Jeong Cha-sik (South Korea)

About the event

Jeong Cha-sik is a rock veteran and a legend of the Korean indie scene of the 1990s. For 15 years, he was the lead singer of a cult heavy-metal group, Rainy Sun, whose experimental, psychedelic music was quite different from the Korean mainstream. In 2011, he decided to start his solo career. Within six months, he released two albums: "The Empty" and "The Turbulent Current History." Both were hailed as top albums of 2013, and won the prestigious Korean Music Award and Korean Imagine Award. Jeong's last album, "Executor," released in November 2015, caused quite a stir on the Korean stage, and became famous for being a unique musical endeavor.

As an artistic individuality and an outsider, Jeong Cha-sik created all three albums almost entirely by himself. He wrote the lyrics, music and arrangements, sang all the songs, played most of the instruments, and recorded, mixed and mastered it all on his own.

Jeong Cha-sik's music borders on psychedelic rock, trip-hop, folk, tango, synth-pop, and traditional Korean music. He draws freely from world music, using the rhythm of flamenco, Jamaican riddims, and the sound of the French barrel organs.

His deliberately kitschy, oftentimes wedding-styled melodies, are contrasted with the deep, drunken incantations, metal growls, or a nostalgic falsetto. He performs using a classic, rock instrument base, often with the addition of violin and viola, but the lyrical quality of the set is broken by ferocious, old-school synthesizers. His repertoire also includes nostalgic songs with piano accompaniment. He is an artist full of contradictions, who is not taking himself too seriously - he called his Berlin club tour "Nick Cave meets Korean Cabaret."

His concerts are a chance to experience untamed expression, overt emotions, grotesque form, and, most of all, good, original music.