Music of the Moment ♥︎ The Royal Pirates

By heylinni - 3:51 PM

Whilst studying for exams, I've been listening to some music that helps me focus. I often prefer listening to music while doing my work but I know a couple of people who hate it and just can't study at all because it's distracting! Also I realise that I haven't posted in over 10 days, but please just bear with me for these next two weeks, then I'll be back to posting weekly again. I've got a lot of products to review and photograph but I can't really do any of that just yet :)

So in between studying and school and sleeping, I've found some time to become quite addicted to the new album released by the Korean Rock band 'Royal Pirates'. I find this group very interesting and I think that they just officially debuted recently(?) but have been a band for a very long time. The group currently consists of three members: Moonchul (Leader, guitarist, vocal), Sooyoon (drums) and James (Bass guitar). I reckon they're pretty talented and I like that they play their own instruments instead of just singing and dancing.

This band formed in 2004 under the name, Fading From Dawn and was comprised of Moonchul, Sooyoon and Moonchul's brother, Richard. But really unfortunately, Richard passed away in a car accident in 2008, so the other two members felt they had to change the name of their band. :(
They then started posting covers of both Korean and Western songs on YouTube with rock vibes. After watching a lot of these covers, I feel like these boys really emulate a Japanese band feel.

I think James (the tall one with short hair) joined in 2009, and the group debuted in 2013, and recently released their first EP 'Drawing the Line' in Jan this year.

Left to right: James, Moonchul, Sooyoon

Let's go a little more into the discussion of the current members firstly. I don't know too much about them, but here are my impressions.

So, Kim Moonchul is the leader, guitarist and vocal. He is probably the member I most prefer in this group. He's got a great voice and serious skills on guitar. I probably like him most because of their MV, which he looks great in :) From what I've seen on a few variety shows, he is pretty funny, odd and entertaining. Plus he likes Batman ☆ All the members of Royal Pirates speak English well, which is a huge part of why I like them. Their song, 'Drawing the Line' has an English version and the English is actually clear in the song, unlike loads of Kpop stars who make English versions and have the most distinct accents! One thing I don't like in Moonchul though is his previous hair. I detest long hair on guys, it just doesn't appeal to me personally. I seriously hope that he sticks with his current hairstyle because it's quite attractive ^_^

Next, James Lee is the bassist and the really tall one in the group. He seems like a genuinely nice and easygoing person. He is really distinct from the other two but he also gives me some Eli (Ukiss) vibes for some reason. Maybe it's the hair and the American Englishness? Anyway, what I find interesting about James is that he is a friend of Jenn Im (ClothesEncounters), an amazing Youtuber. Apparently, they used to work at Baskin Robbins together. What a small world ! :3

Lastly, Kim Sooyoon is the drummer in the band. I'm not sure if he's related to Moonchul or what, but I'm assuming not (since Wikipedia doesn't say so aha). Honestly, he doesn't really draw my eye or anything. I'm kind of neutral about him, though I think he's a great drummer. Watching some of their old covers, he looks like he has a LOT of fun when he's on the drums and that's really enjoyable to see :D

So their new EP consists of 6 tracks. It's under the genre of Pop Rock and is mostly in Korean, except for that one English song (which is my personal favourite). Here's the track list:

01. Drawing the Line

02. You

03. See What I See

04. Fly to You

05. On My Mind (Lounge Mix ver.)

06. Drawing the Line (English ver.)

If you want to download it, you can find it here: http://k2nblog.com/mini-album-royal-pirates-drawing-the-line/

But it'd probably be good if you bought it as well, just to support. lol.

Overall, the album is catchy. My favourite song, like I said before, is Drawing the Line (English ver.), but I also really like You, Fly to You and On my Mind. The only song which I don't like in the EP is See What I See, because I find it quite long and it gets boring to me. Usually I skip it before I've finished listening to the whole thing :(

The M/V is really fun to watch though. It's kind of different to usual music videoes, and looks like the guys are just having fun and in a way, making fun of the idol process. The song is very catchy and something I can listen to on repeat for days. I'm still not sick of it yet! You can check it out here:

There's also a band version, if you just want to see the guys with their instruments :)

Hope you like this group as much as I do :) They really deserve some recognition for their amazing talents and awesome band name. I actually realised I hadn't done one of these MOTM's in a while. If you like reading them, please let me know so I can do more :)
Well, I think that's enough procrastination for the day. Back to studying!
xx Heylinni