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Three-piece Life and Time is known for its seasoned playing, groovy rhythms and highly technical drumming skills.
According to bassist Park Sun-bin, however, Life and Time is a group of three individuals who each lack something.
“If each one of us were perfect, we would each do everything ourselves. But I think that a band is a group of people who lack something, whether it’s musically, or in expressing themselves and get together to make something better,” said Park in an interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul on Feb. 22.
The three not only make up for each other‘s shortcomings, but now boast a chemistry rivaled by few in the industry.
“We can’t deny that there is a sort of a battle of egos, but the three of us gathered together for the project. We’re not making music to be noticed as individuals. We acknowledge that we have differences. And not one person puts himself before others,” said the vocalist Jinsil.
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Band Life and Time pose before an interview at a cafe in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, on Feb. 22. From left are Im Sang-wook, Park Sun-bin and Jinsil. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) |
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Life and Time (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) |
Before coming as Life and Time, the three members performed very different genres -- Jinsil was the guitarist with the post rock band Loro’s, Park was the bassist of the electro/garage rock band The Koxx and Im Sang-wook was a jazz drummer. Each brought his own strengths to contribute to the band.
The band was formed in 2014 when the three guys, all the same age and friends since high school, had some time on their hands just as the Koxx were joining the military for their compulsory service, and decided to see how they would sound together.
“The timing was good because Sang-wook had worked with more musicians than most instrumentalists can say, Sun-bin had knowledge of how to resolve conflicts from being in a band for so long as a The Koxx member, and I brought my know-how from 10 years of experience in Loro’s,” said Jinsil.
Drummer Im said he enjoys being a part of a band.
“If (my experience playing) jazz was like an ordinary conversation between people, the music I am doing now is more like writing well-polished poetry,” he said.
The band recently completed its “CHART” project album, a series of tracks released over a course of nine months from June 2016.
Each track on the album embodies a genre of rock the band deemed representative of a given decade, with a recording method and producer fitting for the song.
The result is a psychedelic track for the ‘70s, progressive for the ’80s, punk rock for the ‘90s, modern rock for the 2000s and their own original track for 2010s.
The goal of the project was to “get hints from Korean music that was cool in the past and grow (as a band) from it,” said Park.
The band marked the completion of the “CHART” project with its biggest concert to date on March 5.
While guest artists can often be seen at concerts, the three men needed no one else to hold the attention of the crowd for the two-hour event held at the Shinhan Card Fan Square’s Live Hall in Mapo-gu, central Seoul.
They also performed the last track of the “CHART” project, “Cold Water,” live at the event, unveiling the track to the public for the first time. By the end of the event, they even got the concertgoers singing along to their hit song “Tiger.”
Now that the “CHART” project has come to a close, Life and Time wants to focus on its second album. What the band hopes to accomplish this year is simply making good music.
“My goal when I was younger, was to conquer the world with my band. But now, the most important thing is just being good at what I do," said Park.
As for plans to perform overseas, the members of Life and Time say that although they have every desire to go, they want to wait until they are ready.
By Jenny Suh (
suhjenny2@gmail.com)
