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[Star Interview] 'BEAST, the beast's revenge, Shock'
“We’ll win back the title that girl groups have taken.”
From their powerful ‘V-Tach’ dance to their unstoppable rap.
Six member group BEAST is reviving the name of male groups that have fallen to the ground. With their second mini album (Shock of the New Era), they have come back determined. Of 2010, BEAST was the first to release their album amongst other male groups. Through their comeback, they’ve gained back the thrown that female groups have taken as they showed retaliation. With their powerful performance and their steady live, they showed a performance full of masculinity.
Title song (Shock)’s performance is almost like a roar as it’s full of energy and strength. This proves as to why their name is “beast.”
#The Retaliation Begins
Last October, Beast made their debut. Along with their appearance, they brought in a lot of attention also. In famous groups’ audition programs, Yoon Doojoon and Jang Hyunseung’s drama-like comeback along with Lee Kikwang who made a debut as a solo singer, a one-of-a-kind group formed as it brought in a lot of attention. Also, songs like (Bad Girl) and (Mystery) made themselves on the top of the charts. However, the self-criticism of the members were negative.
“We have a lot of disappointing moments. From the amount we practiced, I think our greed stepped before us. We were in too much of a rush to perfect our stage performances.” (Hyunseung)
“With our song, choreography, and the style, I didn’t think they unified together well enough.” (Yoseob)
From the amount of praise they received, the members criticized themselves as they said that they didn’t leave an eminent mark in the music scene. As they gritted their teeth, they never took practice as a joke as they continued to fill up their missing 2% during their promotional activities.
“It begins now. We now know our weak points and our own style.” (Junhyung)
“We have confidence to not fall behind any of the groups out there performance wise. I think it’s most important to reassure yourself that you can do it.” (Doojoon)
#The Difference between Complete and Evolution
The (Shock) performance seems to be elaborated well. The most eye-catching part is how well they perfect their live performances. Already a standard to such performance, a powerful dance is one thing but they’ve been unstoppable in perfecting both their singing and rapping. Being able to move freely, the members almost resemble a “wheel.”
“Through long years as a trainee, all of our skills are even. We’re often envied by others because we don’t have a “flawed member” in our group.” (Hyunseung)
Through their rejection, they express themselves through their ‘vtach’ dance. A scientific term, ‘vtach’ is used online as compliments when seeing an amazing performance that will make your heart stop. As a group that has visuals along with being able to perform live, this group isn’t stopping and is known to have “perfection.”
“(Shock) isn’t a hook song. It is a dance song but the melody was emphasized. Since we constantly repeat it, we have to show the change of flow on stage. It’s a hard mission but I think the sense of accomplishment will be greater. As we fill in the missing parts, we go on stage and don’t feel worn out because of it.” (Doojoon)
Sports Korea Reporter Kim Sunghan wing@sportshankook.co.kr
Photos = Reporter Yoon Kwanshik newface1003@sportshankook.co.kr
CREDITS: hankooki (SOURCE); SEOULFOOOD@B2ST Rising (TRANS)
Bugs Music Catch, An interview with all the members
It has been a girl group craze for a while but now the boy groups are stretching out and are becoming very active. Amongst the many idol groups, there is one group that debuted last October that is becoming very popular. As soon as they debuted last year, they received the rookie award: Beast. Because of the team name, many people anticipated their rough image but they also received nicknames like "pet dol" and "nam-chin dol" (T/N Namchin= boyfriend). If you get to know them, BEAST isn't a beast, but they received their name from the phrase So Beast meaning that they are cool. Following 'Bad Girl', 'Mystery', in their 2nd mini album, Yoon Doojoon, Jang Hyunseung, Lee Kikwang, Yong Junhyung, Yang Yoseob, and Son Dongwoon returned as charismatic men with 'Shock'. Let's now meet BEAST.
Bugs> Recently, it has litterally been a Shock. Beast who returned with the 2nd Mini Album Shock. First, send greetings to the Bugs family.
