[MAGAZINE] BTOB Interview in @Star1 January 2018 Issue

2018 Happy New Year

‘Merry BTOB♥’

BTOB Who Shine This Much

7 members idol group, BTOB, has already entered their 6 year since debut. From Im Hyunsik and Jung Ilhoon who take the initiative by taking part in writing and composing since 2012, Seo Eunkwang who takes the challenge on musical with his powerful singing ability, to Yook Sungjae and Lee Minhyuk who hit a timely hit by appearing in dramas and make their names known as actors. They became a group that caught people’s attention with their loud horn “Beep Beep” and make people exclaim “You’re So Fly!”. They also show some new signs. Lee Changsub who took a challenge in musical for the first time, yet he appeared in 3 consecutive musicals, and Peniel who even scored a YouTube Red CM song with his new song “That Girl”, made them play their own roles really well. BTOB who are busily active in the same mound, will continue to do their own parts like they always do and hit the home run.

(Interview Jeong Su-mi, Behind photographer Jeong Yu-jin)

[Seo Eunkwang]

Q. I heard that if you have a complaint towards the members you will write it down on a memo. Is there any memo that you wrote recently?

▲ Haha. I don’t write memos anymore. After spending time together with members for 6~7 years, if there is something that I think it’s not okay, I will talk about it right away in a good way. Now that all members are all adults, I think they have grown up enough. Should I say that they all feel like big kids?

Q. You’re currently participating in ‘Oh! My Goddess’ Musical. Your schedule must be really tight with concerts, year-end award festivals, and others.

▲ It makes me worried a lot, but being busy is also a good thing. I should overcome this kind of schedule. I’m doing many things to relieve stress and managing my stamina whenever I can. I also eat many nutrition supplements from time to time and drink red ginseng in the morning. I eat everything that is good for my body.

Q. Lee Changsub just started to do musical this year. As you’re the first person who started to do musical among the members, do you have any advice for him?

▲ I believe he will do well, so I don’t think there’s one. After I saw Changsub in ‘Boys Over Flower’ musical, there was something I wanted to tell him, but I ended up not say it to him. Later after that, I went to his second musical ‘Napoleon’ and I was so surprised. He improved so much at the time. Changsub is really a person who can do well by himself.

Q. Do you have any greed to appear in drama or movie?

▲ Yes, I have. But right now is not the time yet, so I’m still waiting. I’m waiting for myself to solidly build my acting through musical and gain confidence in me. The time when I become satisfied enough of myself. I once said in the interview that my role model is Lim Changjung sunbae-nim. He acts and sings. I want to follow his step.

Q. You are the only one who is not releasing a self-composed song for your solo song.

▲ I didn’t even think about composing (laugh). I really lack in creativity. I always like challenge, so I did raps and dance performances during concerts. But I still don’t have any interest in composing. It still feels scary to me. For now, I just want to focus on singing.

Q. I heard you are popular among women around you.

▲ I like being fun and comfortable. Well, I feel really thankful for that (laughing), but from what I feel, they like me not as the opposite sex, but as a person. It’s kind of bitter, but if you look at it again, being liked as a person is also a good thing. ‘It’s bitter, but I like it’, that’s the best words to express it.

[Lee Minhyuk]

Q. You are in charge as Kim Sangyun X Sohee’s “Childlike” outsourced producer

▲ I received a song request from the company, and it just happened that among the songs I worked on, there was a song for both male and female to sing it together. It’s actually a song that was made for a solo, and it’s a song that I worked on together with ‘Purple song’ for ‘Piece of BTOB’. The song really suits them who are more fresh and refreshing than me. And I'm really happy that I can meet them like this, so I accept the request without hesitation.

Q. Was it the first time you meet them?

▲ I met them all for the first time, but turns out that Sanggyun is shyer than I thought. I think we got comfortable with each other around after the recording has finished and even exchanged numbers. Later I said, “if you have time let’s eat and grab a drink together~”. After that, we met again but it went back to square one. He was being so polite as if it was our first met haha. So I tried to get close with him again by approaching him first by saying, “Sanggyun-ah, why you become shy again~”. Meanwhile, Sohee has this lively vibes that really matches her age. Her answers were also powerful like, ‘Yes! Yes!”. She is really a person that fits the word lively and fresh. She's also good at singing.

Q. I heard that your dream was to become a musical actor.

▲ Even now, I still have the heart to pursue that dream. While I’m looking at how Eunkwang and Changsub’s slowly growing as musical actors, I often thought, “I should learn a lot too. Later, if I get to do it, I should ask for their advice”. Since there are no cameras in musical, we can use bigger expressions to do it, so I think it would make the acting range gets wider. Personally, my goal in 2018 is to take a challenge in musical, even if it’s just a small role.

Q. What musical that you want to do?

▲ “Dream on Mars”. It’s the musical that made me want to become a musical actor. There was a theater festival in Miryang for 3 nights and 4 days. I watched many stages, and “Dream on Mars” left me a big impression. Also, it will be good if I can do the “Fame” musical before I get any older, or maybe a role as Roger in ‘Rent’ will be good too. Later, if I have become a skilled actor, I want to challenge “Hyde and Jekyll” too.

