Ali and Andy of Bandits perform at HQ Bar in Busan. Courtesy of Nikki Bell

If there's a band in Korea playing anything to do with math, emo, goth or post-punk, and it has foreign members, there's a good chance one of them is Ali, a British Iranian 14-year resident of Korea who lives in Busan.

One of his main projects these days is Bandits, a duo playing music that's "a bit dark and a bit noisy but fun too."

The band name meets the Ali standard: a plural noun, just like Colours, Visuals, Machines, Ghosts, Emperors and Mountains, all bands of which he's been a key member.

Ali is also a member of electro-post-punk band Cloud Underground, and he recently wrapped up stints playing in goth bands Lucy Valentine and Goths on the Beach, although you can tell he didn't have a hand in naming any of those.

For Bandits, he said he got the name from a poster. "Initially I saw a poster advertising a lecture about 'Contextual Bandits' so we considered that for a while but inevitably shortened it to Bandits," he said.

In this band, Ali teams up with Andy, a longtime Ulsan resident who has played in Temper Temper, an Ulsan rock band, and Lost Boys who did country/bluegrass-style covers of pop songs.

"We met when I lived in Ulsan and each wanted to practice playing an instrument we were not totally familiar with in a casual manner," Ali said. "Things clicked and we went from there."

They became a duo for "no reason, just who was available for practice," Ali said, with Ali playing guitar and Andy on drums.

He added they occasionally play with a bassist these days, Marnus of the Busan band Daisy Gun, who mixed Bandits' debut EP, "Nowhere," released June 1.

The cover art for "Nowhere," Bandits' first released recording / Courtesy of Bandits

The album presents five tracks that nail Ali's promise of dark but fun, inspired by alternative, garage and post-punk.

In the song "No One, Nowhere," Ali sings about living in the countryside for three years during the COVID-19 pandemic, "and actually having a great time until I realized I needed to rejoin the world by getting out more and seeing people," he said.

He added that "65 Days Aquatic" is about being lost at sea for a long time, inspired by the novel "Life of Pi" as well as people's real-life experiences. The song title is a nod to the British band 65daysofstatic.

Ali provides most of the vocals on the album in English, with some Farsi lyrics in "Be Nice," a song he borrowed from his earlier band, Machines. There are also guest vocals from members of Mountains as well as Daisy Gun.

"We are really happy with how it came out. Excellent mixing and mastering work, guitars and drums sound big and it makes for a good earphone listen because of the layers of sound we included," Ali said. "It was my first time playing guitar on a record and being the only singer and for that first effort I'm pretty chuffed but I hope to improve for the next time too. I believe Andy would say similar about his drumming performance as well."

Bandits performs in Busan's Basement, July 15, 2023. Courtesy of Niall Ruddy

With members from Busan and Ulsan, Bandits are repping the "Buulgyeong Megacity."

"Busan has a smaller — but growing rapidly — scene than Seoul but no worse for quality," Ali said of his city. "To me, it appears to have a closer community and a larger mix of genres playing together. There is also a great aspect of having venues like Ovantgarde and HQ/Basement that try their hardest to bring in bands from all around the country. Most weekends you'll see fresh bands from all over."

Regarding Ulsan's scene, he said it's smaller but has its own things going on.

"Most people who are there have been playing music for many years and in different configurations. There's a great venue there called The Royal Anchor that has existed for a very long time," Ali said. "I think (just a guess here) that the main issue with Ulsan is that it only has a handful of universities and thus there is a smaller number of teens who might form bands."

For local bands there, he said two standouts are the rock band Zero Zero and the metal band Pushfix.

Although the music scene is focused on the biggest cities, Ali says there are increasingly more people in smaller cities who would like to see live music closer to home, and the country offers a lot more stops for touring bands than it did previously.

"As for playing around the country I think one could tour for a week and a half nonstop these days," he said. "Most cities, even small ones, have a venue and that's a great thing to have. Build it and people will come."

That said, he still leaves port in Busan and comes up to Seoul quite a lot. "I still enjoy the commute, god bless the KTX and all who ride within her," he said. "I have always had a finger in both cities."

Ali will be in Seoul later this month for Block Party, a music and performing arts festival happening in central Seoul's Haebangchon and Gyeongnidan neighborhoods on Sept. 21 and 22. Bandits is part of the "Busan contingent," which also includes Daisy Gun, Soumbalgwang, Gino Brann and Seong-hyeon.

Bandits plays at Pet Sounds at midnight on the first night, and the following midnight, Ali will appear again with Cloud Underground.

"Really looking forward to Block Party," Ali said. "It'll be my first time attending as well as playing — I hope to have a great time. Jamie and his crew have done stellar work putting this together and including not only smaller acts from the Korean underground music scene, but also expat bands who rarely, if ever, get invited to play festivals in Korea."

Bandits also has shows scheduled for Oct. 5 in Daegu and Oct. 19 in Daejeon.

Visit banditssk.bandcamp.com to listen to the EP.