Silica Gel (band)

Silica Gel (실리카겔) is a South Korean indie rock band. The band currently consists of Kim Geonjay, Kim Chunchu, Kim Hanjoo and Choi Woonghee. Since their formation in 2013, the band has released a studio album Silica Gel (실리카겔) (2016). They won the Rookie of the Year in 2017 and the Best Modern Rock Song in 2022 and 2023 at the Korean Music Awards.

Career
Silica Gel was formed in 2013 by students from Seoul Institute of the Arts in Ansan. They had to name the group to submit to the PyeongChang Biennale, and they named the band after seeing the silica gel in the gum container. They received attention for their style of combining band music with VJing.

In 2015 they released their first EP Pure Sun (새삼스레 들이켜본 무중력 사슴의 다섯가지 시각), and in 2016 they released a self-title studio album. They won the 2016 EBS Hello Rookie Contest Grand Prize hosted by EBS and the 2017 Best New Artist of the Year by Korean Music Awards.

In 2017, they released a collaboration single Space Angel with South Korean band Parasol. In November, they released EP SiO2.nH2O.

They had a 2-year hiatus from 2018, and vocalist Kim Hanjoo interviewed, "I was thought about how potential could be developed at the period." They came back through their 2020 single Kyo181. Their 2021 single Desert Eagle won the Best Modern Rock Song at the Korean Music Awards.

In 2022, they released their single No Pain, which gained huge popularity in South Korea. They won the Best Modern Rock Song again at the 2023 Korean Music Awards.

In 2023, they released EP Machine Boy, and they were in the lineup of various rock festivals, including the Pentaport Rock Festival and the DMZ Peace Train Music Festival. They have released their single Tik Tak Tok (틱택톡) with Hwang So-yoon of Se So Neon in August. They announced that they will release their second studio album, Power Andre 99.

Musical features
They aims for rock music combined with Vjing. Therefore, their true value is more demonstrated in the performance. In addition, the members' positions are not fixed, and each member's music taste is different, from psychedelic to post-rock, dream pop, neo-garage to even hip-hop, and their styles are different for each song. The music they pursue is said to be music that makes the audience experience and feel something different when they see their performances.

Studio albums

 * Silica Gel (실리카겔) (2016)
 * Power Andre 99 (2023)

EPs

 * Pure Sun (새삼스레 들이켜본 무중력 사슴의 다섯가지 시각) (2015)
 * SiO2.nH2O (2017)
 * Machine Boy (2023)