Today I have a really great cocktail bar to share with you nestled down the side streets of Itaewon!  If you are a fan of art, graffiti, rap, skateboarding, and Seoul’s underground scene you will really enjoy the awesome and creative space of  Mixture Experiment!

Mixture is  a really interesting hideaway bar that has become a popular place for various members of underground scenes to frequent~ skaters,rappers, graffiti artists, DJs etc! Everyone into those things seems to be always among friends here, and the space has a really wonderful creative feeling to it. I actually had no idea Korea really had an active skateboard scene till I came here!♥

Often they will have DJs from 360 Sounds or TSL spinning~ if you are into Korean underground culture these names should be familiar to you! The music played here is mostly chill lounge jazz or hip hop usually. Some hip hop clubs like this are way too loud and rowdy for my taste, but this was a perfect balance!

Mixture Experiment has only been open since around July of this year, the two owners being ex skaters themselves seem to have really put a lot into making a space they enjoy as well as like-minded Koreans~ the result is really awesome even if you are not a member of the scene yourself.

It is hard to describe, but it has a very cool and stylish feeling with the modern colorful wallpapers contrasted alongside gritty worn bricks and unfinished cement walls~ I love it.

Beautiful artwork + images via Madvictor

 You have well-known Korean street artists like Xeva and Semi from Madvictor doing artwork for the location (check out the bathrooms in the photos above!!)  and you have DJs from crews like 360 Sounds and TSL.  I’m glad my friend really knows this place and the creative people involved so that I could be educated and  appreciate all of this!

The night we stopped by Mixture they had the “Mad Cube” show going on with new artwork on display from the group Mad Victor + 360 Sounds DJ YTST and live rap performances by 1JM among others. Our friend Yuri is a frequent visitor here so she gave us a heads up about the event ♥ I love art, boos, and music~ so of course I was down for it!

If you read my other posts you would know that I really enjoy graffiti and have been collecting photos of it around Seoul~ so right away I recognized some of the work!  Nice to finally put names and faces to the things I have been admiring around the city these past few years.

 

Semi, Xeva, Lee Ji Hoon, Mapa, and Laz are all from MAD VICTOR~ a graffiti/urban artist collective here in Seoul.

Bestowed the title “Wall Lords” from R16 (international b-boy tournament held here in Korea ever year), nowadays they are often commissioned around Seoul for ads and legal street art.  If you spend a lot of time in the city most of their styles should seem familiar to you!

 

Nara fits in here, but I am way to white and cheerful + soggy from the winter rain we had to walk through. I love these sorts of places, but I always am so painfully out of place! XD haha

Mixture Experiment is a cocktail bar~ and wow, are the cocktails ever amazing here!!

 

Nara’s Mojito and my California Lemonade with a lemon stuffed with cherries! BLISS!!!!! I’m coming back here just to drink! My drink was a perfect mix of yum and boos ♥ Nara said his was one of the best Mojito’s he has had here in Korea, it can be hard to find a proper mixed drink here with alcohol. Plus, look at all the maraschino I got!! I never see these in Seoul!

♥My awesome space kitten ring is by Locketship!♥

This place has a nice large drink menu filled with other things I want to try~ Next time I visit I will try a few more things to add to this post! God they all look delicious~~♥

A fun thing I learned while browsing around the blogs~ apparently Mixture Experiment was also the shooting location a few months ago for some kind of promo involving the K-pop group Ulala Session 울랄라세션 (Winners of Superstar K3 this year) do you recognize the shoot? The blog said it was a concert promo~ but I have not spotted any videos of it online!

Since the bar has only been open a year this was the first art showcase of hopefully many more to come.  They have hosted lots of other events as well, like skate film screenings, after parties, and plenty of live music nights.

Later on in the night they had some live rapping from a few underground artists here~ Like 1JM!  He is also a painter for Mad Victor and a skater~ perfect combo for Mixture Experiment!

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Even though I am not a member of this sort of scene myself, I still love going to shows like this!  The music was great, the art was awesome, the drinks were delicious, and all in all it was a pretty awesome time!  I plan on going back next time I am in the neighborhood to try even more of the drinks on the menu~ It was really crowded the night we went because of the event, but I think as a sit-down bar during the week the vibe in here will be perfect as well!

Directions to Mixture Experiment

Mixture Experiment

주소 : 서울시 용산구 이태원동 72-32 1층

Hours:  7pm-4am (3am weekdays)

Getting to this place the first time can be a tiny bit tricky since it is down some stairs and kind of nested below them, so I have drawn two directions to hopefully help you out! If you are coming by metro you are going to want to use the Brown line and get off at Itaewon, Exit #4

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We found the easiest way was to use exit #4 and walk straight down the road past the Outback Steakhouse till we hit the little cluster of shops (which will all be closed at night most likely) and following the small stairs down.  Another way is to follow the other road and walk the lower back roads.

In this photo you can see both ways to access the bar.

View of the back road route, its a tad confusing at night though!

Main road route, straight walk till you hit a small area with stairs nested between some businesses.  Sorry for the poor photo, but at least it gives you a good idea! Just listen for the music and look for people hanging outside smoking a cigarette if all else fails. lol

LINKS

♥ Mixture Experiment – Facebook Page ♥

♥ Mixture Experiment – Homepage ♥

♥ Madvictor Studio ♥

♥ ROK Hip Hop news ♥

Do you like this sort of scene in Seoul?  Have you been to Mixture Experiment before? What did you think? Did you visit after reading this blog? Share in the comments below!!