[MuseOn②] "Feels Like Indie Bands Have a New Gateway to Get Closer to the Public"

Regular Planned Performance 'Muse On Day' Kicked Off by Nasanghyun Band
"Looking Forward to the Day of Becoming One with the Audience... Efforts to Promote Popular Musicians Must Continue"

Nasanghyun Band (Nasanghyun, Baek Seungryeol, Kang Hyunwoong) is a group that modernly reinterprets vintage music. They freely traverse the sensibilities of the East and West through diverse sampling and genres. Their lyrics, which universally express the stories of youth, are also highly popular. On the 31st of last month, they marked the beginning of the Korea Creative Content Agency’s regular planned performance series ‘Muse On Day’ at the Nodeulseom Live House in Seoul. Despite ongoing difficulties in music activities due to COVID-19, they continuously contemplate and seek new paths. Nasanghyun said, "I look forward to the day when I can unite with many audiences through music on stage."

- There have been many restrictions on music activities due to COVID-19.

"Performances, which are our main source of income, keep getting canceled. For example, Greenplugged was postponed twice last year and then completely disappeared this year. We are in a situation where we have to rely on music streaming revenue without much other activity. This causes significant losses in terms of career and expanding recognition. It’s also difficult to fully concentrate on my own music. I have been engaging a lot in new projects like game music production."

- It seems difficult to expect revenue from music streaming without performances.

"It’s even more so because we are a band. In fact, performances are the only way to prove our activities. When that is blocked, even a slight neglect of social media (SNS) causes us to drift away from the public. But we can’t just use SNS without any reason. We have no choice but to release music more frequently than before. We will release a full-length album in October as well. In that sense, ‘Muse On’ is a great support. It’s not just financial aid. They carefully manage everything from music production to continuous exposure."

- You are also active on YouTube.

"We started it to promote the band in the non-face-to-face era. We focused on fun content to approach audiences in a friendly way. However, there are limits to attracting new audiences. It is only effective as a means to solidify existing fans or provide various services."

- You have also done several non-face-to-face performances.

"There is fun in communicating through real-time chat, but it is limited in recreating the feeling of face-to-face performances. Above all, seeing empty seats drains energy. It’s not easy to share experiences when separated. In fact, face-to-face performances are not much different. The audience must sit wearing masks throughout the show. They cannot make any sound. Applause is the best they can do. Even when playing exciting songs, not being able to see expressions sometimes feels suffocating. For bands that perform energetically by becoming one with the audience, this is a big loss."

- Interaction with other musicians must have decreased as well.

"Since there are no performances... In the early days, after shows at Hongdae clubs, we often mingled with other teams and talked about music. Now, we cannot expect such networks. New attempts and collaborations have greatly decreased."

- The Korea Creative Content Agency is producing a web variety show ‘Daebunim’ to promote Muse On popular musicians. Do you think it will help your music activities?

"Of course. Indie bands like us already had limited contact points with the public even before the pandemic. It feels like a kind of gateway to get closer. Regardless of the spread of COVID-19, such attempts must continue. Watching various contents from Dingo Music, I thought a lot about this. They make new or existing popular musicians stand out with fun and fresh formats. The era of focusing only on music is over. Now, we have to approach the public with various charms. I hope ‘Daebunim’ will be the catalyst for that."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.