It’s been more than a month since Music Matters 2014 Live with HP and we have not gotten over the fun yet. Throwback to Music Matters 2014, one of the most unique performances that took place was that from Sultan of the Disco.

Standing on stage with their quirky matching outfits and jamming their funky disco sounds, it was hard not to take notice of them. Sultan of the Disco has the ability to draw people in and to make heads turn. The Fifth Parlour had the privilege to interview the band while they were in Singapore and got to find out about more about the guys behind the crazy outfits, their invitation to the Glastonbury Festival and their latest release, “Tang Tang Ball”.

Sultan of the Disco is an electronic soul/funk quintet from Korea and includes band members Nahzam Sue (lead vocals), J.J Hassan (dance), Ganji Kim (drums), G (bass) and Hong-ki (guitar). A band with international appeal, apart from performing at Music Matters Live in Singapore, Sultan of the Disco has also been invited to perform at the prestigious Glastonbury Festival 2014 which took place just last month in U.K.

Since their formation in 2007, the band has been injecting some vintage disco sound similar to the 60s~70s soul and funk disco group, Kool and the Gang, into the Korean music scene. In our interview with Sultan of the Disco, the band described their style of music as 70~80s disco funk. The band attempts to remake that era of disco funk into their songs and are largely inspired by the bands from the 70s such as Chic, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.

If any of you readers were thrown into confusion about the band’s origins due to the member’s names, don’t worry we’re with you. It was revealed that the band members do not use their real names but instead, perform under various stage names. They explained that they chose to do so because they felt that it would be awkward if they used their Korean names with a group name like theirs. Hence, they decided to pick Arabian names as their stage names. However, the band added that there is a possibility of them reverting back to their original names in the future.

While doing research on Sultan of the Disco, my interest in the band was piqued by their music video, “Butterfly“. You can check out their music video here. We asked the band about the concept for the music video and they shared that the music video was filmed in that manner simply due to the lack of time and money. Check out the band’s latest release for “Tang Tang Ball“, we have to admit the music video’s nothing near “Butterfly” but we get to see the members show off their dance moves in this!

Sultan of the Disco is a band that has had their fair share of struggles too. The band shared with us that their biggest struggle faced was when the data of one of their songs was deleted due to an accident. The incident occurred before the day their album was set to be released and the band members almost cried and weren’t able to sleep due to the loss. To solve the situation, they went to one of the best hard disk centres in Korea and spent about 20, 000 won to retrieve the lost files.

To end off the interview, Sultan of the Disco shared with us that they listen to girl groups such as Sisters Sledge, f(x) and Sistar. Quite an interesting pick for a bunch of disco funk loving guys we must say!

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/sultanofthedisco

TWITTER: @SULTANofDISCO

WEBSITE: http://www.sultanofthedisco.com/about

The Fifth Parlour would like to thank Jessica for coordinating the interview and Sultan of the Disco for the interview. We wish Sultan of the Disco all the best for their future endeavors.