Bond and connect: Three artists relate over highballs

It is an unlikely collaboration, yet it makes so much sense.

They all work in different disciplines of art, but each is the epitome of things that are trendy, unpretentious and free-spirited.

Pop art artist Jackson Shim, four-piece indie band Adoy and choreographer J Black have taken on the role as ambassadors for Pernod Ricard Korea’s new social media campaign “Why Jameson Highball?”

The three shared in an interview with The Korea Herald why they chose to work with Jameson and how they celebrate the highs and relate over the lows of life as part of the campaign.

“Meeting new people and having a conversation with them can be inspirational and bring about change to one’s worldview, which I think falls in line with Jameson’s ‘bond and connect’ value,” said pop art artist Jackson Shim.

Known for his colorful and cartoon-inspired style and boasting over 30,000 followers on Instagram, Shim is not afraid of thinking outside the box and breaking the rules.

Even in his everyday life, he prefers to break habits, taking a different path rather than traveling the same route as before, ordering a new drink as opposed to what he normally drinks and reading romance comics for a change. These little things can give him inspiration for his new work, Shim explained.

He demonstrated the versatility of entertainment during one of three social media ads where he drinks a whiskey highball with a small group of friends at a campground.

The “Why Jameson Highball?” campaign, featuring a group of artists promoting the bestselling Irish whiskey, comes as drinkers in South Korea are looking for new ways to enjoy alcohol, including light drinking and drinking at home.

By way of the likes of Japanese TV series “Midnight Diner,” which has already created a whiskey highball boom there, an interest in the revived whiskey recipe has been growing in South Korea too.

The whiskey highball is made by adding a larger amount of a nonalcoholic mixer, often club soda or ginger ale, a fitting choice for recent drinking trends in the country.

To Adoy, a four-piece indie band known for its City Pop sound, Jameson has a special meaning.

As each of the four members has been in another band in the past, the band has had to rely on frequent communication to build a unified identity.

To bond, the bandmates would often drink Jameson at a bar in Hongdae when the band had just formed.

The Irish whiskey was part of the “first beginning” that helped bandmates “connect and bond,” in line with the message the brand wants to spread, and helped them to find their identity and sensitivity, the band said.

They said they still enjoy highballs to celebrate various occasions, such as after finishing a show or when throwing a birthday party.

Choreographer J Black, who recently released a new single titled “Move, Groove, Smooth” as his feminine alter ego J Pink, rose to fame for his powerful dance performances, with his videos racking up millions of views on YouTube before he made his debut as an artist.

On releasing the new song, he said, “I wanted to try the girlish concept despite criticisms over its uniqueness and show my multiple sides as an artist.”

Though the creative sees his daily life as an inspiration for his work, whether it be his emotions, sights or sounds, it’s when he feels he is running out of sensitivity that the choreographer bonds with his crew members.

On top of being a choreographer and a dancer, he is also the head of an artist management company called the DRED Alliance.

Though he is known for his unique persona and mold-breaking work, he chooses Jameson for its approachability.

“Jameson is my choice when it comes to casual gatherings with close friends. Even my friends who are not familiar with whiskey in general can enjoy a Jameson highball, which makes it an approachable drink.” 

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)