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www.groovekorea.com / May 2014 106 Edited by Emilee Jennings (Emilee@groovekorea.com) MUSIC & ARTS ROCK N ROLL SEOUL Column by Sophie Boladeras / Photos courtesy of Crying Nut C r y i n g n u t t h e g o d F a t h e r s o F k o r e a n p u n k Crying Nut Yoonsik Park Guitar and vocals Kyungrok Han a.k.a. Captain Rock Bass and vocals Sangmyun Lee Guitar Sanghyuk Lee Drums Insoo Kim Accordion and keyboard T he five members of Crying Nut, Ko- rea’s best-selling independent punk rock band, have been drinking, cry- ing, fighting and, most prominent- ly, making music together for 21 years. In a time when bands seem to change their members like they change their gui- tar strings, Crying Nut has remained solid thanks to strong foundations laid in youth. School friends Yoonsik Park, Kyungrok Han and twin brothers Sanghyuk and Sangmyun Lee formed Crying Nut in 1993. Their fifth member, Insoo Kim, joined the band in 1999. Crying Nut went on to gain unprecedented popularity and to forge a path for the growth of punk music and culture in Korea. No one else was doing anything like it when the quintet screamed onto stages around Seoul and into people’s hearts. Crying Nut hasn’t remained solely exclusive to punk. They have continually diversified their sound by incorporating a range of genres into their ev- er-popular songs. Their critically acclaimed latest album “Flaming Nuts” (2013) expands on their punk rock base by incorporating lively mariachi and Celtic-punk tracks into the mix. Crying Nut’s creative sound continues to attract new fans, and their live shows are unforgettable; the band’s vi- tality and onstage presence never fail to produce intense and charismatic performances. Audiences at Austin’s 2014 South by South- west festival were recently treated to the band’s live exuberance, although the band had some obstacles to overcome before making it to their awaiting fans: The group spent two whole days at the embassy waiting to receive their performance visas, resulting in a delayed departure and the cancellation of two shows in California. Thankful- ly, however, they made it to Austin to rock the hip- ster festival and were able to play a few packed shows in San Antonio and Los Angeles as well. Groove Korea caught up with them upon their return to home soil.
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