Seoul punk band ...Whatever That Means performs during IT'S A FEST! 2023 at Muui Island's Hanagae Beach in Incheon, June 17, 2023. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

It's been over 15 years since Trash and Jeff Moses got married, and started the melodic punk band that would become known as ...Whatever That Means (WTM). It's also been 10 years since they released their second full-length album, "Sixty-Eight, Twenty-Two," and it's been five years since they founded IT'S A FEST! (IAF), a music festival at Incheon's Hanagae Beach.

They're busy celebrating all these feats together, having just announced the lineup for IAF 2024, and preparing for an anniversary show this weekend with Japanese band The Dahlia.

"I can't believe how much time has passed. I remember when we were just getting started back in 2009/2010, the Geeks celebrated their 10th anniversary and I was like, 'Wow. I can't imagine being in a band for 10 years,' but now here we are," Jeff told The Korea Times. "Just being in a band for 15 years, there are so many memories attached to the whole thing. Writing music together, touring, way too many late nights out after shows, lots of highs and lows with the things we hoped to accomplish, members coming and going..."

Trash and Jeff perform during the first ...Whatever That Means show at the now-closed Club Spot near western Seoul's Hongik University, Feb. 28, 2009, on their wedding night. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Originally started by Jeff with some friends visiting temporarily for the wedding, Trash soon joined her husband later playing bass. Then in 2014 they added Bialy on guitar for a one-week tour to Malaysia and Singapore.

"That was supposed to be it, but we were very fortunate that he chose to stay on after that. So the three of us have been through a lot together," Jeff said. "I think WTM has famously gone through a lot of members over the years, but we've been blessed to have a solid core of members for the last 10 years."

The position behind the drums has always been more of a revolving door for them, but they're hoping that will change with Hwangyong, who joined the band a little over a year ago.

Seoul punk band ...Whatever That Means films a music video for the song "Sixty-Eight, Twenty-Two" in Trash and Jeff's now-demolished home in western Seoul's Yeomni-dong, May 5, 2014. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

For the show this Saturday, Jeff said they'll play their longest set ever, going for more than an hour and playing 20 songs. He said they will play the entirety of the "Sixty-Eight, Twenty-Two" album, "plus a few really really old school songs we haven't played since our 10th anniversary show."

WTM will be joined this Saturday by the longlived Korean streetpunk band Rux and hardcore band Geeks, as well as Long Time No Shit and Busan punk band Stoned.

Seoul punk band ...Whatever That Means plays a 10th-anniversary show at Club SHARP in western Seoul's Mangwon-dong, Feb. 23, 2019. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

As well, The Dahlia will be flying in from Japan for this show.

"They're a great punk rock band with so much energy. They've got a killer frontwoman and put on a really fun show," Jeff said. "They're also way younger than us. These days, there's a really limited amount of new, young punk rock bands here in Korea, so it's good to see that there is still a new younger generation of punk bands coming up."

Jeff said they crossed paths with The Dahlia while on tour in Japan last April, and they played more shows together on WTM's second 2023 Japan tour in December.

Meanwhile, Jeff and Trash are working hard to hold the third edition of the festival, which will last for three days from June 14 to 16.

"The format is exactly the same as last year. We'll be doing an acoustic night on the beach Friday night as a sort of soft opening. That was a new addition last year, but everyone had a great time, so we decided to stick with it. The main fest will be Saturday and Sunday. KraemerLee will be back slinging beers, and we're hoping to have a couple food trucks come to the festival this year to help offer fest-goers some more variety throughout the weekend. But yeah, overall, should be the same great weekend-long beach party punk rock festival," Jeff said.

This year's IAF has three overseas bands, plus 15 local acts playing various styles of punk, hardcore, reggae and ska. The three visiting bands are familiar faces in the Korean scene — Malaysian skate punk band Iman's League who will be making their seventh visit to Korea, and Japanese bands the Skippers and Tortionals.

Iman, frontman of Singaporean skate punk band Iman's League, performs at the first IT'S A FEST! on Muui Island's Hanagae Beach in Incheon, June 15, 2019. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The headlining acts are local, though. The Geeks will play last on Saturday night. "The Geeks have been the kings of Korean hardcore for more than two decades now, and I can't wait to see them under the lights on the beach Saturday night," Jeff said. "Although, I am a little worried about all the people who tend to wear sandals to the festival — please, bring a pair of close-toed shoes for when the Geeks play!"

And ska-punk band No.1 Korean will close the festival on Sunday, a role that was played last year by Crying Nut.

"We always try to have a really classic Hongdae band close out the festival," Jeff said. "It's a fun way to finish out the weekend and feels like a good way to pay homage to the scene that we love."

Another important band on the schedule is Rux. "Jonghee is the godfather of the Korean punk scene, so it only made sense that we had to have them on the IAF! lineup eventually," Jeff said.

He said that one of the personal highlights for him will be Full Garage, a melodic punk band that has been on hiatus for several years. "I've asked them to play IAF! every year, but they were on a prolonged hiatus," he said. "When I asked this year, I was really happy to finally get the answer I've been waiting for."

Seoul punk band ...Whatever That Means performs during IT'S A FEST! 2023 at Muui Island's Hanagae Beach in Incheon, June 17, 2023.

This year's lineup is notably different from last year's, and Jeff confirmed this was intentional.

"There are five bands on this year's lineup that played last year, so that's almost a third of the lineup, and that feels about right," he said. "We want to make sure we don't have the same lineup every year, so we decided that we wouldn't book bands more than two years in a row unless there was a real need to do so. That's why we didn't book bands like Burning Hepburn, Smoking Goose and WinningShot this year but will probably call them again next year. That's why TwoFive, Beacon and End These Days won't get booked next year. The only real exception to the rule is …Whatever That Means because Trash and I are the ones who put the festival together, so we feel fine breaking that rule for ourselves."

The lineup is rounded out with End These Days, Monkey Gang War, TwoFive, Pogo Attack, the Reseters, Beacon, Long Time No Shit, Sweet Gasoline, Idiots and Tom Tom Tom.

"We're really happy with how the lineup turned out this year. It does feel more diverse, but we feel like we're still representing some of the best old and new bands in the scene," Jeff said.

"All the main planning is set. The bands are booked. The merch is designed. The store is open for reservations. There are still a lot of little details to figure out. We're putting together the volunteer staff and prepping for actually managing the festival throughout the weekend. Right now, the biggest thing is just waiting for people to make bungalow reservations and order festival merch so that we can actually afford to pay for this thing."

Volunteers have fun during IT'S A FEST! 2023 at Muui Island's Hanagae Beach in Incheon, June 17, 2023.

He explained that the festival raises funds for IAF through bungalow rentals and merch.

"We don't have any government or corporate backers, so 100 percent of the money comes from selling pension and bungalow rental packages and festival merch packages," he said. "Trash and I cover whatever leftover costs there are out of our own personal finances. We're happy to do it because we love running IAF!, but we hope to find some financial sponsors for the future that will make it much easier to cover the budget, bring over a bigger headliner, and just grow the festival in general."

Visit wdikorea.com/itsafest for more information.