Coetzer Rautenbach, AKA Juge, poses in central Seoul's Haebangchon, June 26. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Hailing from South Africa's Kalahari Desert, Coetzer Rautenbach is probably Korea's most eccentric creative type. He makes everything from music, photos and videos, to fruit wines, an Afrikaaner moonshine called mampoer, pickles and even condiments, including a killer pineapple relish.

He's just started his latest project, the YouTube channel Juge is Cuddly, where he pairs videos he's made exploring abandoned places all across Korea with his self-made soundtrack, ranging from EDM to dark industrial techno.

"For the videos, each song is made specially for that location, for that video," he told The Korea Times. "I start the editing process by adding all the clips together, then cutting out all the obviously unnecessary parts. After that, I have a better idea of how long the song should be."

Juge is just one of his many creative personas. It comes from a notoriously bad spelling error in a DIY tattoo he received back in South Africa.

"When I was 17 years old, I was in a terrible punk band in a tiny mining town in the Kalahari desert," he said. "One day … each one of us drank a bottle of vodka without mix, so we were absolutely trashed. At some point, I had the brilliant idea to give each other tattoos. While the others went to the supermarket to steal the black stove polish, I got to work building the machine with a motor, a fork and a pen. We stood in a circle. The one to your right decided what you get, while the one to your left decided where, as long as it can be covered by summer clothing."

Rautenbach ended up with a tattoo that said "Only Me Will Juge Me," with a significant misspelling on the word "Judge."

Coetzer Rautenbach, AKA Juge, shows off his "Only Me Will Juge Me" tattoo at Phillies, Dec. 3, 2022. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

He decided not to fix it after one of the people involved in its creation died in a car crash while heading to a party to meet Rautenbach. The tattoo is still visible, over 20 years later.

Coetzer Rautenbach, AKA Juge, DJs at a party. Courtesy of Sarah Buhler

"When I moved to the city a few years later, I made friends who called me Juge," he said. "It just stuck."

It's a nicer name than one of his other projects, a four-word phrase of which only two words are just about nice enough to be publishable in this paper: "You Scum." He abbreviates the name to FYSF.

That name also came out of a tattoo idea he had. "But my brother refused to design it. A few weeks later I started the project," he said.

With FYSF, he creates noise techno aided by a Volca Beats synthesizer.

"All songs with this project were made in single takes, with no mixing or mastering. "Everything heard is played at that time like a live performance but instead I'm sitting on my bed," he said. "The lyrics I come up with as I'm playing, and no song can be duplicated but there can be some overlap. There is no computer involved anymore — only synthesizers, many pedals and a microphone."

Since then, he also created a new project called kragboks, a noise project incorporating his DIY musical instruments and various guitar pedals.

"In Korea, those grey metal boxes on the sidewalks, they contain transformers. In South Africa, especially in Afrikaans, they are called 'kragboks,'" he explained about the project name. "But some kid who wants to tell the world that he is strong and tough might also call himself kragboks because 'krag' can also mean 'strong.'"

He's been making his own DIY music instruments for a while. "Making them can be more fun than playing said instruments," he said.

When he decided to start promoting his music online, he had to think about how to present all these projects. "When I joined Bandcamp, I had to decide between joining as an artist or as a label," he said. "Since I had three projects at that time already, the choice was obvious, but then I had to come up with a name for a label. I was drinking Ja Nee Fok brandy at the time." The first two words of "Ja Nee Fok" translate into English as "Yes No."

He's just released four more albums, including Juge's "Music To Listen To While Walking Through Abandoned Buildings," a collection of compositions themed on actual sounds heard in abandoned places. "The album now has only six tracks. I took one off because it seemed to not fit the theme," he said. "Still, the six tracks total 51 minutes."

And if that isn't weird enough for you, how about FYSF's two-track "I'm a Punk Rock Loser" released the same day?

Or if those don't get your goat, try kragboks' latest two albums, "wanorde" and "doom."

Rautenbach has DJed a few shows over the last couple of years. He's also interested in doing guerrilla gigs and doing more collaborations with other musicians. Although his music doesn't have a ton of fans, those who are into it are very into it. But he isn't encouraging of anyone looking to give his music a try.

"It shouldn't be listened to, ever, by anyone," he said, "but if you absolutely must torture yourself, it might make a good soundtrack for burning down the world."

Coetzer Rautenbach, AKA Juge, holds up items he found in an abandoned apartment in central Seoul, Aug. 1. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

For those who won't take his warning, he will DJ at Docking Around in western Seoul on Thursday, and he'll be back there on Dec. 30 for a New Year's/Apocalypse event.

Visit youtube.com/@JugeIsCuddly to see his EDM urban exploration videos, or janeefok.bandcamp.com for all his music projects. Or visit juge.co.za to see his photography and learn more about his DIY instruments.