The Dirty 30s are a band made up of the wonderful Lizzie Gask (vocals), sexy Geoff Goodman and his identical brother Josh (guitar and vocals, and bass, respectively), rounded up with Trevor Celements on the drums.

They are a folk/indie band from Seoul, and they are launching their new album this weekend. They are a fabulous group of people. We asked them some questions about the band, and the upcoming album launch. Here is what they had to say..

I. It’s your album launch in less than a week are you excited? Is this your first album?

Lizzie: We are very excited! This is our first album and it’s an online mini-album including 5 of our songs. All of our songs are originals and it was difficult to choose which tracks to release but I think we came up with a great selection. The recording of ‘Like a Girl’ was commissioned by James Williams III for the sound track of the independent movie ‘Bent’ (Twilight Ebb Cinema) after film editor Natalia Majette saw us play and recommended us. This song is included on the album.

II. How long have you been together as a band?

Lizzie: Geoff and I met in 2004 in Pohang where we were both working our first jobs in Korea. We jammed a little there with a few other musicians. We re-connected five years later. After a weekend of playing around a campfire we decided to help a friend with a charity event she was organising for a Haitian Earthquake appeal and we played a mixture of covers and original songs. People loved Geoff’s writing and so we worked together on arranging more of his original songs. We had a pretty good time as a duo playing in pubs and clubs for a while and were so well-received we decided to put a full band together. We have been playing as a full band for about a year now.

III. How would you describe your music?

Lizzie: We’re a four-piece band with acoustic guitar, male/female harmonies, bass and drums. You can also hear ukelele and piano on the album. Some of our songs are more soulful, jazzy or punky but mainly I’d say we are a folk-rock band. Geoff writes the songs and he and I arrange them together. Geoff’s bother Josh recently replaced Ollie on bass. We love polyphony and harmony and we have similar tastes in music: Motown girl groups, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z, Laura Marling, Tunng, The Sex Pistols, The Replacements, Woody Guthrie and all that depression-era folk. I guess that’s one of the reasons we chose the band name we have.

IV. Is it difficult being an expat band in Korea? How would you compare it to playing back home? How does the crowd in Korea react to an expat band? Do you think it’s more difficult for an expat band to get recognition than a Korean band in Korea?

Lizzie: The term ‘expat band’ is not a term I’m comfortable with. I hope that we are received as just ‘a band’. We are four expats but not with limited appeal to that community. We see people of all nationalities at our gigs and that’s great.

V. Tell me about some of your gigs:

Lizzie: We’ve played at some interesting places in the time we’ve been together! We’ve played in small gay bars and on big charity concert stages. A couple of weeks ago Geoff and I did a duo thing at my friend Shin-Ae’s wedding which was quite an honour. It was a wedding hall with lots of people coming and going. There was also the very drunken hockey league gig with hundreds of rowdy Canadians and a PA that literally burst into flames mid-set. We love playing in funky, cool Hongdae and we are very excited about our album release party at Club FF.

Additional Info:

Line Up: Geoff Goodman (Acoustic Guitar / Vocals), Lizzie Gask (Vocals), Josh Goodman (Bass / Vocals), Trevor Clements (Drums)

The album is currently available to stream. At the album release party in Club FF, Hongdae on Saturday 24th September (Midnight) The Dirty 30s will be giving away pass codes for every guest so they can download the album for free. Entry costs 15,000.

You can also follow them on Soundcloud and .

Photos by Ben Weller and Joseph Chung and Lizzie Gask


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