Rare Americans / Courtesy of Rare Americans





By Jon Dunbar







is back for its eighth year, reviving the live music scene in the Hongik University area (of which

is a historic name) for a three-day weekend of high-quality live music of various genres from Korea and around the world.







The festival poster for this year depicts the past and present of the Hongdae area. This includes elements of the past such as the playground equipment removed a few years ago, a man selling makgeolli from a cart, and a punk lying on the ground. They contrast with the overdeveloped background, with construction equipment looming in the distance.







Festival project manager Cecilia Soo-jeong Yi acknowledged gentrification in the area is "inevitable and uncontrollable now."







"However, even though the indie music scene seems dispersed and decentralized, Hongdae is still a center of music culture," she told The Korea Times. "The trends of musical genres change, and Hongdae's music scene doesn't represent only rock scene, but there are lots of musicians from various genres still stay in Hongdae. And we feel a responsibility to support the roost so that these musicians could keep playing this area which could get an international reputation for indie musicians from all over the world."







Zandari Festa poster / Courtesy of Zanzari Festa





Despite the ongoing trade conflict with Japan, this year's Zandari offers eight Japanese bands, the most ever according to Yi.







"We are very pleased to have more connections with Japanese independent scene," Yi told The Korea Times. "Music is stronger than politics."











This year features 118 bands in total, with 65 of those coming from Korea and the other 53 representing 19 countries, as well as various delegates representing music festivals, labels and various other related agencies from around the world. There are six national showcase performances representing Taiwan, Hungary, France, Hong Kong, the U.K. and Canada. There is also a Busan showcase.









The

will be in town this weekend for the Music BC showcase Saturday night, organized by the provincial music foundation.







"It definitely won't be a vacation!" said James Priestner, vocalist/guitarist. "We're looking to make the most out of our seven days. We'll do a studio session, play our shows and hopefully meet with some industry people to network for the future. We're definitely excited to indulge in the local cuisine. We have a huge Korean population in Vancouver so I actually eat a ton of Korean food. Excited to see the differences."







He added, "A guy we work with in LA represents NCT 127 from Seoul so I actually saw them play in Vancouver. I know there's also a decent punk rock community in Seoul."







He started the band with his brother Jared, who lives in Edmonton, about a 12-hour drive from Vancouver. Jared doesn't play instruments but instead writes songs together with his brother.







"We usually meet up once a month, drink some beers and write songs at his cabin. I bring them back to the team in Vancouver where I've lived the past eight years and we produce them at our studio. Our band is a bit complex," he said.







"We have a killer live show ready for the Seoul people! We're a bit limited by what we can bring overseas but not to fear. Rare Americans are going to bring the energy."









Also coming over is

, a folk-pop singer-songwriter from Vancouver. He's playing not only the Music BC showcase but also his own show on Sunday at Club Evans, and possibly another acoustic showcase.







"I find with these festivals it's a lot of just putting the time in to network and meet new people, play great showcases, and the rest just kind of surprises you," Klassen said. "I'd love to build a team in Asia. I feel like my music could do ― and has done ― really well there. So that's part of it."







Klassen's song "On Your Collarbone" made it onto the K-drama "Hello, My Twenties!" aired in 2016.















"I do some commercial writing and some of the guys I write with do a lot of stuff for K-pop, so I've listened to a bunch," he said. "It's really unique and interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing more when I'm in Seoul."









They're coming here with Saskatchewan-based rock band

and two acts from Quebec: the synth-pop band

and hip-hop group

, all in cooperation with the Canadian Embassy in Korea, the Bureau du Quebec a Seoul, Music BC, Festival Meg Montreal and Sound Diplomacy.







"We have a super supportive government in BC," Priestner said. "They support their artists both financially and with great opportunities to progress."







"Canada has a really incredible support system for music artists," Klassen said. "Sometimes I don't think even Canadians know how good we have it. If you've heard of a musician from here having success they've probably seen some assistance from one of our grant agencies, that's just the way it is. The way it works here is that you complete very comprehensive application processes and then a jury or a board of directors approves or disapproves your grant requests. It actually can be a lot of work to get grants, and I think that's good."







Zandari Festa runs from Friday to Sunday, with additional conference events and workshops throughout starting as early as Thursday. Tickets start at 44,000 won for a single-day pass.









Visit zandarifesta.com for

,

and

.

