SOUTH KOREA - A band performs to a crowd of Korean faces. The crowd cheers for a band composed of members from three different countries. The band is international and diverse with a soldier at the microphone and a combination of Korean, American and Canadian members on the instruments.
First Lt. Metacaum Evans, lead singer and 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command surgeon cell environmental science officer, joined forces with friends while stationed in Daegu to form a blues-rock band.
Charles Edwards, an English teacher from Canada, is the drummer. Jack Charles, an English teacher from Fresno, Calif., is the bassist. Aaron Joseph, an English teacher from Detroit, Mich., is the guitarist. Lee Seung-jun, a Korean music teacher in Daegu, is one of the guitarists and plays the saxophone and other instruments.
Evans, Edwards, Joseph and Charles got together in December 2010 and practiced as a band twice a week for two hours per session. Lee joined the team last month to add another element to the band.
“I met them through friends and integrated our music together,” Evans said. “Like-minded people eventually meet one another.”
The band wrote their own music and lyrics while listening to each other’s sounds during their practice sessions.
“Aaron just wrote some guitar notes, and we just played off each other. Sometimes Evans would write lyrics, and we would make the melody from the lyrics too,” Charles said.
Lee claims that the diversity of the band members, their different backgrounds and musical abilities give them a colorful vibe.
The lyrics are written by Evans, who says that he gets his inspiration from books he’s read, prayers, meditation and personal and military experiences.
“Red Moon” is a song about a fictional native American orphan, who struggles through life.
“Freedom Fighter” is a high-tempo song about children who want to become freedom fighters.
“82” is a contemporary sound that presents the Psalm 82 lyrics with a modified, Full Metal Jackie-o flavor.
The band had their first public performance with their original music in April 2011 at Urban during an open mic event. After several performances, the management of the establishments, liking the sound of Full Metal Jackie-o, invited the band to play regularly in mini-concerts.
Since then, the band has played every weekend locally in venues
such as Sugar Joe’s, That, Pasha and Commune.
They had the chance to broaden their performance venues by playing in front of soldiers and family members during Camp Walker’s Independence Day celebration July 4.
Furthermore, the band has been invited for gigs all over the peninsula, such as a gig in Busan at the Canada Day Festival and in Seoul.
The band’s popularity has grown recently to the point where they played in a line-up with a popular Korean band “Crying Nut”.
“The reaction to our music has been surprisingly positive,” Evans said. “It amazes me how successful we’ve been so far.”
Evans attributes the band’s diversity and unique characters for the recognition they’ve been receiving from Daegu’s international audience.
Evans’ popularity through the band makes him more than a rock star. “Many people have stereotypes about U.S. soldiers, and I think Evans does a great job of representing the U.S. Army by giving a friendly face,” Charles said. “He shows that soldiers are not just good at being soldiers, but also talented and can become cultural ambassadors to their host nations using music as a means.”
“The band really shows how the world could be when you have unified ideas, and music certainly helps bridge gaps and break barriers that many other ideas cannot achieve,” Evans said.
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2011 22:16 |
| Story ID: | 74654 |
| Location: | DAEGU GWANG'YEOGSI [TAEGU-KWANGYOKSHI], KR |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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