Juck Juck Grunzie is a Seoul-based psychedelic noise-rock band formed by Ahreum Lee on vocals, Kyunghyun Lee on drums, Jeehye Ham on guitar and Boong on bass. The band recently finished their European Tour, which passed by London at the end of June and Berlin on July 1st and 4th.
Kyunghyun Lee and Boong kindly took some time to answer some of our questions in an email interview before their tour started.
Since this is your first visit to Europe, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Boong: Hi! We’re a psychedelic noise-rock band from Seoul, South Korea called Juck Juck Grunzie. There are four members in our band. Our guitar player name is Jeehye Ham; Ahreum Lee plays the synthesizer and sings; our drummer is Kyunghyun Lee and my name is Boong and I play bass. It’s great to meet all of you!
Juck Juck Grunzie was formed in 2007 and we released our full-length debut in 2013. In 2013 we also toured in Taiwan. As you mentioned, we’ll be touring Europe soon. During our tour we’ll play at Glastonbury and also do gigs in London and Berlin. We can’t wait!
Kyunghyun Lee, you're the only man among three ladies. How does it feel for you to play in Juck Juck Grunzie? What are some of the benefits of gigging and touring with these three talented ladies?
Kyunghyun: In my previous bands all the members were men. So this is a bit of a new challenge to me. But everyone in Juck Juck Grunzie is very kind and considerate, which is great. When I played in bands with all male members, no one was ever very considerate!
How do you feel about your upcoming European tour? What are your expectations for your shows in Europe?
Boong: I’m really looking forward to the tour! I’ve been to England before and while I was there I thought it would be great to come back one day with Juck Juck. I’m glad this wish is coming true. As for our expectations, we’re expecting to have a good time, meet other good musicians and meet lots of new people. I think this tour is going to be a lot of fun for us.
While you're in Europe, you'll play at Glastonbury Festival. How do you feel about being a part of this major festival? Have any of you dreamed of playing at Glastonbury in the past?
Boong: Of course! I think every musician has dreamed about playing at Glastonbury. We’re so happy to be a part of the festival. It’s one of the biggest and oldest music fests in the world and the lineup is always amazing. We’re so excited and grateful for the opportunity to play at such an iconic event. This is going to be a great opportunity for us and we’re hoping to make the most of it.
Are you doing any special preparations for this tour before leaving Korea?
Boong: We’ve been practicing a lot to get ready for our shows in Europe. We’ve also made special masks to wear and have prepared a taekwondo-inspired dance to do during our sets. Hopefully people will like them!
Psycho is the title of your first album. Did you have any special concepts for this album?
Boong: Yes, the main concept on the album is dreams. The title track was inspired by Jeehye’s mom. She once blacked out because of carbon monoxide poisoning and she dreamed that a voice was telling her to wake up and saying “psycho, psycho.”
How would you describe your sound?
Boong: I think our music is dark and intense but it also has some beautiful and delicate parts too. For anyone not familiar with Juck Juck Grunzie, I usually recommend to start with the song A Dream like a Dream because it’s dark and mysterious but there is also a subtle delicateness to the track too.
Could you please leave a message for our readers?
Kyunghyun: Please come see us play if you’ll be at Glastonbury or live in London or Berlin. I’m sure you’ll have a really good time! Thanks so much for taking the time to read about Juck Juck Grunzie. We hope to see you soon.
Would you like to know more about Juck Juck Grunzie? You can check below some music videos from the band and their Sound Clound. Did you like what you hear? The band's album Psycho is available via iTunes for purchase.
