Interview with Dead Gakkahs

For those who have missed out on my introduction to this band back in November last year, Dead Gakkahs is an absolutely killer Fastcore/punk band hailing from South Korea that I discovered during one of my lucky hours searching for new music on the web.

I had always wondered how, despite the growing interest in South Korean culture in the West, we had yet to hear about the countries talents in the indie music scene. It was during one of these curiosity-fueled internet searches that I encountered with this exceptional, ferocious act from Seoul. I was lucky enough to get in contact with the band and ask them a few quick questions about their background as well as the punk scene in South Korea.

1.        So to start things off, could you tell us how you guys started out?

Dead Gakkahs started out 2 years ago by our vocalist and guitarist Juhl with the intention of playing music amongst the likes of bands like Sugar Pie Coco.

2.        How would you describe your music?

The best way to define it would be Fastcore, Thrashcore. We basically focus on playing fast music. We just want to sing and call assholes out. We’re neither left nor right wing, we oppose authoritarianism, bureaucracy and social stratification, and that’s what our songs stand for.

3.        What are you main influences?

Bands like Sugar Pie Coco, Punch, Fuck on the beach

4.    Despite the growing interest in Korean culture over the past few years, korean indie music culture still doesn't get much coverage. Could you tell us a bit more about the punk/metal scene in Korea?

The Korean punk scene seems smaller than that of other countries. However that doesn’t mean that it’s flat or boring at all. Although the quality of the songs are the primary aspect of any kind of music, we think the business part (event planning, promotion, management etc…) is also important. Our hardcore punk scene friends are always thinking of ways to make the scene more fun. Hopefully, the more interestingly the local punk scene is run, the more active it will eventually become. But in society run by capital, everything runs on money. Every day consumerism grows stronger, land prices increase… it’s very hard these days.

5.    Could you recommend any other bands from the Korean music scene to our readers?

The Kitches, Find the Spot, Scumraid. These are all ripping and passionate bands from the local Korean scene.

6. If you could tour with any band (active or disbanded), who would it be?

Sugar Pie Coco. Masshysteri

7. To finish things off, what can we expect from Dead Gakkahs in the future?

We plan to release split album and hope to release a full length album after that.

Robin

A huge thank you goes out to the band for taking the time to answer my questions.
Again, I can only reinstate my suggestion that you take 1 minute of your time to check out their lightning-fast songs. Before you know it, you’ll be playing the whole demo on repeat for the 5 time in a row.

 

Dead Gakkahs

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeadGakkahs?ref=br_tf

Bandcamp
https://deadgakkahs.bandcamp.com/album/dead-gakkahs

My review for their self-titled debut release:
http://www.twoguysmetalreviews.com/2014/11/dead-gakkahs-self-titled.html

Dead Gakkahs - Self titled

For this next review I'll be doing things a little differently: I going to be reviewing a slightly older release from this year to hopefully bring this local underground gem to your attention. This release is an EP/demo by Dead Gakkahs, a Female fronted Fastcore/Punk band hailing from Seoul, South Korea. The tracklist is comprised of 7 mindblowingly fast and energetic songs that add up to barely 7 minutes of runtime altogether (including 2 cover songs).

The bands' overall sound is very straightforward, sticking to lightning-fast old-school hardcore punk songs from the likes of Negative Approach and Minor threat. The band are not exactly reinventing the genre here, but they offer a very enjoyable and effective take on it, with simple but devastatingly effective riffs and grooves played at a thousand miles per hour.
One of the highlights of the bands'sound would definitely be the 2 frontwomens' incredible vocals. The 2 vocalist are yelling at the top of their lungs with an amazing amount of raw energy and intensity, with an incredibly catchy vocal flow that really helps each song in standing out from one another.
While extremely intense from start to finish, the band does manage to prevent each song from sounding like the next. Every song on here has a distinguishable intro riff and has enough variation to maintain a sufficient level of diversity.
The mix isn't as loud and agressive as what we're used to in the fastcore/hardcore punk genre today, but it is also much clearer. The instruments are recorded in a clean way that makes every note decipherable and everything has some proper space in the mix. This approach to mixing, while rather unorthodox for a release with incredibly intense songs, actually helps to showcase the bands' real potential. The band does not rely on a brickwalled, "in your face" type of production to deliver heavy songs. Rest assured, the recordings, while very clean, also retain a level rawness to them, with little to no effects added to the intruments and vocals.

In short, this extremely short yet catchy release is sure to be stuck on repeat on the music player of any of you potential fans out there looking to check out some new exciting sounds from the internationnal punk scene. Relying solely on their talent as musicians and songwriters, Dead Gakkahs have put out a solid collection of songs that give us a good reason to be excited for the bands' future.

Robin

Be sure to like them and show them some love on their facebook page.
You can listen to this release on their bandcamp and buy it for only 3$.
Also, be sure to check out their impressive live performances on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPv1m-572k0

Dead Gakkahs

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DeadGakkahs?ref=br_tf

Bandcamp
https://deadgakkahs.bandcamp.com/album/dead-gakkahs