The Korean indie band consists of three members — Jang Beom-jun (guitar and vocal), Kim Hyung-tae (bass) and Brad Moore (drums). While already a household name among Koreans, they are largely unknown among expats, though you’ve probably already heard their hits “Tokyo Girl,” “Yeosu Night Sea” and “Cherry Blossom Ending” spilling onto the streets wherever you live, even if you don’t know them by name. 这个韩国乐团由三人组成,张范俊、金亨泰、Brad。虽然在韩国已经是个家喻户晓的名字,但他们在国外普遍不被认识,不过,或许你已经听过他们的热门曲:东京少女、丽水夜海、樱花结局,不管你住哪里街上总播著他们的音乐,即使你可能不知道他们的名字。
Contrary to what may be suggested by the moniker, their claim to fame is not street performance, but rather Mnet’s singing survival show “Super Star K,” a Korean rendition of “American Idol.” 与他们的名字相反,他们的成名不是来自於街头表演,而是来自Mnet的选秀节目SSK,韩国版的“American Idol.”
Even though they finished second in the third season of the hugely popular audition-reality show, the band amassed nationwide popularity evinced by more than 13 million downloads of their debut album, an unheard-of feat for a new artist. 虽然他们最终在这个受到广大欢迎的选秀节目中获得第三季的亚军,这个乐团以他们的出道专辑整张歌曲被下载超过1300万次,证明他们获得了遍及全国的广大人气,这在新人中是没有听过的事情。
Busker Busker is also scheduled to perform at the 2012 Jisan Valley Rock Festival on July 29. Catchy, comfortable and easy-listening, their first album is worthy of the frequent playlist designation for your iPod. Busker Busker keeps a low profile — they’ve yet to launch an official website — which made us more eager to get to know them. Here’s what we shook out of the jolly, easy-going buskers: 他们也计画7/29在2012的芝山摇滚音乐节中表演 朗朗上口、舒服、容易入耳,他们的第一张专辑值得被收在你iPod的常播列表,Busker Busker 保持著个人的低曝光度,他们没有官网,这使得人们更想要认识他们。 以下是我们跟这开心的,好相处的街头艺人的访谈~
Groove Korea: Were you a frequent busker before you became Busker Busker? Busker Busker: Yes, we used to busk fairly regularly at a park in Cheonan, where Sangmyung University (where the Korean members were students) is located. Busking in Cheonan was not very common compared to the Hongdae area, but we liked the idea that we could make our town more lively by busking. Since we started as a busking band, it was only natural to name ourselves Busker Busker. 问: 成为Busker Busker之前你们常在街头表演吗? 答: 对,我们以前常在天安的公园表演,在祥明大学那里。在天安街头表演不像在弘大区域那样平常,但我们喜欢我们可以用街头表演让这个地方更生活更热闹的想法,既然我们是以街头表演的乐团开始的,所以很自然的我们取名为Busker Busker
Since you received explosive attention from “Super Star K,” it must not have been easy to continue busking. Besides the upcoming 2012 Jisan Valley Rock Festival, what other venues are you scheduled to perform at? We have just performed at the Rainbow Festival in Nami Island, and finished our first nationwide tour. So until Jisan Valley Rock Festival, we are going to have no more concerts, and spend our time working on our next album and enjoy the long-awaited free time! 既然你们以参加SSK获得爆炸性的人气,一定让你们很难继续街头表演,除了接下来2012的芝山摇滚节, 你们还计划在哪表演? 我们才刚在彩虹音乐节表演完,并结束了我们的全国巡回演唱会,所以在芝山摇滚节前我们不会再举办演唱会,然后把时间花在制作下一张专辑,然后享受等待已久的自由时间。
Is there a language barrier among band members? We don’t have much difficulty in communication, unlike what most people think. Beom-jun and Hyung-tae can speak English pretty well. Brad’s Korean is not that good, but we still can understand each other. Admittedly we can’t talk a lot (laughter) but we don’t have many problems because when making music, we just play a chord and ask, “like it?” 你们团员间有语言隔阂吗 ? 不像大部分人们所想的,我们在沟通上没什麼困难。范俊跟亨泰英文说的很好,BRAD的韩语没那麼好但我们还是可以了解对方。老实说我们不能谈得很多(笑)但我们没有太多问题,因为在我们做音乐时我们只是弹个片段然后问“like it?”
