The Solutions
Seoulsonic, 2015
Seoulsonic, 2015
Background information
Also known as솔루션스
OriginSouth Korea
Genresindie rock
Years active2012 (2012)–present
LabelsHappy Robot Records
MembersKwon Oh-kyung
Naru
Park Sol
Park Han-sol

The Solutions (솔루션스) is a South Korean indie rock band under the label Happy Robot Records. They originally debuted as a duo with Naru and Park Sol in June 2012 with the digital single "Sounds of the Universe" from their self-titled album The Solutions.[1][2] Kwon Oh-kyung and Park Han-sol joined the band for their second album Movements in 2014,[3] which included the work of Grammy award-winning recording engineer and producer Jimmy Douglass.[4]

The group takes influences from 90s British pop, American alternative, and contemporary Japanese pop music, with most of their songs written in English despite having no native English speaking members.[5][6] They have toured Asia, Europe and the U.S. and are popular in the indie scene in Hongdae, Seoul.[4][7][8]

History

2012–2018:The Solutions, Movements, formation and touring

The band was formed in 2012 by frontman and lead singer Park Sol and guitarist Naru.[1][7] Both had previously been solo performers. Naru, a music producer and singer songwriter, had released two modern rock genre solo albums, Jaga Dangchak in 2008 and Yet in 2010. Park Sol was an already well-known indie musician, with a 2010 album The Song is You,[1] and was a singer songwriter for the 2011 music competition show Superstar K 3.[7] Park Sol has described Naru, who usually arranges the music, as the leader between the two. They started writing and performing most of their songs in the English language, as the lyrics seemed to work better than Korean lyrics; but they have questioned their abilities to sing well in English. Naru spent five years as a child in America and later studied English in Korea, and Park Sol learned it while traveling abroad for a year when he was twenty. Naru said he started playing guitar in his teens and writing songs at twenty, and says the two of them work hard at music, as they had a later start than some musicians.[9]

The band toured Asian countries, Europe and the U.S., and performed solo and at indie festivals in Hongdae.[4][7][8] In 2015, they played at the fifth Seoulsonic annual concert which introduced South Korean musicians to U.S. audiences at the SXSW music festival.[10] They headlined the 2017 Pentaport Rock Festival along with other South Korean and foreign acts, including rock bands Bastille and 5 Seconds of Summer,[11] and have performed at Japan's Summer Sonic Festival[4] and Spain's Primavera Sound.[12]

Their first album The Solutions was released by the original duo, Naru and Park Sol in 2012, and followed by a second album, Movements, with all four members in 2014.[1][3][4] They created the song "All That You Want" for the music project SM Station's 2017-2018 Season 2.[13]

2019–present:Signature

They released their third studio album Signature on July 29, 2019, which includes the title track "In My City".[12] They also released an EP titled "Load" featuring the title track "Dance With Me" on June 2, 2020. [14]

Musical process, style, and influences

Naru described their sound in 2014 to Hilde Heyvaert, a Never Was magazine writer, while playing in Liège, Belgium, "We experiment mixing our favorite sounds from the 80s, 90s and contemporary music. Using both guitars and synthesisers, which I like both. We are experimenting with mixing them, without making it sound complex. We want people to be able to just listen, not hearing all that complexity. It’s pretty difficult to do that." Heyvaert's description said, "this band was unintentionally playing music that could happily be a soundtrack to a rock-and-roll-loving dieselpunk lifestyle."[15]

In an interview with NoHo Arts District, Los Angeles reporter Caroline McElroy, for NoHoArtsDistrict.com, in October 2016, while playing at the Hotel Café, they detailed the band's songwriting process, which varies, sometimes starting with one member's contributing a completed song, and at others, with the group creating a song "organically" together, with Naru arranging the final product. They said they are influenced by "80s, new wave and alternative music to EDM acts such as Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins".[16]

The band published a book in 2015, with the encouragement of an interested publishing company, Do it, Just Do It, about each members' musical journey. It includes Park Sol's story of listening to Nirvana in middle school and Naru's working at a factory job to save to buy a guitar.[4]

