Cracking the scene with Pop Ents

Written by Jamie Finn (@jamiefinn2209)

In 2021, we described Pop Ents as "Seoul's best-kept secret." And a fitting alias it was, too. But 2022 gave them a bit of momentum and calling them "a secret" no longer feels fitting. They've been one of the headling bands of a festival and have released an album that is quite literally a Best Seller. Since their inception in 2018, they have developed a reputation as the scene's most fun band. Yet, with their new album, they've shown that there is more to them than live music party boys.

The band formed as a two-piece in 2018 in as inauspicious circumstances as one could imagine for a rock and roll band. Founding member Dave Palmer recruited office-mate and drummer Adam to start a rap-punk thing inspired by the likes of Bad Brains. Fellow workspace-sharer and current co-frontperson John Engle joined later after some persuasion. "It took a long time for us to convince John to play," explains Dave. "He didn't like our band at the time." "That's right," adds John. "I joined the band on the basis that we start from scratch. When we started working together, we saw alt influences, like Pixies/The Replacements, surface. The Pixies were a unifier for us, I think. We're big fans."

It might have taken some convincing, but convince they did, and John joined the band. Now all they needed was a name, a task that proved to be trickier than it seemed. "Everyone in the office was in on making the name," says John. "We had some terrible suggestions - Milkskin, The Momdads, The Dudemans, The Cheeks." 

"I actually quite like 'The Cheeks' now," adds Dave. "I can't remember who, but eventually, someone suggested Popular Entertainers. I wasn't a fan myself, but I was outvoted. But that's ok, it's a funny name and back then, being funny was a big part of what we were doing."

Eventually, Popular Entertainers was shortened to their current moniker. "Well, people couldn't exactly chant 'Popular Entertainers' at our shows. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. One day the crowd started shouting 'Pop Ents,' and we just said, 'maybe this should just be our name'"

"Actually, I think it was Kimin (lead guitarist from Gorymurgy) who started the 'Pop Ents' chants. Though, I'm pretty sure he was saying 'poo pants'."

During their time as a band, Pop Ents have become embedded in the local scene and have developed a strong connection with many of those working in it. "The first show we played was HBC Fest, and we went to see Gorymurgy," Dave tells us. "I was actually kinda mad at first. I wanted us to be the only band who were playing that kind of music. But we got along so well with them."

"After their set, they came to watch us play," John explains. "Josh (Gory' drummer) told us that he was relieved that we were actually good. I think he said something like, 'you guys are so nice. It would have been really awkward if you sucked'."

"We've been lucky to work with so many cool people on the local scene. Gorymurgy, Matt (of 18Fevers), Desert Flower, Ryan (from music venue The Studio), and, of course, Jinu Konda."

“We don’t want to think of ourselves as a ‘foreigner band.’ that kind of divide, between foreign and local bands, it shouldn’t exist. We’re all just musicians.”

Jinu has been a semi-official member of the band since organista-maestro Joon left to travel. He's also been a helping hand for the band over the years, enabling them to get that elusive first show in Hongdae. "The first time we met Jinu was at a battle of the bands show," says Dave. "We watched his set, and then he came and returned the favour."

"Actually," adds Jinu, "I only saw two songs by them, then the police came and shut us down because of the noise. That seems to happen to this band a lot..."

Jinu refuses to clarify if he'll be a full-fledged Pop Entser soon. "I want to be like the rhythm guitarist in Guns n Roses," he explains. "Who was that again?" we ask. "Exactly."

Even in the short time that Dave and John have been playing together, the scene has changed. "Obviously, a lot has happened over the last few years that has affected the local indie community, which is a shame. I would tell musician friends back home how it was over here, with people helping each other out and stuff. They were always really envious."

"I do think we can get back to that, though," adds John. "When we did the launch for Best Seller (their debut full-length) a few weeks ago, everyone playing said it felt like old times again. Haebangchon has especially gotten so much better for music. We only ever wanted to play Hongdae, but now we love playing here."

One thing that's changed is that Haebangchon no longer feels like a space exclusive for so-called "foreigner bands." "We don't wanna think of ourselves as a 'foreigner band'," says John. "That's one thing that came with playing HBC, this kind of divide between foreign and local bands, and it should all just be musicians."

"A lot of Korean indie bands take inspiration from the west, for sure," explains Dave. "But there's also a rich Korean indie heritage here too that isn't as well known. That shows that this divide isn't needed. We even have a couple of Korean songs. Those songs are not just written in Korean, but they are written about living in Korea, from a Korean perspective. 

When Adam left in 2020, the band needed to find a new rhythm section and eventually found one in the same place it all began. "We were asking around the drummers that we already knew but couldn't find anyone. We asked around our office if anyone knew a drummer, and then, out of nowhere, Konan quietly mentioned, 'I can play drums'" Despite not having played drums since moving here from New Zealand, Konan fit in perfectly.

The band have been through several lineup shifts, yet the songwriting duo of John and Dave has remained throughout. "We've actually gotten better at writing together," John says. "Our first EP was all stuff that we'd written separately, but Best Seller was written together." The result has been an evolution of their sound which has become a madcap fusion of Dave's love of powerpop bands like The Replacements and John's southern influence and love of blues music.

The album itself is a rollercoaster of a listen. Songs with real emotion paradoxically sit alongside moments of irreverent humour, the kind the band is known for. "It's about being in your late 20s-early 30s," Dave explains. "That edge-of-youth age where you're a little angry, a little sad, a little nostalgic. It's all written from the perspective of flawed characters. Most people I know had, like, families and babies by their mid-20s, and I was just fucking around, getting drunk and playing in bands."

Pop Ents are well known for their energetic and hilariously frenzied live shows that often end up with the band exposing more skin than you might expect. But, apparently, that's not an intentional part of their schtick. "For me," says Dave, "it's a little bit like overcompensation. I am usually terrified on stage."

"We have grown much more comfortable, though," adds John. "When we first started out, if something went wrong, we would panic. Now, we still panic, but we have gotten better at hiding it."

Thanks in part to Best Seller, 2022 was a year in which Pop Arts distinguished themselves as one of the leading bands in the scene they love so much. With more music on the way ("we wish we could be in the studio recording all the time, it's where we're most comfortable"), and a tour of Japan on the cards, 2023 could be an even better seller for them yet.

Follow Pop Ents on Instagram @pop_ents.