[INTERVIEW] 120425 U-KISS “Our ‘Girlfriend Ban’ Has Been Lifted!”

Idol group U-Kiss (KiSeop, SooHyun, DongHo, Eli, Kevin, AJ, Hoon) has returned!

During their last six months in Japan, U-KISS released an album, ‘A Shared Dream’, and single, ‘Forbidden Love’. They placed second and fifth on the Oricon charts, respectively. The group toured under their ‘First Japan Live Tour 2012′ throughout March in cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and more with successful results. They’ve grown significantly from a popular group to hallyu stars. The pressure and burden to do well in domestic activities has increased. During their time away, several new idol groups have debuted in Korea. Whilst U-KISS was immersed with their foreign activities, many fans had left the fandom. U-KISS expressed with sighs, “It is true that we’re nervous. We heard some fans left us”. But they also added confidently, “We can win them back. During our stay in Japan, we’ve grown a lot”.

> We heard you were extremely successful in Japan.

KiSeop: Rather than saying we hit the jackpot, it was more of a medium-sized success. After placing 2nd on the Oricon chart, we finally felt some sense of popularity. Our Japanese agency, AVEX, complimented us on our ‘fast progression’. I was most happy when I saw the growth of our popularity with the number of fans.

> If you had a concert now, how many seats could you fill?

SooHyun: If we were in Tokyo, we would be able to fill Super Arena (T/N: Approx. 37,000 seats). In other provinces, we heard we filled around 3,500 seats. In July, we’re preparing for additional tour dates in nine cities. It’s about 3,500 seats each, which total up to 45,000 seats. That’s our goal.

- What appeals to Japanese fans the most?

DongHo: Japanese fans like to enjoy watch their artist from afar. We approached them with a friendly manner, to a point where intimacy was used. After a concert ends, we would individually approach fans and shake hands with each one of them. We’d have eye contact and talk to them too. This is different to how other Japanese artists approach their fans, so rather than friends, we receive compliments of being like family.

- What are your future plans for overseas activities?

Kevin: First off, on the 10th of next month, we’ll be heading to Colombia. We’ll be attending a music festival there as the Asia representatives. We’ll be on stage alongside Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Pitbull. The fact that Colombian fans are awaiting our performance is very exciting. I want to see Shakira’s hip dance. I also plan to visit her backstage room and take a sel-ca with her, haha.

- Recently, in Korea, several new idol groups have emerged.

AJ: The standards of skills and image increases everyday with idol groups. We are nervous. We heard some of our fans left us for other groups, but we’ll just get them back. Our shows in Japan helped us grow. We can use this growth to show how much better we’ve become.

- Kim HyungSuk worked and composed songs on your new album.

SooHyun: He’s a composer famous for his ballads, so we wondered what it would be like if he worked with dance music. Being one of the best composers, he does things differently. He gave us songs that showcase our manly image, but were also addictive. He came to our Japanese concert to evaluate our skills and style, and he carefully crafted the concept for us. We’re extremely grateful towards him.

- What kind of song is the title track, ‘DORADORA’?

SooHyun: It’s built around being sexy. Our expressions are all towards being sexy. We prepared sheer, red clothing for our performances. Sheer material with a red costume. We listened to over 100 potential tracks in Japan. We were really involved with the entire process because it’s an important album. It is the song that we’ve personally selected.

- We heard your ‘Girlfriend Ban’ was lifted!

Hoon: Our representatives told us, “You can have a girlfriend. Just don’t get caught!”. Haha, now that we’ve been told that, it’s hard for us too. As idols, we’re on the unpopular side. How sad. We received nothing amongst a popular boy group vote. I love Son YeonJae, Park HaSeon noonas. And I also like Han JiMin sunbae!

- We’re coming into your fifth year since your debut. What do you think you’ll be like at your 10th anniversary?

DongHo: We’ll release a 10th anniversary album first, and then it’ll lead to a world tour. Starting in Seoul, we’ll take one year to perform all over the world. That would be amazing. I want to become like Shinhwa sunbaes. After their recent comeback, I was brought to tears and had goosebumps.

- What are your dreams for this year?

Eli: We’d like to achieve number one on a music program! Also, like ‘ManManHaNi’ and ‘BingeulBingeul’, we want our song to be well known for how they are addictive and fun.

Credits: Isplus + pigger995 @ ROCKETBOXX.NET (Translations)