Broken Valentine
Broken Valentine | |
---|---|
Origin | Seoul, Korea |
Genres | Alternative rock, post-grunge |
Years active | 2002 | –present
Labels | Rolling Cultureone / YDCT Music (Korea) |
Website |
www |
Members |
Ansu – Guitar Byun G – Guitar Sunghwan – Bass Koopa – Drum |
Past members | Van – Vocal (2002-2015) |
Broken Valentine is a Korean alternative rock band notable for their 2011 appearance on the Korean television program Top Band.
Members
Broken Valentine consists of
- Sunghwan (Byun Sunghwan, born 20 March 1983): Bass
- Byun G (Byun Geehwan, born 14 November 1985): Lead guitar
- Koopa (Lee Sung San, born 5 March 1985): Drums
Past
- Van (Kim Kyung Min, born 27 October 1982 – died 3 August 2015): Lead vocals
- Ansu (Kim Ansu, born 21 January 1982): Lead guitar -- seceded
History
Broken Valentine formed in 2002 under the name "6. August", renamed themselves "B. August" in 2004 and finally settled on "Broken Valentine" in 2007. Broken Valentine once explained in an interview about its name.
Band membership has fluctuated throughout the years as members have gone off for mandatory military service, but by 2007, the current five member lineup was solidified.
In December 2008, the reunited band participated in the "Asian Beat" band competition (Korean round) sponsored by YAMAHA, and became the finalist to represent Korea in the following year's Asian Beat Grand Finale held in Hong Kong. In February 2009, Broken Valentine won the Grand Prize and the Best Composer Award (Byun G) with the song "Answer me", which became their most popular track. Broken Valentine thus became the first team in Asian Beat's history to ever win two awards in the same year.
In 2009, Broken Valentine released their first EP album, the self-produced Calling You. To celebrate this release, the performed a showcase concert, and continued to perform at local gigs and in support of other bands throughout South Korea. However, due to the nature of the South Korean music scene, with limited outlets for independent bands, they found difficulty achieving nationwide recognition, so in 2011, they tried out for the television program Top Band broadcast by the Korean Broadcasting System. This is a Survivor-like reality show wherein bands compete against each other. Broken Valentine was considered an early favorite, and made it to the round of 16 on the show, but was eliminated at this round by the band "Toxic."[1]
Following their elimination, Broken Valentine held their fourth exclusive concert "Royal Straight Flush" on October 14, 2011 to a crowd of more than 500 people. They are now working on their first official album to be released in 2012.
On August 3, 2015, it was reported that Broken Valentine's vocal, Van (Kim Kyung Min), has died from drowning, after he went to play in the waters with his friends. Van's funeral procession will be on August 5, 2015.
Style
Broken Valentine writes and composes their own songs, mostly written by Byun G and Van. Their music style can be categorized as alternative rock and post-grunge.
Discography
Full-length album
- Shade (2012)
- Royal Straight Flush
- Shade (Title)
- M.K. Dance
- This Time
- Noname
- You Never Mind
- Down
- Dual-log
- L I F E
- What U Need
- Noname(Piano Ver.)
EP
Songs captured with "" is translated title.
- Alien (as B.August) (Digital Single, 2005)
- Alien
- "Just like that as is"
- Run
- Answer Me!! Is This What You NEED?? Self-produced EP (2007)
- What You NEED (Vocal Sunghwan ver.)
- L I F E (Vocal Sunghwan ver.)
- "If I open my eyes" (Vocal Sunghwan ver.)
- Answer Me (Vocal Sunghwan ver.)
- Alien (Vocal Van ver.)
- "Just like this as is" (Vocal Van ver.)
- Run (Vocal Van ver.)
- Calling You (2009)
- This time reprise
- "The sea in my old drawer" (cover of song by the band Panic)
- M.K. Dance
- "Song of the fossil"
- Answer me
- Down (2011)
- Down
- Noname
- RIDE (Digital Single, 2013)
- Ride
Awards
- August 2006, received 2nd Prize at Music Contest for National University Students sponsored by Suwon City
- November 2008, won Grand Prize at YAMAHA Asian Beat Korea Final
- February 28, 2009, won Grand Prize and Best Composer Award at YAMAHA Asianbeat Grand Final (in Hong Kong)
References
- ↑ Surh Jung-min (20 September 2011). "'Top Band' concert draws diverse audience". The Hankyoreh.
External links
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120426065000/http://brokenvalentinefan.com/ Fan made Broken Valentine page in English
- Top band 16 finalists, KBS (Korea Broadcasting Station) ((Korean))
- Asian Beat 2008 Grand Finalist, Asian Beat (Yamaha) ((Korean))
- Broken Valentine Interview, Daum Cafe focus, Retrieved 2011-07-08 ((Korean))
- Broken Valentine awards 2 prizes in Asian Beat, OSEN, Retrieved 2009-03-02 ((Korean))