Poodle Skirt Punk: The RockTigers Rockabilly Resurrection

Imagine an Asian Elvis: jolting hip shakes, lopsided smirk, hounddog howl and all. Now, imagine The King is a lady. A pint-sized, South Korean punk diva. Velvet Geena does everything she can to conjure Presley’s spirit on stage. Her bandmates in the RockTigers follow suit with slicked pompadours, a stand-up bass and rockabilly undertones. Below, Geena talks about giving those vintage rhythms a punk rock twist as Korea’s first member of the "punkabilly" genre.

What do you love most about Elvis' body language, and how did you learn to mimic his moves so perfectly?
I love The King. We've sometimes covered songs like "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Baby Let's Play House." I love his dancing. It was upbeat, like the expression on his face. I’ve studied him again and again on YouTube. He seemed to watch all of the audience and give each of them that crooked smile.

Rockabilly seems pretty obscure compared to the K-pop that dominates Seoul. How did a young Korean girl learn about such old-fashioned Americana?
When The RockTigers first started as a punk band. We were invited to the Tokyo Big Rumble festival in 2004, and had a chance to watch many rockabilly-style punk bands from around the world. I was completely entranced by its purity from the '50s, its passion and its rhythm that always made me dance. As soon as I came back I started to study it because I knew, from then on, it was the only rock & roll for me.

Apart from the songs, what else about the genre inspired you?
It’s not just a music style, but a life style. Fans listen to it and love the culture of the '50s – the clothing, hairstyles, make up styles. They even make modern tattoos, dances, furniture and fabrics with '50s designs in mind. They try to be "cool cats!"

What sort of '50s fashions do you and your fans sport for "punkabilly" shows?
I love seeing fans wear '50s styles like swing dresses, teddy boy jackets, and poodle skirts. I’ve worn all those onstage before. But these days, I like wearing a James Dean-style leather jacket, or a leather vest.

"Party In The Graveyard" is a great song from your 2011 EP Electric Travel. What strange events inspired such a title? Are you guilty of tap dancing or doing the twist on someone’s coffin?
[Laughs] I haven’t experienced partying in a graveyard. Yet. But maybe next Halloween – thanks for the good idea! Tiger, our guitarist, wrote this song, trying to follow typical themes of a punkabilly subgenre called psychobilly. That genre’s lyrics are similar to a lot of death metal – lots of zombies, ghosts and ghouls, devils and so on.

Think the '50s are dead and gone? Let The RockTigers prove you wrong as they resurrect the ghost of rockabilly this Thursday, April 12 at 2 Kolegas. The show starts at 10pm, and tickets are RMB 50. For more information, visit www.2kolegas.com/shows.html.