Ahhhhh, Sugardonut.(슈가도넛) I found these guys way back in my early days of searching for Korean rock music. This was before torrents were running rampant, no one like All K-Pop or Korean Indie was around and K-Pop was hardly mainstream. I belonged to a few forums for Korean music and the few K-Rock enthusiasts I found on there and I shared music a lot. I distinctly recall a small blog where someone was sharing music. I know, I know. Downloading music is stealing, but at that time, we weren’t really thinking of it that way – it was music sharing – spreading the word of musicians no one had heard of. The only way to get underground music from Korea was to illegally download it or buy the few CD’s that Yes Asia had.
Luckily, Sugardonut had a video or two up on YouTube, and then I was able to buy their music on Yes Asia. But if it wasn’t for that blog, I’d have never even heard of them.
The pop punk sounds of Sugardonut pulled me in, because at the time I was transitioning from being a K-Pop devotee to a rock follower. The light sugary tones of their vocals and breezy melodies combined with the grittier rock undertones was a perfect way for me to ease into rock music.
It’s not that I wasn’t a fan of ANY rock music before Sugardonut. But I was selective of what I listened to, and for sure wasn’t ready for the Apollo 18’s and Hollow Jan’s of the world. So, living up to their names, the sweet sugary rock they were cranking out at the time was just what the music doctor ordered.
Somewhere around 2012 Sugardonut disbanded and I was heartbroken to lose them. But then they re-emerged in 2014, coming out with new music once again. They’re a little more electro-rock in their most recent release that came out just this month. But it’s still a peaceful reunion whenever I get to hear their music, so I’m happy to hear it. If you enjoy bands like Nell, Vanilla Unity, or PIA you’ll enjoy Sugardonut.
You can follow Sugardonut on Facebook & Twitter.
And buy their music on iTunes.
Rock 'N Seoul 