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Us & Them: Korean Indie Rock in a K-Pop World Directed by: Timothy Tangherlini Directed by: Stephen Epstein Submitted by: Tim Tangherlini

Foreign Titles Submission Contact Korean 그들과 우리; K-POP 속의 한국 인디 음악 Tim Tangherlini Submission Contact Logline UCLA 310-825-7611 In a time when K-Pop dominates the airwaves, Korean Indie musicians are 212 Royce Hall (Work) making music that breaks out of this corporate mold. Bands like Crying Nut 405 Hilgard Ave 310-825-9754(fax) and the Geeks are re-imagining the boundaries of punk rock, while bands like Los Angeles, CA, ...Whatever that Means and The RockTigers are putting their own Korean 90095-1537 inflections on forms as diverse as garage and psychobilly. This documentary USA takes you on a trip to the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul and some of the [email protected] underground clubs that challenge K-Pop hegemony. It also follows several of Gender: M the bands as they embark on US tours. Filmed in Korea and the US, the Date of Birth: 22-NOV-1963 documentary is a followup to Epstein and Tangherlini's earlier 'Our Nation: A Korean Punk Rock Community'. Production Stephen Epstein Synopsis Director; Producer The spread of South Korean popular music, or K-pop, is a striking global Victoria University, Wellington phenomenon. In 2012 PSY’s viral sensation “Gangnam Style” became the PO Box 600 most viewed video on YouTube ever, generating over a billion hits and scores Wellington of imitations. But Korean music is not only idol groups and viral videos. There New Zealand is also a vibrant indie and punk scene that has been active for the past two [email protected] decades. Thoroughly undocumented, this hidden scene is a crucible of creativity, providing an exciting counterpoint to the hegemony of bland, Timothy Tangherlini money-driven K-Pop. Director; Producer “Us and Them: Korean Indie Rock in a K-pop World” takes viewers on an UCLA 3108257611 intriguing trip that starts in the clubs of the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, 212 Royce Hall, UCLA (Work) ground zero for the Korean independent music scene. In this once lesser 405 Hilgard Ave 5104955742 (Cell) known part of the city, underground bands have been challenging mainstream Los Angeles, CA, 90095 310-825-9754(fax) Korean pop music and attempting to break free from its corporate mold for USA several decades. But, as so often happens, the scene has become a victim of [email protected] its own success: mainstream culture has begun pushing in from all sides, with mega-developers wresting this creative corner of Seoul from the very artists Writing who make it cool. Once home to unconventional subcultures, Hongdae has None provided by applicant. become overrun with “hipsters” and nonchalant wealth. But the bands that call Hongdae their home have been fighting back the best they know how: making Cast new music and turning the global interest in Korean music to their advantage. None provided by applicant. The documentary follows several of Korea's best-known indie bands as they Camera navigate this cultural minefield. A driving force is the bands’ desire to get their None provided by applicant. music out to audiences beyond Korea’s borders, and to become part of a global indie movement. The doc’s spotlight falls especially on Crying Nut, the Art Department endearing godfathers of Korean underground rock; the stylish RockTigers, None provided by applicant. Korea's most successful rockabilly band; and …Whatever That Means, a melodic punk band led by Korean bass player Trash and her American Specialized guitarist husband Jeff Moses. Each of these bands’ dreams and frustrations None provided by applicant. come to the fore as they plan and embark on their first US tours. The film opens with Crying Nut talking about the K-pop industry, and their Post Production ambivalence toward this global musical juggernaut. Quizzically admiring, the None provided by applicant. band considers the creative chasm that exists between the indie scene and the corporate music machine. The film pulls back for a quick history of Korean Composers indie music. In its early years, the scene centered on a handful of clubs in None provided by applicant. Hongdae, but over the course of the last decade, Hongdae has changed Representation dramatically. Once an area that represented a real challenge to the None provided by applicant. mainstream, Hongdae has itself become part of the mainstream. Further complicating the picture, the indie scene is no longer as unified as it once Print Traffic was—hardcore, hip hop, heavy metal, techno, thrash, ska, and shoegazer None provided by applicant. groups all vie for space and audiences, and individual tastes get more and

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more particularized. Yet throbbing underneath this disunity, like a bass line Academic amplified a thousand times, is a growing realization among indie musicians None provided by applicant. that to remain independent, they need each others’ support. Although a lot of the energy driving Korea’s indie scene has come in Animation opposition to K-pop, interesting contradictions are arising. Crying Nut, for None provided by applicant. instance, which formed in the mid-1990s has gone on to become the biggest indie band that Korea has produced. The band now regularly performs at corporate events and outdoor festivals playing in front of tens of thousands of fans. And so the band begins to ask the age-old question of indie music the world over: how does one stay independent while trying to make a living? Breaking boundaries comes naturally to the Korean indie scene and, of course, some of the biggest boundaries are national borders and language barriers. Just as corporate-sponsored K-pop discovered ways to break these boundaries, bands from the can-do Korean underground realized they could do it as well. On a smaller scale, but just as successfully, Korean indie bands have become cosmopolitan and adept, using similar resources—the Internet, social media, MBA-toting concert promoters—to overcome the barriers of country and language. More and more, these bands are becoming part of a global indie scene and touring overseas. These tours, powered by the international reach of social media and the global desire among indie music fans to discover unknown bands, are a leitmotif throughout the doc, and include the US tours of RockTigers, Crying Nut and …Whatever that Means in 2011. How were these bands received? Can international audiences imagine a Korean music that isn’t K-pop? And how do these bands experience America? Korean indie bands aren’t only trying to reach the world. They are also trying to make the world their own, by developing their own styles influenced by international currents. The RockTigers, for example, inspired by Japanese psychobilly legend Guitar Wold, have put their own Korean inflections on rockabilly, ironically redubbing it kimchibilly. The interaction between the Korean scene and other foreign scenes complicates the notion of what constitutes a local scene. Jeff Moses and Trash are the driving forces behind the first compilation of Korean punk bands in several years, “Them and Us”. The compilation asked bands to play one of their own songs and a song from one of their influences. The Geeks, Korea’s most famous hardcore band, for instance, chose to cover Operation Ivy’s “Knowledge.” And so one is forced to ask: If a key figure of Korean punk rock is now an American, one might well now wonder who is “us” and who is “them”? This compelling portrait of the Korean indie scene offers sharp insights into a society that is in the midst of dizzying change. Shot in Korea and the US, the documentary is a follow up to co-producers Epstein and Tangherlini's earlier Our Nation: A Korean Punk Rock Community. The film is narrated by noted Korean-American musician Mike Park, front man for Skankin’ Pickle and the B. Lee Band, and founder of indie label Asian Man Records.

Programming Descriptors Type: Movie (Theatrical) Categories: Documentary Genres: History, Music Niches: Asian, Asian American, Student, Youth/Teen

Official Website Information not provided.

IMDb URL None provided by applicant.

Student Project First Time Filmmaker

Social Media Websites None provided by applicant.

Picture Format None provided by applicant.

Aspect Ratio

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None provided by applicant.

Shooting Format None provided by applicant.

Exhibition Format None provided by applicant.

Screener Format None provided by applicant.

Main Dialogue Language None provided by applicant.

Exact Runtime Information not provided.

Date of Completion August 2014

Country of Production / Filming New Zealand, South Korea, USA / South Korea, USA

Production Budget 15000 (in U.S. Dollar)

Screenings Information not provided.

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