Members

Naru
Park Sol
The Solutions started as a duo
  • Kwon Oh-kyung (관오경) – bass[2]
  • Naru (나루), birthname: Kang Kyung-tae (강경태) – guitar, backing vocals[2]
  • Park Sol (박솔) – lead vocals[2]
  • Park Han-sol (박한솔) – drums[2]

Discography

Albums

Title[17] Album details Peak chart positions
KOR
[18]
The Solutions
  • Released: August 30, 2012
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -
Movements[19]
  • Released: May 16, 2014
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -
Signature[12]
  • Released: July 29, 2019
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -

EPs

Title[17] Album details Peak chart positions
KOR
[18]
No Problem!
  • Released: June 8, 2015
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -
Thumbs Up
  • Released: September 8, 2017
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -
Load[20]
  • Released: June 3, 2020
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 -

Singles

Title[17] Year Peak chart
positions		 Album
KOR
[21]		 US
World
[22]
"Sounds of the Universe"[1] 2012 —— —
"Talk, Dance, Party for Love"[1] —— —
"Stage" 2015 —— —
"Ticket To The Moon" 2016 —— —
"All That You Want" (당신이 원하는 모든 것)[13] 2017 —19 SM Station Season 2
"Love Again" —— —
"Love Again (Japanese Ver.)" 2018 —— —
"Mood For Love" —— —

Collaborations

Title Year Other artist(s)
"Beautiful"[23] 2016 Kei (LOVELYZ)

Awards and nominations

Mint Paper Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 The Solutions Rookie of The Year [24][25] Won

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bae, Soo-min (March 17, 2013). "The Solutions echo sound of Brit pop". The Korea Herald. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "한국 인디밴드 '솔루션스' 오늘부터 LA 팬들 만나 - 미주 한국일보". The Korea Times (in Korean). October 12, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Interview with The Solutions". Korean Indie. March 30, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hong, Sang-ji (December 17, 2015). "The Solutions have it figured out". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Love You Dear – The Solutions". Yahoo! News. August 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ "프로필 – THE SOLUTIONS". thesolutions.live.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Park, Se-yeon (June 21, 2019). "[인터뷰]에놉(ENOB), 유연하되 단단한 '솔루션스 박솔'의 2막". Daily Economy Maekyung (in Korean). Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Lee, Suh-yoon (September 27, 2018). "Live indie music concerts scheduled on Hongdae streets". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  9. ↑ Hallyu staff (30 September 2012). "The Solutions, Park Sol & Naru, Hallyu Magazine Autumn 2012 Issue No.5, pages 14-17". issuu/Hallyu Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Bringing Korean sounds to SXSW". The Korea Herald. April 10, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Pentaport Rock Fest announces third lineup for 2017 event". Yonhap. July 2, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  12. 1 2 3 Park, Jamie (July 24, 2019). ""다시 마주한 출발점" 솔루션스, 1년10개월만 앨범으로 돌아왔다". Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  13. 1 2 "[공식입장] '더 스테이션' 8월 콘서트, 루나X예서X솔루션스X펀치 출연". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). August 7, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  14. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: 솔루션스 (THE SOLUTIONS) - Dance With Me MV. YouTube.
  15. ↑ Heyvaert, Hilde (December 10, 2014). "The Solutions: Accidental Dieselpunk Music from South Korea". Never Was Magazine. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  16. ↑ McElroy, Caroline (October 31, 2016). "Korean Indie band "The Solutions"". NoHoArtsDistrict.com. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  17. 1 2 3 "The Solutions - artist". Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Gaon Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean).
  19. ↑ Movements, The Solutions (in Korean). Naver Music. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Solutions release new EP 'LOAD' on the 3rd of next month". newsis (in Korean). 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  21. ↑ "Gaon Digital Chart". Gaon.
  22. ↑ "World Digital Songs". Billboard.
  23. ↑ "러블리즈 케이, 하이그라운드 新프로젝트 참여…신곡 발표". xportsnews (in Korean). October 26, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Winners of Mint Paper Awards 2012". indiefulrok. January 8, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Mint Paper Awards 2012 수상자 발표". mintpaper.com. January 2, 2013.
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