Vidulgi OoyoO

After fairly recently turning into a fan of the outstanding shoegaze act Vidulgi OoyoO, I had really been looking forward to catching them live again during Lotus Carnival this weekend. As it happens the volcanic ash cloud over Europe has kept me from getting over to Korea in time for the event, but thanks to Electric Muse's Kim Mingyu I could at least learn a little more on the band as guitarist Jong answered some questions for Indieful ROK:

What is Vidulgi OoyoO?
Vidulgi OoyoO means pigeon's milk in English. It sounds weird, but I had felt very psychedelic to hear that mama pigeon feeds her baby on her own milk - vomited from her throat-several years ago.

How would you like to describe your music?
The music that is seen by ears??

What can you say about your songs on the new release? How did you end up making a split album with bliss.city.east?
We just wanted to try to apply our own textures to various spectrums like psychedelic blues, electronica, post-rock and so on.

We had recorded and mixed down for 6 months and then Bliss had finished up all the works. And we had mastered all of new songs for the split CD in Korea.

I've heard that the split album will get released in the US and EU - how did that become possible and do you have any plans to go there yourselves as well?
Since Bliss City East suggested a split release at first, Vidulgi undertook a release in Korea and Bliss in U.S and E.U as well.

And Bliss is supposed to come to play in Korea in September and we plan to go play to Chicago as well.

Congratulations, Chicago! Anybody living there should not miss the chance to catch this fantastic live band in action. I'm hoping the international distribution of this split album will eventually lead to Vidulgi OoyoO also playing in other parts of the world...

As you may recall the split album has already been mentioned here on the blog a couple of times: downloads available here, and my appreciation for the marvelous Goodnight Shining expressed here. Expect more to show up world wide in a few weeks! - Indieful ROK

It’s hard to come back to Shanghai after being in the States where jam music abounds and songs can last up to 20 minutes whilst guiding you to another dimension. So when I came to see Pigeon Milk (translated from the Korean) at Yuyintang this past Friday I was thrilled to be transported to that most delightful of places where sounds infiltrate your skin and buoy you up to euphoria, as if the instruments are the fingers lifting you, “light as a feather, stiff as a board”. Granted, I have a particular taste often satisfied at this venue, but there is also a strong vibe of relax and release for musicians there which I feel allows for the greatest expression.

The band’s Korean name is Vidulgi OoYoO, which they feared no one would be able to say in China, though I like it a bit better than the translation. The genius behind the beautiful sounds they make is Jong-Soek Lee and, lucky for me, his English was superb, allowing us to discuss influences, passion and life, topped off by a few frosty Tsingdaos. By the second song of the night, when they started playing their rendition of “Welcome to the Machine”, I knew I could easily attribute much of Jong-Soek’s style to Pink Floyd. Sure enough, after the show we both quickly agreed that one of our favorite music films of all time is Live at Pompeii. Lee really tries to let the music breathe and no concert ever the sounds the same. I was extremely impressed by the last 2 songs or, rather, 15 minutes of heaven. “Good Night Shining” from their lastest album Bliss City East and “Elephant” from their first album Aero, which I plan to get from yesasia.com soon. When I mentioned the oddity of the similar endings of some of the songs by winding down the effects and then coming to a halt, Jong-Soek told me they will usually play an hour straight without pausing or saying a word. But he was told that in China it is better to stop between songs and say something to the audience, and it obviously interrupted the flow of energy they had going on the stage, but he was so humble and adorable in his attempts that it was quickly forgiven..

That night I also had a chance to chat quite extensively with Tony Zhu, creator of Handshake Records, who managed the band’s tour. Not only is he the nicest guy ever, he seems to have excellent taste in music and is working very hard to spread new sounds around China. In that spirit, he is bringing Hong Kong band Chochukmo to Yuyintang this Saturday and I HIGHLY recommend this band. They have a sound that is so very different from anything around and the inability to place a band in any one genre is always a good thing in my mind. You’ll hear little pieces that remind of you something, Steely Dan, The Police, Phish. It’s all beautifully chaotic. But if you want something NEW that I can personally guarantee you have never heard before or you can spank me, come to Yuyintang Saturday and pay the way-worth-it 40rmb for the experience.

With their fabulous logo “All We Need Is Love & Music” backing them, I think we need to keep out ears out on Handshake Records. Thanks to Tony Zhu for bringing great sounds to our town. I plan to meet up with him on his way back to Shanghai this weekend and get some more scoops on this blow-my-mind label.

The band that opened up for Vidulgi OoYoO is not a Handshake Records band but they are definitely worth noting. I only caught the last few songs but I believe I got a good sense of their sound. Plastic Chocolate is a feel-good band that transported me back to a summer in 1983 sitting at the drive in watching the credits roll after all the other cars had gone, wishing it wasn’t over yet. The magical fingerings of LiDi ?? on guitar and the obvious fun that the boys have when they play made me want to jump up on stage and dance with them. It seems they have been playing around Shanghai for a few years and we even played on the same bill at a Zhejiang Dream Factory show, but for some reason that was the first time I heard them. Sorry ladies, if you missed the four cuties you’ll have to wait a bit because they are heading into the studio tomorrow to record an EP.

