Wapddi: Creating in the Face of Uncertainty
Written by Lim Seungjae (@HavveGo1ucky)
Photos by Dhira (@shotbydhira)
On 14 August 2022, a concert that would go down in Korean indie music history took place. Its beginning was rather humble. “Why don't I just pay to rent a venue and then take people's tickets, like a school club?" And so did Digital Dawn begin, according to Wapddi - its host, organiser, and one of the performers.
When talking to Wapddi, he is quick to point out his place in the online music community. “When I was on YouTube, I was looking everywhere for people who were making music on their own. I kept searching and found BrokenTeeth. Then, I found Asian Glow. Then, Parannoul, who was a total mystery back then – someone I knew but couldn't get in touch with at the time, but somehow it all worked out."
The COVID-19 pandemic, too, played its part. "People wanted to start a band, but couldn't gather in groups, and couldn't get out of the house, so at that time, there were a lot of attempts by people like students to try and create something. I believe Asian Glow, BrokenTeeth, and Parannoul all started out like that, and this was an event where people who happened to be making music at that time came together." For Wapddi himself, it was also a turning point. "It was an event that prompted me to make sure that I take making music seriously."
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First - introductions and some basic information.
"I actually only quit my job about ten days ago,” when asked what he does for a living. “Before then, I probably would've just said, 'I just work for some company.' But now that I've left, I'm back to simply being a music-maker."
His taste runs appropriately deep for the title ‘music-maker.’ When asked which musicians he wishes more people knew, he started with the Chinese emo band Wish Today, then moved to Saoirse Dream and Plus-Tech Squeeze Box. As he checked his phone to see what he'd been listening to lately, I wondered which streaming service he used. "I usually buy the CDs and rip the audio to my phone," he said. "Mostly because a lot of the stuff I like isn't on streaming sites." Perfectly on brand, yet entirely unexpected.
Wapddi and music go all the way back, starting with drum lessons he took in middle school. "Back then, I didn't really feel the need to be in a band; I had a pure interest in learning the drums.” The first song he managed to play from start to finish was Cho Yong-pil's Let's Take a Trip. From there, he moved on to J-Pop and anime songs. Then, eventually, the electric guitar, and then into much wider musical influences – Muse, Radiohead, Dream Theater.
"I was in bands all through middle school, high school, and college. I never really put the guitar down. But to be honest, it's hard to just tell your parents, 'I want to study music.' You worry about what they'll think."
The turning point came during his social service, a kind of alternative to mandatory military service, during which he had enough spare time to begin uploading to YouTube. His tracks got a positive response, and from there, he began releasing albums. "Then I figured, rather than forcing myself to get a job I hate, I’m going to have a proper go at making a living through music. That's where it all started for me.”
Wapddi’s earliest works were humour-led – funny songs and animations built around an original character. "My early stuff was basically just comedy. The goal wasn't to make music – it was just to make people laugh." But this became the crucial bedrock for what followed. "I kept making what could hardly be called 'music,' but gradually built up my skills like, 'Ah, I can use that idea in other ways.’”
In March 2021, Wapddi's first EP, Shameful Song to Show Others, was released. "A junior from my university club released an album while I was doing my social service," he explains. “I’d always thought the process of releasing an album would be incredibly complex and difficult, but hearing about his album made me think, ‘If he can manage it – then how do I go about it?'" The title describes its contents perfectly. Wapddi felt able to share such sincere – and occasionally hilarious – stories because of the power of anonymity. He chose the name "Wapddi" specifically because it was a meaningless string of characters that no one could trace back to him. The distinctively faced "yellow man" character, who later inspired the name of his label 6v6 Recordings, took on the shameful burden on his behalf.
In the notes for his first full-length, More Shameful Song to Show Others, he describes taking all sorts of stories, thoughts, and inferiority complexes and "extracting only 10% of them and packaging them as if they were funny." He still stands by the approach. “Being too blunt isn't always a good thing. It's like how a comedy becomes a tragedy when viewed up close; if things are too brutally honest, I think people find it uncomfortable."
One track from this period that stands out is Corpse, the origin of which can be found in an all too familiar place. "Because of COVID, I was stuck at home with nothing to do except attend online lectures. Because of that, my daily routine got completely messed up. I had insomnia at night, and I started to feel a bit depressed since I couldn't go out often." Lying awake with "both eyes blocked," he felt a desperate urge to skip time. "I wrote Corpse thinking, 'I wish I could just close my eyes, and with a tick of the clock, skip the night straight to the next morning.'"
His second EP, Jordan Wants to Play, released in November 2021, marked a notable shift towards synthpop and chiptune. "To be honest, I really love the band Glen Check," he begins, noting his disappointment when they moved towards hip-hop after their second album. He was deep into Justice, Daft Punk, and Porter Robinson at the time. "I was listening to a massive amount of music that mixed electronic sound with a band sound." His reason for writing the lyrics in English was equally straightforward: “the lyrics didn't work well when I wrote them in Korean."
