Crea Studio, led by the 'Midas touch of auditions' Seo Hye-jin, is set to present an unprecedented band audition show that brings together genius musicians from both Korea and Japan.
On June 2, Crea Studio announced that it has partnered with SBS to launch 'Band King,' a Korea-Japan band formation project that will present a new musical paradigm.
SBS's 'Band King' is a blockbuster music survival program where talented musicians from Korea and Japan, each with their own unique musical world, transcend borders, genres, ages, and careers to form a one-of-a-kind 'Korea-Japan global band.'
In particular, this project is drawing immense attention as it is led by Crea Studio's CEO Seo Hye-jin—who successfully launched Korea's first-ever Korea-Japan singing competitions, including 'The Best K-Trot Singer' and 'Korea-Japan King's Exhibition'—alongside PD Kim Hak-young, writer Noh Yoon, and a large number of production staff from 'Super Band,' which previously brought a fresh shock and deep emotion to the band scene.
Recently, a powerful band music craze has been sweeping both Korea and Japan. In Korea, concerts by Japanese bands are consistently selling out. Meanwhile, in Japan, Korean bands are expanding their solid local fandoms. Keeping pace with this global trend, 'Band King' is expected to draw attention as next-generation content that will lead the global music market beyond idol-centric K-pop.
The biggest differentiator of 'Band King' lies in its limitless 'genre scalability.' There are no restrictions on participants, welcoming not only vocals and traditional band sessions (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard) but also Korean traditional music (gayageum, haegeum), classical music, EDM, rap, and even players of traditional Japanese instruments like the shamisen and wadaiko. The core highlight of the show will be the 'musical blending' created when Eastern and Western, as well as old and new instruments, meet on a single stage.
Crea Studio CEO Seo Hye-jin stated, "Seeing Takenaka Yudai, the vocalist of the Japanese band Novelbright who appeared on 'Korea-Japan King's Exhibition,' achieve a sold-out concert myth made me realize just how much music fans in Korea and Japan have been waiting for band music."
She added, "By realistically capturing the process of genius musicians from Korea and Japan finding their musical partners, 'Band King' will portray their musical chemistry and the raw, living emotion of music that is not mass-produced."
PD Kim Hak-young, who oversees the program, also expressed strong confidence, saying, "Through 'Super Band,' I vividly felt how genius musicians blend their music to create something entirely new. Based on the know-how we accumulated through 'Korea-Japan King's Exhibition,' we will deliver a whole new level of emotion brought by the musical blending of genius Korean and Japanese musicians."
Meanwhile, recruitment for SBS's 'Band King,' the new band survival show set to shake up the world, will run simultaneously in both Korea and Japan from June 10 to the end of August through Crea Studio's official website. The final winning team will receive a prize of 100 million KRW along with unprecedented support for a global concert tour.
[Photo= Crea Studio (AI-generated)]
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)