By Honorary Reporter Alaa Atef Ebada from Egypt
Photos = Jambinai

Jambinai creates its own version of rock by playing both traditional rock instruments like the electric guitar, bass and drums and traditional instruments of Korean folk music.

Jambinai is a progressive Korean band that plays rock, post-rock and metal using rock and traditional Korean instruments such as the piri (flute), geomungo (long zither) and haegeum (vertical fiddle). 

The band is my favorite from Korea and will soon release a new album, so I interviewed the group via email on Sept. 15.

Jambinai's song "Onda," which literally means "come" in Korean, won 'Best Rock Album' and 'Best Rock Song' for the title track at Korean Music Awards in February 2020. Jambinai also selected as an official showcase artist at Cena Contemporanea in Brazil, WOMEX in Europe and SXSW at U.S. 

Jambinai's members from left are Choi Jae-hyuk (drums), Sim Eun-yong (geomungo), Lee Il-woo (guitar, vocals, piri and traditional wind instrument saenghwang), Yu Byeong-koo (bass), and Kim Bo-mi (haegeum and vocals).

"The term 'Jambinai' has no meaning. We started this band in 2009 and had our first show in 2010," the group said. "We had no name at the time, so we needed one for our promotional poster. Kim Bo-mi, our haegeum (vertical fiddle) player, suddenly came up with the name Jambinai on the bus and we adopted it. We started out as a trio but are now a quintet."

"Just because we majored in traditional music doesn't mean that we live only in the traditional way. We are the same people living in modern times."

On why the band mixed traditional Korean music with rock, it said, "We never considered our music as traditional. Most musicians try to exchange or compare instruments like the violin with the haegeum. But we just focused on the sounds of traditional instruments and tried to blend them with our tastes. We prioritize musical diversity over preservation of Korea's musical identity."

Jambinai focuses on the sounds of traditional Korean instruments and blends them with each member's tastes.

The group's general manager Kim Hyung-gun said Jambinai on Nov. 11 will release its new EP "Apparition," saying, "The tracks are influenced by diverse emotions. We want to show that we're more than a rock band that uses traditional Korean instruments."

On their favorite performances abroad, they mentioned performing in 2019 at the Vera Groningen of the Netherlands, an event in which they won the award for Best Mainstage Concert by a poll. "This was during our last tour before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. It's an honor to go to that legendary venue but being named the best live band of 2019 was one of the best things in our lives. We haven't seen our name on the Vera wall yet, but want to go and see it soon," the group said.

Jambinai concluded the interview with a message to younger artists, saying, "Go with music you create out of the box without fear of a new experience," adding, "Thank you (to Korea.net readers) for loving things about Korea. When we meet our fans, we'll greet them happily."

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.