Rock is back in session.
Wave to Earth, a three-piece rock band hailing from South Korea, is back for the European leg of their tour "0.03 World Tour". The band gained prominence for their unique blend of elements ranging from their standard rock to jazz, Lo-Fi and indie sounds, as well as the authenticity of producing and writing all of their music. Aside from this, they are known for cultivating a dreamy and easy-going atmosphere with their smooth and emotional vocals from singer/songwriter Daniel Kim, intricate and sophisticated bassline from bassist John Cha, and expertly tonal drumming from Dong-Kyu Shin.
With over 8M monthly listeners, their newest album "Play with Earth! 0.03" gained great international acclamation, as well as reaching No.5 on Spotify's Global Top Debut Album chart. We at KpopWise had the opportunity to have a quick chat with the group discussing their perception of the band, and some of their favourite tracks.
Would you be kind enough to, first of all, introduce yourself for our readers at KpopWise?
Hello guys, we're Wave to Earth
John: I'm John Cha I play the bass in the band.
Daniel: I’m Daniel Kim, I'm the vocal and guitarist of this band.
Dong-Kyu: I’m Dong-Kyu, the drummer.
If you could describe Wave to Earth in one word, what would it be?
Natural? Natural wave. Organic wave. I'll say we're like neighbourhood boys. We're not boys anymore (laughs).
You guys are quite a unique band. You like to create your own music, so what song would you say on your recent album was your favourite to create?
Daniel: After listening to “Annie”s demo by John, I already thought that it would be a great song, but could make it more a Wave to Earth-ish sound. So straight away after doing some production, it became one of the key songs in the album. And just listening or hearing reactions from the fans and watching people enjoying that song made it a favourite.
Well, I love that song. I think it's great. That was your first song rated as Explicit, wasn't it? How was the reception of that? How did you expect the reaction from fans?
John: Yeah, because we never had a song, uh, using bad words (laughs). When I wrote the lyrics, at first I was kind of worried thinking “Am I able to use that word here?” But Daniel said no, it has to be just like that. You have to say that word in that place. So we chose to use it, you know? And in every concert the band’s just shouting that word so loud we find it exciting (laughs).
It’s quite common to be swearing in the rock space isn’t it? But do you guys all agree that Annie is the song from the album?
John: I personally love slow dive. I think it has a more Wave to Earth sound, and just playing it [is fun] because I use a different setting on the bass.
Speaking of the unique Wave to Earth sound, you guys blend a lot of elements. You have your rock, but then you have jazz and this Lo-Fi, indie sound. How did you develop this?
Daniel had a lot of time developing that original sound, but the number one influence is our members. The members, have their own distinct characteristics. So they are a big influence in many of ways. So they are maybe a key factor.
Aside from the instruments - we know that we have the drums which is like the spine, the vocals etc. - as people, how does each of you contribute to the entire dynamic of Wave to Earth?
Each member has a strength. John is skilful with numbers. So maybe, like, if we have to check something document-wise or with numerical tasks, he's really good with those details.
Dong-Kyu is very [empathetic], he really cares about people. So if we kind of miss something in the relationships he really takes care of the person, and really takes a care of the relationship.
And Daniel himself is more focused music-wise, or the direction we’re going. So he gathers up everyone’s opinions and is the visionary.
Wave to Earth will be performing at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on April 29th, and Manchester Academy in Manchester on May 2nd, before setting off to Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Netherlands and Paris. Tickets for the UK shows are available here. In the mean time, enjoy their latest album here!