My favorite story of the evening is how Jong-Soek and his leading lady met. He saw her perform with a band at a club in Seoul one night and thought “Wow she is amazing, I would love to play with her” but sadly enough she was taken. A while later and somehow just at the right time (timing is everything) he was about to put out a shout for a new guitarist after he had just lost his, when he found an ad put out by Ji-Hye Ham saying, “Need band.” Ji-Hye Ham brings the softness and femininity into the band that really won me over, beautifully layering harmonies of vocals and guitars with Jong-Soek and bassist Song Zhehuan. I didn’t really get to talk much with Li Yongjun, Vidulgi OoYoO’s drummer, because we had a slight language barrier (my Korean is limited to “Ahn nyeong hah seh yo” and his English consisted of “Nice to meet you!”) but he was awfully - Layabozi

With all of the obvious, ridiculous and often fleeting resources available online to assist us in finding new artists to feature here at MML, it really is a true comfort to have like-minded friends lending a helpful hint/clue once in a while. This time around, it happened to be Perry, of Chicago based loveliness Skylight (that we last featured here), who gave us a heads-up on an incredible band from an unexpected location halfway around the planet. Vidulgi Ooyoo is a shoegaze-influenced rock quartet consisting of musicians Ji-hye Ham (guitar, vocals), Jong-seok Lee (guitar, vocals), Ki-hun Sung (bass, vocals) and Yong-jun Lee (drums) from the capital city of Seoul, South Korea. The band name actually means "pigeon milk" in Korean language and they have been making this dream-tastic music together since 2003. Our initial thought was to describe the sound as something of a textbook shoegaze lesson for aspiring upstarts here in the west, but after listening further, today's featured submission proved to contain a building presence that escapes any simple genre classification. The latest full length album/CD, titled Aero, was released in April of 2008 and you can find more music, from what we consider an extremely solid debut LP, by visiting the Vidulgi Ooyoo MySpace page as well as the VO Cyworld profile. Oh, this is so gooood. - Milk Milk Lemonade

Korean Band Vidulgi OoyoO @ Yuyintang

We've tagged this event with:

Nightlife

When:

Aug 13, 2010 21:00

Where:

Yuyintang

851 Kaixuan Lu, near Yan'an Xilu, Changning District, Shanghai?????????851?(??????) Taxi printout

Description:

Founded in Korea in 2003, the band’s name “Vidulgi OoyoO” literally means “pigeon milk’ when translated in English. The band released their first digital album “Elephant/Siren” in January 2007 and in the same year signed with the famous indie record label Electric Muse. Their growing success and influence has led to collaborations with other notable Korean rock bands as well as American post-rock band Bliss City East. Don’t miss one of the best new indie rock bands to emerge from Korea this August at Yuyintang.
- eChinaCities

Vidulgi Ooyoo

By Shawn Despres, 2010-05-11

Seoul shoegaze quartet Vidulgi Ooyoo held a release party for their new split CD with Chicago’s Bliss.City.East at Salon Badabie in Hongdae on April 10. Performing for a packed house, the band were feeling quite good come night’s end and decided to try something different.

“We were so impressed by the reactions of our fans that we did a very awkward and funny curtain call after the concert,” says guitarist and vocalist Lee Jong-seok.“We have never done any kind of curtain call before that, so we made mistakes as some of us tried to hold hands but other members did not.”

While their post-show bowing abilities may need some fine-tuning, their musical skills do not. Formed in 2003 by Jong-seok, the act’s current lineup was cemented in 2004 and includes bassist Sung Ki-hun, drummer Lee Yong-jun, and guitarist and vocalist Ham Ji-hye. Ji-hye was a musician that Jong-seok was especially excited to recruit for Vidulgi Ooyoo.

“When I saw Ji-hye play with her former band,Greenish Yellow,I thought she would make a really good combination with my guitar,” Jong-seok explains.“She is so talented. So I made up my mind finally to invite her to be a part of Vidulgi Ooyoo and obviously that was a wise choice. Of course, the other members are very talented too.”

Taking their time to perfect their spacey, dream pop, the group didn’t put out their “Aero” debut until the spring of 2008. A fantastic listen, the eight track effort was nominated for a handful of prizes at the 2009 Korean Music Awards and earned Vidulgi Ooyoo stage time at two of the country’s most prominent outdoor music events--the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival in 2008 and the Jisan Valley Rock Festival last summer.

The band had begun thinking about following up “Aero” with an EP, when Bliss.City.East pitched the idea of a joint project. The two groups met through MySpace in 2008 and quickly developed a mutual respect for one another through their shared love of the shoegaze sub-genre. “They had been interested in our music and introduced us to several webzines along with their friends in the U.S. and Europe,” says Jong-seok. “We wanted to do something different from 'Aero' and we thought that our music would contrast well with Bliss.City.East's classic shoegaze sound.