Do you have plans to perform outside of Korea, say, in Japan, Southeast Asia or the U.S.? We did have a chance to perform in Japan last April — it was a very special experience singing in Korean in front of people who spoke a different language. But since lyrics are still important for us, we will think more about (performing in more places abroad) when we can speak more languages. It will be fun if we go to the United States and have Brad interpret for us (Beom-jun and Hyung-tae). 你们有计画在韩国外表演吗?比如说 日本、南亚、美国? 我们四月时确实有机会在日本表演,那是个相当特别的经验再说另种语言的人前面唱韩语歌,但既然歌词对我们还是很重要,当我们会说多语言时,会对在国外表演的事多考虑一点。如果去美国表演让BRAD帮我们翻译一定很有趣(亨泰.范俊)
How did you all meet and decide to do music together? Beom-jun and Hyung-tae went to the same university (Sangmyung University), and Brad was Hyung-tae’s professor for the English class he took. One day Beom-jun, Hyung-tae and other friends were busking in a park — as was usual. A foreign couple passing by gave us money — they were Brad and Danny (Brad’s wife). After that we started to busk together as a hobby. It wasn’t until after we came in second at “Super Star K” that we put that much thought into it. We hadn’t taken it seriously, but alas, it became our fate. 你们是怎麼认识然后决定一起做音乐的? 范俊跟亨泰上同一所大学(祥明大)然后BRAD是亨泰修的英文课的教授,有一天范俊、亨泰还有其他朋友跟往常一样在公园表演时,有一对外国情侣过来给我们钱,他们就是Brad跟Danny。在那之后我们一起表演,当作是种嗜好。在我们得到SSK亚军前,都还不是很投入。我们以前还没这麼认真看待,但是,却成了我们命中注定的 语意有点难翻 嗯 看英文吧
How has your everyday life changed since “Super Star K3”? A lot. At the beginning we did not feel very different, but we realized that it became difficult to have small busking sessions like before. Meeting friends during the daytime also became difficult. Life became busier and more complicated. 你们在SSK3后日常生活改变了吗? 变了很多,一开始我们没有感到太大不同,但是我们明白到像以前一样在街头的小型表演变得很困难,在白天见朋友也变得很难,生活变得更忙然后更加复杂
Where do you get the inspiration for your music? Experience and memory — about love mostly. How would you describe your music? Easy, simple and friendly. 你音乐的灵感从何而来? 经验还有记忆,大部分都跟爱情有关 你如何形容你的音乐? 容易听,简单,友善
Tell us a little about yourselves. Beom-jun: I am from Gwangju and started playing the guitar at age 15. I started to play music to express my feelings. One of my favorite musicians is Nell and my source of inspiration is love and women. Hyung-tae: I’m from Gimhae (South Gyeongsang). I started to play music when I was 20 because it was fun! Brad: I’m from Ohio but I consider Korea as my second home seeing as my life has changed drastically here. I started playing music around 13, mainly for fun. I like The Killers and Danny is my muse. 谈一下你自己。 范俊:我是从光洲来的,然后从15岁开始弹吉他。我从那时开始用音乐来表达我的感觉,我最喜欢的音乐人是Nell(某个韩国乐团),我的灵感来源是爱情跟女人。 亨泰:我来自金海(景尙道南部) 我在20岁时因为好玩开始玩音乐。 BRAD:我来自俄亥俄州,但我认为韩国是我第二个故乡,因为在这我的人生有了戏剧性的改变。我开始接触音乐在13岁,主要是因为好玩。我喜欢The Killers(有名的美国乐团) ,而Danny是我的缪斯女神。