What will make your performance unique or different from all of the rest at the festival?

Dae-inn: Well, there are only two Korean bands playing at Pop Montreal (us and a really good band called Wagwak), so that will make our show different, right? We’re going to play hard and loud and try to show people how passionate Korean indie musicians are. K-pop is becoming more famous around the world, but Korea has a lot of really talented indie bands too. Hopefully we can help turn people on to other forms of Korean music that aren’t K-pop.

Are you more likely to lose your voice or your hearing during your show?
Dae-inn: Neither. All the tasty kimchi Koreans eat every day makes us strong! And because of this, all three members of Apollo 18 have never lost our voices or hearing during a gig no matter how much we scream or how loud we play. And yes, that may not be because of eating kimchi, but I like kimchi a lot so I’m going to give it credit for it! All joking aside, we’d love it if the crowd at Pop Montreal was a little hoarse from shouting and had ringing in their ears after our performance at the festival.

If you could cover any pop song in your heavy metal style and put it to record, what would it be?
Dae-inn: I really like movies, so I’d rather cover a song from a movie’s soundtrack like “Rain” by Ryuichi Sakamoto or something from Ennio Morricone. We played at special show in Seoul on New Year’s Eve two years ago and we covered “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto with some of our friends from the great Korean bands National Pigeon Unity and Modsdive. We had a lot of fun preparing the song.

This will be your first time in Canada, right? That being said, what wild animals are you expecting to see?
Dae-inn: Yes, this will be our first time playing in Canada. We’re so excited and honored to be a part of Pop Montreal. I’d love to see some beavers, and maybe a moose in Canada. But I have a feeling I’m not going to run into either any while we’re hanging out in downtown Montreal enjoying the festival.

Why is it important to you to get outside Korea and make a name for yourself over in North America?
Dae-inn: Korea’s musical playground is small. We want to play, see, and meet new people at different music playgrounds all over the world. Getting to experience different cultures, learn about new bands, and meet new people while playing music is a fantastic experience.

You’re going to be playing a very French venue in Montreal, are you preparing to speak any French?
Dae-inn: Some friends have been trying to teach us some French words. We’ve learned “bonjour,” “merci,” “dix-huit,” and “Où est la salle de bain?” That last one is especially important. I’m not sure how much French we’ll remember when we get onstage, but hopefully we can speak some French to the audience and maybe a little Korean too.

Would you rather have an audience sit down close to the stage or dance far away from the stage?
Dae-inn: We’d rather have the audience onstage with us dancing around and acting wild. But if that’s not an option, then definitely dancing somewhere in the venue and not sitting down. And if an audience had to dance far away from the stage, we’d just hop off the stage and move closer to them so that we could all have fun and get rowdy together.

If someone is to try Korean food for the first time, what would you suggest they order?
Dae-inn: Definitely Korean barbecue. Start with some delicious samgyeopsal, and then move on to other kinds of barbecued meat after that. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!

Apollo 18 is playing Friday, Sept 21 at Quai des Brumes