Most of us tend to go through life with a plan, rarely straying away from the path that's been paved for us; but not CADEJO. Born out of simply "going with the flow", the Korean indie band have taken life and music head-on by taking each day as it comes. 

From the formation of the band back in 2017 to the songs that they release today, CADEJO want their music to be like life itself: erratic and spontaneous. 

"[Our music] mirrors how members feel at the moment. We're a jam band so improvisation is the main element of our music and it comes differently every time depending on what kind of mood we are in and we want our listeners to follow that emotional flow," CADEJO tells Bandwagon. 

"A tune is never played the same twice. We think we are trying to portray life as it is through our music," the band adds. They've carried that very belief across all their projects, creating a discography that's hard to match.

Most recently, CADEJO joined forces with Korean rap icon Nucksal for their collaborative album, Sincerely Yours which serves as a glimpse into the two artists' worldviews. 

Bandwagon recently caught up with CADEJO to talk about Sincerely Yours, their creative process, and the journey they've taken to be the band that they are today. 

Hi CADEJO! How did each of you get started in music? 

Jaeho was a skater kid and he was drawn to punk music early on. Dabin started playing in the middle school band. Taehun picked up a guitar in the 6th grade and played it ever since. 

Tell us about how the band was formed and how the name CADEJO came to be. 

The band was formed in 2017 as a project band for a festival. The music came by quickly as we jammed and we thought it’d be cool to keep the project going.

The name was actually a light-hearted pun; taking a syllable from each member’s name. But we liked the sound of it and as it turned out, there is a mythical creature in South America called CADEJO which deals with the concept of good and bad. We thought it was cool and we stuck to it. 

You recently released your collaborative album Sincerely Yours with Nucksal, how did this collaboration come about? What was it like working with him? 

It started a couple of years ago, after Nucksal’s 1Q87 album. Jaeho and Dabin participated in the album and during the process, they found a theme which Sincerely Yours was built upon.

Nucksal is busy with many of his projects, so it took a while for the project to take off. But when it did, it came quick and we were really happy with the lyrics and sounds we were making. It felt like no one around us has ever done anything like this. 

Could you tell us more about the album and your vision for it? 

The album is a representation of our view of the world. We are not young, but we are not old; we are experienced, but immature. This dichotomy always creates tension around us and we wanted to share how we feel at this stage of our lives as humble as possible. 

Throughout the band’s time together, you guys have achieved an array of milestones. What’s been the most memorable moment of your journey for you so far? 

As you said, there were many moments that kept us going and we think it wasn’t a single moment that made a difference. We are a live band playing live shows for a living and we feel all the live shows we played accumulated to let us be who we are now. Through those shows, we became a bit more comfortable with ourselves and more willing to share our story as it is.

What is the indie music scene like in Korea? Who are some other acts that we should listen to? 

The Korean indie scene has more diversity now than before. It has grown more articulate and specialized. To name a few, we love Dabda, Chudahye Chagis, Kim Oki Fucking Madness, and Ejo and the Midgets.

What’s the best part of being in CADEJO? 

We get to play live more easily thanks to the trio format and minimal set-up. We played virtually all kinds of places.  

 

 

 

 

 

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Outside of music, what do you guys enjoy doing together? 

We love the sea. We like to go to the beach whenever we can.

What can we expect from CADEJO for the rest of 2022? 

We have several more collaboration albums lined up. Keep your eyes open, we are coming!

Listen to CADEJO and Nucksal's Sincerely Yours here.