[TRANSLATIONS] Daesung’s interview from Electric Love Tour photobook

Found out from the slip that the translator wrote that Daesung’s Japanese is very good! How about we conduct today’s interview entirely in Japanese? (Laughs)
Please no! What to do~!! Ah~ What to do~!!!

It should not be a problem with your level of Japanese! How did you manage to learn Japanese with such a busy schedule?
Up to now, I still attend Japanese classes when I have the time. When I stay in Korea, I don’t have the opportunity to use common Japanese words so I keep on forgetting them. That’s why when I go to Japan, I try to converse as much as I can in Japanese.

Whose Japanese is the best among the members? Isn’t it D-LITE?
Ah~ (shy smile) It’s definitely not me. The best is V.I.

Both of you act as MCs during live perfomances.
I can’t really do it but V.I. is very enthusiastic.

Oh! So V.I is reliable when you MC? (*MC used as a verb)
Yes, but only during MC-ing. (Laughs)

You didn’t come back to Japan after a long time. Did it take a lot of time to get back the feel of speaking Japanese again?
There are a lot of things I’ve forgotten. But before coming to Japan, I reviewed in Korea so I felt a bit more at ease. However, when I arrived in Japan, I realized that there are still a lot of words I don’t know… so I told myself that I still have to work harder.

Remembering, forgetting, remembering…it’s repetitive. But with hard work, you will have good results.
This is what I believe too! When I’m reading the script, if there are words I don’t understand, I write it down on a notebook. We have different styles of learning. V.I learned from watching Japanese TV shows and movies.

What new Japanese word did you learn recently?
ちょうどいい. [Romanization: Choudo ii]

Why isn’t it something like “you’ve worked hard”? Why this word? (Laughs)
The teacher said “ちょうどいい” loudly during class. Although this is a bit different from how people usually learn, this word left a deep impression on me.

Oh, so that’s how it is.
Umm…about that… what does “ちょうどいい” mean? Sorry, I’ve forgotten. (Laughs)

In English it means “just”. It stands for “just right”.
Ah~ now, I know. So that’s what it means.

Do you have the habit of asking when you don’t understand?
Yes. When I’m outside the classroom and I don’t understand something, I will call my teacher. I ask, “what does this mean? please tell me” to verify. I also check the lyrics in Japanese because it’s hard to sing something you don’t understand.

Has D-LITE always been such a hardworking person?
I just always have to keep reviewing and reviewing.

Were your grades very good during your student days?
Boo hoo~~~ Please don’t ask me this question~ (Laughs)

OK, I will take note of that.
Ah~ Mathematics is my best subject! I like questions which make you think hard in order to solve them.

Ah, so you’re more of a Mathematics and a Physics person. Are you the type who does homework during your holidays?
No, I play during the holidays. As for the homework, I always finish them at the last minute.

What kind of games do you play?
Games like soccer because I am good at sports. When I go out with friends, we usually play sports.

So you’re also quick at running away? (Laughs)
Compared to Usain St. Leo Bolt (world’s fastest runner)… ah, saying that is a bit too much. (Laughs) I didn’t change much from when I was young. When I do something with concentration, I tend to forget other things around me. There were cases when I didn’t go home until very late and made my family worry.

Have you always been a “good mood setter” since you were young?
When I was young, I was a mischievous boy.

You’re the type who bullies people they like, right?
That’s right! (Eyes widen) How did you know? (Laughs)

That’s because most mischievous children are evil ghosts.
Evil ghosts??? [Daesung is probably shocked at this point.]

By evil ghosts, I mean people who are not frank when they like someone. They express it the opposite way instead… like bullying.
You’re talking about me, right? (Laughs)

When was your first love?
I liked a girl from the third year of primary school until the first year of junior high but I never had the courage to confess.

So it’s an unrequited love! Why did you give up during the first year of junior high?
I found out that she already had a boyfriend.

It ended up being a love without an ending. After this experience, do you now take the initiative to confess?
No…I still can’t. (Mock crying)

Are you able to express your views to the other members?
I can talk about things relating to BIGBANG… But since I don’t want to fight with anyone, I usually keep silent. (Laughs)

You’re a peacemaker, then.
Yes. This is really how I am towards people so I usually can’t say what I really want to say. When I meet with the other members, even though there are things I really want to say, I end up not saying them at all.

Have you started voicing out your thoughts?
Hmm~ Last year.

(Smile) After being with the members for five years finally…
I don’t say everything though. It’s not exactly about being tolerant of things I don’t like. It’s like, even if I don’t say anything, I just try to understand what the other person is thinking. That’s just the way I am. Not just to the members. I treat all people like this.

Don’t you feel tired sometimes?
To be honest, of course, I do, sometimes. But I’m used to it. (Laughs)

Don’t you complain to the members?
No.

So, when the other members are down, what does D-LITE do?
Although I don’t directly comfort them, I make jokes to lighten up the mood and make them smile.

Are there any instances when you would feel like bursting into tears all of sudden?
I would never cry on the outside… but there was an instance when I cried alone at home. It’s not because I was not contented or because I was sad. It was because I watched a very touching film and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I watched “ハチ公物语”. (Laughs)

[Note: "ハチ公物语" or "Hachiko Monogatari" is a story of a dog's life from his birth up until his death and an imagined spiritual reunion with his master. Hachiko is the national symbol of loyalty in Japan.]

That movie does make people cry! That also means D-LITE is surprisingly mature!
After the accident (the car accident of August 2009 which took four weeks to recover), my mentality became stronger. I became more determined at doing everything. Nothing else is scarier than wandering between life and death so I realized that I should always think positively. I just think, “I can’t waste any opportunity” and it instantly lifts my mood and makes me feel grateful to experience even think I don’t even like.

