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| The Dumpies in Brazil in 2022 / Courtesy of Vitor Lima @xvitao |
By Jon Dunbar
Way back in mid-2021, the Dumpies began contacting people in Korea, trying to set up a tour for October that year. Not surprisingly, it didn't happen. But now, almost two years later, the Oregon-based American punk band is finally coming to Korea.
"I want to play in every country on the planet," Mark Janchar, guitarist, told The Korea Times.
"If we aren't scheming something up or have a tour on the books life gets stale and our bad habits get the worst of us," bassist Tim Janchar added.
"Korea has been on the list for a while and the scene here seems small, but solid AF," added vocalist Joel Midden. "We have passed through once or twice on other tours and talked about tying it in as part of another tour, but always decided it deserves its own. This time around the stars aligned and the time has come."
The stars aligned specifically when they were in South Africa, where the band toured in February and March 2020, just before the pandemic shut down international touring. We Did This Records, the organizers of that tour, connected the band with a South African friend living in Korea, who helped them figure out how to tour Korea.
"Most of our tours have been set up through friends and contacts we have made via tour and the global punk scene," Joel said. "It's a lot more interconnected than some people realize."
The band has already toured Asia a few times, as well as Latin America and Africa, and touring parts of the world where the punk scene is underrepresented seems to be a core mission of the band.
"There's so much to learn from other countries and people that are different from you," Mark said. "We try to go to places that aren't similar to where we're from because those differences are what makes life beautiful."
Surprisingly, however, the Dumpies have never toured Europe or Canada.
"Most of us have played in Europe a bunch in other bands and we just want to experience new places and scenes," Joel said. "Most of the time when we play places that have a less established music industry, the shows are way more fun and people are way less jaded and more excited."
"U.S. and Western European culture is boring and superficial," Tim added.
The band is known for its energetic, garagey songs averaging only about a minute in length. The songs are always fun and easy to get into, even with titles like "Eat Ass Do Crimes" and "Bussy."
"Both of those songs are about being unapologetically queer and loving yourself," Joel said.
"Who doesn't love a good ass?" added Jessica deJesus, the band's half-Korean drummer.
While recommending this band not be taken seriously, they paused for a moment to acknowledge the band's racial, sexual and gender diversity.
"It's always better to have a group of people in any context reflect how the planet is, which is a mix of race, gender, and sexuality," Mark said.
"Because gender is performative, and bands made up of all straight white dudes are boring AF," Joel added.
The bandmates also had a diversity of opinions on their band's name.
"I think the name is a reference to being ugly, or 'dumpy' in U.S. slang," Mark said.
"I don't know," Jessica said. "I just work here."
"Tim came up with it," Joel said. "It's supposed to be the name for a person who was just broken up with. Like not the Dumper, but the Dumpie. But everyone thinks it's a poop reference."
"It's not about poop!" Tim insisted. "Does anyone ever say that about the Growlers? When we were in South Africa, they told us a dumpie is a little 6oz beer. But it's like being down in the dumps, or my life is a dump or being a loser. Maybe cause it's similar to The Frumpies or The Grumpies ― both amazing bands BTW."
The Dumpies will be touring Korea from May 11 to 14, starting with a show at Cheonhoji Skate Park in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, organized by Look Beyond, a local shop selling skateboards, kendama and craft beer.
They're back in Seoul on Friday and Saturday for shows at Strange Fruit and Club FF, and then it's off to Busan on Sunday for a show at Club Realize.
"I know that the scene is small, but all of the bands I've heard are tight AF and it seems like folks go hard in Korea," Joel said.
Visit linktr.ee/Dumpies for more about the band or follow them on Instagram @thedumpies or fb.com/thedumpies.
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