Seoulsonic evolved from a quarterly concert series, hosted by the DFSB Kollective in South Korea, into an international tour with the goal of assisting Korean indie bands, in particular "alt-rok" bands, to build an international audience for success beyond Hongdae. The tour started in 2011, at which time the music scene was described as follows: "the rock genre is still the obscure cousin of pop, dance and hip-hop, and other revenue streams such as product endorsements and television appearances aren’t readily available to its musicians."[3]
Band selection
The selection process takes place in Seoul, usually at the annual Seoul International Music Fair or MU:CON SEOUL, hosted by KOCCA, which brings in international music scouts from around the world.[4][5] James Minor, director of the large U.S. annual festival SXSW, has attended and handpicked his choices.[4][5] After selections are made, the bands are designated for their international trips, including locations like SXSW and the Canadian Music Week for this tour; and for France’s Midem, Singapore’s Music Matters and international K-pop head-lined concerts, including K-Pop Night Out at SXSW.[4][5]
For the SXSW event, Bernie Cho, the president of DFSB Kollective said while selecting bands, "I look for passion. But it is a business decision. As cool as flashy K-pop may be, the cold hard facts and figures tell us the American music market is marching to different beats. We are targeting what the U.S. market is listening to."[2]
2011, the first year
In March 2011, the first group of bands set out for SXSW in Austin, Texas. The three bands were: Vidulgi OoyoO, (electro-dance), Idiotape, (rock hybrid) and Galaxy Express (rock).[3][6]
Prior to the tour, other South Korean bands had performed at SXSW, including YB and Seoul Electric Band in 2007,[7][8] and Gong Myoung in 2009.[6]
Also, in April 2011, a fifth band, EE (electronic performance art) became the first Korean act to perform at Coachella in Indio, California);[3] not followed by another Korean act until 2016, when Epik High, was announced to play the festival.[10]
2K16 scheduled to start at SXSW on March 18, 2016, at the Majestic Music Hall in Austin, with Neon Bunny, Guten Birds, Bye Bye Badman, HEO, Windy City, WYM.[23]
In 2014, KoreAm said, "The Seoulsonic Showcase at Icenhauer’s proved the strength and diversity of Korean music at SXSW."[18]
In 2015, The Austin Chronicle said, "Seoulsonic is different from the previous night's K-pop Night Out, in the sense that it focuses on the less bubbly and less commercially viable corners of the Korean music industry."[19] Also in 2015, KoreAm said, "several underground rock bands showed how South Korean music is more than just catchy K-pop tunes.[24]
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