Korea’s Patients to Embark on Third UK Tour

Seoul “hybrid punk” band Patients are gearing up to for their third England tour. Formed in the mid-2000s and heavily inspired by classic ‘70s punk in their early years, the trio began experimenting with different sounds a few years back. Labeling their new style of music “hybrid punk,” Patients is now composed of a bassist, keyboardist, and drummer that turn out anthemic, extremely catchy tracks that meld together elements of punk, rock, pop, and new wave.

In 2014, Patients traveled to the UK for a live appearance at the Liverpool Sound City music fest and a handful of club dates. They had such a great time during the tour that they’ve returned each year since.

“I love music fans in the UK,” says bassist and vocalist Sumin Jo. “Every time we’ve played in the UK, we get great reactions from people. And I like British jokes too!”

“We enjoy British rock music and the music culture in England,” add keyboardist Hyuckjang Kwon. “During each of our tours we’ve experienced so many things and have made lots of friends. And I think we can get lots of good inspiration for new songs from there too. We can’t wait to travel back to the UK for more concerts soon.”

Jo and Kwon recruited a new drummer at the beginning of the year named Soowon Choi and this will be his first time touring abroad with Patients. In addition to having a new drummer, Patients will also have some new songs to share with their growing UK fanbase.

“We have two new tracks and are really looking forward to performing them at Liverpool Sound City and in the other great places we’ll visit,” says Kwon. “The songs are called ‘Space Call Girl’ and ‘Game Boy Game Girl.’ Both of the songs sound really good and we like their titles too. After we finish our UK tour, we’re going to record the songs and release them as singles. Please keep an eye out for them.”

Here’s where you can catch the Patients guys playing in the UK:
May 25 Chester @ The Live Rooms
May 26 Manchester @ Night & Day Cafe
May 27 Whitchurch @ Percy’s Cafe Bar
May 29 Liverpool @ Liverpool Sound City (Cargo Stage)
May 31 London @ Windmill Brixton
June 5 Worthing @ Bar 42

And here’s a live video of Patients performing in Seoul last year:

In addition to keeping busy with overseas gigging, Jo also owns and operates the Seoul live venues Club Steel Face and Steel Face Rooftop 3639. And he’s the boss man at the Korean indie label Steel Face Records as well. What does Steel Face Records have planned for the coming months?

“We’ll be putting out new singles from Patients and releasing a new single by Heynam Sin & Patients. We’re hoping to release the singles digitally and on vinyl. These will mark the first recordings from Steel Face to be printed on vinyl, so that’s exciting news for the label!”