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www.groovekorea.com / February 2014 62 O n certain nights at a little club in Hongdae, you’ll hear and see something different from the norm. Hidden among the rows of loud restaurants and clubs pumping out sugary sweet K-pop and throbbing dance hits, you’ll find Club Myoung Wol Gwan — holed up in a little building with a different kind of atmosphere. Inside, the first thing new people often notice is an interior that looks more like a basement than a traditional club. It’s a little dark, a little dusty and on certain nights it features a soundtrack that most clubs would never dream of playing. This isn’t a normal club and this isn’t a normal party; this is Seoul Shindig, where music and nostalgia keep things going long into the night. Here, the songs of yesterday are the soundtrack that fuels the party. A little bit of Motown, a little bit of British rock — if it’s from de- cades ago and fun to dance to, it’ll most likely be played here. “It’s all about the love of great music, cutting loose and tearing it up on the dance floor,” says Shindig head James (Hawkeye) Dawkins. “When we do a ’50s and ’60s night, it’s like throwing a party in your grandmother’s basement, listening to her old vinyl stash; a bunch of cool people show up and everyone has an amazing time.” Originally the brainchild of Jerry Stiles (also known as Rev. Stiles) and Mikey Harrison, Seoul Shindig is now headed by Dawkins. “We have eccentric tastes and we want Shindig to reflect that,” says Dawkins. “We’ll play rockabilly, Motown, surf rock, psychedelia, North- ern soul, doo-wop — all manner of stuff.” In addition to playing a wide variety of music, Shindig has hosted numerous themed events like tiki nights, live belly dancing and a ret- ro-themed homecoming with ’80s and ’90s music. “There used to be this thing back in Austin, Texas, called the Second Sunday Sockhop. It was this event that played music from the ’50s and ’60s,” says Stiles. “I felt that, at the time (when we first started), things weren’t being fulfilled in Seoul regarding older music.” It was this idea that inspired Stiles and Harrison to create the first Shindig. The event turned out to be a success and over time began spreading through word of mouth, eventually achieving a cult following. “It was such a harebrained idea at the time. To this day, I’m still con- vinced that no one is going to show up,” says Dawkins. Stiles and Dawkins strive to make the events accessible to Koreans and foreigners alike, stressing that Shindig is intended for everyone to enjoy. “Ideally, we’d love to have a 50/50 split between Koreans and West- erners, just to keep it diverse and interesting,” says Dawkins. He says that Koreans don’t always have the same nostalgia for the songs that the expat community has, but he is still seeing more native Koreans arrive alongside the familiar faces from the expat crowd that MUsIC & ARTs Edited by Emilee Jennings (emilee@groovekorea.com) Seoul Shindig The most eccentric party in town Story by Kyle James Hovanec Photos by Brent Sheffeld
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