Fighting is Fun - Billy Carter on activism, politics, and the state of Korean indie.
Interview by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)
Photos by Youngjun Kim (@junsabor)
Billy Carter are musicians on the vanguard. Since their first EPs in 2015 and right up to the 2020 album Don't Push Me, they have been pushing the boundaries of what you're "supposed to say" here in Korea. Paired with an ever-evolving sound, their confrontational lyrics deliver incisive messages that relay the band's equality-driven ethos.
"Whether it's with our music or our activism, we try to give a voice to people or animals that have not been given their basic rights." Jiwon Kim is the lead singer of Billy Carter. She doesn't shy away from discussing the importance of writing about the things that matter to her. "Even if we haven't had the same experience as others, we always try to see it from their point of view."
For today's interview, she is joined by the band's lead guitarist Jina Kim. "Our music and our activism work are both connected through our life and our experiences," Jina tells us. "Through both, we want to use our voice to express our different feelings on issues."
The work of this band comes with a bold message, and their social justice beliefs are at the forefront of everything they do. Jina goes on to explain, "I feel like our generation has experienced a lot. It's important to help the next generation not to have to go through the same things. We know about trauma, and we want to show that it can be different."
Their last album, Don't Push Me, is a real testament to their interest in progressive social politics. Each track gives a clear and inescapable message about how the band see the world. Communicated through stories from their own experience, the songs on Don't Push Me build a Billy Carter manifesto. It is who they are and what they believe. The album has been called the band's "most political work", but they don't see it that way.
"We've been political since the start," Jiwon says. "The only difference is, now we're being direct. Our lyrics were more poetic, and we sang in metaphors to match our abstract and psychedelic sounds. We realized that if we do that on this album, some people aren't going to hear the message. We wanted to use simple and clear words for Don't Push Me to show what we think. That's why it seems more political, but really, the message was there the whole time."
There has been a change in musical direction to reflect the directness of the lyrics on Don't Push Me. The band are well known for their evolving sound, especially with their "Colour EPs". On those four releases, Billy Carter traverse a range of genres from experimental ambient to bluesy garage. "If there's a core Billy Carter sound," Jiwon says, "it's probably a mix of blues, psychedelia, and of course, punk." Jina jumps in; "maybe even a little metal in there, too".
Don't Push Me is different, though. The biting garage indie rock of this album is the perfect accompaniment to the directness of their political message. Jiwon describes the evolution of the bands sound; "our music is a like a plate being used to serve our lyrics. If you get the lyrics served on the right plate, it adds to it. You can enjoy it much more. So getting the right sound for a specific lyric is important. The musical style of each song is a reflection of what we are saying in the lyrics. When we have a song with poetic wording, lots of metaphors, our music reflects that. That's when our sound is sometimes folkier, more bluesy. When we sing directly about political things, with heavier lyrics, our music is more direct and heavier."
“We’ve been political since the start, the only difference is, now we’re being direct. Our lyrics were more poetic, and we sang in metaphors to match our abstract and psychedelic sounds. We realized that if we do that on this album, some people aren’t going to hear the message. We wanted to use simple and clear words for Don’t Push Me to show what we think. That’s why it seems more political, but really, the message was there the whole time.”
Everything about Billy Carter's new direction has been redesigned to reflect the directness of their message; the song structure, the guitar riffs, even the singing. "Like everyone, I have different voices depending on the situation," Jiwon explains. "On this album, the lyrics were straight up, and the music was straight up, so I wanted the vocals to be straight up too. I didn't want to use holistic gimmicks or techniques. We don't need them. It's not just the voice, either. Jina shortened her solos and made the riffs simpler. We have many things we want to do musically, so usually, our songs are long and contain and have drawn out instrumental sections. For Don't Push Me, though, we didn't want to distract people from the message."
There are few tracks on the album as clear as My Body My Choice; a scathing diatribe of institutional misogyny and outright sexism. The band wrote the song after a European tour.
"We were in Liverpool. An Irish band called The Grunts set up a show in Cork, just so that they could play with us. It was during an abortion referendum, and there were so many protests; placards were everywhere. One of the slogans I saw stopped me straight away. It said "Our Bodies, Our Choice". I don't know why; the words were really simple, but they gave me so much energy. I felt really empowered by it. It made me realize that women often aren't trusted to choose things for themselves. Sometimes we don't even have the free will to go out in a certain outfit. We have to worry about what people will think of us. I think about big decisions we make in our lives; if we choose to get married, have kids, whether to go to university. I wonder if we truly made those decisions on our own?"
