Korean Rock Band KARDI talks about their unique combination of heavy metal inspiration coupled with a classic Korean instrument
Inspired by metal, armed with a killer voice plus traditional Eastern folk instrument, the Geomungyo, KARDI may have been created by TV but they’re completely real and ready to set the world to rights with their hard rock tension-relieving sound.
KARDI has been making waves on the rock scene since 2021 when they were thrown together on the second season of Korean music survival show, Superband. Leen Hwang, lead guitar and frontman playfully explains, “We were the leftover musicians, so the judges recommended we compose a group.”
JTBC’s Superband matches talent in the hopes of creating bands that appeal to a global audience. Once formed, each group competes for a final ranking, all to be signed to production companies. As a group, KARDI finished at number three after their the members survived multiple rounds and configurations with other musicians. In time for the final few episodes, three members made an impact with this stunner of a remake, ‘Legends Never Die’ by Against the Current from video game League of Legends.
FORMULATING
Since joining hands under SGM Records they’ve lost their original drummer. But as a four-some they’re playing and producing in Seoul with an aim to keep on going. Lead singer Yeji Kim confirms, “I just want to keep developing as an artist.”
Their own live show is energy-fueled with a crowd that’s all in. From a number of fans, the favorite of the night is ‘7000RPM’. A driving bomb of a number – much like you’d imagine – composed for and performed on Superband. ‘Watch Out,’ (displayed above) is another favorite from the series, included on their mini-LP, Chil, released in 2022. And there’s plenty of love for their more recent tunes as well, like ‘Party’ from 2023 album Inside Out.
The first time the members of KARDI met, all with their own style, was on Superband. Leen Hwang says with a laugh, “Yeji was wearing something weird. I was horrified.” Yet they’re so aligned now he often helps her find the right words as we converse, noting, “Now we’re almost like a family.”
FROM ANOTHER MOTHER
A family with hugely varying backgrounds. While guitarist Leen Hwang talks of deep roots in heavy metal, naming Slip Knot, After Bridge and Linkin Park as inspiration, he notes he’s always wanted to be musician, having made up his mind somewhere in middle school.
Where vocalist Kim, who grew up with a love of pop music, at some point turned to blues naming Etta James. Before Superband, she studied medical science, which gives a clue to the inspiration for the band name. Coupled with university, her side hustle has stamped her ‘Queen of the OST’ singing distinctive K-drama sound tracks such as ‘Villian’ from 2023 K-drama Delightfully Deceitful.
Bassist Inkyu Hwang, who was in another band before they met, asserts, “Rather than inspiration, my motivation was my first gig as part of a live band – it was that energy from the audience.” He notes a vast mix of favorites from Iron Maiden to Tupac Shakur to Twice.
Geomungyo player Dawool Park has, since childhood, studied Gugak – Korean traditional music. “Traditional Gugak feels a bit restrictive so I deviated to jazz and classical, which does not have an answer. It’s really free musically.”
With such vast differences in influence, how do they come together? For example, in song writing. Leen Hwang, who acts as producer, manning the keys when they write, notes they balance each other out, “Everyone has their own experience and maybe Inkyu or Dawool would bring ideas and we create from that. If we can’t agree, we delete the song.”
Park chimes in, “Strong rock songs, like ‘Riot,’ that carry a feeling of frustration – typically those lyrics come from Leen. He has that anger.”
BRINGING THE NOISE
Many of their songs, such as ‘7000RPM’ and ‘Skybound,’ have English lyrics peppered throughout. Why is that? Kim shares, “Pop music got me freestyling in English. But also, English words are easier to make into lyrics within a melody.” Leen Hwang agrees, “Korean syllables and sentence structure can be difficult.”
Having read that the name ‘KARDI’ is about making people’s hearts beat, we touch on it. Park explains, “Our name is from ‘cardio’ – life energy.” Leen Hwang clocks in with ‘It’s adrenaline!” But goes on to explain, “Making hearts beat can encompass many feelings such as love or sadness or anger.”
We keep coming back to this piece about anger. There’s a universal nature to it. So, if everyone in the world becomes a KARDI fan, what could that look like? “There is so much anger in the world,” asserts Leen Hwang. “And while it’s hard to image such a world of fans, our aspiration is for people to use our music to relieve their frustration and stress.”
Pressing on, so it may be less about making hearts beat and more around actively processing feelings? Perhaps those concepts aren’t too far apart. Park and Leen Hwang, with an awareness of current events together land, “We need a peaceful world without war. And one where eventually everyone has no stress. Peace can come from releasing stress and getting these jumbled emotions out.” And KARDI is just the band for it.
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