Hyukoh (Korean: 혁오) is a South Korean indie band signed to DooRooDooRoo Artist Company. The band was formed in May 2014 and consists of leader, singer, and guitarist Oh Hyuk, bassist Im Dong-geon, guitarist Lim Hyun-jae, and drummer Lee In-woo. Later joined by producer and electronics musician JNKYRD in 2020, who performs as a core part of the group despite not being part of the official lineup.
Career
Band formation and rise in underground music scene
Frontman Oh Hyuk was raised in several cities across northern China (Jilin, Shenyang and Beijing) for the first twenty years of his life due his parents' profession as university professors. Upon graduating high school in 2012, Oh moved to South Korea on his own to pursue music full-time despite his parents' strong opposition. Oh speaks Mandarin Chinese, Korean and English and his diverse cultural influences are directly reflected in Hyukoh's music, in which he infuses a mix of Korean, Mandarin Chinese and English lyrics.
Im Dong-geon, Lim Hyun-jae, and Lee In-woo joined Oh to form Hyukoh in 2014. Oh was previously producing music as a one-man band under the name Hyukoh, and the members eventually came together and took on the name as the current four-piece band. The members came together largely by chance: Oh had already worked with Lee in the past, and Lim attended high school with Lee. Oh was introduced to Im through a mutual acquaintance.
On September 18, 2014, Hyukoh released their debut EP 20, named after the band members' age at the time. The band experienced moderate success in South Korea, often selling out small-scale venues and gaining a strong following in Hongdae, an area in Seoul known for being the epicenter of South Korea's indie music scene.
Rise in mainstream popularity
Hyukoh gained mainstream popularity in 2015 after participating in the popular Korean variety program Infinite Challenge; they performed "Wonderful Barn" at Yeongdong Expressway Song Festival with Jung Hyung-don. Positive responses from critics and the public translated into their second EP 22—named after the band members' age at the time—charting in the top ten of the Billboard World Albums Chart two months after its release.[citation needed]
On July 21, 2015, Hyukoh became the first act to sign with independent label HIGHGRND, a subsidiary of Korean media conglomerate YG Entertainment. The following year, they represented Korean indie bands at Strawberry Music Festival in Shanghai and Beijing, performing on April 30 and May 2, 2016. They also performed at the Summer Sonic music festival in Japan in August.
The band released their first studio album, 23, on April 24, 2017. The lead single, "Tomboy", placed second on the Melon digital chart and first on Genie, Bugs!, and Olleh's digital charts not long after its release. The album ranked sixth on Billboard' World Albums Chart in May. Following the release of 23, the band went on their first world tour.[citation needed]
In June 2018, Hyukoh's song "Citizen Kane" was featured in a TV commercial by Apple Inc. for the iPhone X smartphone.
2020 World Tour
Hyukoh planned to begin touring in February 2020, with dates slated for shows in Seoul, Asia, Europe, and North America. They were only able to fulfill appearances in Seoul and Japan before the pandemic struck, and the majority of the tour was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Military service
Im enlisted on April 20, 2021, in order to carry out his mandatory military service. He was seen off by family, friends, and his bandmates. The location of his training camp and time of entry were not publicized.
AAA and integration of JNKYRD
In 2024, Hyukoh collabed with Taiwanese synth-pop band Sunset Rollercoaster to release the collaborative album AAA, embarking on an international joint tour.This era marked the full integration of music producer and programmer JNKYRD into the band's core operations.Initially working alongside the band in 2020 after Drummer in-woo's temporary hiatus for anxiety problems,JNKYRD's role expanded over into a multi-instrumentalist fixture, co-producing and arranging including singles "Godspeed!" and "KoK" released on August 18 and 27, 2026.Although the band legally remains registered as a four-piece entity, the founding members and their label frequently present JNKYRD as an internal core member during media promotions, official shoots and broadcasts.
Musical style
Hyukoh has also been recognized for their attention to the band's visual aesthetic, ranging from their music videos to wardrobe choices. The band frequently works with photographer Han Dasom and videographer Jung Dawoon (DQM), who are members of the creative group Dadaism Club. They met in 2014.
Following their rise to fame, Hyukoh has faced multiple accusations of plagiarism. In 2015, internet users suggested that their song "Lonely" was derived from "1517" by German-Norwegian band The Whitest Boy Alive, while "Panda Bear" was compared to Yumi Zouma's "Dodi". HIGHGRND released a statement on July 24 to address the rumors and stated that Hyukoh had received compliments on "Lonely" from The Whitest Boy Alive frontman Erlend Øye after performing the track as an opener for him while he visited Korea. The label also clarified that "Panda Bear" was released months before Yumi Zouma's "Dodi", making the suspected plagiarism impossible. "Panda Bear" faced further accusations as a copy of American indie band Beach Fossils's "Golden Age". These suspicions were furthered by a now-deleted tweet from Beach Fossils suggesting Hyukoh had mixed "Golden Age" to create "Panda Bear". Oh later posted a screenshot of this tweet to his Instagram account refuting the claims.
↑"Gaon's 관찰노트"[Gaon's Observation Notes]. Gaon Music Chart. October 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
