O, Sing Transformer

Little Road

I'm Gonna Smile

Suicide Summer

California's Burning

The Great Experiment

Guess My Name

Now Is Forever

On My Way

the Good the Bad and the Dokkaebi

This project was made possible by a grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission. 

My goal was to explore an aspect of Korean culture, and then to write some music about what I’ve learned. I chose dokkaebi, which in Korean mythology are a kind of spirit or goblin that have extraordinary powers and abilities. They use these to interact with humans, at times playing tricks on them and at times helping them. 
This ep features four musical compositions that focus on the origin of dokkaebi and its different characteristics. The music itself is a mix of traditional Korean drumming with Western instruments which I recorded with the help of some really amazing musicians, none of whom I’d worked with before, and because of pandemic two of them I never even met in person. The recordings don’t sound like we’ve never met, which is a testament to their skill and ability to take an idea and run with it. 

So this is music inspired by what I’ve learned about Korean goblins known as dokkaebi

The Good, The Bad, The Dokkaebi

Scrabbel - The Mischievous Dokkaebi

Wonder of Sound is pleased to announce a new album by Semyon and Daniel Kobialka performing a selection of America’s best-loved compositions from the late 1800s in a dedication to the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. “Semyon’s arrangements for the duo utilize overdubbing in the colorful and lush harmony lines in an all-acoustic production. The addition of Mason Macias at drums and percussion adds an additional color to the album. Semyon and Daniel take turns carrying the melody while the other plays harmony. The powerful result is a heartfelt and very musical tribute to the legacy of the United States, its history and its future potential.” —Scott Yanow

02 The Minstrel Boy

Daniel’s career began at the age of thirteen when he debuted in Carnegie Hall in New York and has taken him on a fantastic musical journey from Soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra to Concert Master for Leonard Bernstein’s MASS to his position as Principal Second Violinist for the San Francisco Symphony. These extraordinary experiences provided him the incentive to found his own record company to freely pursue his own interpretations of the classics, folk, jazz and new age, as well as to pursue his interest in avant-garde music.

02 The Minstrel Boy

Daniel Kobialka/LiSem Records

Related tracks