The Geeks is a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

band from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. They were formed in 1999 by schoolmates Seo Kiseok (vocalist) and Kang Junsung (guitarist), shortly after discovering the existence of Korean punk through the ''Our Nation'' compilation put out by Drug Records.

History

Due largely to Seo's time living abroad in America, the band signed to Think Fast! Records and is well known in the international hardcore community. They are also associated with Get Outta Town Records, Townhall Records, and GMC Records. Their connections have opened up many opportunities to tour outside of Korea, rare for Korean bands until very recently. They were the first Korean punk band to successfully tour the United States. They have since toured the US numerous times, and in 2007 they went on a world tour taking them to the US as well as Malaysia and Singapore. The Geeks performed at SXSW in 2013 with a grant from the

Korea Creative Content Agency 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 Bank ...

, where they were introduced as K-pop. They appeared in the 2014 documentary film, ''Us and Them: Korean Indie Rock in a K-Pop World'', by Stephen J. Epstein and Timothy Tangherlini, a sequel to their 1999 documentary ''Our Nation''. Currently, all members of the Geeks have full-time careers, leaving less time for music. Seo works for GM Daewoo and Kang works for an IT company.

Critical response

The Geeks 2007 Album Every Time We Fall has been reviewed by Scene Point Blank which gave it a 7.5/10 and said: :At the end of the day, The Geeks and their debut full-length Every Time We Fall are much more than a novelty affair. The album is filled with superb music and heartfelt lyrical content. If you’re lucky enough to see The Geeks live, be prepared to stagedive your ass off and scream your lungs out.

Straight edge

The band originally began as a straight-edge group, with all members abstaining from alcohol. The

drinking culture of Korea Korea's drinking culture reveals much about its social structure, lifestyle, and traditions. The beverages themselves are also reflective of the country's geography, climate, and cultures. Korea's interest in creating its own alcohol came about d ...

is very powerful, and Seo struggled to stay alcohol-free in his freshman year of college and his mandatory military service, claiming to have even been nearly attacked for refusing to drink at one time. Despite violence problems in the straight-edge scene in many parts of the world, the Geeks are a non-violent band and have many friends who are

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

. Lead vocalist Seo draws an X on the back of his hands in marker to symbolize his straight-edge stance. Despite their straight-edge reputation, straight edge is not one of the major messages of their lyrics. Currently, not all of the members are still straight edge.

Open Your Eyes and Powwow

Seo also founded and co-ran a music promotion agency called Open Your Eyes which brought numerous foreign hardcore bands to Korea, including

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

Outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

, Terror,

Sick of It All Sick of It All is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1986 in Queens, New York City. The band's lineup consists of brothers Lou and Pete Koller on lead vocals and guitars respectively, Armand Majidi on drums, and Craig Setari on bass. Sick ...

Down to Nothing Down to Nothing (or DTN) was a straight edge hardcore punk band from Richmond, Virginia. Since their inception in 2000, the band has toured all over the world. Their most recent studio recording is the 2013 LP ''Life on the James'' on Revelat ...

, Have Heart, No Turning Back, and

Bane Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gu ...

. Through OYE, Seo became one of the primary investors in Powwow, a live club situated near Noksapyeong Station at the base of

Haebangchon Haebangchon (Hangul: 해방촌 Hanja: 解放村; from ''haebang'', "freedom or liberation" + ''chon'', "village"), sometimes abbreviated as HBC, is a district of Yongsan-gu, in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in central S ...

and Gyeongnidan. The venue closed in 2013.

Band members

Seo Kiseok Seo or SEO may refer to: * Search engine optimization, the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines Organisations * SEO Economic Research, a scientific institute * Spanish Ornithological Society (''Socied ...

(): Vocals * Kang Junsung (): Guitar * Kim Myungjin (): Guitar * Jung Bongkyu (): Bass * Choi Imyoung (): Drums

Discography

Albums

006 Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film '' GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Ale ...

''Every Time We Fall'' (Think Fast! Records/CD, Townhall Records/CD, Get Outta Town Records/LP) *

014 014 may refer to: * Argus As 014 * BIND-014 * 014 Construction Unit * Divi Divi Air Flight 014 * Pirna 014 * Tyrrell 014 The Tyrrell 014 was a Formula One car, designed for Tyrrell Racing by Maurice Philippe for use in the season. The cars wer ...

''Still Not In this Alone'' (Think Fast! Records/LP, Townhall Records/CD)

Split albums

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

''Together As One, Far East Hardcore Split'' (with In My Pain) (GMC Records)

Singles and EPs

002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to: Fiction *002, fictional British 00 Agent *''002 Operazione Luna'', *1965 Italian film *Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character Airports *0O2, Baker Airport *O02, Nervino Airport Astronomy *1996 ...

What's Inside (Think Fast! Records/7"EP, Townhall Records/CDEP) *

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

Always Classics (Johnny Valley Records)

Compilations

004 004, 0O4, O04, OO4 may refer to: * 004, fictional British 00 Agent * 0O4, Corning Municipal Airport (California) * O04, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation * Abdul Haq Wasiq, Guantanamo detainee 004 * Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine * Lauda Ai ...

From The Start 1999-2004 (Kawaii Records, Townhall Records) *

000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes'' * Th ...

More Than The X On Our Hands - A Worldwide Straight Edge Compilation (Commitment Records) *

003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to: *003, fictional British 00 Agent *003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986) *1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen * OO3 gauge model railway *''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...

Bridging Oceans - International Straight Edge Compilation (Third Party Records) * 003.07.05

We Are the Punx in Korea In Modern English, ''we'' is a plural, first-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''we'' has six distinct shapes for five word forms: * ''we'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''us'' and ': the accusative (objective; ...

(#12 "Let It Fade & Live Free") *

They Came For Your Milk Money (New Music Revolution Records) *

State of the Scene (Get Outta Town Records) * 008.09.16No Future for You (#9 "" ill Lead * 009Carry The Torch: A Tribute to Kid Dynamite (Get Outta Town/Black Numbers Records) *

To Us It Was So Much More: Chain Of Strength Tribute (1124 Records) *

011 The following is a list of different international call prefixes that need to be dialled when placing an international telephone call from different countries. Countries by international prefix Countries using optional carrier selection code ...

10 Years Of Think Fast! Records (Think Fast! Records) * 011.07.05

Them and Us Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

("Knowledge" ( Operation Ivy cover), "One Spirit")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geeks South Korean punk rock groups South Korean indie rock groups Musical groups established in 1999 Straight edge groups 1999 establishments in South Korea