The lyrics on Billy Carter's songs can be graphic and speak to larger social trends. They are, however, primarily drawn from personal experience. Beat Up, for example, is a bold expression of their experience with physical aggression. "Violence like that happens all the time in Korea." Jiwon opens up further about the presence of violence in her life: "People think it's getting better, and yes, it is getting better in ways, but it's not perfect now. When I was in high school, it was quite common to get beat up by teachers. Some teachers would kick students, slap their faces. I got slapped three times by different teachers. It wasn't legal, but if you report them, people either didn't listen or sometimes you would get in trouble. "
One of the most personal tracks on this album is the lyrically dark Dead Bodies, the jaunty blues riffs of which disguise the tragic stories that underpin the lyrics. On this song, the band open up about friends they have lost or almost lost. "Some of them survived but not all," Jiwon says. "All of them were very close to us."
"Everyone is going to die," Jina adds, "but how they die is important. The stories in Dead Bodies are ours, but they are more common than people think. They're happening right now. So it's important for us to talk about them."
There's a juxtaposition at the heart of Dead Bodies that gets to an essential part of BC's style. The band are very serious about their message, but that doesn't mean it always has to be delivered in a serious way. It's a project all about self-expression, and sometimes that expression can come out more tongue-in-cheek. "We love sarcasm and irony. Especially when we talk about darker issues, we try not to be too sad or heavy. Like on our song I See You. The message is serious, but it is delivered in a playful way."
Because of the controversial nature of their lyrics, the band expected a broadly negative response. While things are changing, social issues like the ones Billy Carter sing about have traditionally been considered taboo in Korea. "Before we released it, we thought people would get offended by the words on the album, especially in Korea," Jiwon explains. "But we got more positive responses than negative! Most people really loved the album! We felt the power of solidarity - people who shared similar experiences n their childhood or in their day to day life. People have told us that they get a lot of energy from what we do and the shared sense of community and experience."
Does the positive response they received change how they feel about activism? The answer is no. "We're going to say what we want to say, regardless of how people respond. But it does strengthen our belief in the power of music. We draw energy from that sense of connection and feeling a kind of mutual empathy with the crowd. Sometimes, though, we get just as much energy from our haters, too, in a different way. Sometimes fighting is fun. It can be good to piss off the right people."
Sense of community is clearly important to BC, but they have mixed feelings about the state of the Korean alternative music scene. "I look back at when we first got together, and it seemed like things in the scene were difficult," they explain. "But now, things are harder. I'm not even sure if you can call it a scene. A lot of venues have closed, and a lot of bands have quit."
"But we try to see the bright side of it," Jiwon adds. "Sometimes that's hard, but there are always bright sides. Like now, people are starting the realize that there's unfair treatment towards people who work in music. People don't accept musician as a "job". So during difficult times, we don't get any help. People are waking up to how bad that is."
There are reasons to be hopeful, though, and the band tell us about some of the people they admire and would like to work with. "Our friend Cha Jiryang is a fascinating visual artist. We love his work. Around Seoul, there are these small towns where the government has built many apartment buildings, but nobody moved there. Most of them sit empty. For one of his projects, Cha Jiryang got into one of these apartments illegally, put on some performances, and did a video project. It was incredible."
"We'd also love to work with Kirara", Jiwon tells us. "She's so full of energy. Her performances channel her experiences."
The next project that the band have lined up will continue down the path of activism-focused music. "For International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, people will be sharing their stories about different times they were the victims of violence. They will be posting these stories online using the hashtags #폭력종식 and #StopViolence. We're going to collect these stories and comments and put them all on post-it notes. Then we'll decorate our studio in them and live-stream a show. We'll have a new song we've written specifically for that night."
The band are also set to feature on the soundtrack of a documentary movie that exposes the darkness of the dairy industry. "We'll be working with Haru, of the activist group Plagami. They're an independent film director and an animals rights activist. We'll be one of a group of artists who are contributing music for their new movie."
Despite being busy, Billy Carter are, like many of us, waiting for what comes next. They're pensively looking towards the next stage where they can again play with an audience and regain the sense of community so vital to who they are. "I believe there is still an audience for alternative music in Korea. They're having a hard time as much as the musicians are. The live music scene means a lot to some people. It's not just like "oh, let's go and have a good time"; it's more important than that. They get to express themselves and be part of something they can identify with. Music gives them something important. We miss being part of that."
For more information on Billy Carter, find them on Instagram.
