyone that I don't have any friends," he told The Korea Times.

But Finn certainly has no lack of friends, looking at the lineup of 40 acts playing at five venues across Haebangchon and nearby Gyeongnidan in Itaewon, as well as the army of volunteers helping out.

"Through our work on Platform Magazine, covering music and art, we've made connections with so many great musicians," Finn said. "When we told them our plans to do a music festival, they were eager to get involved. Acts like Billy Carter, OhChill, Yangbans, Love X Stereo and more are all playing this event after being featured in our magazine."

The festival also includes several acts that are better known in the area.

"There are so many great musicians already working in the area ― some of whom appear on our lineup," he said, "but the aim of Block Party is to grow the scene. We wanted to invite performers who maybe don't play here that often who will bring a bigger audience to the area. It's an admittedly small step, but one that we hope will help lead to a bit of a rejuvenation of the HBC music scene."

Finn started Platform with Ella Kail and Sam Choi early in the pandemic.

"We originally started Platform Magazine because of COVID-19 ― which is partly why we never ever mention the pandemic in the magazine!" Finn said.

The three of them make up the core team for both Platform and Block Party.

Jamie Finn holds a copy of Platform Magazine. / Courtesy of Jamie Finn

"We all share an insatiable enthusiasm for music, art and films outside the mainstream," Finn said. "Our goal throughout all of this is to help give a platform ― ahem ― to artists and performers who might not get that much coverage, especially English-language coverage."

Finn struggles to hide his excitement for Block Party.

"It's so hard to choose," he said when asked which musicians he's most excited to see. "I love so many of the acts on here but gun to my head ― Hyangni. She's a genius. She makes really eclectic, forward-thinking electronic music and her performances are supposed to be absolutely wild."

He also namedropped the newly formed punk band Sailor Honeymoon, as well as Hongbi and Pop Ents.

But, he added, he's not sure if he'll see any of them, due to his duties during the day-long festival which runs late into the night. "There's every chance I'll miss most of the performances because I'll be running around putting out fires," he admitted.

The members of Pop Ents, an indie/alt-rock/post-punk band that will be playing at Block party / Courtesy of Pop Ents

Before Finn came to Korea, he was already publishing similar magazines, starting with No-Wave Magazine in his university town of Kent in the U.K. In 2014 he moved to Korea, first living in the southwestern city of Gwangju where he started the blog Keun Soli.

"The first acts I ever wrote about were Say Sue Me, Lang Lee and Aseul, which are still among my favorites," he said.

He kept the project going until about 2018, and moved to Seoul in 2019.

"Everywhere I go, I always get drawn into local music," he said. "For me, that's where my love for music comes from ― the grassroots. The Korean alternative scene is full of incredible talent who deserve recognition."

Finn has settled in the Haebangchon area, and DJs regularly at local venues, as well as putting on shows locally as well as in other parts of Seoul.

"I love HBC! It's a little creative hub with some amazing venues and a crazy diverse group of musicians, poets, painters, performers, whatever! There are relatively few franchises here compared to the rest of Seoul, and the rent is cheap," he said. "I'm glad that places like this exist."

The members of Gorymurgy, the "lo-est-fi band in South Korea," who will be playing at Block Party this weekend / Courtesy of Gorymurgy

Tickets to Block Party cost 30,000 won, which is a departure from other festivals in the area, which tend to be no-cover, high-volume and heavy traffic, while also not taking any sponsorship money or government funding.

"Doing so has allowed us to attract some big, exciting names to the event. Acts who are doing international tours and picking up millions of hits on YouTube and Spotify are playing at Block Party, and that wouldn't be possible without selling tickets," he said.

"Our focus right now is getting this year's event done and making it a great day for both ticketholders and performers. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been already thinking about next year's Block Party, though. I'd love to grow the event ― maybe more venues, maybe a multi-day event? But let's see."

The number of tickets to be sold is limited to 350, calculated based on the capacity of the five participating venues. Finn stressed that the money from tickets will be used to pay the musicians.

'Rocktober'?

The local music scene has been mired in confusion for the last couple weeks, after conflicting information came out about two more possible music festivals to be held a month from now.

Ryan Goessl, conductor of Camarata Chorale and Camarata Chamber Orchestra as well as owner of live music venue The Studio HBC, had introduced an upcoming festival titled Haebangchon Indie Music Festival advertised for the second-last weekend of October.

But many people mistook this event for Hae Bang Chon (HBC) Festival, which has been held twice annually in the area since 2006. Goessl posted on social media trying to explain that this was a separate new event, with many differences to set it apart from HBC Festival.

Meanwhile, HBC Festival co-founder Lance Reegan-Diehl also announced the return of his own event. He said he has been planning for the last couple years to hold a belated 15th anniversary. The festival had been put on hold due mainly to the pandemic. As well, he had moved away a few years ago to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. But he hasn't disappeared, still operating Deeleebob Music, which includes space for studio recording and practice in the Haebangchon area. Reegan-Diehl added that he has already obtained permission from local police to operate the festival, as it is known to create high volumes of foot traffic in the area requiring police control of the main road.

Lance Reegan-Diehl, co-founder of HBC Festival, performs at Choi's Place in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Sept 17. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The multiple event announcements left performers and venues confused, and concerns were raised about having to choose between them. Some even withdrew their involvement, and there were calls for the two festivals to be unified.

The situation was resolved following a face-to-face meeting held on Sept. 19. The two organizers ― who have done a lot of business together in the past ― reached an agreement to hold a single event, the original HBC Festival to be run by Reegan-Diehl.

When asked whether The Studio HBC would be a participating venue in this edition of HBC Festival, both Goessl and Reegan-Diehl gave cautious but optimistic signals.

The 15th anniversary edition of HBC Festival will run for three days, from Oct. 21 to 23. There is no entry fee. Bands that had signed up for Goessl's previously announced festival will have to reapply to play HBC Festival.

Meanwhile, Block Party, happening this weekend, looks to have evaded this quagmire. The event has major differences from HBC Fest, as it invites several new bands to the area and is also expected to bring in a different crowd from HBC Festival. Also since there is a ticket price, it will result in much less foot traffic in the area.

Finn, who has attended HBC Festival events in the past, said, "We all share the same goal of putting this area on the musical map and giving people a great day of live music. Maybe one day Rocktober Haebangchon can be our own South by Southwest? That would be fun."

Visit blockpartykorea.com for more information about Block Party this weekend, or go to deeleebob.com for information about the 15th-anniversary HBC Festival next month.