SSINGSSING
‘Extravagant shamanistic Korean folk songs meet rock, combined with an extravagant visual style and stage presence. ‘
‘… One look at (and listen to) the cross-dressing, Asian rock band SsingSsing and you would hardly think they’re singing music inspired by traditional Korean folk. But SsingSsing isn’t like any other band I’ve ever seen or heard. ‘
“In Korean traditional art, male shamans, called baksu, have the body of a male. But as mediums, they need more than a single sexual identity, because they’re channeling both male and female spirits. When I act a female character and sing, I have to overcome the fact of my being a male sorikkun (singer), and try my utmost to bring a more neutral, unisex feeling to the performance. It sounds silly, but I feel like going to back to the sensibilities of my youth, when I liked Madonna, helps. Isn’t Madonna is the mother of all sexual minorities, embracing all genders? [Laughter] My teacher, master pansori singer Lee Chun-hee (designated holder of Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 57) saw the show and joked that he thought Leslie Cheung of Farewell My Concubine(1993) had come back to life.”
- Hee-moon Lee (Korean traditional song vocalist and collector of platform) -