Artist of the week - YB

May 10, 2009

PROFILE
Yoon Do-hyun
Date of birth : February 3rd, 1972
Place of birth : Paju in Gyeonggi Province
Instruments : Vocal, guitar, keyboard
Hobbies : Inline skating, walking
Talents : Guitar, piano, harmonica
Special Note: Yoon Do-hyun writes most of the songs on the band’s albums

Park Tae-hee
Date of birth : September 19th, 1969
Place of birth : Seoul
Instruments : Bass guitar, chorus

Kim Jin-won
Date of birth : February 23rd, 1970
Place of birth : Sokcho in Gangwon Province
Instruments: Drums

Huh Joon
Date of birth : September 17th, 1974
Place of birth : Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province
Instruments: Guitar (lead)

BIOGRAPHY
For this week, Soompi proudly presents YB as the artiste for the week. YB are named after the team’s vocalist, Yoon Do-hyun, who is also the producer of the band. They are a rock band consisting of 4 musicians: vocalist Skitter D.H.(Yoon Do-hyun), guitarist Baby J (Huh Jun), drummer Jin (Kim Jin-won) and bass guitarist Taehee (Park Tae-hee). The band has a total of 8 albums, one DVD, a Yoon Do Hyun solo project and a live album.

Its first album was released in December 1994. Audiences say that the band is the most Korean-styled rock group, because they use such traditional instruments as the Gayageum (a Korean musical instrument with 12 strings) and the Daegeum (Korean traditional wooden flute) for recording, in addition to their basic rock instruments. The band also composes and arranges its songs based on a true Korean state of mind. The band sang songs like "Oh, Pil-seung Korea (Oh, Victory to Korea)"and "Arirang" in front of the millions of cheering home fans during the 2002 World Cup jointly hosted by Korea and Japan. With their Korean fight songs for the national soccer team, the band became Korea’s indisputable leading rock band. The Yoon Band won best song awards from all 3 of Korea’s main broadcasters, KBS, MBC and SBS. The band was also acknowledged for its contributions on improving human rights in Korea through its musical activities. The band was once nominated for the first World Peace Music Awards in 2003. It won the "Best Musicians Award" from the Board of Korean Music Producers. The members are recognized as some of the best musicians in the local pop music scene, with sales of over 2 million albums, and more than 100 live concerts a year, each usually drawing more than 500 thousand people.

In early 2005, YB became the first Korean band to tour Europe and in November 2006, it played two sold-out concerts in New York (Nokia Theater and B.B. King Blues Club). YB was invited to perform at SXSW (South by Southwest) held in Austin, Texas in March 2007-2008. YB has solidified its position as one of the top Asian rock bands.

Vocalist Yoon Do-Hyun (D.H.) has been the host of “Love Letter”, a music show on KBS TV for almost five years and over 400 episodes, for which he has received numerous awards. He stepped down from the show at the end of 2008 to focus on YB’s 8th album. It is such a loss for the show’s fans due to the popularity of the show.

YB released its 8th album, Co-existance, in 2009, after 2 years and 7 months after its previous album. This album are based on various problems in society. The song Flag is about the tragic incident in Yong San regarding the apartment relocation, while Losing Game By 880,000 is about young people getting laid off. Fish and Bicycle, on the other hand, is about the hardships students face due to tough competition However, the title track "Still You" is a rock ballad track, different from YB’s usual styles. There will be string accompaniment and guitar sounds to bring out the sadness of the number.

Lee Hana and Tiger JK starred in the "Still You" music video. YB also will have a world tour this year, so check out YB Myspace for more details.

DISCOGRAPHY

* By the Post Office in Autumn (1st album, 1994) : Tarzan, No Big Star, By the Post Office in Autumn, After You left II, A Memory, Love Two, Right Here Together

* Yoon Do-hyun 2 (2nd album, 1997) : A Long Journey, An Ephemera, To Live on this Land, As in the Beginning, Daydreaming Girl, Don’t Hide, The Ocean, Children of this World

* Isolation (3rd album, 1998) : Stooped Heads, A Crowned Fool, No Answer, Pretty Penny, Years from Now, 7 Years, That’s Just Life, Sci-fi Empty Dream, Little by Little, A New Promise, The Final Hour

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* Back to Korean Rock (4th album, 1999) : The Wind, Break Free, After You Left, Turn, Turn, Turn, Get Up Stand Up, My World, Blood Type, The Lady at the Cigarette Store, Playing with Fire

* An Urbanite (5th album, 2001) : Peppermint Candy, Foolish People, Come to Me, A Mirror, I Didn’t Know How to Love Myself, A Black and White Photo, To Live on this Land

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* YB Stream (6th album, 2003) : Petals, YB Story, I Will Love You, Freedom, Peppermint Candy 2 (Feat. Drunken Tiger), Magical Dragon, A Friend, Who Am I, Get Lost, Before My Eyes, Shout Asia

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* Difference (Yoon Do-hyun solo project, 2005) : It Must Have Been Love

* Why Be? (7th album, 2006) :

BUY THIS ALBUM
* Co-existance (8th album, 2009) : Millimicron BomB, Losing Game By 880,000, Flag, Still You, Letter, No Regrets, Non-existance, Fish and Bicycle, Talk to Me, Stay Alive, Dreaming Girl Two, Mom’s Song