Meeting Epik High at Coachella Music Festival

Meeting Epik High at Coachella Music Festival. May. 02, 2016 07:31. by 인디오=임희윤기자 imi@donga.com. "A miracle" would be the closest word to describe the sensation that the trio, Epik High (Tablo, Mithra, Tukutz), brought to the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California.

"We had less than 20 people in the audience in the beginning of this festival (on April 17). The number increased to thousands by the end of it. We were really shocked," said Tablo. "It did not feel real but we did realize that we had built something here," Mithra added.

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held from April 15 to April 24 is the world's biggest music festival. I had an interview with the trio after their second performance on April 24. Epik High's participation in the festival was first suggested by the organizer. Epik High left a strong impression among thousands of performances at the 2015 South by Southwest Music Festival held in Austin, Texas, and ultimately attracted the organizer's attention. Coachella is Epik High's third major international music festival. "When we learned that our stage was scheduled at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, we started worrying because we usually are not even awake up by then."

"We were very intimidated by the size of the festival, which is much bigger than other festivals," Tablo noted. "We arrived in the waiting room on the first day and saw 'the' Kanye West' walking right by us."

Starting with "Up," followed by "Born Hater," "Fan," "One," "Bi Kyu," and "Burj Khalifa," Epik High had a hour-long concert at the "Sahara Tent," one of the six main stages. Installation artist Alexandre Arrechea visited Epik High to say, "I watched your performance and immediately became a fan." The Cuban artist created the big chair, the icon of this year's Coachella. Tim Folger (50), an American spectator who I met in the audience, said, "I really liked the thumping beats (of Epik High)."

Epik High is the second Korean musicians to participate in Coachella preceded by Duo EE (Lee Yoon-jung and Lee Hyun-jun) in 2011.

"There are not many Asian tourists, but Asian musicians are being more recognized these days," Tablo remarked. "Tokimonsta and Nosaj Thing, who are participating in this year's Coachella, are Korean Americans as well." Anderson Park, who was scouted by Dr. Dre and participated in Coachella, is also a Korean American.

What is now internationally-recognized group Epik High's next plan? "We will release our ninth album within this year," they said."We will finish our tour in Japan by May 29, and will have 'Hyunjae Sangyeong Joong (now playing in theaters) Part 2,' which is a series of concerts in Sogang University's Mary Hall in Seoul in July.

This reporter was also curious about the recent activities of the YG-affiliated record label, "High Ground" that Tablo founded last year. The label scouted Oh Hyuk and Geomjeong Chima; their pursuit of indie pop and rock seemed very unique to me. "I like Geomjeong Chima very much. They did not release a new album for three years and that was when I started asking around to find them," Tablo explained. "Be it ballad or heavy metal, we do not care about genre. As long as they need our help, we welcome them. When we first founded the label, the first musician that I thought of scouting was 'Norazo' (laugh)."