Another sharp pivot came with his 2024 full-length, Like Our Friend Murphy – this time into Midwest emo, a shift that surprisingly traces back to Dream Theater. "Starting with Dream Theater, I'd listen to one thing after another, which led to more technical stuff, such as the 'number games' of math rock, then to stuff like 'twinkle guitar,' and eventually into Midwest emo."
Drummer Lee Donggyeom, whom Wapddi met while Lee was working as staff at Digital Dawn, also played a role. "He really loves emo music. One day, he told me, 'If you ever start an emo band someday, let's do it together.'" Wapddi contacted him later with a proposition: we're making an emo album together, and I want you to play the drums.
As the vague idea of making an emo album began to take concrete shape, Wapddi set out on a few goals. This included creating long, narrative tracks – similar to The Brave Little – and including instrumental tracks, like Bulssazo’s fourth album, Hankook Hiphop. And he feels that he achieved this goal – albeit to a certain degree. "I made the second album with a specific goal, to ‘build the overall structure like this and make that kind of collection’. Because of this, the quality is definitely better than the first. But it needed more tracks with mainstream appeal."
Lyrically, it was a more guarded record than its predecessor. "With the first album, I was anonymous and didn't show my face, so I just laid everything bare. With the second, people probably won't even know what the lyrics mean. I was trying to lead people away from the meaning of the lyrics as much as possible. I really didn't want people to know what it was about." He cites Cap'n Jazz and Algernon Cadwallader as touchstones. "You have absolutely no idea what they're on about when you look at the lyrics. But you feel something. I don't know exactly what these guys wanted to write about, but I feel something in that voice and those incomprehensible lyrics. I was aiming for that direction."
Alongside his own music, Wapddi is well known in the online community for organising spaces. He first encountered the Post-Rock Minor Gallery on DCInside years ago, and found it a rare pocket of genuine discussion. "Most of the posts are purely about music, so I received a lot of album recommendations, and when I posted my own songs, the reaction was really positive."
In 2021, he hosted a gallery competition called Masterpiece with Tears Running Down My Face, a somewhat bizarre contest whose only lyrical requirement was the phrase "Masterpiece with tears running down my face." His goal was modest. "I wanted to see if there were more people like me out there." The Post-Rock Minor Gallery Compilation followed in February 2022 and continues to this day, with over 50 tracks submitted annually.
Then came Digital Dawn in 2022. This was followed by the GMS Hakko Music Festival in 2024 – 20 artists with only 20 minutes each, including setup and soundcheck. A clock onstage set three minutes fast acts as a psychological nudge. He also bought dozens of cans of soda to sell, only for the venue's fridge to malfunction. Only a few people wanted to buy lukewarm drinks, and he ran at a loss.
Wapddi is also the founder of the label 6v6 Recordings, which he publicly describes as a "crew" or "social club." "When I first started it, I didn't know what a label actually did." His goal was simply to bring solo musicians together to communicate and help one another. He dreams of scaling up. Rather than his artists merely serving as opening acts for touring international bands, he envisions a future where they invite overseas artists themselves to perform together.
He also started his first full-time job in June 2025, taking on the role of "Bandmaster" at a major entertainment company. Wapddi says it was a demanding position that involved arrangements, audio balancing, console adjustments, technical riders, and handling on-stage emergencies.
"The work was fun.” Wapddi is quick to add, noting how he enjoyed working on-site, even travelling to events like the Busan Rock Festival. “However, I think I'm too clumsy at dealing with people in a corporate setting." He remarks on the very job that he left ten days before this interview took place. His advice to anyone considering entering the commercial music industry simply out of love for music is direct: "You should really think it over."
Wapddi’s third album is underway – demos, guitar fragments, a loose structure. He's working with the mindset of releasing it within the year. While he describes his current situation as ‘wanting to do many things without actual direction,’ his aim is clear. "I want to include two or three Midwest emo tracks with a touch of popular taste." He believes it's achievable. "I'll be sure to create an album that doesn't disappoint emo fans, but also, it would be nice to make some money."
And why, after everything, must Wapddi make music?
"I'm at my happiest when I listen to music. Even when my mind is filled with meaningless thoughts or things are going poorly, I can focus when I hear a song I like. And like many solo musicians, the distance between creator and consumer is relatively small when it comes to music. When you hear great music, you naturally think, 'I want to make something like this and have people enjoy it.' At least, that’s what I think. That's why I do it."
Wapddi’s word rings true in the world that seems to be becoming increasingly more disorienting, as it feels more important than ever that we all create art. Postrockgallery CompilationVol. 5, compiled by Wapddi and featuring music from 57 different independent musicians, is available on YouTube and Bandcamp.