FIRST LOOK May 2021 Interview with The Boyz

Interview with The Boyz

 

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Q: When you decided to participate in <Kingdom>, what were your first thoughts?

 

→ Jacob: “We’d raced forward with the goal of making it to , so when we heard the news of it starting, I think my heart raced a lot. On one hand, we were worried a lot, but it was also an opportunity for us to challenge ourselves and improve once again. So we started off with a firm resolve”.

 

→ New: “Honestly at first, I felt pressured and my heart felt heavy as well. By participating in , we were able to leave behind many good performances. We had to produce results that would surpass those stages, so rather than it being like a battle between us and the (other) teams, I thought it was more like a fight with ourselves. If I had been doing this by myself, I don’t think I would have been able to take on the challenge so easily. But because I was doing it together with the members, I was able to gain courage and begin (this challenge)”.

 

→ Juyeon: “We felt a lot of pressure early on in the program. People’s expectations of us became very high through . It felt like we’d already brought out everything we could show them, and we worried a lot about what more we could do. Laying those burdens down was our biggest task. We tried to go about focusing only on our performances, with our minds more at ease. While doing the competition with the members, I think we were able to gradually find peace of mind”.

 

 

Q: As a team that has experienced <Road to Kingdom>, what do you think has changed the most compared to that time?

 

→ Juyeon: “Our mindset when we go onstage. During <Road to Kingdom>, our foremost thoughts were things like, ‘We have to do well, our goal is 1st place, I want to win’. But now, it’s changed to ‘Let’s make a good performance while being happy/enjoying it’. Our thoughts of obsessing over ranks have vanished, and instead, I think we’ve gradually gotten to feel the fun of the competition itself, little by little. Out of all the participants in <Kingdom>, I want to be the happiest while enjoying this stage’. This is what I’ve been thinking whenever I go onstage”.

 

 

Q: In order to create performances with a high level of completion for every competition round, the members come together closely to work hard together?

 

→ Eric: “It might just be for one performance, but we really prepare and practice a lot for each one. While doing <Kingdom>, the members really talked to each other a lot. I think that compared to when it’s just yourself, when all eleven of us are gathered together, we are able to come up with ideas that are much better and more diverse. So we try to use as much time as we can to gather together in one place and to coordinate with each other. We do this while (focusing) on each and every single expression and gesture according to the lyrics, in detail. Through the process where we blend together the members’ various opinions in harmony, I think we are able to gradually bring the performance closer to a degree of perfection”.

 

→ Kevin: “It was like this during <Road to Kingdom> as well, but whenever we decide on the concept, I try my best to participate and take the lead. I really like pop and have lots of interest in musicals, so I’m the type to research a lot of different things. Thanks to that, I’m able to gain a lot of new ideas. The other members also probably feel the same way, but we always have a desire to try new things. Like for <Road to Kingdom>, for the intro of ‘Danger’ or the badges for the outfits for ‘Reveal’, etc. All of those are products of us challenging ourselves to do something new. I want us to keep challenging ourselves, and to show a new kind of music, performance, and stages”.

 

 

Q: While doing <Kingdom>, when was the time it felt the most difficult (or when you felt the proudest)?

 

→ Hyunjae: “After finishing the 1st round, I think it felt pretty difficult for quite some time. Not just me, but shall I say, it was all the members that felt low-spirited? Seeing as we were doing another competition, we did feel tired and I think our confidence fell. So the members talked together more, and made an effort to become each other’s strength. We did this while thinking of the fans that must be looking forward to The Boyz’s bright and confident selves”.

 

→ Jacob: “We felt a lot of different things while preparing for the 2 nd round. It was a mission where we had to reinterpret SF9’s song, ‘O Sole Mio’ in our own colors. It wasn’t easy to produce a feeling that was as cool as (or more than) the original song. After thinking over it a lot, we combined it with a new genre, tango. With this, we tried to surpass the limits of the concept. As much as it was a hard challenge, it was difficult - but I think we were able to experience and gain a lot through it”.

 

 

Q: While preparing for the competition, what did you emphasize & focus on the most?

 

→ Eric: “A clear storyline. During as <Road to Kingdom> as well, we presented a stage composition through which we could show a different story for each song. From ‘Danger’, to ‘Reveal’, and up to ‘Checkmate’, we continued the storyline through those stages. We received many reviews that it was good because the viewers could immerse themselves into (the story). We also want to make it possible to show stages in <Kingdom> that have a dramatic story integrated into them”.

 

 

→ Hyunjae: “During <Road to Kingdom>, we put a lot into showing performances that translated by @dearhyunjaes were showy and memorable. For <Kingdom>, we went a step further and immersed ourselves fully into the characters and the story (shown onstage), and emphasized on expression. For every measure of the song lyrics, and every single facial expression & body gesture. We practiced really hard to make sure all of those would be relayed properly to the viewers”.

