The free-spirited musician Shaun Southway, a U.K. native and self-proclaimed “wandering, traveling troubadour,” first came to Korea on vacation visiting a friend in 2006. Enthralled upon his arrival, he immersed himself with the vibrant local music scene ― so much to the point where he decided that he had to return to the country.

“I came here and the energy was just full on,” said Shaun. “I just got hooked. There’s so much going on here musically.”

In 2008, while with some friends in a club in Itaewon on Christmas Eve, Shaun first met Shiun Kim, now his wife, through a mutual friend on the dance floor. 

“We actually met while we were dancing,” Kim said. “The first four or five hours that we met, we actually didn’t talk at all, we just danced.”

A year after the two met, Shaun, who went by the stage name Southway, produced his first solo album in Korea titled “Suitcase.” During this time Kim acted as his promoter, helping in selling his albums and landing various gigs. The two later found themselves traveling the globe with their music to the U.S. and all across Europe.

And one day while staying at Gershwin Hotel in New York City, Kim spotted a piano in the hotel lobby, sat down and began to play.

“Shiun just started playing the piano and I said, ‘Whoa, where did you learn how to do that?’” said Shaun.

“I just told Shaun, ‘Oh, all Koreans know how to do that,’” Kim said, laughing.

It was that moment that the two decided that Kim would join Shaun in his musical pursuits and henceforth, Southway became a duo with Shaun on the guitar and vocals and Kim on the synthesizer and vocals as well as acting as the auto-tune programmer.

“We want to make music that makes people feel a little bit uncomfortable,” said Shaun. “We had a very clear vision of the kind of music we wanted to make. We wanted a big band sound, but didn’t want include a bunch of members, so we just replaced those musicians with machines.”

After spending the last three years making their way around the U.K. playing at various venues, their unique, edgy new-age and electronic punky rock sound landed the two a record deal in Seoul and decided to make their way back to Korea this year.

Southway has now completed its latest five-track EP titled “Changing World,” which will be released digitally on July 5. Along with the two’s upcoming album, Shaun and Kim have also taken a stab at a Korean and English single titled “100 years.”

“This is our first-ever bilingual song. The chorus is about the traditional Korean ajumma,” Shaun explained with a smile.

“We even use traditional Korean instruments like the janggu, gayageum and buk drum,” said Kim. “We then fused it with that electronic sound.”

The new single is expected to be unveiled to the public sometime at the end of July or in August.

“We’ve definitely worked really hard at attempting to get to that deep place in your stomach by writing songs that are about those uncomfortable things,” said Shaun.

Southway will perform live in Seoul’s Hongdae at Club FF on July 5 and GOGOS 2 on July 12. The duo is also gearing up to take on the big stage at the upcoming Hyundai Card Super Concert 19 City Break on Aug. 18 at Jamsil Sports Complex in southern Seoul.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)