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By Mark Russell

As you probably know already, K-Pop has been making more and more inroads all over the world, from Japan to South Asia and increasingly in the West, too.

For me, however, my big interest has long been Korea’s indie rock music scene. It was this Korean indie rock music that first got me excited to learn more about Korean culture. My first friends in Korea were from indie rock bands in Busan, Seoul and elsewhere. And I think some of the most creative work in Korea is coming from its Korean indie rock music scene.

Which is why I am so excited to see that some of Korea’s best indie bands are going to be playing in the West in the coming months.

One of my favorite groups, 3rd Line Butterfly, is coming to London in early December, doing an interview and playing a live radio performance for Monocle Magazine’s Monocle’s Winter Series. The interview and concert should be available on iTunes soon.

3rd Line Butterfly is about 10 years old, and is comprised of Sung Kiwan (guitar and vocals), Nam Sangah (guitar and vocals) and Kim Nam-yoon (bass).  After their first couple of albums, they were pretty quiet for several years until their 2009 release “Nine Days or a Million” became a surprise hit.

“We’re happy to have concerts right in London, one of the birthplaces of modern pop music,” said Sung Kiwan. “And we’re excited to have a new album coming this spring.”

3호선 버터플라이- 걷기만 하네 from OFFBEAT on Vimeo.

3호선 버터플라이 – 꿈꾸는 나비 from OFFBEAT on Vimeo.

3rd Line is not the only Korean indie rock band coming to the West. Next March, Galaxy Express, Vidulgi Ooyoo and Idiotape will all be coming to the Canada Music Week in Toronto and SXSW in Texas. Tour organizers DFSB Kollective is also trying to set up shows in San Francisco, Yale University (for KASCON) and Harvard, although details are still to be confirmed. I will write more about them as their dates get closer. Galaxy won the Best Rock Album of the Year award at the 2009 Korean Music Awards.

Playing a few shows outside of Korea would not be very useful if new fans could not buy the music afterward. Which is why it is so exciting to see more and more Korean indie music showing up on international websites such as iTunes and Soundcloud.

Galaxy Express on Soundcloud -

Galaxy Express on iTunes -

3rd Line Butterfly in particular has remixed several of their old albums for the international online release, allowing fans from around the world to experience their cool sounds in better quality than ever.