Promoting their 2nd album title track ‘Shadow’…”Feeling responsibility with the idol influence”
When an idol group becomes 5 years old you start being called ‘sunbae’ and the busy day to day becomes a lifestyle. 5 year old group BEAST who debuted in 2009 is right at that position.
“I’m used to the singer life now. At the starting stage everything was unfamiliar and pressuring but now I think of it as my career. I’ve started to realize that if I don’t put in the effort then I will fall behind.” (Yoon Doojoon)
BEAST who we met recently in the waiting room at KBS 2TB ‘Music Bank’ was eating their lunch boxes while waiting for the live broadcast. It was a scene that you often see in the waiting rooms.
As the interview started they busily cleaned up their empty lunch boxes and said “When we remember our debut days we’re again thankful of this time now” and “Jokingly we think ‘We should run with all our might while we can’” and they burst out laughing.
BEAST released their second album ‘Hard to love, How to love’ last month. It is their first new album in a year, which is a long time for an idol group. Their title track ‘Shadow’ already got #1 on online charts, and they also won #1 on 3 music shows. Normally male idol groups are weak on the online charts but they are an exception.
Truthfully they did not have a unique team colour during their debut period. They weren’t particularly different from the existing male idol group formula. However as each year passed they started distinguishing themselves from the others.
Yong Junhyung is one of the well known rappers in the idol market and he composed all the songs in their recent second album and rose as a ‘composer-dol’. Yang Yoseob as the main vocal made a success with his solo album, and Jang Hyunseung was appraised for his dancing and singing abilities through his duet with Hyuna ‘Trouble Maker’. Yoon Doojoon in dramas, Lee Kikwang in variety shows, and Son Dongwoon in musicals they showed their talents.
As the members’ roles became clearer they became a golden combination.
As we asked what changed in the past 5 years Jang Hyunseung said “Each of our talents magnified and now we are very comfortable on stage.” Yoseob said “In the beginning I had no confidence in my appearance but now I think I look like a person” and he gently laughed.
During that period they entered the Japanese market, they did a world tour and stood on many global stages, gathering fans at ‘LTE speed’. They have 280 000 members on their official fan cafe, 510 000 people subscribed to the BEAST youtube channel, and they have international fansite in 34 different countries.
“We don’t think that we have reached our peak yet. We haven’t felt that we have reached any position but we can feel that our fans like us. We have a lot of young fans so we work hard to be good influences to them.” (Yang Yoseob)
Yang Yoseob recently wore a bracelet that support the Japanese army comfort grandmothers on broadcast and became a hot issue as a ‘Polite-dol’. This bracelet is sold by the non-profit organization ‘Citizen gathering that supports the comfort woman grandmothers’ brand Heeum.
“3 months ago a fan gave me the bracelet at our fan signing. I wore it since then but I feel embarrassed that it became an issue. However after that fans started wearing the bracelet. I felt it then ‘We can give our fans both good and bad influences’.”(Yang Yoseob)
Son Dongwoon who is called proper young man usually said “Since they say fans follow their singers, I try my best not to use words that sabotage Korean” and “Also when it becomes a national holiday such as Independence Movement Day, Constitution Day, National Liberation Day, Korean Day, etc. I leave a post so that the fans can remember” he explained.
They can feel how much influence idols have in society so they say they feel responsibility. Of course they also emphasize that you have to firmly handle those fans with the wrong kind of heart who follow their personal lives.
Even if they rise in popularity they still need to survive through the fierce competition. They are currently against groups such as Infinite, B1A4, B.A.P. and other groups that appeared after.
Yang Yoseob said “Even if they are rookies when we look at hoobaes it becomes whip” and “It’s not simple comparisons but we find things to learn by looking at their performances and listening to their music” he explained.
And they also prepare for their futures through their sunbaes. It’s because they know that they need to work extremely hard to maintain their peak for a long time.
Yang Yoseob said “A year ago I wrote a post saying ‘We will rise noisily and come down quietly’ and, Son Dongwoon said “As a hobby I do indoor climbing and you climb up relying on one rope and then you fall. If you do not have the courage to fall you can’t go up 13-14m. I realized that ‘You have the right to take a step forward if you have courage.’” and he shared his thoughts.
As their heart grew they say they are now able to handle hate comments flexibly. Jang Hyunseung said “In the hate comments there are some outright comments with proof” and “The bitter words come to heart as well” he emphasized.
We asked what we can anticipate from BEAST from now on.
“All 6 members have a strong desire to become better. Each of us have different talents so during our inactive period we go practice and prepare. So each time we come together as a group the synergy gets bigger.” (Lee Kikwang)
Yoon Doojoon said “Only Kikwangie’s soccer skills are increasing to the point he should take the pro entrance test.” he joked and then he said “I know that it is dificult to maintain the team as time goes by. I’m learning a lot from watching Shinhwa sunbaes” he added.
cr: B2STIZEN.wordpress.com
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