Japanese noise rock band Melt-Banana will come to Seoul for the third time this weekend. Courtesy of Melt-Banana
The legendary Japanese noise rock band Melt-Banana is finally coming back to Korea for the third time, 17 years after their last show.
The band had its first show here in January 2005, and returned for a second show in August 2009.
"This time will be our third visit," said Yako, the duo's lead vocalist. "I clearly remember how cold it was the first time we went, and I remember that everything we ate tasted incredibly good."
"The second time, we also visited a recording studio in Korea, and we had a bit more time to relax," said Agata, the other half of the duo. "We went to a building that had a lot of musical instrument shops, and I ended up making a bit of an impulse purchase. Both stays were really enjoyable."
Finally, after years of scheduling conflicts and the pandemic, Melt-Banana is ready to return to Seoul.
Melt-Banana's origins date back to 1991, when Yako started it with the name Mizu. Soon she recruited Agata, and in 1992 the band name changed to Melt-Banana.
"There isn’t really a deep meaning behind it," Yako said. "Maybe at the time I just liked the combination of the word 'melt,' with its particular sound, and 'banana,' with its more pop-sounding feel."
"Originally, we had a song without a title, and Yako was going to name that song 'Melt-Banana'," Agata said. "But then we decided not to use it as a song title and made it the band name instead, if I remember correctly."
Within a few years, the band gained attention worldwide. They worked with globally famous U.S. producers including Steve Albini, John Zorn and Jim O'Rourke. In 1995, they toured the U.S. with experimental rock band Mr. Bungle. Melt-Banana expanded its renown in the U.K. in 1999, when they recorded with British radio presenter John Peel, who described their first session together as "simply one of the most extraordinary performances I have ever seen and ever heard."
Source: Korea Times News
