Traditional Korean percussion music meets street culture

Jul 30, 2019

Traditional Korean percussion group Jin Myung will present their one-hour performance "Beat the Rhythm" at Mapo Art Center in Seoul on Aug. 2.

Korea's traditional music "gugak" and elements of street culture including b-boying and beatboxing ostensibly seem foreign and disparate to each other. Yet, traditional Korean percussion group Jin Myung has successfully proven that gugak and street culture can make great chemistry together.

The seven-member folk music band has been presenting its fusion performances for the last couple of years. The band has invited three more guest artists, a breakdancer, a beatboxer and a juggler, to its roster, to mix gugak and street culture in new ways.

"It is always a great concern for traditional Korean musicians like us that gugak is perceived as somewhat boring or lacking pop culture elements. So we deeply pondered the issue; what would make gugak more appealing to the masses? We were inspired by street busking performances, and decided to add elements of street culture and street performances, like b-boys and beatboxers," Jin Myung's member and producer Park Jang-hyun, 32, said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

While they began mixing gugak and street culture about two years ago, the band itself dates back even earlier. Four members of the music group ― You Byoung-wook, Park Jang-hyun, Park Sung-kyu, and Park Bu-hyun ― met in their early teens during an after-school activity class in their first year of middle school. They signed up for the after-school lessons on traditional Korean percussion music, and for the next three years, they were always together, learning and practicing traditional Korean music. They even performed across the country under a teacher's guidance.

It was an all-male middle school, and we were required to take one after-school activity class. While most students chose to learn computers or play football, we were all drawn to the traditional Korean performance class without knowing the reason. Since there were four of us, and the percussion music genre samulnori also requires four musicians, we learned how to perform samulnori. Since then, we became a performing troupe, performing across the nation," the group's member Park explained about Jin Myung's beginnings.

The four have been together for the last 20 years. They all went to the National High School of Traditional Korean Arts, and then studied traditional Korean music and performance at Chung-Ang University together. It is amazing that they could stay together throughout high school and university considering the small number of admitted students, especially when considering they all underwent separate admission screenings. They even served in the same performance unit during their mandatory military service.

"During high school, we named our group Jin Myung. During university and the military service, we scouted three more members, Jeong Yil-young, Gwon Yeong-ung and Choi Soo-bin. Now we are a seven-member team that really feels just like a family. We've been together for so long and we depended on one another," Park said.

While the group currently presents fusion performances, Park explains that 20 percent of their performances are still pure traditional Korean percussion music.

"We still perform a very traditional form of samulnori. We think it is integral that we continue to have our traditional roots at the center of our creation; from the firm traditional roots, we create something new and fresh," Park said, adding that the public still seems to respond easily to the fusion performances.

Besides the percussion music group's integration of elements of b-boying and beatboxing, it has tried to add traditional percussion music of other countries.

"In university, we learned traditional music of other countries. It was so much fun to learn, and we were inspired to integrate these world music elements in our performances. For example, we made some of our repertoires with the Australian didgeridoo or Scottish bagpipes. We each learned the instruments, and played them together with the traditional Korean percussion music," Park said.

One of their original pieces is also called "Marching Janggu," inspired by Western marching bands. They combine many sets of janggu, a Korean hourglass-shaped drum, to replicate the drumline of a marching band, while employing traditional Korean beats.

With numerous pieces created by themselves under the lead of You Byoung-wook, artistic director of the group, the band now performs about 60 times a year, both in Korea and abroad. It especially garnered a passionate following during performances in foreign countries. Last year alone, the group performed in about 10 countries, including Brazil, Italy, Germany and Turkey.

They are considered as 'gugak-dol,' meaning a sort of idol group performing gugak music. It is very rewarding to see them getting an instant following and evoking passionate reactions from audiences," said Lee Kang-il, CEO of RiverOne Company, Jin Myung's managing agency.

The percussion group members said the charms of traditional Korean music lies in its free spirit and natural excitement. They hope to share the fun and joy of Korea's music traditions with more audiences, both in Korea and around the world.

"We hope to continue developing traditional Korean percussion music, and newly present its charms to audiences. Although it's sometimes painful to create new pieces, we aim to present fresh and moving performances for larger audiences," Park said.

Jin Myung will perform "Beat the Rhythm" at Mapo Art Center on Aug. 2 at 8 p.m. It is also slated to perform in Brunei in September, followed by concerts in Incheon and Gurye later this year.