Q. When I look at your Instagram account, there are a lot of post about past movie reviews.

▲ Watching movies is my one and only hobby. If possible, I wanted to watch it at the cinema, but I almost missed them all because I was too busy. If I look back, there are so many movies that I’ve missed from the past, but I thought it’s a must-watch. I really want to watch those until to the point where I want to spare a whole month not to do anything but that. On Instagram, I usually post movies that particularly left me a big impression or gave me a good influence, because I also want people to feel what I feel together.

Q. Is there any of your 2017 goal that came true and made you feel proud the most?

▲ To release one solo track, one BTOB track, and work on one song for other artists. I had these 3 goals related to producing, and surprisingly all of them came true.

[Lee Changsub]

Q. This year, you started with the first musical “Boys Over Flower”, then continue with “Napoleon”, and “Edgar Allen Poe” continuously. What was the driving force for you to be able to work without break?

▲ First, the very big reason is because musical is fun. I think the reason why I can do 3 musicals in a year is because the official and the audience liked it. They helped and gave me suggestions by saying, “how about if you try this musical together with us?” Thanks to that, I could do my musical activities happily. I really want to do well and I have many worries regarding that, so I practice diligently, and I think that’s what made them to like me.

Q. I think it’s totally different when you stand on stage as a singer and when you stand on stage as a musical actor.

▲ First of all, acting is the biggest element. It feels like I have to devote myself to the role, so I can move many people’s feelings even more. When it comes to singing, I have to do it as if I’m acting and talking, but what makes it feels different, because I have to pay attention to the detail expression and accent while acting. It feels like the acting range and expression got wider. It’s not a separate thing. Since those are both a form of art, every aspect can be helpful to each other. The expression I have learned through musical help me to perform on stage with BTOB, while all the mental attitude, stage manner, and other things that I have learned before, help me to perform during musical stage. I think both gave a synergy to each other.

Q. Is there any character that makes you able to feel the taste of acting?

▲ I really could feel the taste of acting the most during my role as Lucien in the second musical “Napoleon”. I thought I was just going to act cheerful and lively characters, but after I tried to act with a serious character, I thought, “acting can actually be this fun”. It feels like I’m turning into a totally different person. It felt new.

Q. Are you usually a lively person?

▲ When I’m with members, I become a cheerful person, but when I’m in front of people I don’t know, I would just stay still without moving an inch like this (smiles).

Q. If I look at your Instagram, you uploaded many ridiculous photos. Since you are a celebrity, don’t you want to post more cool photos?

▲ Haha. I never thought of that. The only thing I can think of is that, it should be funny no matter what. Isn’t it good if we all can laugh together?

Q. What is your goal in 2018?

▲ Become the most handsome member in BTOB. I’m planning to sleep early, woke up early, do some workout, control my meals, and manage myself well. My goal is to hear that I’m the most handsome in the group.

[Im Hyunsik]

Q. ‘Missing You’ achieved 7 crowns in total. After the promotion ended, you still received lots of loves even until now. Did you expect this kind of popularity?

▲ The music market itself is really difficult these days, so I couldn’t think it would do well. Before, when I just finished working on the song, I had a different feeling. After I finished all the songs, I was kind of surprised by myself. I thought, “oh? I think this will hit big”. I’m actually a person who easily satisfied with my own work, but this time, the feeling was different. I made the song to be more appealing to the general public than before, and wrote it for two days.

Q. I think there is a burden to write your next song,

▲ Of course, there is a burden. But I think having a burden is a must, so I can make a better song. I hope Ilhoon will do it next time. Haha.

Q. Seems like you don’t compose many songs for another artist.

▲ I’m planning to do that little by little. Writing for the group is good, but I also want to work on a song for other solo artists a lot. My other goal is to compose songs for other artists and received good results.

Q. I heard that you even bring some music equipment to the filming site and during overseas schedule. Can you concentrate well?

▲ During overseas schedule, we have lots of free time in the hotel, so I end up working on a song when I’m bored. Since the hotel is quiet, I can concentrate well.

Q. I heard that the music video producer of your solo song ‘SWIMMING’ is your real brother?

▲ My older brother directed the music video, but his occupation is not a producer. He majored in Manhwa (Korean comics) but he also knows about video and animation, so he tried to showcase his talent. He likes my song in ‘Piece of BTOB’ project and asked me to make a music video, so we made it.

Q. It’s impressive that you always post 3 similar photos on Instagram.

▲ I think my personality is showing up in SNS. I’m a person who likes perfection and specifically, I like number ‘3’. I think it’s a perfect number among all. You know, it’s like a perfect feeling when you look at a triangle made from three dots and lines.

[Peniel]

Q. Your solo track ‘That Girl’ became the CF song for YouTube Red.

▲ I’m not a person who monitors often, so I haven’t seen any response (laugh). I heard a lot from people around me. They said, “it sounds like a song from Billboard.” Haha.

