Drug Restaurant

2014-2015 : Formation

Jung Joon-young rose to widespread fame through the audition program Superstar K4 in 2012. Jung was the vocalist of indie rock band, Switch On, before joined Superstar K4. Originally, he signed up for Superstar K4's audition with his band, but due to visa issues, the guitarist who is American and bassist who is British couldn't join and Jung had to audition as solo singer. A year later in 2013, he released his debut mini album, 1st Mini Album, and then second mini album, Teenager, in 2014.

After being a solo artist for more than a year, Jung decided to be in a band again. “When I first signed with my company, it was agreed that I would eventually work with a band. Since I started music with a band, it was actually hard for me to bring out my true style when working by myself. I thought I needed to go back to what I knew. This seemed like the right time.”

Jung was introduced to Jo Dae-min, Jung Seok-won and Lee Hyun-gyu by producer who worked with him in his solo album in 2014. All three are known to be already established musicians in the indie music scene. Guitarist Jo Dae-min (Dammit) is a former member of rock band Vanilla Unity that regularly guested at Seo Taiji’s concerts, bassist Jung Seok-won is a former member of Munch and Fantastic Drugstore, and drummer Lee Hyun-kyu (Drok. Q) is a former member of Munch as well as “Superstar K” contestant Bell Band. Dammit wasn't sure about Jung's musical style when he first heard about the offer to play with him: “I mostly knew him through variety programs, and I thought it would be a one-time thing. But working together, we fit really well, and now we’re determined to keep this going.”

2015 : Escape to Hangover

Jung Joon-young and his newly formed band started to work on their debut album in early 2015. Jung and Dammit worked together to compose all of the tracks in the album, but all of the members helped to arrange the songs to allow their talents to shine. “I created the big frameworks for the songs, and each member tweaked their part to their liking,” Jung said. “I love garage rock, so we listened to garage rock songs and worked on the music together. It turned out really well.”

JJY Band’s first eight-track EP Escape to Hangover touches base with Jung’s rock roots, spanning alternative rock, hard rock and garage rock tracks. The title track OMG was produced by Brian Howes who had produced songs for Bon Jovi, Simple Plan, Boys Like Girls, and many more. Ok Yo-Han, vocalist of Pia, co-wrote the 8th track in the album, "Lizard". For "Lizard", Jung originally wanted to express his opinions on smoking, but it didn't pass Korean Broadcast Liberation. In the end, he had to change the lyrics with the help of Ok Yo-han into a song about cunning people. Escape to Hangover was released on May 27, 2015 with lead single "OMG" and its music video released at the same time. Their debut album received positive reviews from music fans and critics.

JJY band held their very first solo concert in December 2015 with the name "JJY Band's Live & Talk 2015 'Attention'". Their first show was held in Tokyo on December 13. They continued the tour in Shanghai on December 26 and Seoul on December 30–31.

2016 : New Label, New Name and Mistake

A representative from CJ E&M announced that their contract with Jung Joon Young expired in November 2015. Jung decided to not renew his contract with CJ E&M. On January 5 2016, C9 Entertainment announced that Jung and his band officially signed an exclusive contract with their label, REALIVE. Under the new label, JJY Band announced that they would hold their first nationwide tour. Their first show kicked off in Daejeon on February 5 and continued in Busan on February 6, then in Seoul on February 20–21.

On May 20, C9 Entertainment officially announced that Jung Joon Young Band had changed their name to Drug Restaurant. This is to shift the focus from the frontman, Jung Joon Young, to the group as a whole. The name "Drug Restaurant" is said to represent the band’s desire to provide listeners with a greater relief than any drug in the drugstore and to offer a gateway out from the pressures of society.

Drug Restaurant returned with their second album, Drug Restaurant, which was released on May 27 through digital download and on June 9 as a physical album. Their new album consists of five tracks including the title track, "Mistake". The fifth track, "When The Money's Back", only available on physical CD. The title track and its music video were released on June 8. All songs in the album were composed by Jung Joon Young and Dammit. Every member wrote one song for the album. The title track "Mistake" was written by Jung Joon Young, "Sexy Bomb" by Dammit, "What?!" by Jung Seok-won and "When The Money's Back" by Drok.Q. While the arrangement for all songs in the album were done by Dammit, Jung Seok-won and Drok.Q

Members

Concert tour & Live performances