Last Updated on 2025-11-02 by a-indie
If the “sun” were to disappear from the world right now, what would we rely on to live?
Post Inner Circle, a five-member band from Seoul, South Korea, presents one answer to this grand question in their debut EP ‘Artificial Sun.’
What are the musical roots of this band, consisting of four musicians and one visual designer, and what do they want to express as they transcend the “Inner Circle”?
An interview revealing the full picture of this noteworthy newcomer.
Artists: Yoon Eunbin (Vo./Gt./syn.), Doo Geunhyun (Ba.), Kim Jaechan (Dr.), Jeong Heecheol (Gt.), Kim Hyun Soo (Visual Design)
Interviewer: Tomohiro Yabe Translation, Editing, Proofreading: BELONG Media / A-indie
About Post Inner Circle
Origin of the Band Name Post Inner Circle
– Tomohiro Yabe: Could you tell us about the origin of the band name Post Inner Circle? “Inner Circle” seems to mean “people who share interests or purposes” or “a small group within a larger group that holds power, influence, or information.” I also find it intriguing that you added “Post” to it. What meaning is embedded in this unique name? If there are any episodes related to the naming, please share them.
Jeong Heecheol: We decided on the band name together when we were exploring our musical direction. We had a preference for round imagery like “circles” and “spheres,” and wanted to name ourselves something related to that image. I remember agonizing until the very last moment to decide on a good name. We wrote down many related words on paper and combined them, and walked around the city looking at letters one by one, thinking “what if we made this our band name?”
Doo Geunhyun: “Inner Circle” has a very closed, exclusive image. The reason we added “Post” to it was because we wanted the “Inner Circle” we create in the future to become a group that embraces everyone! Of course, as Heecheol hyung said, it definitely started from our one-dimensional obsession with “circles” and “spheres.”
Yoon Eunbin: As Geunhyun and Heecheol said, we were obsessed with the imagery of “circles” and “spheres” at the time, and I happened to have the opportunity to see an exhibition related to post-futurism. At that time, the linguistic feeling that the word “Post” gives—the sense of something that has passed through something, or a futuristic feeling of stretching forward—felt fresh to me. So I proposed the name “Post Inner Circle,” and although there were other candidates, all four of us were unanimously drawn to this name and it was decided naturally. At first, some people were puzzled because it was a bit long, but now it’s a name we’re very attached to.
Kim Jaechan: As the other members said, we had a strong obsession with circles, and as we heard the band name, it felt familiar and created a sense of belonging like a community, which made us feel motivated to work hard.
How the Band Was Formed
– Tomohiro Yabe: Could you tell us about how the band was formed? How did five close friends come to start making music together as Post Inner Circle? If there are any stories or episodes about what sparked this, please share them.
Doo Geunhyun: I joined later, so this might not be an accurate explanation! First, Eunbin and Heecheol hyung met in a club and were making music together, and I heard they recruited a drummer and bassist through a site called “Mule” and formed a band. The drummer here is Jaechan. The previous bassist left due to personal reasons, and Jaechan, who was my university classmate, contacted me and asked for some help. I went with a light heart and jammed together, and before I knew it, I had become an official member 😅 The designer Hyun Soo is my middle school friend! He got to know the members through me, and before we knew it, Hyun Soo also became a member. We plan to expand our Inner Circle like this!
Yoon Eunbin: Geunhyun’s explanation is correct. Coincidentally, we were all around the same age, so we were able to grow our friendship well within the music. So now it really feels like neighborhood friends gathering to make music.
Kim Jaechan: As Geunhyun said, I listened to Eunbin and Heecheol’s demo on the Mule site, contacted them myself, met at a cafe in front of Eunbin’s university, talked about what kind of music we liked, and decided to do it together! And we’ve been doing it together ever since.
– Tomohiro Yabe: I find the formation interesting—four members handling music and one handling visuals. What role does Kim Hyun Soo, who handles the visuals, play within the band? Also, how do you integrate music and visuals?
Jeong Heecheol: Hyun Soo newly joined the band last December. He’s been a longtime friend of bassist Geunhyun, and we were already close acquaintances. We thought visual aspects were very important, not just music, and proposed to Hyun Soo, who was studying design at the time, to work together, and he became a member.
Yoon Eunbin: Mainly we bring materials we like and tell Hyun Soo, “Do it!” and he magically does it. He’s a very important member.
About Seoul’s Indie Scene
Jeong Heecheol: The bands you mentioned, especially HYUKOH, had a big influence on me too. Bands doing sophisticated urban indie pop like Orange Flavored Cigarettes, Tuesday Beach Club, and Wave to Earth are expressing Seoul’s atmosphere well while also attracting attention from overseas. It’s just not well known, but there are numerous indie bands in Seoul performing weekly in Hongdae, Sinchon, and Itaewon. There are also many great bands in the shoegaze and post-rock genres, and events like “Gumonsip Festival,” “Ugulpe,” and the shoegaze genre festival “Delay Relay” that focus on various genres are occasionally held. Recently, there’s an atmosphere where the scene is divided into mainstream indie and niche indie, with underground beneath underground, but it seems like everyone is exploring ways to thrive in their own way.
Band Concept
– Tomohiro Yabe: The concept of “erasing boundaries and building an inclusive musical base for people living between boundaries” is very intriguing. Could you tell us more about this concept? Also, how did this concept come about?
Jeong Heecheol: This concept came to mind after we decided on the band name. The term “Inner Circle” has a closed, exclusive feel, right? Like the “Christmas Adventurers Club” in Paul Thomas Anderson’s film ‘One Battle After Another,’ with the image of a small group of privileged white men. By putting “Post” in front of it, we wanted to create a new form of Inner Circle that deviates from the classical meaning. The “Post Inner Circle” I envision is a gathering of loosely connected individuals. It’s a space where you don’t need to belong, where you can freely come and go, and where various people mix. “Erasing boundaries” is the same thing musically. Our first single was dream pop, and this album is closer to shoegaze, but I think it might go in a different direction from here on. Within the name “Post Inner Circle,” we want to erase genre boundaries.
Next page here ⏩️
- is a music media platform run by BELONG, a Japanese music organization. We publish music articles with a focus on indie music.
[…] English article here 🔗 English […]