Sixteen acts to represent Korean music at 2014 SXSW showcase

Of the 50 Korean acts that applied, 16 bands have been selected to represent themselves and the Korean music industry at the next South by Southwest music showcase in Austin, Texas.

The handful of bands ― five more acts than this year ― that have been selected to perform at the upcoming music festival in March will participate as the Korean lineup for the annual 2014 SXSW’s “K-pop Night Out” showcase, which was first established at last year’s event by event director James Minor to highlight Korean music.

The artists that are slated to be showcased at the next event represent all scales of success including locally popular acts such as YB Band; Jang Kiha and the Faces; Nell; No Brain; Crying Nut; Glenn Check; Galaxy Express; and IDOTAPE as well as some lesser known bands such as Big Phony; Jambinai; Rock ’N’ Roll Radio; Hollow Jan; and Love X Stereo. 

The annual SXSW held in Austin, Texas since 1987 is North America’s largest music event and showcases around 1,000 different artists and acts from around the globe during the 10-day festival in hopes of attracting notice and interest on an international scale.

On top of making the lineup, it was announced earlier in October that local punk rockers No Brain had landed a recording deal with Seymour Stein, vice president of Warner Music Group and co-founder of Sire Records. With more than five decades of experience in the industry, the legendary music executive has made a name for himself as one of the most influential record producers, having worked with iconic artists such as Madonna and the Ramones. The announcement was made at this year’s annual MU:CON international music conference event where Stein stated that he saw the band playing a show and although he didn’t understand the language, as he simply put it “… if you like something, why decipher it?” No Brain is scheduled to start recording its first album with Sire Records ― the group’s first international album ― sometime early next year.

Last year’s SXSW “K-Pop Night Out” highlighted a wide variety of Korean music with acts such as Galaxy Express, Guckkasten, 3rd Line Butterfly, The Geeks, f(x), Yi Sung-yol and Jeong Cha-sik.

The upcoming 2014 SXSW event will be held from March 7-16.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)