A glimpse into the Korean Indie music scene with "Night Drives with DKDKTV"

DKDKTV strike again with their “Night Drives with __” series on YouTube. Okay, we are lying, it has been quite a while since they made that playlist of videos but we thought now is a better time than any to shine a light on how the series may have affected the Korean music industry, specifically the K-Indie scene.

DKDKTV comprises of two Korean YouTube content creator duo, Danny Kim and David Kim, who make videos and content revolving around K-Pop, Korean Culture and bridge the gap between the international audience and the local artists and atmosphere through their deep-dives, debates and news segments. But among our favorites is the “Night Drives with __” series, although not as popular as some of their other content, it has a sentiment behind it that is inexplicable, we will try our best to put it in words for you.

They, first, started this series in 2018, dedicated to discovering local Indie artists in Korea, specifically Seoul, where they reside. Typically, the K-Indie scene can be found live in the local streets of Hongdae, where musicians are often found busking or playing in the clubs in and around Itaewon. In the mini-series, Danny and David quite literally take the artist on a drive whilst letting the artist take the stage in the backseat of their car. It is insightful to hear from the artists themselves about how it is to make music in Korea as Indie musicians and share interesting anecdotes and experiences with Danny and David amidst setlist for the night, that connect the audience with the artist on a personal level.

K-Indie music is mostly comprised of independent music-makers, artists, and bands who want to share their authentic artistry without the barriers of music labels or entertainment companies censoring their content. Something that is rarely, if not at all, found in K-Pop. But just as K-Pop has become a wave around the world, K-Indie has also become a sub-culture of its own with the influence of the internet and music streaming services, it has become easy to access music that is, otherwise, hard to discover.

As we hear the artists croon their melodies, the backdrop of the Seoul skyline added to it creates the perfect lo-fi vibe for the occupants of the car and the audience watching. Some of the artists mentioned in the videos, as they zoom past different neighborhoods, are Paper Planet aka Junyoung Kim, Jia, British Climate (영국기후), YESEO, Part Time Cooks, and Cacophony (카코포니). A few other videos are just collaborations with other YouTubers such in a similar video format with other activities, carefully devised as per the personalities of their guests.

The versatility of Korean music surprises us with each discovery that we, now, happen to believe there is something for everyone in it. This series, crafted by DKDKTV, acts as an opening to the K-Indie scene for many of their international audiences that were previously unfamiliar to this genre of music or content.

We will not spoil the series any further and let you explore it yourself. In case you are in search of new music in these trying times, struggling to adjust with a new routine of working/studying from home, we have curated a list of our top five K-Indie tracks to accompany you:

1415 – FROM X (EP)