Official YB

YB are exclusively streaming an acoustic video of Cigarette Girl with Kerrang.com.

The South Korean hard-rockers recently released Cigarette Girl as their first English-language single, and now you can watch the acoustic rendition below. - Kerrang

South Korean hard rock band YB are releasing a music video for “Cigarette Girl,” their first-ever English-language single, right here right now on Revolver. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments! - Revolver Magazine

With explosive drums, fuzzed-out guitars, and Wolfmother-style vocals, YB's first English-language single, "Cigarette Girl," might finally break YB in the West. Though already regarded as the Bon Jovi of South Korea, YB has not made much of a dent stateside -- unless you happened to catch the band at one of its sold-out 2006 NYC performances or at its acclaimed 2007 SXSW showcase. Under new manager Doug Goldstein, who formerly managed Guns N' Roses, Danzig, and Blind Melon, they just might make it here. As YB prepared for its first US mini-tour in seven years, frontman Do-Hyun chatted with me about "Cigarette Girl," breaking through in the US, partying with Psy, and his top five apps.
You were the first Korean rock band to play SXSW, back in 2007. Were you surprised at how much love you received from critics and audiences?
Yeah, very surprising! No doubt at all, it was very special for us, because we were the first Korean rock band to play SXSW. Everything felt very unpredictable before the show, but so many Korean fans came along, so it was packed. Even out on the street during the show, there were lots of people, including a lot of Americans, who were curious about us.
I love the "Cigarette Girl" single. When is the full-length album coming out, and will it be in English?
We will release our debut album around this summer, and it will be entirely in English, but there might be a few Korean words thrown in there, too.
How did you get involved with Doug Goldstein? What made you guys decide to try to really break out in the US?
A good friend of mine introduced me to Doug, and after we started talking, he suggested a lot of times that we come and play in the U.S. So, of course, we thought that was a great opportunity. It's every musician's dream to tour America, so he didn't have to twist our arm.
"Cigarette Girl" has a strong Guns N' Roses influence. Were you a big fan of GNR, growing up?
That's interesting! We've never been compared to GNR before. Everybody loves GNR, so that's a big compliment for us.
As the only non-Korean member, how does Brit Scott Hellowell fit into the band? Does he speak Korean? Do you all communicate in English now?
Scott's a real member of this band; we've been playing together seven years. Fortunately or unfortunately, Scott's Korean is so bad that our English improves daily [laughs]. Actually, he is the first Western person to play guitar as a real solid member of an established rock band in Korea. That makes us feel like we're progressing in Korea.
What would you like Americans to know about Korean culture, politics, and so on?
Korean culture, our economy, and our society change very rapidly, especially in Seoul. That means things develop quickly, because people work so hard there. Seoul can be an amazing place to live for that reason, and you can do almost anything 24 hours a day; it never shuts down. So, yeah, it's kind of crazy. It's fairly safe on the streets, so people can pretty much eat and party all night.
I grew up loving Korean food too much, so it's always hard for me to eat in other countries. I promise: If you try Korean food, you will fall in love with it. Talking about politics in Korea is a tough thing...it's a long story.
What are your favorite aspects of American culture?
The history of rock music has its home in America, and I started my career playing blues. Like the UK, Korea is a small country, so you can drive anywhere in a day. But with America, we're in love with the whole thing of being on the road and touring all the cities with huge expanses of land between them, even if that's a hard thing to do. IHOP pancakes are cool, too.
Psy has really paved the way for Korean artists in the US. Do you foresee a Korean invasion comparable to the '60s British invasion?
I've been friends with Psy for years. We're close friends, and I was actually featured on his latest album. I am really proud of him. Sometimes we talk on the phone about working in the US, and he offers lots of advice and always, at the end of the call, asks me to go out drinking. Psy loves to party. I'm always happy to cheers with him.
The British invasion was so big, I don't think that kind of thing can happen in rock music again. But certainly Korean culture and music are spreading out to the world more than ever before. We've been part of that wave, so we definitely feel lucky to be playing music at this time.
What are your thoughts on Dennis Rodman's recent involvement with North Korea?
I don't really have an opinion on this issue one way or another...I've been so busy with YB!
What are your top five apps?
1. Twitter -- It is essential for connecting with people and, of course, letting people know what I'm doing schedule-wise or in my life. Also, it's very important for me to know what's happening in other people's lives. Right now I'm following more and more Western Twitters, like musicians, magazines, rock festivals. It's great for me to learn about what's going on in the rest of the world.
Check out YB's official Twitter page.
2. TuneIn Radio -- Whatever I'm doing -- resting, drinking, or moving around -- I need music. This app is so good because you can select the genre to match whatever situation you're in. It's perfect for me, because I don't have time to select songs for a playlist to match the vibe of a place. I really like it, because they play not just popular music, but also tons of underground stuff or things I've never heard before. So with the added info they put with the music, I can discover new bands and songs all the time.
3. BaedaluiMinJok (Korean equivalent of EAT Club, GrubHub, or Seamless) -- I have to mention this totally Korean app. There is probably a similar app in every country, but I don't know. This app tells people about the local food delivery options wherever they are. My lifestyle involves constantly traveling around the country for performances, so I'm always staying in hotels. This app is so awesome, because the level of detail is insane: they categorize by location and food type and give so much information about restaurant takeout.
4. Kakaotalk -- Kakaotalk started in Korea, so every Korean person with a smartphone uses it, and I heard it's getting more popular in other countries, too. It's a free text-chatting service with a lot of options. The best thing about it is the emoticons -- I love that. They are so good for expressing emotions and responses when I don't feel like writing constantly on the phone. People get so excited about getting various emoticons; it's kind of funny, but we all talk with it.
5. Bugs -- It's an online music store/player. Sometimes we don't need heavy promotional stuff or a thousand options in an app. It's really easy to use and check stuff like the charts. It's basically very good for Korean music. It's really easy to buy the music, too. Really, it's just an app that I use constantly. - Josh Rotter

Revolver premiered South Korean hard rock band YB’s music video for “Cigarette Girl,” their first-ever English-language single. Now, the band has released an acoustic version. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments! - Sammi Chichester