A World of Vintage Music — Simkung Circle, Where Sound Makes Your Heart Skip a Beat

A World of Vintage Music — Simkung Circle, Where Vintage Sound Makes Your Heart Skip a Beat

When design agency thus began remote work during the pandemic, its office sat empty—so the team filled it with vintage music players and launched Simkung Circle, a listening space service. We met with CEO Jeon Seonghwan to talk about what we lose in the streaming era.

Interviewer Parc Jinmyoung
Interviewee Jeon Seonghwan (CEO of design agency thus)

Could you briefly introduce ‘thus’?
It’s a design agency founded in 2012. We’ve mainly worked on early-stage UX design projects. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we started working remotely and the office sat empty for a long time. That’s when I started thinking I wanted to use the empty space more meaningfully. When we recently moved to Hannam-dong, I put that idea into action. I thought it would be great to display the vintage music players, speakers, cassette tapes, and LPs I’d been collecting, so that not just our staff but vintage enthusiasts and listeners could enjoy them together. That’s how the listening space service ‘Simkung Circle’ was born.

When did you start collecting vintage music players?
I was first into watches and old cars. My hobby was customizing the movements of old mechanical pocket watches myself, or repainting and refinishing the interiors of old cars to restore them to their original state. By copying exactly what a product designer had carefully created, I learned the essence of design. I started collecting Walkmans and Discmans for the same reason. Handling and experiencing products with a high level of detail gives me design ideas, and makes me think, ‘someday I want to make something like this too.’ In short, my collecting grew out of a respect for design that holds its value no matter how much time passes.

How can people use Simkung Circle?
You can listen to any music from all the cassette tapes, LPs, and CDs here on whichever device you like. You can also hear the story behind each player, from the very first Walkman to models with waterproof features.

I’m curious how the name ‘Simkung Circle’ came about.
Of all the countless parts in an old car, the speakers are the only thing I ever tuned myself. I added parts matched to the existing speakers to get a richer sound. Sitting in the car listening to music, I literally felt my heart skip a beat (‘simkung’). It had nothing to do with the speaker’s actual performance—I was listening with my heart. The cars (wheels), watches, and cassette tapes I love all share something in common: they operate in circles, which is why I added the word ‘Circle’ at the end.

I heard you also sell players.
I originally had no intention of selling them, but there were quite a few customers who wanted to buy. So I prepare products that meet my own standards and sell them for just two days every two months. It’s less about making a profit and more about wanting to help people who are just getting into vintage devices. Buying secondhand products isn’t easy. At first, it’s hard to know where to buy, what to buy, whether the price is fair, or whether the sound actually works properly. I’ve been scammed myself before (laughs). Since these are products I personally select and repair based on my own know-how in buying vintage gear, I set strict conditions for purchase.

What are those conditions?
These days, it’s not easy to get people to visit the same place more than once. So I only sell to customers who have visited Simkung Circle at least once before. Of course, you also have to come in person to buy. After receiving a detailed in-person explanation of everything you need to listen to music—including the vintage player, earphones, batteries, and so on—you can then purchase accordingly.

I heard you also offer a service to make your own mixtape and restore damaged albums.
We run a service where we make a playlist from streaming tracks and record it onto a blank tape. While it’s recording, you can combine images you like into a template to make your own J-card (the insert for a cassette tape case) and label.
We also offer an album restoration service, re-recording cassette tapes that have something else recorded over them or that have become warped onto a new tape. I once managed to get my hands on a cassette version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ but somehow a strange sound had gotten recorded over part of the tape. I bought the CD version again from the UK and recorded it onto tape, and when I listened, the quality of the two versions was nearly identical. This service helps customers who’ve had similar experiences restore damaged albums using high-quality recording equipment.

You have music albums spanning genres from classical to K-pop.
For a long time, I’ve listened to all kinds of genres without discrimination to find BGM for my personal projects. I think not being picky about music has helped me run Simkung Circle. Our main customers are people who love analog and miss the old days, but Gen Z visitors who’ve never experienced cassette tapes before also stop by from time to time. They’re often amazed to hear the latest pop songs they usually listen to on cassette, discovering a sound completely different from digital audio.

Were there any travel destinations or spots you referenced while preparing Simkung Circle?
There wasn’t anything in particular I referenced. I decorated the interior purely according to my own personal taste. We had our office in Gangnam for a long time before moving to Hannam-dong this time, and what I liked most was the distinctive character of the neighborhood and its unique youthful energy. I thought a lot about how to make Simkung Circle blend well with the neighborhood atmosphere. A lot of people around me suggested selling coffee, but I wanted a space where the distinct identity of ‘music listening’ as a service would really stand out—so that people could focus purely on the music and the equipment.

What vintage music player would you want to bring with you on a trip?
I’d love to relax on a beach listening to music on Sony’s ‘Sports Walkman WM-F5 On the Beach.’ When a Walkman has ‘Sports’ in its name, it means it’s waterproof. And on top of that, its name literally says ‘On the Beach.’
Actually, I don’t really like traveling much (laughs). I prefer quietly focusing on something and puttering around at home. A lot of designers draw creative inspiration from travel, but I don’t think that’s really my type.

In an age when you can listen to any music with just one tap, what do you hope Simkung Circle can mean?
First of all, old products are inconvenient and slow. They have plenty of glitches too. Since you can’t easily jump straight to the part you want to hear, they demand patience and generosity. I think that kind of time is sometimes necessary in everyday life. Above all, it’s something you can’t understand through indirect experience via social media. It’s something you can only understand by experiencing it directly.

What are your plans for this year?
We’re going to try various things to spread the word about Simkung Circle further—opening an online shop, and selling reproductions of mixtapes customers have made, among other ideas. Separately, we’re also about to launch a car maintenance service called Fixter, which we’ve been preparing for four years. Because cars can change owners at any time, it isn’t easy to keep a complete record of when and where a car has been serviced. It’s going to be a platform that honestly connects mechanics and car owners, and keeps a record of each individual car’s history.