The disc offers four selections from Vidulgi Ooyoo and five from Bliss.City.East. Seoul label Electric Muse is issuing the split in South Korea and it will surface on American imprint Fake Label Recordings in June. Vidulgi Ooyoo and Bliss.City.East will team up for gigs in Seoul in the fall and in Chicago at the end of this year or early in 2011. “It’s incredible that the record will come out in the U.S. as well,” says Jongseok. “We hope more people around the world get to enjoy our music.”

A preview of sorts,Vidulgi Ooyoo’s contributions expand upon the material presented on “Aero” and offer a glimpse of the sonic terrains the band will explore on the sophomore full-length they plan to release within the next 12 months. And while all four new compositions are well-crafted and brimming with a wonderful array of hypnotic guitar noise, Jong-seok admits the group have a definite favourite from the bunch.

“The songs have similar textures as ‘Aero,’ but incorporate different spectrums and styles,” Jong-seok offers.“We tried to include aspects from psychedelic blues, post-rock and ‘90s indie rock.

“The song ‘Goodnight Shining’ is about a total eclipse I saw on the National Geographic channel.It was so impressive. We feel that ‘Goodnight Shining’ flows like the scenes of a movie. Whenever we play it live, it always moves us.”
- Seoulstyle

I first heard of Vidulgi Ooyoo in 2007 when my band asked the Daydream guys if they could recommend any good bands for us to check out. At the time, there were no recordings available for us to listen to. Daydream's guitarist Shin Gye-Hyeon was then in the process of recording VO's debut LP, "Aero". Interesting name, we thought- "pigeon milk". Is that a reference to pigeons' milky looking poo? Do pigeons actually lactate? [Turns out to be neither, but it does have something to do with how parent pigeons feed their young...]

I finally got a chance to see them perform this summer and they completely lived up to my expectations and then some. I got to know VO's principal songwriter Jong-Seok Lee over late nights at Godard and jam sessions. Far from being a shoegazer whose knowledge of music begins and ends with My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, Jong-Seok is a musician steeped in theory and history. For example, he would show me a tuning he came up with made up of only "perfect intervals" and was influenced by Indian drone... I'm also convinced that Jong-Seok is like a Korean Dorian Gray. The man does not age! More on that below...

Fans in the U.S., VO is making plans to come next year! Keep an eye out...

Information online says that Vidulgi Ooyoo ("VO") formed in 2003. Were there any line-up (member) changes since 2003? How did the current members of VO all meet?

A: The current line-up of VO was finally settled in 2004. I saw Ji-Hye playing in a club with Greenish Yellow (her former band) and I was so impressed with her energy. After a while GY broke up, and because she liked VO, she called me and I was willing to accept her naturally. Yong-Jun joined after a month. Ki-Hoon formed VO with me from the start.

Individually, how did each of you come to become interested in music? How did you start playing? What were your early influences?

A: As for myself, I liked contemporary Korean pop when I was very young in the '70s. Singers like Kim Jeongho, Kim Chooja, and so on. And when I was in my early teens, I became interested for the first time in U.S and British pop music and classic rock like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc., through FM radio. So I wanted to learn how to play guitar. At that time, one of my brother's friends brought an electric guitar to our home and he played "Stairway to Heaven" by plugging into our audio system and I was shocked. Afterwards, I bought a guitar, practiced it every day and formed a school band. That was the start... My early influences were hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and so on. And then I became interested in progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer.

What did Greenish Yellow sound like? When was it active? Are there any recordings available of this band?

Greenish Yellow usually covered My Bloody Valentine's songs and was active from 2003 to 2004. They didn’t release any cds or demos.

Jong-Seok, what did you do before VO formed? Were you playing in any bands? Recently, I heard Sung Kiwan (3rd Line Butterfly) remark with surprise that you were only 1 year younger than him! [You do have a very ageless look.] I guess for this reason, I’m especially curious about your background and the things you did prior to forming this band.

Before VO, I was in a band called La Vie En Rose. After releasing the band’s first album, I left, because I thought I couldn’t make the music that I wanted in that band. I wrote a couple of new songs, and then I formed VO.

Anyway, thanks for your nice comment. I have no particular secret about looking ageless. Just drink and sleep a lot. Over 8 hours at least... [smiles]

The first time I heard about VO was from the members of Daydream in 2007, who highly recommended you, but it would be some time until we heard your music. I later learned that Daydream guitarist Shin Gye-Hyeon worked on production for the recordings that would become your album "Aero". Can you tell us what these recording sessions were like? What was it like working with Gye-Hyeon? How much time did you guys spend in the studio? Were there any recordings of VO available before Aero?

Our debut release was a digital single including "Elephant" and "Siren" in January 2007. But it was a home recording, so we could not get the quality that we wanted. We needed someone who had lots of experience with recording and the sounds that we wanted. Gye-Hyeon was the right man. I think he has good ears and instincts. He acquired lots of experience during the 5 years that he recorded and mixed his own band, Daydream. But he was a student in graduate school, so he could not keep on recording us regularly. It took us about 6 months to record and mix down, but we are satisfied with the results, thanks to him!

I noticed that one of your songs on Aero is called "Murmur’s Room". I just finished interviewing Seunghoon Choi and he talked about one of his old bands, Murmur’s Loom! Is there any rela - K.O.A Zine