BAND ROCKED OUT HARD AND LOUD WITH FULL OF SMILES AND NON-STOP ENERGY FOR THEIR 2025 U.S./CANADA STAND UP TOUR

Imagine yourself as a young teen or twenty something and dreaming of being in a band, flying to different countries all over the world and showcasing your musical talents. Imagine yourself and your band meeting die hard fans. Imagine yourself and your band eating different types of dishes from different countries all over the world after performing live in front of an audience. Imagine yourself and your band singing and playing your instruments to different cultures whose language is foreign to yours and you don’t understand their language and they don’t understand yours but the language of music bring you close together. Imagine yourself and your rock band don’t get as much accolades in your country because your country and the world knows more about KPOP music than KROCK music. For ROLLING QUARTZ, an All Female Rock Band from South Korea, all of these are true. They are young. They formed a band. And they have performed all over the world these past 3 years.

Written by Don Marcelo

An all-female rock band, ROLLING QUARTZ, poses confidently in their promotional photo for the 2025 U.S. and Canada Tour, featuring vibrant hairstyles and guitars, alongside a traditional lion mask.

Two years ago, ROLLING QUARTZ was interviewed by “The Director”, a content creator and influencer from YouTube. Jayoung, the lead vocalist of ROLLING QUARTZ, stated the following during the interview:
“As you all know, the flame of rock spirit in Korea is dim. So we want to light up that rock spirit and want to bring it to the major market…it is our goal to vitalize rock music a little bit more in Korea.” So now they are on a mission to showcase to the world that KOREAN ROCK music or KROCK is legit and is here to stay. They are determined to show to the world that they will continue to ignite this spirit of Korean Rock Music to every woman, man and child on this planet.

So in 2023, ROLLING QUARTZ ignited that fire by touring The U.S., where the spirit of Rock and Roll is fully alive and kicking, for their first North American Tour. Because they brought that rock spirit to this major market, their passion for their craft and love of Rock Music and their authenticity to connect with their fans ignited this flame which then spread across the world like wild fire. They have been touring non-stop since 2023 and have even toured Europe twice already and Australia and even The Philippines where I was born. I know this flame has spread far and wide across the globe for a fact because I have been following them since their first concert in Seattle, WA at The Funhouse, their 3rd show in Los Angeles in the small room at Catch One LA, and in Orange County at The Wayfarer. All three shows were part of their 2023 Rock & Roll Paradise Tour. I also know this fact because I connect with ROLLING QUARTZ’s fans all over the world called DIADEMS and some I have have even become friends with in real life meeting them through instagram first. I have seen the tremendous growth of the band from being nervous from their first show in Seattle to being full of confidence and completely in charge and comfortable, strutting their presence on stage as if they have been doing this for decades. I have seen the continued growth in numbers of DIADEMS and the outpouring of support and love they give to ROLLING QUARTZ. They are definitely carving their way to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Fast forward to 2025, ROLLING QUARTZ’s dreams and goals have become a reality. Their U.S./Canada STAND UP TOUR consist of 34 major cities from two different countries in less than two months. For me, just seeing and counting these numbers make me exhausted. I can only imagine the tremendous amount of exhaustion team ROLLING QUARTZ endured on this tour. But you know what, they didn’t show an ounce of exhaustion on stage. In fact they performed 110% all the time full of smiles and love and non-stop energy. I was very fortunate to have covered their show in Boston at the venue called SONIA (the 3rd stop of this tour), the 5th to the last of this tour in Los Angeles at Catch One (The big stage of the venue and not the smallest one), and at Star Theater in Portland OR (the 3rd to the last stop of this tour). And on each one of them, the ladies performed to their maximum, energized to the fullest extent. Like I said no amount of exhaustion whatsoever that I saw from these ladies. They matched the same great energy their fans gave them, full of excitement and electricity and love of their craft and to their DIADEMS. Way to go ladies. Bravo! Bravo! Bravissimo! Can I just say thank you right now for all your hard work and not at the end of this report? Gamsahamnida ROLLING QUARTZ! Thank you for all your hard work.

So who is ROLLING QUARTZ? Well, they are the following amazing and super talented artists/musicians and ever so gracious human beings:
Jayoung – a powerhouse lead vocalist
Yeongeun – drummer extraordinaire
Hyunjung – master shredder guitarist
Iree – the other master shredder guitarist
Arem – the badass bassist.
Together as ONE, they are the greatest KROCK band that has been formed on this planet.

