Plastic People

Plastic People

Plastic People is a South Korean folk rock duo made up of 김민규 and 윤주미. The group is active from 2002 and emerges from the Korean indie and post-punk context, although one description also identifies a French post-punk/coldwave band and another Portuguese alternative rock act with the same name.

History

Plastic People starts performing actively in 2002 after appearing on the compilation Hello, This is Cavare Sound with the song “She Said”. In the same year, it releases the EP Plastic People. Its first studio album, Songbags of the Plastic People, follows in 2003, then the EP Travelling in the Blue in 2004. The second studio album, Folk, Ya!, arrives in 2006, and the third studio album, Snap, follows in 2009 after a two-year gap.

김민규 founds the label Electric Muse in the winter of 2006, at the same time as the release of Folk, Ya!. He focuses on producing albums by other bands, which contributes to about a year-long break for Plastic People.

Music and style

The group is described as folk rock and as capturing ordinary life from a warm perspective. Its songs include “Love Song at the Crossroads,” “Airport Man and Woman,” “3 PM,” “Blank,” and “The Incomprehensible Taste of Coffee.”

Snap develops from a remembered winter image and reflects everyday scenes across the four seasons. The album includes twelve songs and features a range of approaches, from acoustic and pastoral folk material to rock-oriented tracks. It includes “Standing in the Shade,” “In Places,” “Summer Among Ourselves,” “B/W Picture,” “Singing Moon,” “구름게으름민요,” “A Day is Well Found in a Joke,” and “History.” “In Places” is rearranged from an instrumental piece made for the EBS children’s programme Yamu Yamu Cham Cham. Guest players on the album include Jae Hwan Ahn on guitar, Tae Sung Park on bass, and Ju Hyun Yoon on drums, all of whom had already taken part as session musicians from the second album, along with Seung Hoon Choi of Orgeltanz, Won Gu Kim, Shin Woo Jung, and Horah of Oyster Boys.

Discography

EPs: Plastic People (2002), Travelling in the Blue (2004)

Studio albums: Songbags of the Plastic People (2003), Folk, Ya! (2006), Snap (2009)

Compilation appearances: Hello, This is Cavare Sound (2002), Club Bbang Compilation 2 (2003), Christmas Meets Cavare Sound (2004), Club Bbang Compilation 3 (2007)