A great annual spring tradition for fans of Korean indie music in the UK is having the opportunity to see Patients perform! Since 2014, the ‘hybrid punk’ trio have flown from Seoul to England each May, and this year is no different as the act will be playing concerts in a handful of cities and at the Liverpool Sound City music festival. Their tour started on May 25 and runs until June 5. Here are their remaining tour dates:
May 26 Manchester @ Night & Day Cafe
May 27 Whitchurch @ Percy’s Cafe Bar
May 29 Liverpool @ Liverpool Sound City (Cargo Stage)
May 31 London @ Windmill Brixton
June 5 Worthing @ Bar 42
We checked in with bassist and vocalist Sumin Jo before he boarded his plane to Heathrow to see what is new with the band and what they have planned for their UK performances.
What are Patients most looking forward to about returning to the UK?
We’re most excited about getting to play for music lovers in the UK. I love UK audiences. They are very appreciative and have treated Patients very well during out previous tours in 2014 and 2015. I think audiences in the UK are really good at listening to music and understanding its mood and emotion. For this tour, we’ll be playing in four new cities and I’m looking forward to exploring those places and meeting new musicians and music fans there.
This tour will also be our first time going abroad with our new drummer. His name is Soowon and he joined Patients a few months ago. I think this tour will do a good job at making Patients even closer as a band and friends.
What would you like to see/do in the UK during your days off?
While we’re in Liverpool, I will visit the Francis Bacon: Invisible Rooms exhibition at Tate Liverpool. And I’m really excited about being able to meet my friends in the UK. We’ve been able to meet some very awesome people during our past visits so it will be fantastic to see them again. Hyuckjang wants to visit some football fields and Soowon wants to go sightseeing. Maybe we will all go to the exhibition and go sightseeing together. But I’m going to skip out on the football field visit!
You have said in some recent interviews that you will record two new singles after your UK tour. When were these new songs written? How do they compare to your music on last year’s ’18’ album?
Yes, we have two new songs and are really looking forward to sharing them with our fans in the UK. The songs are named “Space Call Girl” and “Game Boy Game Girl.” They were both written this year. “Space Call Girl” was the first song we made together with Soowon. And “Game Boy Game Girl” is actually a song title I wrote a few years back. I liked the name but didn’t have music that suited it so I’ve been saving it. We made that song together just last month.
Will you be playing your new singles or any other new songs during your upcoming gigs in the UK?
Definitely! Both “Space Call Girl” and “Game Boy Game Girl” will be included in our UK set lists. We’ll be heading into the studio in June to record them when we get back to Seoul so performing them at all our UK gigs will be good practice! We’re hoping to release the songs as singles in late summer or early fall.
How do you feel that Soowon helps strengthen Patients? Do you think he’s going to be a fun person to go on tour with?
He’s a good drummer and a really good guy. I’m hoping he’ll stay a good drummer but become a bad guy! As I said before, this is our first tour with him so I’m not sure how he’ll behave. I’m guessing he’ll stick with his Mr. Goodman attitude. But I think maybe we’ll have a lot more fun and stumble upon a few more adventures if he becomes a bad guy! Just joking! He’ll a really nice guy so please come and meet him at our concerts.
Written and interviewed by Owen Parker
Edited by Maggie Gogler
All photos © Patients
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