Q. Hi! Please tell us about your band and members briefly.
ABO: Hi, we are an electronic rock trio band ABO
Lee Im-soo: I’m Lee Im-soo on the vocal and synthesizer
Lee Hwa-rang: I’m Lee Hwa-rang on FX&DJ and also a mascot of the band.
Lee Kwan-ho: I’m Lee Kwan-ho playing the guitar.
Q. Does your band name have a special meaning in it?
Lee Im-soo: ABO has two meanings. We tried to avoid the name in English, but other good Korean words were already taken by others. So we decide to discover a word that has meaning both in English and Korean. In Korean, ABO means to walk in a relaxed and elegant manner, and we decided to spell it in English. The second meaning is that among many blood types, ABO is a typical classification that represents blood types. So the name contains a meaning that we would like to become a representative band to people.
Q. What’s your role in the band?
Lee Im-soo: We briefly talked about our band, and let me elaborate it. I, Lee Im-soo, am the leader and I’m in charge of singing, synth, songwriting, and editing. Lee Kwan-ho, who’s in charge of the electric guitar and handsomeness, takes the most crucial role in the band. Other members play typical electronic music while he puts some rock flavor into it. So we can call ourselves a rock band. It is no exaggeration to say that the colour of our music is defined by Lee Kwan-ho. Lee Hwa-rang, who’s in charge of FX, DJ, and synth, puts a mask on during the show catching all the attentions. So he shows some fancy performances unwillingly with a hidden face. But recently he seems to be enjoying it.
Q. Who are some artists that influenced you?
Lee Im-soo: I was inspired by so many bands and artists. The top of the list is Metallica who gave me an opportunity to discover rock music, and the second band is the Devin Townsend, who’s called Beethoven of metal. And the third on the list is Andrea Bocelli who has the voice of God. My third choice might be surprising. In my art high school year, I was close to friends majoring in classical music, so I got interested in that sort of music naturally as well. For Korean artists, N.E.X.T, Panic, and YB are my huge inspirations. Recently, I get much inspiration from U2 and Coldplay. While interviewing, I just realized that there’s no electronic musician on the list.
Lee Hwa-rang: I practiced Kim Kyung-ho’s music a lot, and that’s how I got into rock music
Lee Kwan-ho: Back in the days, I happened to listen to various kinds of music. One thing that’s obvious is that they were all Korean music. I listened to them over and over again, and forgot about them for some time, and then came back to them again. At the time I felt simply good listening to music. If you consider that moments into ‘influences’ category, the list would go on forever. So I’ll just stop here.
Q. When did you start playing together?
Lee Im-soo: I met Lee Kwan-go very specially and we’ve started playing together since ‘Setit.’ And the mascot of our band, Lee Hwa-rang came to us like a children’s day present on May 5th in 2013. That’s how we established ABO. During 2013-2015, we played modern rock, and since 2016 we, as a trio, have been playing electronic rock music.
Q. What’s your goal or a keyword that you are considering important?
Lee Im-soo: We are thinking of one thing as our goal, which is to spread our music to as many people as we can, and be remembered as a good band. So the key word is “good impression.”
Q. What is the music that you are pursuing as a band and as an individual?
Lee Im-soo: The band aims to make electronic rock music that fits public’s taste, but personally I would like to put more rock sound into our music. However, rock is not generally welcomed to public, so it contrasts to my wish, which makes me compromise.
Lee Hwa-rang: Music I pursue is empathy and fantasy. Sometimes I want to talk about condolence, joy, or something unrealistic in my music.
Q.Tell us about your new album.
Lee Im-soo: Our new album [Trophy] is a mini-album with 3 tracks: Trophy, Action, Pieces. The first track Trophy is synth pop, which is about every single person is valuable and deserves a trophy. We tried to make it sound bright and hopeful. It came out as we imagined, so we’re quite satisfied with it. It’s also the title of the album and we made a music video on our own, which is on YouTube, so please check it out. The filming was done by one take using a smartphone, and animation effect was put on later. We carried out all the processes from editing to putting subtitles in. So quality-wise it might not be superior, but it’s got some fresh feeling and amateurish charm. You won’t regret watching it.
The second song, Action is actually more like an instrumental track. After hearing the words of the great mind from England, William Blake, that says “thoughts not led to action are trashes,” I was inspired and started writing a track quickly. The point of the song is fancy and chaotic guitar playing of Lee Hwa-rang, and with repeated lyrics I intended to make a psychedelic atmosphere.
The last track, Pieces was actually made in 2014 in modern rock style, and we remade it with some recent feelings into it. Nobody except band members heard it before. The song was left incomplete, so even I, the composer, never heard the complete version of it. So the track released now is the final version. It’s about which I should put my value in between the present and the future. But we tried to make it sound bright too.
Q. What’s the songwriting process? Do you get inspirations from special things or places?
Lee Im-soo: I come up with a concept and a general structure like chords and melody. Then, each individual put some details in each part. I usually get inspirations from movies and the news. Being in special places also inspires me, but recently I have no time for traveling, so I tend to rely on indirect experiences. For times like these days, news gives me much inspiration.
Q. What’s the most memorable moment or performance?
Lee Im-soo: I personally can’t forget my band performance at the art festival before my graduation from art high school. It’s the reason that keeps me going with band music. I can’t exchange that memory with anything in the world.
Lee Hwa-rang: I remember that after my school band performance at the outdoor stage in Suwon, some high school kids approached me asking me for an autograph.
Lee Kwan-ho: My special memory is not about music but the small happening. Hwa-rang, in charge of FX, used to play the bass. A few years ago, after playing at the club as the last performers, we tried to wrap up our gears. And the head part of the bass cable was stuck in the input slot of the bass amp. We couldn’t just walk away irresponsibly. So we tried to take it out for an hour or two, which failed. So everybody was kind of giving up. Then, suddenly, I felt like I didn’t want to give in, so I tried to pull it out for hours. I finally made it, and the owner of the club treated us with beers. Somehow, that’s the most memorable to me.
Q. What is the plan for the future?
Lee Im-soo: We will keep on making and performing music so that we can get “good impressions” from not only fans in Korea but also those in other countries. We’ll probably have to study foreign language. After all, endless studying, composing, and performing are our ultimate goal and plan.
Q. What is your dream as artists?
Lee Im-soo: I want to be the best as an artist, making lots of money. And I’d like to support patients suffering from incurable illness. I want to reduce the number of ill and suffering people in the world.
Lee Hwa-rang: I hope that one day I’ll be able to hear random people on the streets saying “ABO! Their music is good.”
Lee Gwan-ho: As a guitar player in the band, I cannot express all the messages alone. But the reason people listen to music is because they receive condolence from music. No matter of genres or atmospheres of the music, I wish to play such music. Bright electronic sound might not seem to fit for condolence, but if you can enjoy it, you’ll definitely release out stress. I guess that’s a type of condolence.
