The VID
Q. Why did you choose to hold a concert through MGigs?
M: Truthfully there aren’t many opportunities like this in Korea, to perform live on a broadcast. I hope there could be a lot more opportunities like it, and a lot more programs like this. Although we enjoy performing on the music broadcasts, we still aren’t playing live. Like the radio programs in Korea, they often add in live music, and that way we can let our names and music be known. That’s why I like the radio shows more, but I’d really like it if there could be more opportunities for live stages.
Q. How has your most recent album [3.3] been doing?
M: There’s not much awareness going on in Korea, because we’re still unknown, but we have a lot of overseas fans from back when we were still uploading videos to youtube. I think we went up on the Billboard world charts…
S: Oh, right! Our album is titles “3.3” and we went up to 33rd place in the American rock chart..
M: I thought we would go up to 1. 5th is good too. … We also went up to 1st on the Singapore chart.
S: We tend to fall up and down on the Asian Itunes charts…
M: All over Asia… except for Korea XD
S: Seeing that we think “We really have to work harder”
M: We have to work more in Korea…
Q. Is there any part of this album you want to emphasize? (+ How did Chong PD help you in the process?)
M: Our music in the past… had a more youthful feeling to it, but now it’s gotten a lot more mature. We wanted to release this album thinking that this was a new start for us. The sound has also been re-born, it’s more mature; My vocals, too. Some people even think that the singer is different (from before 3.3 vs on 3.3). We focused a lot more on tone, the tone of the whole album.
J: Also, previously, if we wanted to add in a different drum feel or guitar tone than the producer who was working with us would contradict us, and prefer those parts gone or the music to be simpler. Jae was really open to letting us express ourselves and what we wanted to do. He gave us a little leeway, but we took it and ran with it. Rather than appearing wild, I think we’ve made a more complete product. … With Run Away, since I wasn’t able to play the bass for it, and instead used the synthesizer, I think we were able to compose it more freely. More open-minded. Any sound I could imagine, I could add into it.
Q. With James’ injury, what changes were brought into your music?
M: After his injury we wondered whether we would even be able to release an album, since he couldn’t play the bass. But even so, I think we all thought of ways we could continue, and this was the best one. Musically, we have a lot more options available- I’m not saying this is strictly due to what happened, though. I think we are able to have this varied music because we actively thought and actively composed. ((To James) Your turn. | (To the Interviewer) He was the most hard on himself)
J: My team… my group and all the staff at my company had a hard time because of me. I think it’s fortunate we got to work with Jae, and I’m thankful that everyone was patient and waited for me. I feel very lucky that I was able to continue together with my team. Before that, the company had meetings without me- that Moon and Sooyoon would promote, and if I could rejoin them, I would, but if I couldn’t then I wouldn’t. There were meetings like that.
M: There was no doubt. We had to do it together.
J: He wasn’t like this before, but now I’m touched. I love them so much. I’m so thankful.
Q. Is there anything you want to try in the future, musically?
J: I want to go on tour. When we were in America we toured at a lot of clubs, and before the accident we went on tour with Lee Minho for his fan-meetings. That was really fun. But we haven’t been able to do much after that. I really want people to know our music, I’m so proud of it. So I want to tour a lot.
M: An Asian tour…
Q. You’re lined up for a lot of new challenges, but as rookies, are you afraid?
[Q. It seems like you’ve given up on the essential elements for surefire success in the Korean Pop Market. | Formula to Success: a. During mastering, the sound pressure must be loud, b. Fill it up with instrument or chorus, c. If there’s no HOOK, it’s not a song, is it?!]
M: It’s like this…. I’m more afraid of not being able to face new challenges. If you follow the formula for a successful song too much… we’ve tried that before, already. We always had the fear of not being able to do what we wanted, and I think a lot of people can relate. In this industry there are a lot of complicated procedures, that include vocal doubling and whatnot, but we want to do something really simple, with just a lead vocal and simple harmony. We want to fill it up with the sound of instruments, and even in the last track, it starts off R&B but ends with rock. We really wanted to freely make music like this.
[M-Gigs supports RP’s brave stance and authenticity towards music <3]
Q. What are your plans for the future?
Interviewer: We thought you would be promoting up until March, since your album title is 3.3.
RP: XD (We’ll stop promoting on exactly March 3rd. LOL)
M: We want to prolong this promotion period for as long as we can. I think it’d be nice if we could even release a new song in the middle or something. Other than Run Away, we are planning on promoting a different song, as well. We really want to try a lot of things in the new year. Make a lot of music, release a lot of albums, have a lot of performances…
English translations by setsailroyalpirates~ Please credit! >.<
