[caption id="attachment_234919" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Photo Credits: Jo Andre"][/caption] Apollo 18 might not be a familiar name to those who frequent allkpop, but the Korean post-hardcore/post-rock hybrid band has been making huge waves in the Korean indie scene over the past couple of years. The band has already performed at popular festivals such as the Jisan Valley Rock Festival, the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, and the Green Plugged Festival. They also won the 2009 "Hello Rookie" award (which was handed out by the Korean government), as well as the 2010 "Rookie of the Year" at the Korean Music Awards. Starting next week, Apollo 18 - which consists of guitarist Choi Hyunseok, bassist Kim Daeinn, and drummer Lee Sangyun will be taking their shows to American soil, starting with a performance at the huge international music festival in Texas called SXSW. Afterwards, they'll be kicking off their U.S. tour, through which the band hopes to acquire new material for their upcoming new album. There's a ton of stuff below for you guys to check out, including a package giveaway, an allkpop interview, a video message from the band, their U.S. tour dates, and more! ===== <Apollo 18 Video Greeting> ----- <Apollo 18 Giveaway> As always, allkpop likes to make it as simple as possible for our readers to score their beloved swag. Apollo 18 has hooked up our readers with 10 copies of their new tour CD, 10 iPhone cases, and 10 stickers just for you! There will be a total of 10 lucky winners who'll each receive a prize package of the above three items. All you need to do is make three simple clicks in order to be eligible: 1) Like the Official Apollo 18 Facebook page, here! 2) Follow the Official Apollo 18 Twitter account, here! 3) Leave a comment below! And that's it! Good luck to everybody who enters! - CD iPhone Case Sticker ----- <Apollo 18 Interview> allkpop: How did you feel when you were invited to SXSW this year? What type of reaction do you hope to receive? Sangyun: It felt great. We were very happy. As soon as we heard the good news, we started to make plans for a U.S. tour. We were actually invited to perform last year, but couldn't go because of scheduling and financial issues. We are glad that this time we can take advantage of this great opportunity. Hyunseok: We hope that people go crazy. We would love to see people shouting and dancing. We really hope they can feel and share our passion. - AKP: We heard that you were planning to release your first full-length album in April. What kind of sound can we expect to hear, and will it be a continuation of your 'color' series? Daeinn: Our original plan was to make a full-length album, but now we don't know if it will be a full-length or just an EP. We have only written one new song for our next record. We will write and record some other songs in April after our American tour. We hope to release it sometime during the summer. Hyunseok: We don't know how the new album will sound. It will be loud and more heavy I think, but we aren't sure yet. Our color series of albums is finished. This next recording will be influenced by our experiences during our first American tour. We don't have any ideas about what we will name it yet. - AKP: How would you describe the differences between your albums "Red", "Blue", and  "Violet"? Daeinn: "Red" has more of a post-rock influence. "Blue" is more hard and experimental rock music. "Violet" is all instrumental rock. The songs on Violet are a mix of many different styles. - AKP: Does each installment in your color series – Red, Blue, Violet – revolve around a certain theme? Daeinn: I'm not sure if there is a specific theme, but all three albums were influenced by our feelings at the time.  "Red" was recorded in winter, so I think it's kind of a quiet and lonely album. The "Blue" Album was recorded in summer. We were energized by the sun, but also felt stress from the heat because Korea is very hot and humid in the summer.  "Violet" was recorded in the winter as well. Things for us were kind of chaotic then. We had a short time to write and record the album because our schedule was really busy. There were so many different thoughts going through our heads. - AKP: Who or what inspired you to be a musician? How, and in what way? Sangyun: When I was a middle school student, I saw a TV program that showed a drummer playing on the street. The drummer looked really cool. I felt really inspired and wanted to try to play the drums after watching him on TV. So I started to learn drumming while I was in middle school. Hyunseok: When I was 14 years old, I liked UK pop music like Take That. One of my friends made me listen to more styles of music on his Walkman. He played me cassettes from Skid Row and other rock bands. After that, I started to listen to punk and other styles of music. I watched a video tape of Megadeth guitarist, Marty Friedman. It was so awesome. After watching that video I really wanted to learn how to play guitar. Daeinn: When I was in high school, I listened to Nirvana's "Nevermind" album. I loved Kurt Cobain and his music. I bought a video tape of a Nirvana concert. I wanted to be able to play guitar like Kurt Cobain, so I started to learn guitar. The first time that I played bass was when Apollo 18 started. - AKP: In your opinion, what effect does idol pop music have on the Korean music industry? Hyunseok: Internationally, I think it's good that more people are