Event Preview | Zandari Festa 2015 (MusiCube)

It was announced back in August that the popular Sound City event would be expanding from Liverpool to Seoul, South Korea, thanks to the International Showcasing Scheme funded by Arts Council England and The British Council. The perfect partner over there? Zandari Festa, an increasingly renowned indie-led music festival that runs over three days - this year 2nd-4th October - in the 'cool' Hongdae area of the capital city. What can people expect, though? Well, on behalf of our sister radio show K-Pop Korner, Cubed3's MusiCube series has put together some choice quotes from artists performing there this year, as well as providing video clips from what to expect in terms of their live music. Settle down and enjoy...

LudiSTELO's Vocalist and Synthesiser Player, Sangjin Park

Why do you think Zandari Festa is a good festival for Korea's indie scene?

Zandari Festa is the only festival in Korea that artists themselves are in charge of. Through our showcases, we can promote ourselves to listeners who are not familiar with us. We are very happy while we are participating in Zandari Festa.

How do you feel about Korea's indie scene starting to become more popular overseas?

It's good. There are many styles of music in Korea besides K-Pop and there are many excellent bands, including us. We hope more of these bands can become known to listeners around the world.

What can people expect from Ludistelo's performance at Zandari Festa 2015?

They can expect to feel the atmosphere in the venue change when we begin to play! For an hour, we're going to impress people with our music and well-directed performance.

Does Ludistelo have any plans to tour in the UK in the future?

We don't have any plans yet, but we really want to play in the UK one day because the culture and music of the UK has influenced us deeply. We hope we can share Ludistelo's music in the UK in the future.

Maan's Guitarist, Kim Peri

Why do you think Zandari Festa is a good festival for Korea's indie scene?

The Korean music scene is relatively small compared with the music scenes in other countries. The Korean indie scene is even smaller. Zandari Festa lets Korean and overseas audiences know about Korean indie musicians. I think this is one of the festival's greatest strengths. Actually, there are many other reasons why Zandari Festa is good for Korea's indie scene, but I think just saying "Zandari Festa is a very fun festival!" is enough to explain things.

What can people expect from Maan's performance at Zandari Festa 2015?

We don't want to use lots of adjectives to describe our music or to express grandiose ambitions. Please just enjoy what you hear. Jump when you want to jump or dance when you want to dance. Smile or cry. We welcome any kind of audience participation.

Does Maan have any plans to tour in the UK in the future?

Not yet, but we'd love to tour there someday. Many musicians that we admire are from the UK. Just thinking about one day being able to tour there makes me excited.

Oops Nice's Vocalist and Guitarist, Maho Yang

Many people come to Seoul's Hongdae area, but most of them do not know about the indie music culture here. Zandari Festa showcases Hongdae's indie music scene.

How do you feel about Korea's indie scene starting to become more popular overseas?

It's great to see more musicians getting the chance to share their music with people around the world.

What can people expect from Oops Nice's performance at Zandari Festa 2015?

We're going to be playing some new music that hasn't been released yet!

Does Oops Nice have any plans to tour in the UK in the future?

Not yet, but of course we'd love to go there. We'd love the chance to tour in the UK, so please check out our music and we hope to see you there one day.

Sultan of the Disco's Vocalist, Nahzam Sue

Why do you think Zandari Festa is a good festival for Korea's indie scene?

There are many great festivals in Korea, but Zandari Festa is the only festival that gives the impression of "all the music scenes moving forward together," and it takes place in Seoul's Hongdae area, which is the epicentre of Korea's indie scene. As well, an increasing number of overseas artists and industry professionals are visiting the festival each year and this creates valuable networking opportunities for Korean indie musicians.

How do you feel about Korea's indie scene starting to become more popular overseas?

Korea's music scene is heavily biased towards K-Pop idols and the indie scene is not popular enough, but I think Korea's indie scene is one of the most dynamic indie scenes in the world, and I think that's why it is beginning to gain popularity abroad. However, it is hard to be active abroad due to the language barrier and the financial cost. I think a long-term plan needs to be developed to help bands with these things.

What can people expect from Sultan of the Disco's performance at Zandari Festa 2015?

Our performances our known to get everyone dancing at the show! We're also preparing a performance like this for Zandari Festa. People coming to see Sultan of the Disco play can expect the best performance at Zandari Festa!

Sultan of the Disco played in the UK at Glastonbury in 2014. Do you hope to come back to the UK to play more concerts and other festivals in the future?

Yes, we definitely want to do that! The crowd at Glastonbury gave us one of the best audience reactions we've ever experienced. We'll never forget that. I really regret that we didn't play any other gigs in the UK when we were there for Glastonbury. However, early next year we'll release our second full-length album and plan a world tour. Hopefully we can come back and play more concerts in the UK!

Johnny Sands

It's a privilege to be able to come over from the UK to play in Korea! I'm really excited to come to the capital city of Seoul for the first time to play for everyone.

What can Korean audiences expect from your performance at Zandari Festa?

Something unique and original! It will be a spontaneous, heartfelt performance like no other!

How will you be choosing your set to appeal to a new audience at Zandari Festa?

I will decide my set on the day at the gig, as I always do. I like to go with where the feeling takes me.

The Tea Street Band's Vocalist and Guitarist, Timo Tierney

It means a lot. Obviously being from a city like Liverpool we don't have to explain where in the world we're from. Just say "Liverpool" and everyone knows the place. To travel this far away from home to play music and give a representation of the arts in the UK is amazing. We're really proud to be flying the flag. It's an honour.

What can Korean audiences expect from your performance at Zandari Festa?

Upbeat songs with the formula of the obvious pop song. We want people to enjoy the whole show. We can't wait.

How will you be choosing your set to appeal to a new audience at Zandari Festa?

We had our debut album out in the UK last year and toured a lot. A lot of the time supporting other bands so we had to sculpt our set to appeal to the new ears. We won a lot of new fans over here so we're expecting to do the same at Zandari Festa.