Guckkasten () is a South Korean

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band. Formed in 2003 under the name The C.O.M. (더 컴), the original lineup consisted of vocalist Ha Hyun-woo,

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Jeon Kyu-ho,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Lee Jung-gil, and

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Kim Jin-eok. Due to

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

, The C.O.M. disbanded. In 2007, they regrouped with Kim Ki-bum as bassist under the name Guckkasten, which is the German word for Zograscope. The band intends to make music with psychedelic images hidden under

analogous Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things (or two groups of things) because of a third element that they are considered to share. In logic, it is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as oppose ...

art.

History

In 2000, Ha Hyun-woo and Lee Jung-gil met while attending the same university. The following year, Jeon Kyu-ho, who earned a crane operation license at the time, was found through the internet. The band was founded in the

Hongdae area Hongdae () is a neighborhood in Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea, near Hongik University ("Hongik Daehakgyo" in Korean), after which it is named. The neighborhood is known for its urban arts and indie music culture, local shops, clubs, cafés ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

with the name The C.O.M., an acronym for Compass of Music, in 2003. Due to their

, the band was dismantled. In 2007, the three members regrouped under the name Guckkasten in the Gangwon-do Province, with the addition of Kim Ki-bum. The name "Guckkasten" is derived from the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

, which translates to "Chinese-style

kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a symmetrical pattern when viewed fro ...

". The band chose the name because they wanted to "show off a never-ending, fire-work like image of the passion of the young and the mirage of life". Initially, Guckkasten attempted to create an independent

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

themselves. After negotiations, they were signed a three-year

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with Yedang Entertainment. In 2008, the band won the grand prize by the

EBS Hello Rookie Contest ''EBS Hello Rookie Contest'' () is a South Korean music competition aimed at discovering rookies, which began in 2007. The competition began as a project for rookies at The EBS space in 2007, and has been hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Spor ...

. Guckkasten released their self-titled debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

on February 4, 2009. They held their first solo concert on February 21, 2009, in Seoul, South Korea, at

Hongik University Hongik University (; colloquially as Hongdae) is a private university in Mapo District, Mapo, Seoul, South Korea. It was founded in 1946. The university also maintains a branch campus in Sejong City. The university's colloquial name, "Hongdae ...

's V-Hall. Throughout that year, the band performed at several music festivals, including the Summer Rock Festival in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China, the

Pentaport Rock Festival Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival () is a rock festival which is held annually in Incheon, South Korea for three days in August. Launched in 2006, it is considered one of the biggest live music events in South Korea. The festival covers various gen ...

, and Jisan Valley Rock Festival in July. The band was selected by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KCCA) to usher in

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea before the division of Korea in 1945. Since the mid-20th century, Korea has been split between the North Korean and South Korean sovereign state, stat ...

into Japan. The

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

where original album was saved had been lost by the band, which required them to re-record the album. As a result, Guckkasten lost all their money, which left them "speechless for about three seconds when we got the bill". Guckkasten won Rookie of the Year and Best Rock Song for "Mirror" at the seventh annual

Korean Music Awards The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to de ...

in 2010. In March 2010, Guckkasten performed a "special stage" at Mnet's music chart television program ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...

'' with girl group

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...

. In 2011, Guckkasten performed at their first major music hall concert. The event, which seats 2,000 people, sold out tickets in ten days. They were also a feature on

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

duo's

Leessang Leessang () was a South Korean hip hop duo, composed of Kang Hee-gun ("Gary" or "Garie") and Gil Seong-joon ("Gil"). Formed in 2002, the duo has released eight albums to date: two self-titled records in 2002 and 2003, ''Library of Soul'' in 2 ...

's album ''Asura Balbalta''.

Musical style and artistry

Guckkasten's music has been classified as

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, a genre that is underrepresented in South Korea. Due to their

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

nature, Guckkasten has expressed they can not define the sound of their music. The band has stated that their guitar

riffs A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based on ...

tend to be "on the heavy side". The band's intent is to create music with psychedelic images hidden under

art. The band members cite different musicians as their favorites: Ha Hyun-woo chose

Gotan Project Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris (France), consisting of musicians Eduardo Makaroff (Argentina), Philippe Cohen Solal (French) and Christoph H. Müller (Swiss), a former member of Touch El Arab.Madlen Albrecht ''Le développemen ...

and

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

; Jeon Kyu-ho chose

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

and

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

; Lee Jung-kil admires

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's drummer

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician who is the drummer and a founding member of American heavy metal band Metallica. Along with James Hetfield, Ulrich has songwriting credits on almost all of the band's songs, and the ...

; Kim Ki-bum chose

Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, consisting of Anthony Kiedis (vocals), Flea (musician), Flea (bass), John Frusciante (guitar), and Chad Smith (drums). Their music incorporates elements of a ...

's bassist

Flea Flea, the common name for the order (biology), order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by hematophagy, ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult f ...

. Guckkasten has been described as having developed a unique sound and that the band strives for "musical perfection". Jeong Ho-jae, a writer for News Donga, felt that Guckkasten created "explosive and creative" music. Vocalist Ha Hyun-woo's singing technique has also been described to be "explosive". Their self-titled debut album received critical acclaim and was credited for the development and rapid growth of Korean

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...

Performance

At their 2011 Guckkasten Visual Art Concert, the band employed

three-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...

effects, which displayed different items on the screens behind them for each individual track they performed. They aimed to combine their "intense"

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

with a visual exhibition.

Members

;Current members * Ha Hyun-woo () – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Jeon Kyu-ho () – guitar * Lee Jung-gil () –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Kim Ki-bum () –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

;Former members * Kim Jin-eok () – bass guitar

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards

, - , 2003 , The C.O.M. , rowspan="2", Samzi Sound Festival for Hidden Whiz Award , , - , 2007 , rowspan="5", Guckkasten , , - , rowspan="3", 2008 , EBS Space Sympathy for Hello Rookie of June , , - , Samzi Sound Festival Murim Whiz Award , , - , EBS Space Sympathy Grand Award for Hello Rookie of the Year , , - , rowspan="2", 2010 , 7th

for Rookie of the Year , , - , Mirror () , 7th Korean Music Awards for Best Rock Song Award , , - , rowspan="2", 2016 , rowspan="2", Ha Hyun-woo (''

King of Mask Singer ''The King of Mask Singer'' () is a South Korean singing competition program presented by Kim Sung-joo, with introductions by voice actor . It airs on MBC on Sunday, starting from April 5, 2015 as a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' programming ...

'') , 43rd Korean Broadcasting Grand Prize for Musician Category , , - , 16th

MBC Entertainment Awards The MBC Entertainment Awards () is a Korean awards ceremony held annually and sponsored by MBC. The awards ceremony is held at the end of each year and lasts approximately 140 minutes, being broadcast in two parts on MBC. Hosts History of wi ...

for Special Award , , - , rowspan="2", 2016 , rowspan="2", Ha Hyun-woo , Korea Brand Of The Year Award , , - , 8th

Melon Music Awards The Melon Music Awards () is a major music awards show that is held annually by Kakao Entertainment (a Kakao company) through its online music store Melon. The event was initially a fan-voted award conducted entirely online from 2005 through ...

Rock Category , , - , 2020 , Guckkasten , Brand Customer Loyalty Awards for Rock band ,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guckkasten South Korean experimental rock groups Musical groups disestablished in the 2000s Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 South Korean musical quartets South Korean psychedelic rock music groups South Korean indie rock groups Korean Music Award winners