 

→ Sunwoo: “I think immersion is the most important thing. When every single one of us onstage is immersed completely, and knows clearly what story we want to relay and we try to express it sincerely – it’s only then that we can create a performance with no gaps at all”.

 

 

Q: What do you think the members talk about most amongst themselves?

 

→ Sunwoo: “‘Let’s believe in ourselves’. When being immersed in a competition, it’s inevitable that you’ll feel low-spirited sometimes. During those times, we give and receive these words with each other – ‘We’re doing completely well enough, so let’s have confidence and work hard’. We talk about not obsessing over ranks as well, but honestly when it comes to a competition, there’s no way you can’t be conscious of the ranks. We’re aware of them, but we try not to be swayed by them. Through our experience in <Road to Kingdom>, we’ve become more firm in those kinds of thoughts. Amongst the people I’ve been meeting lately, there are people that say they search for & watch our <Road to Kingdom> stages, even now. That shows that performances are like a record that last for that long of a time. I try not to forget the fact that a moment of myself can be captured as an everlasting impression like that. I’ve been going onstage every time while thinking that I want to engrave good performances into (memory), just like how you might engrave a tattoo.”

 

 

Q: It seems like you’d gain a lot of strength even just by having the members by your side.

 

→ Haknyeon: “I think that ultimately, I wouldn’t have been able to create an amazing stage if I had been by myself. Out of the six teams (in Kingdom), ours has the most members. I think that’s a great strength of The Boyz. Because we have many members, we’re able to utilize a large span of the stage, which means it’s possible for us to incorporate stage presentation that is that much more grand. What’s more is that when the eleven of us show off our sharp/synchronized group choreography, we can create a great kind of energy. When we are discussing ideas or when we are saying ‘Fighting!’ as well, even just each of the eleven of us taking turns to say something becomes a big help. More than anything, while taking on many different challenges together from <Road to Kingdom> to <Kingdom>, our trust in each other has become unshakeable. We did a lot of moves where we’d personally carry the members, throw them, jump over them, and catch them. We felt nervous too at first, but after continuing to try and do those things, it feels easy now. I’m someone who tended to get the role of ‘catching’ the others, so to the members who had to jump around, I’d try to give them this kind of feeling – ‘I’ll save you, no matter what, do it while trusting in me’. I believed that all the members would do really well in each of the roles they were given, so I think I was able to always stand onstage with confidence”.

 

 

Q: What is the thing you feel you have improved upon most while doing the competition?

 

→ Younghoon: “More than anything, our teamwork has become stronger. Like Haknyeon said, we had a lot of choreography with a high level of difficulty, but I think we were able to pull it off coolly because each of us do our own parts well while having a sturdy foundation of trust (in each other). There were times when it’d be mentally difficult and I’d feel daunted, but when the members would gather and share honest talks with each other, I could strengthen my mentality. It feels like we’ve truly become one team, where we support and guide each other”.

 

→ New: “The members have all improved their own individual skills a lot too. Honestly, there was a stage where we felt restricted, and there was a challenge that made me have doubting thoughts like, ‘Can we really pull this off?’ As a vocalist, I particularly felt a lot of responsibility and pressure. But even so, I think I was able to overcome those obstacles while practicing with the members. I also felt a lot of happiness about being able to take on the challenge of trying out different music genres. I feel a bit embarrassed about this, but including to myself, I want to say to the members, ‘You did well’ and ‘I feel really proud of you’”.

 

 

Q: Even when comparing with any other team, what do you think is the strength of The Boyz that you feel confident in?

 

→ Changmin: “I wonder, all teams have their own distinctive charms, but I think The Boyz’s own color is indisputable. It’s the charm we have with 11 members each having their own diverse colors, and those members coming together as one. While doing a competition, we come to feel our own strengths more clearly. And just like we have been doing up to now, we’ll continue to keep improving and showing you a better version of ourselves”.

 

 

Q: When <Kingdom> is over, The Boyz will probably have changed into a (team) that has grown a level more, right?

 

→ Sangyeon: “Of course. We received a lot of attention through <Road to Kingdom>, and I think we were able to show a side to ourselves that has matured a level higher while taking on <Kingdom>. While continuing to challenge ourselves and practice, we also continue to discover new sides to ourselves that we didn’t know about before. While going through the process of discovering and realizing our dormant potential, we gain more ambition to keep doing even better, and expectations to keep doing well. And now, we want to transform those ambitions and expectations into skills. We’ll show you The Boyz continuing to always improve, without stopping”.

 

 

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(translated by @dearhyunjaes)

scans cr. @ ju1over

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