Lampo welcomes Hong Chulki and Choi Joonyoung, two leading figures from Seoul’s emerging experimental music community, as they make their Chicago debut.

If global sameness has you down, this might be your remedy. Hong and Choi are part of a South Korean scene recognized for its unique style and creative approach, distinct from strategies in Japan, Europe and the U.S. Their noise music is less about taking non-musical amplified and synthesized sounds and organizing them into musical forms. Instead, they’re fascinated by non-musical practices, where the sonic results may be nearly inaudible or very loud, acoustic or electronic, and, they say, “barely musical.”

In concert, they combine their individual interests: Hong’s pursuit of continuity between acoustic and amplified noise, using turntables with and without cartridge pick-ups, making sound from the friction between mute and empty surfaces, and Choi’s roving performance, where he pushes an amplifier in and around the audience as if he were a noise vendor.

Hong Chulki (b.1976, Seoul, South Korea) is a noise/improvising musician, known for his cartridge-less turntable work and as the founding member of Astronoise, Korea’s first live noise act (with Choi Joonyong). He has focused on free improvisation since the early 2000s, collaborating with Ryu Hankil, Jin Sangtae, Joe Foster, Kevin Parks, Otomo Yoshihide, Sachiko M., Jason Kahn, Takahiro Kawaguchi, Nick Hoffman, Robbie Avenaim, and Zbigniew Karkowski. Festival appearances include All Ears, Against, Kitakyushu Biennale, and Netmage 10, and he has been a musician in residence at Café Oto and STEIM. Hong has composed pieces for several Korean experimental films, especially for Goksa, a film production company run by Kim Gok and Kim Sun. He also has been a long-time collaborator with Korean film artist Lee Hangjun, who works in 16mm multi-projection performance. Hong’s recordings have been released on his own label, Balloon & Needle, which he co-founded with Choi, and by Manual, Celadon, Pilgrim Talk, Hanson Records, and Audition Records.

Choi Joonyong (b.1977, Seoul, South Korea) started Astronoise with Hong Chulki in 1997, and has been playing noise and improvised music since. Primarily using CD players, MP3 players, cassette players, and VCRs, Choi works with sounds from the device mechanisms, exposing the innate qualities of these machines. He has released many albums, including five solo albums made with a malfunctioning CD player. He is equally interested in composition, and its emphasis on control and precision, as well as improvisation, embracing uncertainty and the possibility of failure as part of his creative process. Choi’s label, Balloon & Needle, has released experimental music from Korea since 2000. His latest release, Danthrax, features his unique approach to dance music.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation; organized in cooperation with CEAIT (Center for Experiments in Art, Information and Technology) at CalArts, the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Sound