learning about Korea and our culture because of Korean pop idols and Korean films are becoming more popular abroad. However, in Korea, there are so many idol bands. The main focus of the music scene is only on pop idols. It's difficult for musicians who make other styles of music to get mainstream attention. - AKP: Please tell us your favorite song from any of your three albums, and why. Sangyun: I really like "Manic Depressive" from the Blue album. When we play it live, it makes me feel so excited and my body wants to move. Daeinn: My favorite song is Red's "Discharge." I like the guitar melody and the bass line and drums. The song gets me fired up during concerts. Hyunseok: "Song A" because this song has sentimental value for me. I actually wrote it for my girlfriend. We have been together for more than 10 years, but we were broken up when I wrote the song. We got back together before Violet came out. When she first heard the album, I told her it was her song. - AKP: How would you describe your music to people? Hyunseok: We don't know how to describe our music. To us, it's just rock music. Daeinn: Our music is a mixture of all the different musical styles that Apollo 18's members enjoy. Sometimes our music is loud and sometimes it is quiet. Sometimes it is heavy and sometimes it is kind of psychedelic. - AKP: How do you find your inspiration? Hyunseok: Everything inspires us. Everyone we meet and everything we experience influences us in some way. - AKP: What album do you love, but might be embarrassed to admit publicly? Daeinn: I really like SNSD's "Gee" single album. Hyunseok: I love 2NE1's "To Anyone" album. Sangyun: I am a fan of PSY's albums. I also really like the American band, Spin Doctors. The other guys laughed at me when I told them this. I don't care, though. - AKP: How did you decide on your name? Sangyun: Daeinn chose the name. It was kind of created by accident. He misread a t-shirt Hyunseok was wearing. The t-shirt said "Aloha 17," but he thought it said "Apollo 18." He liked the way it sounded and asked us what we thought of using it for our band's name. - AKP: What do you plan on doing while you're in the United States? Hyunseok: We are playing 16 concerts in 13 days on our March U.S. tour. So a lot of our time will be spent driving and performing. There will be 2,000 bands from 60 countries at SXSW. We definitely want to try and see many bands play, and would love to meet other musicians from all around the world. We want to eat lots of American food too. My friend went to SXSW last year. He said there was so much happening that he didn't have time to sit down and eat. I told him that we are going to make time for eating. If any readers have any suggestions for good restaurants to visit in the cities we are playing, please let us know. We hope to tour the U.S. again in October or November. We'd like to play in more places next time. Hopefully we'll have a bit more time then to do some sightseeing. - AKP: What do you do to unwind? Daeinn: We just do normal things to unwind. We love drinking, sleeping, laughing, watching movies, going out with friends, and eating delicious Korean food. - AKP: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! --- <Apollo 18 U.S. Tour> March 15 Dallas, Texas – Double Wide March 16 Austin, Texas (6 PM) – DMI House @ 219 West (Day Party at the Dart Music International House) March 16 Austin, Texas (10:40 PM) – Headhunters (Official SXSW Showcase) March 17 Austin, Texas (6 PM) – Zhi Tea Gallery (Zhi Tea presents: SXZT!) March 18 Austin, Texas (4 PM) – Hoeks Death Metal Pizza March 18 San Marcos, Texas – Triple Crown March 19 Austin, Texas (1 PM) – Aussie's (WeAre78704.com Party) March 20 Austin, Texas (1 PM) – Cheer Up Charlie's March 20 San Antonio, Texas – Night Rocker Live March 21 New Orleans, Louisiana – Dragon's Den March 22 Houston, Texas – Super Happy Fun Land March 23 Denton, Texas – Andy's Bar March 24 Hot Springs, Arkansas – Low Key Arts (The Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival) March 25 Memphis, Tennessee – Stash House March 26 Tulsa, Oklahoma – The Eclipse March 27 Fort Worth, Texas – 1919 Hemphill ----- <Apollo 18 Discography> "Red" - February 2009 "Blue" - July 2009 "Red (Enhanced Reissue)" - January 2010 "Violet" - January 2010 ----- <Apollo 18 Press Quotes> "Apollo 18 are quickly emerging as one of South Korea's top underground success stories." - SXSW.com "…their powerful playing literally made my jaw drop and left me repeatedly muttering the phrase 'holy f*ck!' well after their deafening set had finished." - GROOVE Korea "Melt[ed] my face off with honest to goodness rock awesomeness." - INIT_Music "I don't know how they do it, but in spite of all the awesomeness displayed on record, they are even more incredible live. If there's one Korean indie act that could tour the world today, Apollo 18 is it." - Indieful ROK "Apollo 18 are quickly emerging as one of South Korea's top underground success stories." – SXSW.com "…the future is bright for the band." - Wakesidevision "Mixing atmospheric post-rock with bits of fast-paced, hardcore-infused rock, their fantastic set was one of the best gigs I've witnessed in '09" – Korea Gig Guide "Apollo 18's Red album... I was quite surprised to be met by the most amazing post-rock ever to come out of Korea." - London Korean Links ----- <Apollo 18 Music Videos> "Iridescent Clouds" "Orbis" ===== A big thanks to Apollo 18 for participating and to Shawn Despres for facilitating everything!