“This Turned Out To Be The Best Trip of My Life” A Singapore Hardcore Kid Talks About S. Korea

This is a very sweet report that just came into our inbox. Syafiq is a hardcore kid from Singapore who moonlights in sick bands like Spirits and Virtues. He recently traveled to South Korea and was so moved by the hospitality he received while he was there by the Korean hardcore punk family – especially the hospitality of one particular person – that he returned to Singapore and chose to write about his experience.

One of the MANY MANY reasons to publish this is because in 2000 our own band King Ly Chee traveled to South Korea for the very first time and we had the EXACT same experience. We met so many hardcore and punk kids there (no longer kids anymore now! hahaha) and like what Syafiq experienced, we too were moved by how much care and love they put into our stay. They consistently wanted to make sure we were having a good time and that our needs were met. We had so many friends show us around and make sure they translated for us and just went so out of their way to take care of us. Some of those people play in legendary bands like Crying Nut, Johnny Royal and so many others…

South Korea and South Koreans are very very special people…

Please enjoy this lovely article by Syafiq and go support these amazing bands and labels from Korea. They all fucking rule.

Victim Records World’s End Party Tour Report
by Syafiq
Spirits / Virtues

“Victim Records from South Korea is no stranger to some of us but I would like to share how well the founder Yoon Kisun and the rest of the crew treated me during the tour.

My initial solo trip with no itinerary to Korea turned into the best trip of my life thanks to Kisun. 2 weeks before my trip, Kisun’s band Sink To Rise played with my band Spirits in Singapore. It turned out that the guesthouse that I had booked to stay in during my trip to Korea was a few blocks away from his apartment. Hence, he offered to fetch me from the airport and invited me to Victim Records’ World End’s Tour featuring bands from Victim Records and 3 headlining Japanese bands Labret, Stone Leek & AK-47. A 3-day weekend tour with 3 shows in 3 different parts of S. Korea. This tour was also a collab with World Domination Inc.

I’ve never been to S. Korea so I didn’t know what to expect, especially about their underground scene. I turned out to be better than any and all expectations.

The tour kicked off the very same day my beloved cat of 15 years died so I thought I wouldn’t have a good time because of her passing. But the moment I reached the gig venue, it all felt like home thanks to everyone welcoming me in. It didn’t feel like I was in a different country whatsoever. It felt like I’d known them for a very long time even though we all spoke different languages and only knew the basics of each other’s languages. All the bands from both Korea & Japan were damn tight!

At the end of every show, it is a tradition for them to host an afterparty where all the bands gather together for great food & drinks. Literally, all the bands and crew filled up every centimeter of space in restaurants. They were all so accommodating to me. They even checked first if I could eat pork and then proceeded to make sure not to order anything with pork in it! While the world was watching international teams playing against each other at the World Cup, I was having my own world cup of internationals on the same team, a team of punk rockers and hardcore.

The reason for this report is to also spread the word about how great Victim Records, World Domination Inc & all the bands were on this tour. They all deserve so much more recognition outside of S.Korea & Japan.

I would like to dedicate this post to Yoon Kisun for taking good care of me from the start till the end of my 12-day trip. He made sure I ate and slept well. He let me get on the tour bus with everyone else and booked a motel for me to sleep in. I felt like a burden for making him do everything for me. I’m grateful though. I would repay his kindness definitely starting off with this report. I would love to bring them back to Singapore next year. One of many examples of UNITE ASIA. To many more tour and shows together internationally.

Special mentions to the bands who were involved too:

(Japan)
Labret
Stone Leek
AK-47

(S.Korea)
Sink To Rise
Twofive
Overhead
Monkey Pee Quartet
Smoking Goose
Idiots
Loss of Infection
Amazing Visual
Whatever that means

They deserved more recognition. Till we meet again!

Peace & Unity”