HISTORY Talks Teamwork & Upcoming Releases [INTERVIEW]
K-pop boy band HISTORY wowed British fans at their concert in London on February 21. But even before the show began, KultScene caught up with the Loen Entertainment quintet. Despite their tight schedule the members sat down with us and, with the help of an interpreter, opened up about their career, upcoming releases, and their European concert tour.
KultScene: Thank you so much for sitting down with me and welcome to England! What aspect of meeting your European fans are you most looking forward to?
Jae Ho: We have only been to Finland so far and just arrived in the UK. We had the chance to meet a few of the fans in Helsinki, though. It seems like the European supporters are quite vocal, so we are looking forward to hearing more of their enthusiasm for our performances on the other stops of our European tour.
KS: Let’s talk about your career a little bit. What qualities does HISTORY feel they have as a group which make them unique in the K-Pop world?
Do Kyun: All K-pop idols work very hard on stage, but I believe that HISTORY’s main strength as a group is the teamwork among our five members. This is what allows us to produce a very powerful performance on stage for our fans.
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KS: How does the experience of performing for your fans in Europe differ to that in South Korea?
Si Hyoung: The Korean fans just like to listen and watch us on stage, whereas the European fans we’ve met so far preferred to interact with us. They danced and sang along loudly in unison to our performances.
KS: A lot of your music videos, including the Hitchcock inspired “Psycho” and drug- related “What Am I To You,” have intense concepts with graphic storylines. How much of a role do History’s members have in this creative process?
Kyungil: We don’t have any input into our music video concepts, but our personal influence with regards to songwriting is increasing with every album. Our next release, which is coming out soon, will have a lot of our influence and thoughts put into it.
KS: My next question is for Yi Jeong. Even though you’re the youngest member you’ve showcased a lot of talent writing songs for HISTORY, such as the group’s latest Korean single “Might Just Die.“ However your solo track, “1Century,” was geared more towards hip hop. What made you go in that direction?
Yi Jeong: HISTORY as a team usually has a gentler image, but I personally really love hip hop and wanted to try out a different sound for my solo track, mostly to challenge myself.
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KS: What can we look forward to from HISTORY in 2016?
Do Kyun: In 2016 we plan, as a group, to find more ways to communicate with our fans through broadcasting activities. We don’t have any specific plans for solo projects at the present time.
Kyungil: HISTORY is working on an album right now as a group, so the fans can expect to hear that very soon.
KS:Do you have a final message for your fans at KultScene?
Kyungil: Please give HISTORY a lot of love and support from Europe and we will return soon with more activities and surprises for you!
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[Picture by: Sophie Tang]