This dissertation examines intercultural interactions between South Korean (hereafter Korean) musicians and foreign musicians in the underground rock scene in Seoul. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2016-2017, supported by the US Fulbright Junior Scholars program. This fieldwork included attending multiple concerts each week, as well as interviews, and analysis of media and promotional materials. In studying the intercultural interactions of local foreign musicians (mostly white, male, English teachers) and Korean musicians, I argue that a variety of markers, including place, genre, and nationality, are important parts of how individual musicians understand their connections and/or disconnections with other musicians. Foreign musicians in Korea employ a variety of ideologies and techniques to attempt to bridge perceived gaps between musicians.

The first chapter lays the groundwork understandings of the context of underground rock and the term “foreigner” in the Korean context. I also explain how understanding intercultural interaction through the similarities and differences in what Roger Schank and Robert Abelson call “situational scripts” helps to illuminate why certain groups of musicians work well together, while others do not. The second chapter focuses on understandings of place in relation to Korean rock music, discussing the way that the US military presence influenced the formation of Itaewon and Haebangchon as “alien spaces” (Eun-Shil Kim) within Seoul. I also detail the origin of the punk scene in the 1990s in Hongdae, and the subsequent gentrification that has pushed music venues out of the neighborhood. The third chapter looks at punk musicians specifically, detailing how the performance scripts of punk music help to create unity within the scene, although admitting there are still points of conflict around behavior. The fourth chapter looks at a network cluster of musicians who do not find unity in their genre, and details the way that different understandings about the scripts of performance cause conflict and disconnection. The fluidity of this performance network means that the groups never situate themselves fully in one script or another, and a balance is harder to achieve. The fifth chapter looks at the situations in which connections are created: the after-party. Again, similarities and differences in the understandings of social scripts play a role in how musicians gain opportunities in the scene. Finally, the sixth chapter analyzes two foreigner-run initiatives meant to expand the reach and influence of the underground rock scene in Korea. These each display a different ideology of how foreigners should act. Throughout these chapters, I work to understand how musicians connect across intercultural interactions, and the ways they stay disconnected.