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www.groovekorea.com / March 2014 58 Edited by Emilee Jennings (Emilee@groovekorea.com) MuSIC & ARTS nection with your audience on those bigger stages, but I feel like we were able to do that so it felt good. Big shows or small shows — the goal is the same: connect with people. If you’re in the ocean or a pond, it doesn’t matter really. You’ve just got to swim. Have you faced any challenges as an indie band in Seoul? Waddell: Yes. Since most of the members are teachers, we have full-time jobs. I think this detracts from the amount of time we can devote to the band. Many Korean bands have members who do not work. We are unable to do that. Also, since we write our songs in En- glish, many Koreans are not attracted to the music. However, I think the fact that our song was chosen to be in a major motion picture in Korea is a step in the right direction. It is most important for us to appeal to all audiences not for our appearance, but for our music itself. Do you get nervous before performing? Devlin: I used to get really nervous when I was about to go on stage, but it’s differ- ent now. I think as a unit we’re very robust; if something goes wrong we just work on it and move forward. I suppose I’ve learned to enjoy the process more. I like the jeopardy of performing now. Waddell: Yes. I like to practice my parts be- fore going on stage. Hickey: Adam B and I have spoken before about how we need a little time just before and after we play. It’s not really a nerves thing. We’ve all been playing and performing for a while now so we’re rarely uncomfortable on stage. It’s more about getting yourself in the right headspace. It’s about focusing and getting in the right vibe. I love going to see bands and love a lot of the bands we get to play with, but I’m rarely watching a band right before we go on. I’d like our show to be a little self-contained world the audience can enter for a little while. You’ve got to get there before you can bring people there. Alberto Alba: I never get nervous before a show. I get really excited! But as Adam says, I also need my space right before going on stage, as I play the hard parts in my head and try to calm myself down to give it all when I play. A pair of beers helps a lot! Patrick Walsh: I drink energy drinks and jump up and down a lot. I’m not usually ner- vous, but am extremely anxious to get on stage. It’s kind of difficult for me to even watch the band before us because as our show gets closer, the more I want to get on stage and play. How do you survive as musicians? Hickey: Some of us are students and some of us work. I don’t know a lot of people that are full-time indie rockers. The only way to re- ally make a living nowadays is touring. Being based out of Seoul makes touring extremely hard. It’s a pretty isolated spot. You can’t just hop in a van and roll over to Tokyo or hit the States. It’s a struggle a lot of musicians face in Seoul, especially Korean artists who don’t have a network back in the States or Europe like some foreign artists might. If you do try to tour in a bigger market, the stakes are a lot higher for a band from here. That said, there is a much better DIY tour circuit starting to develop here in Asia, particularly in China with cities like Shanghai and Beijing developing cool scenes of their own. It’ll be interesting to see what the future holds. What do you have planned for the future? Brennan: We are working on a possible Chi- na tour now. I would love to tour the States, but it’s difficult to mount a tour from Korea. In addition to touring, recording is our No. 1 agenda right now. We have several albums’ worth of new material ready to be recorded. ‘I dRInK eneRgy dRInKS and Jump up and down a LoT. I’m noT uSuaLLy neRvouS, buT am eXTRemeLy anXIouS To geT on STage.’ paTRIcK waLSh More info soundcloud.com/new-blue-death facebook.com/newbluedeath newbluedeath@gmail.com