Q. KAIROS is your brother in law. Have you talked about your next solo track?

▲ When we were working for my solo track, we also made 2~3 other songs. But there was not much time, so we could only finish ‘That Girl’. I left the other unfinished songs in America. When I have time to go to America next time, we are planning to start working on it again.

Q. You are known as Peu-grapher in the group and I heard that you personally took some pictures in the filming site. Since when you have an interest in pictures?

▲ I first got interested during middle school. I once tried making photos from film strips in the darkroom and it was really fun. At the time I had no camera, and digital camera wasn’t common, so it only ended up as an interest. After debut, I bought a camera for video shooting and then I started to shoot things and do editing since 1~2 years ago.

Q. The pictures from your first photo exhibition gave a family vibe. Is there any area you want to show as a photographer?

▲ For now, there are lots of pictures related to members. I also took many pictures of food, scenery, dogs, and daily life things. I feel confident the most in taking sceneries. I also took the picture for my solo cover image.

Q. Your hair has grown a lot.

▲ My hair has grown a lot compared to 2 years ago when I talked about my hair loss in KBS2 ‘Hello Counselor’. My hair was particularly in severe condition at that time. When I felt like my hair grows a bit, I would shave it again after 3 days. But I don’t do that anymore and try to grow it out. It’s getting better compare to before. I think I can grow the upper part of my hair, while I still shave the side and back of my head.

[Jung Ilhoon]

Q. Your sister JOO currently appears in KBS2 ‘The Unit’. Did you give any advice or support

▲ After her appearance has been decided, she went to the shooting right away, so there was no time for me to give her any help or supportive message. I’m also not familiar with audition programs, so the only words I could say was ‘do your best and be careful of the evil editing, always say nice words’ (laugh)

Q. Do you monitor your sister on broadcast?

▲ I always watch the broadcast when it airs. She looks like having a hard time even at home. Just like what she looks in the broadcast, I think she’s doing her role as the oldest really well, even though she has never been in a team before.

Q. What kind of songs you are working on lately?

▲ I’m focusing on making a solo track for a concert. I’m also working on a song together with my sister recently. We have plenty times together, so we are working on a collaboration.

Q. What kind of worry that you think about when it comes to composing songs?

▲ The result of our song this time is really good. Even until now, the song is still on top of music charts. We should keep showing our improvement, but when people keep going up, they might having a hard time, and the stairs they are taking might look higher, right? I have those kinds of worries. It’s because this album is a wall that I have to go over when I compose a song. I think for me, ‘Brother Act’ has become my homework. My biggest worry is, how can I help BTOB to develop even more in a good way?

Q. Hyunsik said that he wants you to make the title song for the next album.

▲ It doesn’t matter who is going to make the title song, because I wish it’s going to be an album that is settled by all members. It’s more comfortable and fun that way, because our own color can be shown in the album. We took the initiative in ‘Feel’eM’ and ‘Brother Act’ albums and put lots of thoughts into it.

[Yook Sungjae]

Q. It’s been decided that you will appear in SBS ‘Master in the House’

▲ It’s a show about living and experiencing the life of the experts together at their house and having them as our master. We look back on how the master have reached their success and gain some wisdoms from them. It won’t be just a funny variety show, but I think it will give me lots of help. We only have filmed the first episode, but personally, there are many things I’ve received from the show already.

Q. What is the definite reason that made you decide to appear on the show?

▲ It’s Lee Seunggi. Even before they decided on the program title, and heard that he would appear on the show, I went, “aigoo, of course I have to do it” and confirmed it right away. We were not close originally, but I respect him a lot ever since a long time ago. Since he is the person who already walks on the path that I want to pursue, I feel like there will be many things that I could learn from him even by standing beside him.

Q. You released a self-composed song ‘Paradise’ in your solo album. Can we see it as a sign that you will participate in the album making from now on?

▲ No (laugh). I once said that I would compose a song, but I kept not doing it. And so I just went, “now I’m going to work on the song. I’m starting now,” and made the song just like that. It’s a work to fulfill my promise to the fans. I’m not working on any song right now, but I’m still getting some inspirations. Though it's just up to the point where I only plan it inside my head. Haha.

Q. The closer you get with each other, the more you will be able to say bitter words toward them. What is the most severe words that you have said to the members?

▲ When something is not right, then I will say no straightforwardly. I’m a straightforward and honest person. To be specific, I often say trivial things like, “Changsub hyung, you gain weight”. When I watch Changsub’s musical, I went like, “I think he couldn’t stay still.” Speaking of which, I really talk about Changsub a lot (laugh)

Q. Is there any of your 2017 plan that came true?

▲ I wanted to take some rest, and I think my goal about that has come true (laugh). I feel like my mental state is getting better as I rest. I was really happy that I could go fishing a lot and meeting many people I couldn’t meet before because I was too busy. I always like to reward myself after working hard, and I think it was that kind of time. This also makes me think, now that I have played this much, I should work harder.