Trabler presents ‘hybrid hip-hop’

Only by combining the hip and trendy electronica beats of a DJ with the ballad sounds of the piano, the rock and acoustic feel of the guitar, a dash of soul and a splash of rap, can one begin to get a sense of the melodic concept behind new group Trabler.

Five members make up this distinctive hip-hop band: leader and rapper Kim Deegie (Kim Won-jong); rapper Han Jung-hoon; Gray City (Song Ho-jae) on vocals and piano; DJ IT (Lee Kwang-suk); and Kim Byung-woo on the guitar.

The group name Trabler, is a play on the word “traveler.”

“Many of the band’s songs stem from the experiences, encounters, memories made and emotions that occur while traveling,” said Gray City. 

The genre of Trabler’s sound cannot easily be described. When producing tracks, the band mates use a fusion of hip-hop, rock, soul, dubstep and electronica. The members have coined their style as “hybrid hip-hop.”

“The easiest way I can think of to describe our music is jjambbong (a soup that combines a wide variety of seafood and ingredients),” said Deegie. “Our sound is something totally new to Korea.”

“When we pick a subject to write about, we each have our own experiences and we often turn those stories into a faction,” said Han. It is by gathering the sounds of all of the members’ different perceptions and musical takes that they produce the band’s hybrid genre.

Aside from Trabler’s fresh take on hip-hop, what makes this band so unique is that all of the members are also music producers. The individual members’ experience as producers in the music industry range from two years all the way to 13 years. The band released their 18-track debut album, “Ego or Identity Trip,” in November after only being together as a group for five months. The members were able to produce 11 of the album’s tracks in only a week’s time.

“We are all music producers so we completed the album very quickly, like a music factory line,” said Deegie, who is also a music professor. “We already have more than six tracks ready for our next album.”

The album’s title track, “Falling Flowers,” stays true to the band’s theme of hybrid music: The song begins with a piano ballad intro, then shifts to a mixture of a rap and R&B toned chorus, followed up by an electric guitar solo and a pop electronica DJ interlude.

“Through our music we each tell a variety of different stories and sometimes we curse to do so,” Deegie said laughing. “But what makes us different from other groups is that we are not just following the trends of K-pop.”

Trabler will be performing in the “Boxer Show Vol. 6” freestyle showcase at Apgujeong Ye Hall on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)