It’s not unusual for a band to think it sounds nothing like anyone else.

But when Minhaeng Cho, the leader and guitarist of the local band Open Session, says his band is different, he’s actually right.

Comprised of all South Korean students, Open Session has a sound that is very unique in Ames and much of America.

The song lists are dominated by titles the average ISU student wouldn’t be able to pronounce. They’re in Korean.

“We like American pop,” says Cho, graduate student in mechanical engineering, “but it sounds funny with the accents and pronunciation. So we do more Korean pop.”

The band members enjoy playing songs that relate to the other parts of their lives.

“We’re students at Iowa State, but we’re also Korean. We all have similar backgrounds and experiences,” Cho says.

The thing that really connects the members of Open Session, however, is the realization that they are all students who happen to love music.

Open Session is a group, first and foremost, about the students. The members range from sophomores in journalism and mass communication to graduate students in civil engineering. The ages of members range from 20 to 36. Cho, 36, says although age could become an issue for some people, for Open Session it hasn’t been a problem.

“The first thing we have to do is study,” Cho says.

He often reminds the members of why they are at Iowa State.

“And then if you have some time, come and play,” Cho tells them.

As indicated in the name, Cho says the band is open to anyone who is interested in making music. The members have traditionally all been South Korean, but anyone of any ethnic background who wanted to join would be allowed.

The members of Open Session have turned the idea of a commercial band into something more like a social activity.

“We just like gathering,” says Min Hui Paik, graduate student in statistics and vocalist for Open Session.

“We think of our band as more of a club.”

Cho and Paik’s only hope for Open Session is for it to still be in existence 10 years from now.

Cho, who is graduating in December, says he would like to see the band continue with no foreseeable end. As the leader now, he would love to turn over the title to an eager member.

“We have to change every year,” Paik says.

The band members are not set in stone; Paik says he hopes they never will be and that he’ll be hearing about Open Session during his visits back to campus.

“I’d like to come back and visit Iowa State and hear of Open Session,” Paik says.

Open Session is essentially a community effort. The members take ownership to the point of taking pride in their work, but it ends there.

Cho says the current members don’t want Open Session to end with them.

“I want it to continue after me,” he says.

Cho says Open Session is looking to become integrated not only in the Korean population at Iowa State, but also with groups of students of all ethnicities.

“We would like to become a part of the [larger ISU] community,” Cho says.

Even with this mantra, Cho says, most of Open Session’s audience members are Korean and Chinese students.

“They are the only ones who know who we are,” Cho says.

They’re also, for the most part, the only communities who know that Open Session exists at all. With the lyrics being in Korean, Cho says he thinks many American students may not respond to the band. But, he says, music is music.

“The language is different, but it’s still music,” Cho says.