Dig out that old Walkman if you can still find it. Maybe it was traded in for a CD or mp3 player long ago, but can they really capture the nostalgia of those old mix tapes? And these aren’t your ordinary mix tapes; Musiro Records is a DIY tape distro offering a sampling of grind-core from across the globe. You’re probably thinking; “Does anyone really listen to tapes anymore?” Well I sat down with Gunhee, owner for Musiro Records, and asked him that and other questions about the Korean and international DIY scenes. Here’s what he said:

Q. Musiro Records has been around for over a year. Tell us a little about how it got started and what sort of projects you do or hope to do?

A. Since I had long been around the international tape-trading scene, the initial idea was just to put out some “personal bootlegs.” I soon decided to get slightly more professional, releasing the Tekken/ Terror Revolucionário split tape. I also have a small distro. It hasn’t been updated since early this year, but hopefully it will be by the time you read this interview.

Let me confess I had been indifferent or even hostile to the local scene here before I got down to my so-called business. This is more common among metalheads, many of whom complain about the lack of bands, but few have the guts to start one of their own. Anyone who believes in DIY ethics, be it a crusty, a sXe’er, a thrasher, or even a grind freak, should be different, though. The greatest virtue of punk rock is, I dare to say, democracy, and running such a small label as mine is not a big deal really.

Other than that, well, there isn’t much to talk about regarding the current state of Musiro Records. Okay, some of the bands that are expected to work with me in near future are Fallen World, Choice Of My Own, x Secret Seven x, and Gordon Ivy & The Jaybirds.

Q. Why did you choose to distro tapes instead of CDs or CD/Rs?

A. Among the generation of iPod-users, even CDs might appear out-of-date, and this is South Korea, one of the countries with the most gadget freaks ever, so whatever format I choose it’s not likely to do me any good or harm in terms of sales. I’ve got some nostalgic feeling about cassette tapes as I grew up with them in my teens. It sucks that many local and foreign labels have stopped handling cassette tapes. Vinyl is popular in Western DIY scenes, but things are not the same everywhere. I mean, in certain situations punks might have less chance to own turntables while CDs are still expensive as hell either to press or to buy. Bearing this in mind, I consider tapes the most universal form of promoting underground music. Most people have a cassette deck at home or if not you can buy a decent one for 30 000 won or even less. Many bands are recording their demos on CD/Rs, which can be even cheaper than tapes. It’s when they or other distributors sell them for inflated prices that I get pissed off. Don’t get me wrong; I’m a big supporter of the whole “copyleft” idea and Soulseek rules, if it all remains non-profit. I still prefer cassette tapes, but then again, that’s merely a matter of my fetishism.

Q. You do distro for grind and thrashcore bands all over the world, but seem particularly interested in Latin America. Is there any reason you’re drawn to that area? And what sort of connections do you have with the bands?

A. If you ask me what is so special about the Latin American sounds, sorry—I have no idea. I do however, hate the Japano- or U$-centric view of punk, which is quite prevailing in South Korea if not all over the world. I can’t stand the “wish-Hongdae-were-another-NYC”-type bullshit. I’ve always had an exceptional interest in the underground music in different parts of the world, which you might carelessly label “exotic,” but which I prefer to call “unfairly ignored by Western punks,” blah blah blah. I know bands from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Burma or Myanmar, Nepal, Mongolia, Romania, Albania, and many “-stan” republics. A lot of my latest favorite bands hail from Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, and especially Brazil. I appreciate their ideas, as well as, and sometimes even more than their music. When they sing about massacres, military regimes, and poverty, I tend to sympathize with them more than I do with rich Scandinavian crusties saying the same things, as these are their “own” problems. Besides we South Koreans have gone through similar madness so perhaps that counts. The same goes for other great scenes that exist in Southeast Asia.

Q: When you talk about international punk and DIY scenes how do you see the place of South Korea within them?

A: Most kids here know little or nothing about international scenes other than those in Japan, America, and Europe, so when I mention a band from, let’s say Thailand, they react like, “Are you kidding me?” Ironically enough, this is pretty much the same way that a lot of the “first-world” punks view South Korea. One of the most embarrassing questions I myself have ever heard is something to the effect of “Is it still illegal to listen to rock music in your country? Aren’t you afraid of ending up in a jail?” Instead of aping the Western sounds, we should care more about truly international scenes. As for Korea’s place in these scenes, I think we are still finding it. Some countries seem to be specializing in a style. When I look at Mayalsia I think of the vast crust and grind scene there, and Indonesia of Youth Crew, Singapore of thrash, and so forth. The scene in Korea is still developing and I don’t think we have anything that could be considered the “Korean style,” nor do I think we really need one. The fact is we just need more bands playing more diverse styles of punk.

Q. You’ve also have some releases by Korean bands, Terror Revolution and Pulgasari. Are you looking to release more local bands or focus mainly on distro?

A. Just to correct you it’s Terror Revolucionário, not Terror =Revolution and they’re from Brazil. Sure enough, I’m always keen as hell to find and collaborate with more Korean bands; it’s actually my number one concern. As mentioned before, I used to stand quite apart from the contemporary local scene for some vague reason, and still kind of do, albeit not for the same reason. It’s just that there are not a lot of people around who share my fucked-up taste in music. I have probably seen more Korean bands live for the last five months than I have for the last five years. I already have it in my mind to work with some of them on future releases. I wonder, however, if they would still bother to do a cassette tape. Pulgasari, on this score, is one of the main reasons why Musiro Records exists, or vice versa.

Q. Some of the bands you release, including Pulgasari, are pretty political in their lyrics. Are you politically-minded as a label, and how does that affect what bands you handle?

A. As an individual, absolutely; as a label, well...kind of. Everyone has his or her own dietary, sexual, and political preferences, which is nothing to make a fuss about, but personally I appreciate those who are promoting the healthy left-wing ideas in the punk scene or otherwise. While I cannot speak for others, Pulgasari does have a lot of lyrics focused on obviously sociopolitical issues, such as the neo-McCarthyist stupidity that pollutes this country. It’s what you might call “more than music” or in the case of the particular band “more than noise.” It more or less affects the label as well. For example, there’s no way I will work with a band that is sexist, male or female chauvinist, racist, pro-Amerikkkan, Islamophobic, militarist, patriotic, reactionary, or simply moronic. That’s a matter of conscience, but then again, I never want to be a PC fascist or the like. I mean being socially aware and active is one thing, and being preachy is another. I often stop by the Profane Existence message board merely to see how those “punk fundamentalists” talk shit about meat-eaters, nine-to-fivers, voters, and other innocent people who aren’t like them. It pretty much reminds me of the whole hooligan sXe bullshit too. Elitism in whatever form can suck it. There are always more and better ways to convey your message. In this regard, some of my favorite bands are Los Crudos, x Limp Wrist x, Lärm, Agathocles, Fear Of God, Disrupt, Charles Bronson, Parkinson, and perhaps Dir Yassin, although each has a different musical or lyrical concern.

For more information and sound clips you can either visit Musiro Records on the webs or contact Bahk at musirorecords at yahoo dot com.