K-Indie Festival 2024

Photo: © Korean Culture Center, Germany

K-INDIE FESTIVAL

Berlin & Hamburg

Some days ago, the Korean embassy in Berlin announced again a concert series of Korean pop rock bands. If you remember, you regnorized the feature I done 2022 about Harry Big Button (Blog Post 2022). This time, the K-Indie Festival will including 4 bands, who are splitted into different concerts in Hamburg (27th June 2024, Gruenspan) and Berlin (29th + 30th June 2024, Kesselhaus).

27. June 2024 in Hamburg, 29. & 30. June 2024 in Berlin

At the “2024 K-INDIE ON Festival”, which will take place on June 27th at Gruenspan in Hamburg and on June 29th and 30th at Kesselhaus in Berlin, TOUCHED, HeyMen, W24 and KARDI will present spectacular performances.

“K-INDIE ON” was launched last year by the Korean Cultural Center in Germany to showcase various genres, but especially Korean indie music, that goes beyond the widely celebrated K-pop music.

This year's "2024 K-INDIE ON Festival", which has the motto "The Second Wave Seoul Edition", presents a new wave of Hallyu and showcases the carefree yet sophisticated performances, that only Korean indie music can offer. The enthusiasm of the “2024 K-INDIE ON Festival,” which continues in Hamburg and Berlin, promises new cultural experiences and excitement to German audiences who are eagerly awaiting diverse and unique musical genres from Korea. With their unique musical style and passionate stage performances, the bands are more than capable of captivating audiences in Hamburg and Berlin alike.

HeyMen

The mission is to transform pessimistic, negative vibes into positive emotions full of dreams through sincere, heartwarming lyrics and her exuberant energy, leaving her listeners feeling good. The independence of genres combined with their powerful live performances has earned the band recognition and captivated audiences in various band competitions. In 2023 they released their first regular album “Shelter”, an important step towards their global ambitions. Their goal is to shine on festival stages worldwide and to carry their encouraging messages around the world.

TOUCHED

TOUCHED is a four-piece mixed band consisting of Yun Min (vocal and guitar), Kim Seungbin (drums), John B. Kim (bass) and Chea Dohyeon (keyboard), who combine pronounced charisma with delicate sensitivity in their music. The band members, all graduates of the same university, do not limit their music to just one genre, but present a variety of facets to their audience. In 2020, TOUCHED secured 1st place at the 31st Yoo Jae Ha Music Competition, fulfilling the dream of every aspiring Korean band. The group subsequently won other music competitions and appeared in Hyundai Car commercials, proving their talent and expanding their popularity. In 2021, TOUCHED released their first mini-album “Purple”, which combined charisma, intensity, emotions and inspiration into a whole.

KARDI

Within a very short time, KARDI have secured worldwide recognition and popularity thanks to their rich sound and their rousing stage performances, in which the band members' individual stories flow into one another. In particular, the music video for the title track "WatchOut" from KARDI's 2022 EP album "Chil" was praised not only for its musical level but also for its high visual quality. In 2023 it won awards at the Prague Music Video Awards and the Liverpool Film Festival. Last year, KARDI expanded their presence abroad with concerts in Hamburg and Vienna.

W24

The band W24 consists of three members Cheong Ho Won (vocals), Kim Jong Gil (drums) and Kim Yun Soo (guitar). The band name W24 stands for “World 24 hours”, which means “our music flows around the world 24 hours a day”. W24 have a large international fan base, stretching from Latin America to Europe to the USA. They owe their success to their songs; they not only write the songs but also the lyrics themselves. Singer Cheong Ho Won was born in Chile and spent 19 years of his life in South America, which is why he is fluent in Spanish and English.

In 2020, W24 won the final championship in “Asian Top Band”, a joint production of eight radio stations from seven Asian countries, thereby securing their reputation as one of the best bands in Asia. This year, they appeared on Mnet's talent show "Great Seoul Invasion" and performed impressively in every round, managing to advance to Round 8 of the show. They regularly tour throughout Korea. In 2023 they successfully completed their “2023 Born Again Tour” in the UK and Latin America and had performances in Japan and Kazakhstan. They are currently focused on expanding their international reach. Part of this effort is also the “2024 Born Again Tour” they announced this fall.