ELECTRIC ARTWORK Team (E.A.T.) is a Disc Jockey (DJ) club founded in 2012, based at Yonsei University. Each semester, E.A.T. plays in school festivals such as the Yonsei-Korea games and hosts parties in collaboration with other clubs. They also recruit members from different universities, and perform in off-campus venues located in Hongdae, Itaewon, and Apgujeong. The Yonsei Annals interviewed Je Jong-hyun (Jr., UIC, Quantitative Risk Management, Yonsei Univ.), Jeon Sang-hoon (Jr., Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Univ.), Kim Min-joon (Soph., Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engin., Yonsei Univ.) and Park Hyun-jin (Sr., Dept. of Architecture, Seoul National Univ.) to get a better understanding of the club.

What the club is about

The Yonsei Annals: As the name Electric Artwork Team suggests, what kinds of artwork does the club produce? 

E.A.T.: The artwork in the club’s name refers to the production of an electronic music-based mix set[1]. There is some illustration production, such as making posters for parties. However, the main artwork form is producing the mix set. 

Annals: What is the club’s internal structure? How does the monitoring system work?

E.A.T.: The club is operated mainly by a mentoring system. There are mentors with various musical tastes, and new or existing members apply to mentors according to their own musical tastes. There is a club practice room at Sinchon Station. Basically, the mentoring session is on a 1:1 basis, but the curriculum differs for each mentor. The club is equipped with DJ gear that is worth ₩3 million. The chairman's group takes the central role in party planning and members who want to participate can volunteer. 

Annals: How is E.A.T. different from other party clubs?

E.A.T.: University party clubs belong to the University culture Planning Association (UPA). E.A.T. is not a UPA club, but a music club. Party clubs seek profit. They hold parties in club venues in Gangnam and gather as much people. They plan parties a month ahead—for eight weeks—and look for sponsors. Also, the club members do not have the desire to play music. Instead, they are more oriented to planning and enjoying the parties. E.A.T. does not pursue profit. The club operates based on the membership fee. Also, the members must have the desire to play music. This has been consistently asked in the club interview for years. Also, the spectrum of music that the members enjoy is extremely diverse.

Annals: What is the ratio of other university students to Yonsei students? Which majors are the members from? 

E.A.T.:  Usually, Yonsei University students account for a quarter to one-third of all members but don't exceed half. Members from various departments join the club. For each recruitment, there are always 1 to 2 music major students. 

Annals: What do you do at regular meetings?

E.A.T.: At the regular meetings, mentors give lectures on electronic music, DJing, and music genre every week. In the first session, they mainly introduce DJing and how to use DJ equipment and programs. Other topics that have been covered include Seoul's club venues, mix-set recording method and workflow introduction.

 Introducing the club’s projects

Annals: Could you introduce the past projects of E.A.T.?

E.A.T.: The club’s objective is to teach DJing and spread DJing culture—usually through a party. When new members join the club, there is a “mentor party” that shows the musical style of each mentor. At the end of the semester, there is also a “mentee party” that shows the skills of mentees. Other than that, as a special activity, the members may DJ in the Dae-dong Festival. In 2022, E.A.T. hosted a party on Christmas Eve at “Trap House”, Apgujeong. E.A.T. DJs perform in other parties when we recieve private requests. We played music at the rooftop hotel party at the “Side Note Club” located in Hongdae. 

Annals: Which genres do you play? 

E.A.T.: The members usually play music at the E.A.T. club party or at an open deck, which is an opportunity for the DJs who usually seek experience in the field to play their music at the DJ equipment store.

Kim of E.A.T.: I play future house and synthwave. 

Jeon of E.A.T.: I play house music. Strictly speaking, I play techno-house, funky-house, disco, and future funk. 

Park of E.A.T.: I play R&B and hip-hop, strictly speaking, R&B and soul genre. 

Je of E.A.T.: I don't play music as a DJ. I enjoy listening to breakbeat and amapiano genres. 

Annals: What are the prospective projects that have been discussed in the meetings or that the members have in mind?

Park of E.A.T.: I think my goal is to get E.A.T. back to how it was before COVID-19. We hosted a lot of private parties in the past, so we intend to create opportunities to do this once more. We also aim to resume the E.A.T. Membership Training (MT) session as soon as possible. Before COVID-19, the club rented an accommodation and brought DJing equipment to play. 

Recommendations

Annals: Is the opportunity also open to foreign students? Are there any language requirements?

E.A.T.: Foreign students, including exchange students, have often joined the club. Both regular sessions and DJ mentoring are conducted in Korean. So, if you are proficient in Korean to the extent that you can learn DJing and communicate in Korean, you can apply to and be a part of the club.

Annals: Who would you recommend E.A.T. to?

Jeon of E.A.T.: I recommend the club to those without a clear hobby. I feel like only a few people have actual hobbies these days. DJing has a low entry barrier, so I hope you can join the club and learn a good hobby. Learning DJing through E.A.T. is the easiest and cheapest way to do it. 

Park of E.A.T.: I used to be in a band and play the piano, but they didn’t last long due to high entry barriers. I think DJing is a hobby that is easy and sustainable. Once you join the club, it is mostly the first time for all the members to learn DJing regardless of age. I recommend E.A.T. for those who like non-mainstream genres. No matter how non-mainstream the genre is, you will be able to meet at least one person who likes the same genre as you in the club. I would also recommend the club to those who want to get along with people from various schools.

Je of E.A.T.: Anyone who loves and explores music, anyone who is confident to stay up all night is welcome (but good vibes only). I look forward to seeing people who actually want to explore music, not people who are interested in the show-off partying image.

Annals: Is there anything you want the readers to know about the club or anything else you want to add?

Park of E.A.T.: If you want to get a better clue of what E.A.T. is about, come to our party. Feel the vibe and join if it matches you. 

Je of E.A.T.: When you go to the club scene and the DJing scene, there are actually more people from E.A.T. than you’d expect. Also, a lot of the members stay active and give influence to the club for a long time. So, there are plenty of opportunities to meet people working on the scene. Even if you don't enjoy clubbing, you can definitely have fun in E.A.T. Other than clubs, you can DJ at a variety of venues: gyms, outdoors, farm fields and cafes. DJing culture is possible wherever music can coexist.

E.A.T. is recruiting new members from the end of February.

[1] Mix set: A sequence of musical tracks typically mixed together to appear as one continuous track