With More and more fans from all over the world that have come to know them and have fallen in love with their style of music and started following them, what sets ROLLING QUARTZ apart from other all female rock bands is not only do they look great in front of the camera, they actually are talented musicians who can play and sing without missing a beat. They truly believe in each other because they are ARTISTS who support each other and can sing and perform and play with full of energy, excitement, laughter, and love. I have seen this personally since I have seen them perform 7 times and have gotten to talk to them personally as a fan and as a media photographer since 2023. Even their management team, who I am very fond of, work extremely hard, especially when I got to hang out with them a little bit during Anime Detour 2024 in Minnesota, the only time they played in The U.S. in 2024. The Han brothers (Mr. Little Han and Mr. Big Han as they recently called themselves on Instagram) always made sure that the ladies of Rolling Quartz perform at their highest level. But with all that work, they also know how to play. Even Mr. Big Han showed us his cartwheel and back flips at Anime Detour. I think he may have been a gymnast at one point of his life. And I also made sure that I get do do some silly selfies with them. They are just big boys like me stuck in an adult male body. Thank you Mr. Big Han and Mr. Little Han for taking great care of the ladies. Thank you for our selfies as well. And than you for your hard work.

Ladies and gentlemen, follow this great band called ROLLING QUARTZ. Their music is fantastic. You don’t have to understand or speak Korean. You will hear the passion from the way they play to the way they sing to the way they interact to their fans, all full of love and full of authenticity. Thank you once again ROLLING QUARTZ and the entire staff and management team for all your hard work and dedication. Keep creating great music. I hope for your quick return to The U.S. for another tour. Let’s reach that goal for you to play at the Big Arena like SoFi Stadium in the future. But first get some much needed rest and vacation before your next show in Poland. I also hope that other U.S. media photographers (and other countries too) and media outlets get the chance to see and hear ROLLING QUARTZ in the future. Don’t worry, I’ll still be there in the front always supporting and cheering and singing with other Diadems. Enjoy the photos from the LA show at CATCH ONE LA, SATURDAY MAY 17, 2025 and The Portland show at STAR THEATER WEDNESDAY MAY 21, 2025. And for the other diadems who didn’t get the chance to see my first report from this tour, click the link below from ROLLING QUARTZ’s show in Boston at SONIA and my photo gallery from their 2023 Rock and Roll Paradise Tour:

All the best to each and every one of you ROLLING QUARTZ. We will see each other again soon. – Don Marcelo

Rolling Quartz

FOLLOW ROLLING QUARTZ and each member in all their socials for more exciting and electrifying KROCK music:
https://www.rollingquartz.live
https://www.youtube.com/@ROLLINGQUARTZofficial
https://www.instagram.com/rolling_quartz
https://twitter.com/Rolling_Quartz
https://www.facebook.com/bandrollingquartz/
https://www.tiktok.com/@rolling_quartz_official
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5mVYT7sPm3xsNMrA8YWONe
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/rolling-quartz/1518544876
https://linktr.ee/rollingquartz

Members

Arem (Korean: 아름) – bassist; Hyunjung (현정) – guitarist; Iree (아이리) – guitarist; Jayoung (자영) – vocalist; Yeongeun (영은) – drummer.

Photography by Don Marcelo Photography 2025

MAY 17TH LOS ANGELES

Arem (Korean: 아름) – bassist

Iree (아이리) – guitarist

Yeongeun (영은) – drummer

Jayoung (자영) – vocalist

Hyunjung (현정) – guitarist

Rolling Quartz

MAY 21ST PORTLAND, OR

Arem (Korean: 아름) – bassist

Iree (아이리) – guitarist

Yeongeun (영은) – drummer

Jayoung (자영) – vocalist

Hyunjung (현정) – guitarist

Rolling Quartz

3 responses to “34 CITIES. 2 COUNTRIES. 1 GREAT ALL FEMALE ROCK BAND FROM SOUTH KOREA, ROLLING QUARTZ, BY DON MARCELO”

  1. Don Marcelo!!! I love his photo!!!!

    1. Thank you Seonghyun. A great band such as Rolling Quartz deserves my 110% hard work to create beautiful images .

  2. LET’S GOOOOOOO ROLLING QUARTZ!!!

Leave a Reply to seonghyunCancel reply

FEATURED

Discover more from S.L.R. Magazine

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading