No Brain () is a South Korean punk rock band widely considered one of the godfathers of the Korean punk scene. Originally part of Korea's homegrown underground punk movement, known as Chosun Punk, in recent years the group has enjoyed mainstream success both with their music and their emerging acting and hosting careers. Their name comes from their desire for concert-goers to leave their rational minds at the venue doors.

History

The group formed in 1996 in a small club in Hongdae (an artistic district of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

). They are part of the first generation of indie bands in Korea, along with

Crying Nut Crying Nut () is a punk band from South Korea. They are often credited as being pioneers of the Korean punk and indie rock scenes. The group began performing in 1995 in the Hongdae club scene in Seoul. They released their debut album, '' Speed U ...

. Their first album, ''Our Nation Volume 2'', was a split album with the group Weeper. They also contributed a cover of "Lithium" to the

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

tribute album ''Smells Like Nirvana'', and several tracks to the Korean punk compilation ''Here We Stand''. In 1999, they left Drug Records, establishing their own label, Munwha Sagidan. They only printed 5000 copies of their first release, the EP ''Youth 98,'' and all were sold out. In 2000, bassist Jeong Jaehwan left the group in order to carry out his mandatory military service, but the group pressed on without him. The same year, the band dubbed itself the anti-

Seo Taiji Jeong Hyeon-cheol (Korean: 정현철; born February 21, 1972), better known as Seo Taiji or Seo Tae-ji (서태지), is a South Korean singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. After dropping out of high school to pursue a music career, ...

band and held a live event to commemorate the occasion. April 2001 found the group releasing a song-for-song cover of the Sex Pistols album '' Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols'', dubbed ''Never Mind The Sex Pistols Here's The No Brain.'' Several months later, the group released the album Viva No Brain. The group then performed at the 2001 Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. The group created something of international incident when Lee Sung Woo, the lead singer of the group, ripped up the Japanese Imperial flag while singing the Korean national anthem. The band contributed a track to the Red Devils 2002 World Cup album. The band also embarked on a national club tour in Korea and a tour of Japan. That same year, Cha Seung-woo left the group. The group recruited Jeong Minjun, formerly of the bands Real Sshang Noms and Samchung, and recorded the album ''Goodbye, Mary Poppins'' which was released in June 2003. This 3rd album was a big change and challenge for No Brain, beginning the band's second era. Overall, this album was a turning point for the band. In 2006 they appeared in the film ''

Radio Star Stellar radio sources, radio source stars or radio stars are stellar objects that produce copious emissions of various radio frequencies, whether constant or pulsed. Radio emissions from stars can be produced in many varied ways. Neutron stars P ...

'', portraying a garage band named East River. In 2007, No Brain sold the rights to their song "넌 내게 반했어" (You have a crush on me) to be used by the presidential campaign for Lee Myung-bak with the substituted title "이번엔 이명박" (This time Lee Myung-bak). Although No Brain did not endorse Lee's presidential campaign, they faced much backlash from fans. The reaction was especially exasperated, as in 2005, then-

Mayor of Seoul The Mayor of Seoul () is the chief executive of Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul being the capital and largest city of South Korea. The position is historically one of the most powerful in the country, charged with managing an annual budge ...

Lee had previously called for a blacklist of independent musicians. In 2013, No Brain performed at

SXSW 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 conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. They toured North America as part of 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 ...

2K13 tour funded by

KOCCA The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is a South Korean government agency which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and is charged with governing cultural content. As part of its partnership the Export-Import Ban ...

alongside Goonam and Lowdown 30, performing in Rhode Island, New York, and California, as well as Toronto, Canada for

Canadian Music Week Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada. History Canadian Music Week began in 1981 and has grown to become one of Canada's largest and most influential media a ...

(CMW). Their performance at CMW was seen by record producer

Seymour Stein Seymour Stein (born April 18, 1942) is an American entrepreneur and music executive. He co-founded Sire Records and was Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. With Sire, Stein signed bands that became central to the new wave era of the 1970s ...

. Surprised by his interest, the band invited him to their next performance in Brooklyn. The show was delayed for two hours, and the 71-year-old Stein fell asleep, only to be woken up when their performance began. No Brain signed a recording contract with Stein to release an album on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...

. Stein visited No Brain in Korea for the Seoul International Music Fair (Mu:Con). The album, produced by Julian Raymond, is set to be their first English album. The same year, No Brain also headlined the V-Rox Festival in Vladivostok, Russia.

Band members

* Bulldaegal –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* VOVO –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* BBogle –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Hyoonga –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Awards and honors

* 2008 Korean Music Awards - Netizens Choice: Rock Artist of the Year * 2007 Korean Music Awards - Band of the Year * 2007 Korean Music Awards - Rock Song of the Year - Nominee"2007 Mnet KM Music Festival Part1"
''MAMA''. Retrieved 2014-12-14. * 2005 Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs - Culture Award * 2001 Mnet Asian Music Awards Professional Judges Special"2001 MMF part 1"
''MAMA''. Retrieved 2014-07-23. * ''Nominated'': 2001 Mnet Asian Music Awards - Best Indie Performance - "Go To The Beach" (해변으로 가요) * ''Nominated'': 2000 Mnet Asian Music Awards - Best Indie Performance - "Songs for the Rioters" (청년폭도맹진가)"2000 MMF part 1"
''MAMA''. Retrieved 2014-06-25. * 1999 MTV International Viewer's Choice Award - Korea - Nominee

Discography

* ''Here We Stand'' (Asian punk compilation) 1997, All System Fail * ''Smells Like Nirvana'' 1997, Drug Records * ''Our Nation 2'' 1998, Drug Records split with Weeper * ''Youth 98'' 1999, Munwha Sagidan * ''Songs for the Rioters'' 2000, Cujo/Munwha Sagidan/ Pony Canyon Korea * ''Never Mind the Sex Pistols. Here's the No Brain'' 2001, Cujo, Munwha Sagidan * ''Viva No Brain'' 2001, Cujo/Munwha Sagidan * ''Christmas Punk'' compilation, 2001, Cujo/Munwha Sagidan * ''Munwha Sagidan Compilation'' 2002, Cujo/Munwha Sagidan * ''Dreams Come True'', compilation with

, YB, etc. 2002, Red Devils/Jave * ''The Blue Hearts Super Tribute'' tribute compilation to Japanese band

The Blue Hearts was a Japanese punk rock band active from 1985 to 1995. They have been compared to such bands as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Ramones.World Cup 2010 , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, Rockstar Music * ''High Tension'' 2011, Rockstar Music * ''Super High Tension'', 2013, Roxtamuzik & Live * ''96'' 014 split album with

* ''Brainless'' 2016, Roxtamuzik & Live * ''20'', 20th Anniversary, 2016, Roxtamuzik & Live * ''직진'', 2019, Roxtamuzik & Live

References

External links

* {{Authority control South Korean punk rock groups South Korean indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1996 South Korean rock music groups MAMA Award winners Korean Music Award winners