Artist of the week - Nell

Nov 06, 2006

Our featured artist this week is the indie rock band Nell. The four-member band is highly recommended by the lengndary Seo Tai Ji. They have released 3 albums so far, and each album is a top 10 seller and produced a top 20 song. Like many k-rock bands, the title song Nell released on each album is listener friendly enough to attract mainstream audiences. While in their albums, you are going to find more hard core rock tracks. Let’s find out more about them:

PROFILE:

Kim Jong Hwan (Lead Vocal, Guitar)
Birthday: December 24, 1980

Lee Jae Kyung (Guitar)
Birthday: May 13, 1980

Lee Jung Hoon (Bass Guitar)
Birthday: January 11, 1980

Jung Jae Won (Drum)
Birthday: August 4, 1980

BIOGRAPHY:

Nell is a band with an appealing power to music lovers with their unique sound and color accompanied with lyrical words. The band is made up of 4 members who were all born in 1980. Kim Jong-wan is the vocalist and guitarist of the band who writes all the music and lyrics for the band. Lee Jae-kyung plays the guitar, Lee Jung-hoon plays the bass guitar and Jung Jae-won plays the drums. First formed in 1999, the rock band re-named itself “Nell” after the title of a movie in which Jodi Foster starred.

Mainly performing in the clubs around the Shinchon area, Nell released two albums in the Indi music scene. The first one is “Reflection of Nell” released in January of 2001 and the other is “Speechless” released in September of the same year. Their hit numbers from the two albums are “Words That Shouldn’t Be Trusted,” “Already Said and Done,” “A Somewhat Sad Story” and “The Rain of Leaves.”

The turning point for Nell’s musical career was after the band participated in the rock festival designed by Seo Taiji, the 2002 ETPFEST and joined the Goesoo Indigene Label. The Goesoo Indigene Label was established by Seo Taiji in order to stir up a change in the local pop music scene dominated by a few genres of music. After preparing for more than a year with Goesoo Indigene, Nell released their major debut album “Let It Rain” in June of 2003. Recorded at the G.I. Studio specializing in rock music, the album was evaluated to display great sound along with beautiful lyricism that deliver a clear color of sorrow. Nell also performed in various live stages including “Nell’s Private Room”, a unplugged concert held in November of 2003. The band also participated in the “2004 Live Wire” in January, 2004 and accompanied Seo Taiji in the concert held in Vladivostok, Russia in May, 2004.

DISCOGRAPHY:

Reflection of Nell (1st indie album, January 2001)
IPB Image
Speechless (2nd indie album, September 2001)

Let It Rain (1st official album, 2003) : Stay, Eden, The Ghost’s Song

Walk Through Me (2nd official album, 2004) : Thank You, Selfish Love, Marionette

Healing Process (3rd official album, 2006) : Losing One’s Mind