Galaxy Express (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 갤럭시 익스프레스) is a

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

that formed in 2006. The trio, which is known for its energetic stage presence, is one of the most popular rock bands in South Korea and has received international acclaim.

Career

Galaxy Express debuted in 2007 with the EP, ''To The Galaxy.'' Their first full-length album, 2008's ''Noise On Fire'', won Best Rock Album at the 2009

Korean Music Awards The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to det ...

. To make their second full-length album, 2010's ''Wild Days,'' the band posted songs online and asked fans for feedback before recording final versions. The entire process of writing and recording the album took less than one month. This experiment helped Galaxy Express win the award for Musician of the Year at the 2011 Korean Music Awards. In 2011, Galaxy Express took part in the

Seoulsonic Seoulsonic (SEOULSONIC), ( ko, 서울소닉) is an annual concert tour in the United States and Canada, organized by the DFSB Kollective with support from the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), which began in 2011 in an effort to introduce ...

tour of North America, performing at major music festivals Canadian Music Week and

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

, and at concerts in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Their travels were documented in the 2012 documentary ''Turn It Up to 11, Part 2: Wild Days''. Galaxy Express returned to the Canadian Music Festival in 2012 and South by Southwest in 2012, 2013, and 2017. The band has also performed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In 2013, band member Lee Ju-hyun was arrested in South Korea for

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

possession, cultivation, and smoking. At the time, Galaxy Express was participating in the

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

competition show ''Band Generation'', and had advanced to the final round. While the band won the competition, Mnet did not air the final episode. Several days after Lee's arrest, band member Park Jong-hyun was investigated for smoking marijuana. The band released their third album, ''Galaxy Express'', in 2012 and their fourth album, ''Walking on Empty'', in 2015.

Band members

* Lee Ju-hyun: bass, vocals * Park Jong-hyun: guitar, vocals * Kim Hee-kwon: drums

Discography

* ''To the Galaxy'' EP (2007) * ''Ramble Around'' EP (2007) * ''Noise on Fire'' (2008) * ''Come On & Get Up!'' EP (2009) * ''Wild Days'' (2010) * ''Naughty Boy'' split with Crying Nut (2011) * ''Galaxy Express'' (2012) * ''Walking on Empty'' (2015) * ''Electric Jungle'' (2018) * ''Thonig And Bell'' (2022)

Awards

Korean Music Awards The Korean Music Awards () is an annual South Korean music awards show that honors both mainstream and underground musical artists from a variety of genres. Unlike other major South Korean music awards, which largely rely on record sales to det ...

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control South Korean indie rock groups South Korean punk rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 South Korean rock music groups