NET GALA - 신파 SHINPA (2021)

A regular at Seoul’s ‘Cakeshop’ and member of LGBTQ collective Shade Seoul, NET GALA’s SVBKVLT debut is named after Shinpageuk (신파극), a form of theatre from 20th century Korea. In contemporary context, Shinpa is a synonym for ‘tears and overwhelming emotions,’ but when it was first introduced to Korea, Shinpa was used to express progressive political views, cover social issues, and later the melodramatic domestic tragedies. There is a vast gap between the past and current context of Shinpa, and as such there has been a lot of mistranslation or misconception between the two.

After their first EP [re:FLEX*ion] (NBDKNW – 2019) - , NET GALA spent time researching Shinpa, finding parallels between the work they were making and the traditional theater style. The emotional, dramatic nature of Shinpa echoed the exaggerated affection of ‘pop’ – in which NET GALA searches for the impact on one’s own narrative and emotion. The ‘mistranslation’ applied to the terms history is reflected in the changing course between the two EPs – how one can reinterpret or warp one ‘lost’ cultural concept into another.

From the stretched-out ‘The Ha Dance’ sample combined with traditional Korean percussion and 808s on ‘Shpiral’, to the sample of a Korean lesbian protester struggling to claim her existence through the blasting drums on Dodomzit, ‘신파 SHINPA’ is NET GALA’s interpretation of the Shinpageuk. The EP is packaged with remixes from Amazondotcom, ZULI and Menzi, further reinterpreting the original work.