What do you think your role in BIGBANG is?
If we’re a family, then I’m the uncle…that kind of relative. (Laughs)

To say that you’re an uncle! That isn’t really part of the family anymore. Is it because you feel some kind of distance?
When I was young, I had an uncle who would occasionally drop by. He gave me the impression of bringing a happy atmosphere to the family. He’s not there 24/7, he’s not very close with the family and he doesn’t interfere. Isn’t that good?

What about the other members?
G-DRAGON is the father and SOL is the mother. G-DRAGON leads BIGBANG as a strict leader. The one firmly supporting at the back is SOL.

What about T.O.P?
T.O.P is the newborn baby. (Laughs) I’m joking! Honestly though, I really do think this is accurate. About 20%. He himself said it before too. “I want to eat rice rice~” [copying T.O.P] He says what he thinks and do things in his own way. V.I is a pet, maybe a small dog or a poodle. (Laugh) Just like a dog, he expresses himself well in front of anyone.

He does have times when he expresses himself too much. (Laughs)
Indeed. (Laughs) I, on the other hand, have more self-control. So I really envy V.I.

It indeed is a contrast. D-LITE is known as “Doradae” because you like Doraemon. If Doraemon really exists, what tool do you want him to give you? Is it really the Anywhere Door?
Oh oh~ I do want the Anywhere Door. (Laughs) With that, I can arrive from Korea to Japan instantly and I can also go from the house to the stage. It really is a tool perfect for BIGBANG!

That is right! Talking about live stages, in Electric’ Love Tour’s solo corner, the “Som Sa Tang (Cotton Candy)” performance totally brought out the fantasy-like view of the world and the soft sound of your voice! Ah, there was also a scene where you just woke up and we got a sneak look at how D-LITE is like usually… That was so full of D-LITE’s humour.
Ah~ That was embarrassing~ (Laughs) I was actually really happy during filming and did not feel embarrassed at all.

From the film, it seems waking up too fast is not good. Do you always wake up with a smile?
Yes, I always wake up cheerfully. (Laughs) I need to sleep earlier than the other members. If the work yesterday was finished, I sleep at 12 and wake up naturally at 8 in the morning.

You’re not like an uncle but like a grandfather! (Laughs)
The first thing I do when I wake up is surf the internet while listening to music. That is, using the computer before sleeping and using the computer after sleeping… It’s very convenient having the computer by the bed.

Is that so? During the live stage, there was a surprise of handing out bento to fans. Did D-LITE suggest that?
Yes, I thought of that. Like the chocolates and things inside, as well as the letter I wrote.

It definitely has D-LITE’s warm hand-made feeling! How is the lounge of the concert venue like?
I always look forward to the after-parties! (Laughs) Spicy noodles, curry, salad, roasted chicken… Before performing, we eat about half. Then, we eat a lot the morning after.

You dance and sing during live performances. Don’t you feel hungry?
Ah, sometimes. (Laughs) During performing, the fans’ faces become food. (Laughs) I’m kidding! Every eye contact with the fans is full of words and everyone wants to happily carry out the concert. If it’s just watching, then, won’t it be better to watch on TV? It’s not easy to be in the same space with everyone else and enjoy at the same time. A live stage has its own feeling of distance so we want to give it a special feel. Every time I stand on stage and hear the fans cheer, I get deeply touched.

Speaking of D-LITE’s charm, you have an overwhelming voice that makes people who listen to it feel moved. No matter how many times one listens to it, they automatically think of an image.
This makes me happy because I always think of a picture when I sing.

At what age did you discover your singing ability?
No, no, I didn’t know about it at all. I did not really like my hoarse voice.

Why? It is a voice that makes people feel drunk… That’s what I think (Laughs)
There’s no such thing. No such thing! My throat was not very good and I was not confident with my voice. The morning before the live stage, I kept working on my vocals and listened to new songs before recording them. I thought about the rhythm and how to sing the lyrics the best and the most suitable way to sing them.

Each member of BIGBANG has his own part. Each of us has his own colour and must show the unique charm of our voices. So when I receive a song, I listen to the other members’ parts first. I have to consider the balance of the group as well as presenting my own colour. Because BIGBANG is a group, it’s not good if only one person shines and has a prominent singing style.

Does this “planning” apply when you sing your own song?
I know that if it’s the same style every time, people will get tired. So I don’t perform like I sing in the CD but I sing until I feel a certain change. Because I can’t always sing in high pitch or a falsetto, I usually practice several times. The constant challenge is always trying to experiment.

As expected, you can gain strength from being persistent.
This is what I think so too. This is why I work hard at expressing a song so I can feel that I am able to improve as a performer.

Which artist does D-LITE aspire to be like?
Brian McKnight. His charm is difficult to describe in words and he gives out a different feel with different angle, hmm…how should I say this?

That is related to Mathematics so you need to think about it first. Music-wise, it’s not enough to just understand the theory but the feeling too. The fact that it’s different is interesting too.
Ah. That right. Music is different. (Smiles) When I listen to Brian McKnight’s music, I get the feeling of being engulfed. I want to sing a song that make my fans feel engulfed by my feelings. After that, with the song, I’ll expand gradually in Japan, making my existence known to a lot of people.

Lastly, what do you really want now?
I’m very happy that the number of our fans in Japan is increasing. I hope BIGBANG will become number one in Japan~! So, personally, I want “LOVE” from fans.

This can’t be enough. D-LITE must give fans “LOVE” too.
I always sing with love. So everybody, please love me! Love me!

Scanned by: 지삿갓 @bestiz
Chinese translation: Sophiell @ SMILE HOLIC
English translation: J-Lene @ www.bigbangupdates.com