About/Contact
The Korea Gig Guide was started to help people keep track of the concerts going on in Seoul and around Korea more easily. Yes, really, Korea does have some great acts, with live singing and instruments and everything. In addition to live music, the Gig Guide also talks about art events, cultural festivals, music history and just about anything we find interesting and that we would like people to know about.
The Gig Guide is run by Shawn Despres, who arrived in Seoul in December 2007 and quickly became enamored with the local music scene. He pens music-related content for The Japan Times, Charattack.com, Smashingmag.com, FujiRock Express, and Groove Korea. In his younger days, he worked at Canadian independent record label Sonic Unyon and spent four years hosting campus radio programs at university stations CFMU and CHRW. He can be contacted at shawndespres at hotmail dot com or koreagigguide at gmail dat com.
The Gig Guide was founded by Mark Russell, who has been a fan of Korean music (old and new) since the 1990s, and spent years working as a journalist in Korea. He no longer lives in Korea or is much involved in the Gig Guide, though, and instead spends his time at the site Korean Indie — check it out for plenty of stories and reviews and other good stuff. You can reach him at mark at koreanindie.com.
The Gig Guide’s other great contributors include:
Jon Dunbar is a race traitor from Edmonton, Canada, who’s been closely involved in the Hongdae punk scene for over six years. His photography can be viewed at Daehanmindecline.com. If you have a question about Korean punk, hardcore, ska, or reggae, he’s your guy.
Dain has been in Korea since 2003, living in Ulsan and Paju, before finally moving into Seoul. Prior to teaching here he lived in Australia and Dunedin, New Zealand where he worked in student radio. Although a big fan of most genres of Korean music, he has a curse that within one month of proclaiming a Korean act is his current favorite at least one member gets called up to military service.