Drinking Boys and Girls Choir

I read a lot of articles about bands to watch out for and best bands of the year and a couple of magazines, (Paste Magazine and SPIN) both agreed that Drinking Boys and Girls Choir is one band you should be listening to. Despite the difficulty for many people who probably don’t understand Korean, their music transcends the boundaries of language. So let me introduce you to Drinking Boys and Girls Choir

Q: Today, I’m speaking with Drinking Boys and Girls Choir from South Korea. First off, great name of the band. How did you decide on the name? And who are the members & who plays what instrument?

A: At first, we had no idea about the band’s name, so we just practiced and made songs. After some point we needed the name and just put some concepts like, “we are drinking, we looks like teenager and we want to sing along”. That’s it. MJ sings and on drums, Meena sings and plays bass Jung Hoon sings and plays guitar.

Q: The band is based out of Daegu, which has approximately 2.5M people (that’s 1.5M more than the state I live in here in the United States) but Seoul has 3 times more in population. Did you ever consider living in Seoul to reach a bigger audience with your music? What do you like most about living in Daegu?

A: Over 10 years ago, MJ and Meena went to Seoul to be a rockstar and came back. At that time, all the kids that doing indie music thought that Seoul was the KEY but it wasn’t. Besides, these days, we don’t need to go somewhere outside of hometown more. We can take transportation easily and we don’t need to worry about high cost of living in the capital.

Q: Let’s talk about your music… your latest album release, Marriage License, is really good. (Mind you, I don’t understand what you are singing about) but it doesn’t matter. Your sound is so great, it’s classic punk pop, mosh pit, skate punk, head nodding fun!! Who writes the songs? What are some of your favorite tracks on the album and why?

A: We write songs everybody in the band but if you know the details you can find it on streaming site or something. We made this album with particular ideas about discrimination. So every song had their own idea and beauty. Want not to choose a favorite song.

Q: The band released a single, Linda Linda, in 2020 in two different languages that wasn’t on either album. Was this something special? What is this song about? (I’m partial to this song because that’s my name, maybe use it as my theme song? 😁)

A: Oh Linda! The song is a cover of a Japanese band named The Blue Hearts famous song, “Linda Linda”. You should check the original song. In Japanese version, we just covered the song in our way but in Korean version, we wrote the lyrics. It is about some feelings from trashy Korean drama that Meena was watching.

Q: What do you guys do for fun when not performing?

A: Just keep rest, some workout and care snails.

Q: This is for all of you: Who are you listening to right now on your music playlists?

A: Get The Most; Kirara, Ellegarden

Q: So I read an article that your band has had a couple of run ins with police at your shows lecturing the band on drug use. Tell me about these experiences, that must’ve been surreal.

A: The gig organizer was included on the drug use. We couldn’t understand the Indonesian so we noticed that the problem was about drug use after all situation was done. It was quite terrifying and puzzled because in Indonesia, we couldn’t find some beer easily so we thought we do not anything wrong.

Q: Have your families been supportive of your music careers? Are they some of your biggest fans?

A: We have some fans that come almost every gig and write good and touching reviews. It is also very helpful to keep doing this.

Q: Will you be going on tour in the Spring (depending on COVID situations)

A: All depending on COVID circumstances. We have day jobs so if the quarantine is not disappear, we may not go anywhere overseas.

Q: Where can fans find your music and merchandise?

A: Outside of Korea, we recommend Bandcamp…And inside of Korea, you can find some of our stuff in the venue of Naver store. Thanks!

Thank you to DBGC for the interview.. It’s great to see that punk music is flourishing all over the world.. Be sure to check the band on Spotify as well and Apple Music.

I’m hoping to bring more interviews your way in the next few weeks. Any bands you might suggest for an interview, please drop me a msg on my IG or my email at mewzickkismylife@gmail.com.

Until then, I’m Your Music Stylist.