“We have to connect with people outside our world”: Sunset Rollercoaster’s Tseng Kuo-Hung and Balming Tiger’s San Yawn in conversation

In partnership with the Golden Indie Music Awards

There are few acts in Asia right now as exciting and vital as Taiwan’s Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korea’s Balming Tiger. Both groups have enjoyed a thrilling couple of years – the soulful soft-rock band from Taipei launching back into touring post-pandemic and notching a slot at Coachella this year, and the music and art collective from Seoul collaborating with BTS rapper RM and readying their own long-awaited debut album ‘January Never Dies’, out next week.

The visionaries leading both groups – Sunset Rollercoaster’s Tseng Kuo-Hung (known as Kuo) and Balming Tiger’s San Yawn – are not just musicians but multi-hyphenates. Kuo, in particular, has curated this month’s Asia Rolling Music Festival, the showcase festival of Taiwan’s Golden Indie Music Awards (GIMA) – the indie counterpart to the well-known Golden Melody Awards, the Chinese-speaking world’s equivalent of the Grammys.

With both the festival and the awards in the offing – taking place in Taipei, Taiwan from October 23 to 27, and October 28 respectively – NME caught up with both Kuo and San Yawn for a conversation about their respective bands, creative leadership, Kuo’s vision for the Asia Rolling Music Festival, the importance of collaboration and connection and much more.

How do you know each other? Are you fans of each other’s music?

Tseng Kuo-Hung: “I actually met San in the Philippines during a music festival. I was introduced by a mutual friend, Oh Hyuk [frontman of South Korean band Hyukoh] who said I should get to know San, so I went to say hello to him backstage.”

San Yawn: “Of course I’ve been a fan for a long time, and my close friend in Korea [Oh Hyuk] is also good friends with Kuo, so I got to know him. I think it’s very good that he can have interactions with Korean indie artists and does not limit himself to nationality or music genre. I think he’s very open-minded.”

You’re both the creative leads of your respective bands. What’s that experience like?

Kuo: “As a group leader, my role isn’t so clearly defined because all the members of Sunset Rollercoaster are childhood friends. I’ve known them for over half my life, but as Sunset Rollercoaster got bigger, it went from being a fun thing to a job. What I do most of the time is communicate my vision for the band. At the same time, I encourage them to be more creative and bring that to a global audience.”

San: “I really resonate with Kuo’s comment – communication is very, very important. I think this is a common consensus for every leader. [Every member has] their own unique colours, so I want to show the harmony of those colours. I communicate, like Kuo says. But, in [Balming Tiger], everyone has solo careers while being in the crew, which makes communication even more important for us.”

“Communication is very, very important. I think this is a common consensus for every leader” – San Yawn

Kuo is the curator for the Asia Rolling Music Festival this year. Why did you take the job?

Kuo: “I was interested in taking this job because I want to make some breakthroughs this year. I think we shouldn’t limit our line-up to Asia in a physical sense, because in the past, all of our line-ups were Asian bands originating from Asia. This year, I want to expand on the concept of Asia and go beyond its physical confines. There are many musicians among the Asian diaspora and even if they are not from Asia in a strict sense, they still bring an Asian perspective into their work. For example, this year I approached Michael Seyer from Los Angeles, who has Filipino heritage, and also Kamaal Williams, who has Taiwanese and British heritage.”

How were your ideas received when you presented them to these artists who have Asian connections but aren’t living or working within Asia?

Kuo: “I believe musicians do best by expressing themselves through music, because I believe that music goes beyond language barriers. I remember when I first saw Balming Tiger performing in the Philippines; even though I didn’t understand their Korean lyrics, I still was really amazed by the performance. The music [appealed to] all my senses, so I want to bring that same feeling to the Taiwanese audience.”

How would you describe Taiwan’s music scene?

Kuo: “Compared to 20 years ago, the Taiwan music scene has changed quite a bit. Back in the early 2000s, Taiwan was the centre of Chinese-language music with superstars like Jay Chou. But starting from the late 2000s and around the 2010s, this dominance endured in the Chinese-language market, but it’s just not the same as it was back then. Our government is really looking to boost our music scene – we have the ministry of culture and also local governments offering subsidies for bands, so we’re seeing all sorts of new acts come up. One defining feature of Taiwan’s music scene is that it has grassroots elements while we explore new music styles and new business models.

“Taiwan’s music industry is now really looking at replicating the success of K-pop, making music a cultural export and bringing it to scale all over the world. But, we have to experiment with new genres first. If we look at techno as an example, given that it was an underground thing started by the American LGBTQ community, it was very niche. But as the years went by, it became a whole culture. I believe we should focus on different cultures, subcultures and the music itself because those are the long-term ingredients for success.”

San Yawn, how does that compare to the music scene in Korea?

San: “I would say K-pop idol culture has a worldwide influence, so we get more opportunities. For example, [Korean bands in] genres like indie or electronic music have more chances to collaborate. I think Korean music is getting swept up by K-pop idol culture, but in the Korean music industry, there are other [genres aside from] K-pop. For the younger generation or for the people who think about Korea, the first thing that comes up for them is K-pop idol culture. That’s good, but trend culture always has pros and cons.”

“I believe we should focus on different cultures, subcultures and the music itself because those are the long-term ingredients for success” – Tseng Kuo-Hung

What are the most exciting things happening in your scenes right now?

Kuo: “I’m actually becoming more pessimistic because I think it’s important for us to step outside of our comfort zone. Historically, the Chinese-language music we create [caters to] a market comprising Chinese-speaking countries. There isn’t a lot of incentive for musicians to step outside of their comfort zone in this industry because [many are] just replicating what they already know. Considering political realities, we have to consider the sustainability of replicating past business models. That’s why it’s important to step outside of this comfort zone. I don’t mean to say we have to make English-language music. It’s not about language, actually, it’s more about connection. We have to connect with people outside of our world.”

San: “There are big companies who hope to do something more [long term] with K-pop culture. They are more focused on globalisation, that means [not limiting it to] only Koreans or the language. I also think we are seeing idol music trying new things – they are starting to avoid replicating the same visuals or music in order to make K-pop universal. So, they may get songs from other countries or collaborate with indie groups, or they hope to have indie groups producing the songs. I think RM featuring in Balming Tiger’s music is a similar situation. I believe that such movements are becoming a good opportunity for Korean idol culture and indie culture to mix, and I think more attempts will take place.”

What’s next for Sunset Rollercoaster and Balming Tiger? Would you guys collaborate?

Kuo: “I can’t say if I have any plans with Balming Tiger but I do have some plans with San. This year we reached out to many collaborators, and we hope to bring the larger-scale ones on our tour in the second half of 2024. To be honest, our schedule for 2024 is already very full. We’re also writing new music right now. I’m not sure when Sunset Rollercoaster will complete and release this new body of work, but we’re looking forward to next year.”

San: “For Balming Tiger’s plans, after we launch our album [this month], we will be going on our longest tour, about 40 days long. We will also have our own concert in Korea next year, which we have never done before. Our members have also [spent] a year and a half preparing for [the new Balming Tiger] album, so they weren’t able to work on their solos much. I hope they get more free [time] to do their solo activities next year.”

Asia Rolling Music Festival takes place in Taipei, Taiwan from October 23 to 27 before the Golden Indie Music Awards on October 28. Find more details on the festival and GIMA here.

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