The world is defined into before and after the Big Bang. Of course, this is in regards to astrophysics. It was only after the Big Bang that time, space and order came into existence. And it is now that group Big Bang seems to fit their name better than ever — not because the tracks to their fourth mini-album released in two years and three months has topped various music charts and public broadcaster SBS and cable music channel Mnet created separate comeback programs for them. On March 4, Big Bang said in an interview that they will not dwell on how high they rank on charts nor on promoting their album and instead spoke of how they want to create a new idol group culture and their hopes for the music market. Below are excerpts from the group interview.
Q: We had fun watching “Secret Big Bang.” [Big Bang's parody of SBS TV series "Secret Garden"] (laugh) You had performed it at your “BIG SHOW” concert as well. Had you planned to show it on SBS?
G-Dragon (GD): Yes, we had.
Q: Then you must’ve felt quite a big of pressure about that from the very beginning.
T.O.P: We did. We were already pressured about making a comeback for the first time in two years and three months but there were also so many who had liked the original show so we tried even harder to make it funny.
GD: We would’ve been able to make it funnier if it was just going to be for our concert but it was going to go on national television so we had it shot in line with broadcasting regulations.
Q: You said you felt pressured… I think you must’ve felt the same for how SBS and Mnet produced special programs for your comeback.
T.O.P: What we felt the most pressure about was that we were worried people might misunderstand that we’re receiving some kind of special treatment. That’s why we tried even harder to show people we’re doing our best and were more attached to each and every performance we put on.
Q: How did it feel to put on performances like that for the first time in a long time? Hadn’t you each acquired stronger individualities over the past two years and three months?
Seungri: A lot of people were saying that to us ahead of our comeback… What will you do if people see you as who you are as individuals instead of your group Big Bang because each of you have gained ground in the industry after pursuing many activities solo or if Ji-yong’s part will sound him from his solo album. But we went on stage to make our comeback and saw that we worked together well and looked good. We worked extremely hard, as if we’re new singers again, to show that.
T.O.P: We have always worked hard. (laugh)
Seungri: We have but twice as hard. Our leader minded to the rehearsals a lot as well — to the point he said whoever is tardy should pay a fine.
T.O.P: It actually was something we were worried about a lot but I think the public now wants the unique energy each of us give off as individuals. We too have the pride that we wouldn’t be who are if we weren’t members of Big Bang and will try to show as many various sides to us as possible to the point that it doesn’t get excessive.
Q: Then was that how you started on your album? With the mindset that you need to work well together in a uniform manner?
GD: We tried not to because we didn’t want the album to become too much like that. We worked on this album for two and a half years and “TONIGHT” came out a year and a half ago. Like Seungri said, our album might sound like a collaboration of five singers but the vibe the song gives off isn’t necessarily like that. I think Big Bang is about how well we work with each other, no matter how different we are and unlikely it seems we’ll mix. I think the song does a good job of showing how we harmonize. And I rather had fun producing the song instead of facing any difficulties.
Q: I think it must’ve been fun putting together song “WHAT IS RIGHT” because it seemed that where there are subtle changes to the song falls in line with when the vocals change.
GD: Everybody gives off different vibes with their voices, right? Taeyang’s voice is R&B-ish but also thin and tender while Daesung has a bold Korean voice? And Seungri sounds mournful while T.O.P has a masculine and husky voice. My voice is thin, just like when I talk. So I have a lot of fun producing because we’re all very different. It’s fun putting together our sounds and everyone balances out the song in different ways so things never get boring. Each song may only be three minutes long but I think that’s why it feels like that time goes by quickly.
Q: Did your album come out late because you were trying out a lot of variations then?
T.O.P: It had to do with us being in Japan and pursuing a lot of activities individually. We didn’t even know two years and three months had passed. And it’s not like any of us had taken time off either. Hence we felt a lot of pressure to make a comeback that’ll meet up to people’s expectations and were careful in making a comeback because we thought harder about what we shoudl do to show people better music.
GD: This may be something that has been said amongst fans as part of fandom but we hadn’t been out in public for two years and three months so there was a lot of talk about us including the fact that there’s discord in our group. But we would have been under the same understanding as well if we were the public because we weren’t coming out as a group although we were saying we’re getting along fine. At the same time however, we had a tough time whenever we heard of such talk because we would’ve liked for our fans to show more support for us who were preparing our new album. Should I say I was sort of disappointed? Because we were working hard to meet with our fans as soon as we could and making the album while experiencing growing pains but we were hearing otherwise. So I wanted to place things where they used to be after releasing this album.
Q: Speaking of fandom, I remember you saying on cable music channel Mnet’s “Big Bang TV Live” that you don’t want to become musicians that get trapped in fandom.
T.O.P It’s because we want to show how much we grow. We believed that we should show our individuality to the extent it isn’t excessive rather than do things that any other group does for the public.
Taeyang: I think it’s dangerous to let ourselves stay who our fans want us to be as our fandom gets bigger because we’ll be inclined to think we must do that. But what I want is on the other side so limitations will form to the music that I want to do. That’s why I think we’ll be able to show how we’ve improved by doing what we want to rather than mind fandom too much.
T.O.P: It’s not like we have a huge goal or that we’re heading for something but we’re in an environment where we can easily get trapped inside the structure of being idols in Korea. That’s why I’m hoping we’ll become a group that’ll show a lot of things without being trapped inside that, do music that people really want even if we’re idols and resolve dissatisfactions and serve substitute satisfaction by listening to us.
Q: I think substitute satisfaction and resolution has to do with the attitude your team has, not just music.
T.O.P: I think we’re about freedom, not fake freedom where we’re pretending to be free on the outside. We get stressed a lot when we’re trapped inside something.
GD: And I think that defines our group. It has become what Big Bang is about and what are performances and music are like. We’d probably end up being the same idol group as all other idols if we get trapped inside fandom or a lot of other things. But we wanted to go about things differently, we believed that what we think is right and my opinion comes first, so we made a lot of attempts musically. I think that worked with our fans as well and gave them good opinions of us.
Q: I think there are things the public allows you to do because of such an image. For example, playing the guitar, then breaking it in “TONIGHT” could easily seem like a show but it’s accepted because it’s Big Bang.
GD: I think it’s an issue of confidence and we’ve come to gain the confidence that whatever we do will pretty much be okay. And that’s why we do those things but it’s up to us to make sure that it doesn’t come off as excessive or strange to people. Of course we’re actually embarrassed though. It’s not like we’re actually playing the guitar but it would show if we kept thinking we’re embarrassed.
Q: As a team doing the music you want, you must have a lot of thoughts regarding how idol groups like TVXQ or SS501 have recently split and go their own ways.
GD: Of course because they’re our senior and junior singers. The reason we’ve ended up a bit different from them is that we resolved our differences in music through our solo activities. I think that’s why we fight less or agree less when we’re back as Big Bang compared to other groups. I think these are issues that go down to how they’re solved when they came about so it would’ve been better if they had looked further ahead on a broader perspective.
(source: 10asia)
0 coments:
Post a Comment