Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Alternative pop band Leenalchi rehearses at the band's studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Park Ji-won
"Three 'beom' (tiger in Korean) a day." This phrase has been commonly used among young music lovers these days to emphasize that one is addicted to repeat listens of "Tiger Is Coming," a song by alternative pop band Leenalchi. The song already garnered over 1.91 million views on YouTube and continues to add to that number.
Some expressed their dedication to the song in the comment section by saying "I have been trapped in this video for more than two days" and "Mom! I realized I love traditional Korean music." The band has performed at major music festivals and appeared in TV commercials while releasing its first album in May.
Leenalchi has performed at major music festivals and appeared in TV commercials, releasing its first album in June with the theme of "Sugungga," one of five surviving traditional narrative "pansori" forms. "Sugungga" is a satirical tale showing the conflict between prey and predator, or the ruler and the people through animal characters such as a turtle and a rabbit.
 |
| Cover image for Leenalchi's first album / Courtesy of Leenalchi |
It appears that they are one of many Korean traditional music bands fusing modern music genres. When Koreans listen to Leenalchi's music, it sounds familiar but new at the same time as it introduces the classic lyrics of folk tales delivered by traditional singing styles, while it also sounds like modern music with abundant groove.
It also offers pungent lyrics like "I will cut open my belly and show you my inside" and "I have no regrets even if my body gets quartered," which contrast with modern pop lyrics and could possibly be censored from broadcast, despite the fact they were crafted centuries ago.
Such a fusion of traditional and modern music genres is not that rare these days, as seen in the cases of SsingSsing and Coreyah. But what makes Leenalchi special is that they aim to make commercial pop music.
 |
| Jang Young-gyu, film score composer and bassist of alternative pop band Leenalchi, holds an interview with The Korea Times in the band's studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
What is "pop" to them is clear. Pop music is something that can make people dance and have fun. That's why they come up with grooves first when arranging a song. The band also actively joins hands with other artistic groups such as Ambiguous Dance Company to add visual aspects to their music.
"We all sort of know what pansori is. But at the same time we are not at all familiar with it. Very few people enjoy the music…. So what now? We thought it is our job to make the traditional music sound simply like popular music, not pansori," Jang added.
The band name comes from Lee Nal-chi, one of the most famous pansori and jultagi (tightrope-walking) masters of the 1880s, to add the taste of "fun." It also sounds crisp and vivid because "nalchi" refers to a flying fish in Korean.
All members participate in coming up with a song in a rhythmic way, like a Wikipedia article written by many contributors. The method is similar to improvisation in the sense that it is creative and spontaneous, but different in terms of actually being composed over time.
"We find it very interesting to count pansori rhythms. It is a different rhythm from that of so-called Western music. I wasn't able to follow the rhythm of pansori with my claps. We start playing instruments and singing from different starting points, but we meet at one place," Jang said.
Lee Na-rae said, "I used to perform as a certain role. For example, I took on the rabbit role in Sugungga when singing it. But for Leenalchi, we vocalists tried to explore possibilities of vocals together by dividing them and combining them in various ways to find what sounds good. I was worried that we may destroy the tradition. But actually it's turned out pretty good."
 |
| Alternative pop band Leenalchi rehearses at its studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. From left are drummer Lee Chul-hee, vocalists Ahn Yi-ho, Shin Yu-jin and Lee Na-rae and bassist Jang Young-gyu. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
"We didn't expect to become this popular," bassist Jeong Jung-yeop said, adding that they don't belong to a big entertainment agency. "So we simply prepared interesting performances for fun."
Vocalist Ahn Yi-ho said, "After our first show (before we had a name), countless people asked us to perform again. When Hyundai Card contacted us for its flagship gig project Understage, we decided to become a band with a proper band name."
For the time being, they said they have few upcoming gigs in Seoul. They are set to perform at Yeowoorak Festival, a flagship summer music festival of the National Theater of Korea, on July 11. But the physical show was canceled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, so performances will be livestreamed for free on YouTube and Naver TV.
They are poised to come up with various ideas for developing their online presence in order to catch up with current trends and communicate with their fans.
"We are preparing to present online-only content amid COVID-19 but it is not interesting to us to release pre-recorded performances online," Jang said.
They hoped to create a band more sustainable and make a living out of Leenalchi so that they can continue the band for "50 and 100 years" together.
Some pin hopes on them to usher in a renaissance of the country's traditional music, following SsingSsing's lead. SsingSsing enjoyed international popularity after performing for NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert in 2017. But Leenalchi's members have their sights set on pop success and aim to create something enjoyable in different media formats.
"BLACKPINK wore modernized hanbok clothes in their recent song. But the girl band did not mean to globalize the garment. With this project, we are just trying to show something fun that can be expressed in music or videos," Jeong added.
Jang said, "We want to be remembered as a band that shared special music with audiences."
 |
| Members of alternative pop band Leenalchi poses during an interview with The Korea Times in the band's studio in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. From left are vocalists Ahn Yi-ho and Lee Na-rae and bassist Jeong Jung-yeop. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
 |
| Seen is alternative pop band Leenalchi. From left are bassist Jeong Jung-yeop, drummer Lee Chul-hee, vocalists Ahn Yi-ho, Lee Na-rae, Kwon Song-hee and Shin Yu-jin and film score director and bassist Jang Young-gyu. Courtesy of Woo Sang-hee Studio |
