The Two Koreas Aren't Going Anywhere

06/06/07 6:00pm

by Nicole Kai (CHARTattack)

Known since their inception in 2003 as "the critics' band," The Two Koreas have survived the labels and judgments to become jangly post-punk mainstays on the Toronto indie scene. Eye Weekly senior editor Stuart Berman (vocals), film editor Kieran Grant (guitar) and music/film writer Jason Anderson (keyboards) intend to keep it that way. The group have eschewed pressures of hitting the road and focus instead on their families and their craft.

"We've never had much of an interest in touring," explains Grant. "Ian [Worang], our bass player, also plays with Uncut and The Diableros, and Jason is very busy with his job as a writer, and Stuart and I — I've got two young children and couldn't possibly tour — we're on the younger side of 30 and we got into this a little bit too late."

"I always felt this band was a bit of an experiment to see, especially in this day and age, how far word of your band can go without actually leaving your own nest," adds Berman. "And if anything, this sort of Toronto indie explosion in the last few years has shown that you don't have to chase, you don't have to tour across Canada until you die."

It's not due to nepotism that the band have gotten to this happy stasis, though Berman admits they've had a hand from the community. "I'd be lying to say that we didn't have certain connections that have helped us get good gigs and whatnot, but the music scene is all based around connections and friends helping friends, and I don't think that's anything novel.

"There was a little bit of cheekiness involved in starting the band, but it's just another way of expressing your love for music. Either you start writing about it or you play it."

Berman gets to do both. Luckily, people now take the group a lot more seriously and the judgments over the members' day jobs have become moot. Their sophomore disc, 2006's Altruists, was released nationally and added to radio playlists across the country. That's not to say that The Two Koreas have won over all their critics, but they're OK with it.

"The band we're most often compared to, The Fall — people either love them or hate them — so we know we're not for everybody," says Berman. "If people don't like us because of how we look or the music, then that's fine, 'cause that's taking us at face value."

Everyone will have a chance to judge The Two Koreas for themselves when they play a North By Northeast showcase at The Silver Dollar on Thursday as part of maverick promoter Dan Burke's NXNE-affiliated NeXT series.

"The Silver Dollar is sort of our home base," says Berman. "We've played there like six times."Our dealings with Dan predate our band. He's really supportive of us and really enthusiastic and really means it. He always dances at our gigs. He's a bit of a cheerleader.

"Last year we had a really good show there. We received a 90 on our Chart report card, so we'll see how we do this year."