Jang Kiha, Nell, IDOTAPE to play South by Southwest

Nell. (Woolim Entertainment)

Officials of DRDRamc, the talent agency for Jang Kiha and the Faces, confirmed on Tuesday that the band will be joining other local alternative bands Nell and IDOTAPE as part of the Korean artist line-up for the 2014 South By Southwest’s “K-Pop Night Out” showcase.

All three bands participated in the recent MU:CON music conference that was held earlier this month and performed during the live showcases in front of fans and perspective scouts from around the globe. James Minor, the director of SXSW, announced that he had decided to invite the three Korean teams to showcase at the festival next year.

Jang Kiha and the Faces. (kihafaces.com)

Jang Kiha and the Faces first debuted in 2008 with the mini-album “Cheap Coffee” and has gradually become one of the nation’s most popular indie rock bands, along with the veteran artists of Nell and the eclectic retro-electronic track makers of IDOTAPE. 

IDIOTAPE. (VU Entertainment)

However, this line-up is merely a preliminary announcement with more Korean acts expected to participate in the upcoming event. Last year’s SXSW “K-Pop Night Out” highlighted a wide variety of Korean music with performing acts such as Galaxy Express, Guckkasten, 3rd Line Butterfly, The Geeks, f(x), Yi Sung-yol and Jeong Cha-sik.

The annual SXSW held in Austin, Texas since 1987 is North America’s largest music event and showcases around 1,000 different artists and acts from around the globe during the 10-day festival.

The upcoming 2014 SXSW event will be held from March 7 ― 16.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)