BEAST> Hello Bugs family, we're BEAST. Thank you so much for loving BEAST and Shock, and we love Bugs music too, so please have more interest in us.
Bugs> For people who want to know more about BEAST, please introduce your album.
Dongwoon> I'm Dongwoon and I'm in charge of the vocals and being the maknae. (T/N Maknae means youngest of the group)
Yoseob> I'm lead vocalist Yang Yoseob
Doojoon> I'm leader Doojoon
Hyunseung> Hello, I'm Hyunseung
Junhyung> I'm the rapper Junhyung
Kikwang> Hello. I'm Kikwang
Bugs> What kind of song is the 2nd mini album's title song, shock?
Dongwoon> Similar to Bad Girl, this time Shin Sa Dong, Ho Rang, and Lee Sang Hoon composers showed us their great teamwork. It's a bit different from the Hook style that already existed with a melodious song and this time we experimented with Rock and Electronic style and made a genre caled Rock Electronic. Recently, a lot of people use autotune, but we did not use any autotune in the whole album which makes us different from others.
Bugs> I heard that there was a lot of hardships because of Shock's choreography. How long did it take to perfect the dance. And in the midst of this were there any episodes?
Junhyung> Honestly when we were filming the MV we didn't really get to practice beforehand. Because Doojoon had a lot of entertainment show schedules, he couldn't practice for a week and we filmed the music video. After that, before we made our comeback, we practiced really hard for about 2-3 weeks, but because the choreography is so fierce, even though we have all danced before, our muscles were so sore after the first time we learned it, we could barely walk. In my case, while we were practicing, my thigh muscles suddenly cramped up, so I couldn't walk properly for 3 days.
Bugs> You guys received the rookie award that you can only receive once in your life time at at the Seoul Gayo Daesang. You guys debuted at the second half of the year, and you must have anticipated the rookie award. How did you guys feel when you heard your name BEAST for the award?
Doojoon> It was very touching. Honestly, we didn't think we would get it. There were so many talented and great rookies that debuted, we definitely thought that we would not be able to receive it, but we're really thankful that we got the rookie award. We are working really hard as if we received something that we weren't supposed to get. (What did you guys do after you got the award that night) Because it was during our promotions, we went to the practice room.
Bugs> The show High Kick Through the Roof that Kikwang appeared in has ended. Do either Kikwang or the rest of the members have any thoughts of acting in the future?
Doojoon> We don't have any set plans for acting, but as soon as High Kick Through the Roof ended, Kikwang was added to the MBC Sunday Sunday Night 'Hot Brothers', so he will be able to show himself to everybody. We will show everybody a BEAST that appears in many different fields.
Bugs> Your apartment got bigger after you moved, but I heard that you guys still share one room. If 6 boys use the same room, I think there will be a lot of difficulties. If there is something that you really want somebody to change, please tell us.
Junhyung> We do use one room for all 6 members in our apartment, but we only sleep and come out so there isn't that much discomfort. But of course, there are some members at night that don't sleep and do other things. (Who are they) Hyunseung and Kikwang don't sleep a lot. I don't know what they do on the computer, but at night they don't sleep but do other things. Because of this, I think it would be better if we could use different rooms. (If this album does well, you might be able to) Yes. We do hope for that kind of thing. However, we try not to lose our original intentions, so all 6 of us will have to sleep together for a while.
Bugs> Your team name is BEAST, but you have friendly nicknames like pet-dols, boyfriend-dols. How do you feel when you hear these?
Junhyung> We originally didn't call ourselves BEAST to seem like beasts. In America, So Beast is a slang term that means something like that's really cool. In our terms, it means That's awesome! (T/N Literally, that kills). After we heard what it meant, we were thinking about naming our team this, but So beast doesn't really stick to your mouth. That's why we decided to name our team BEAST and our greeting to be So beast, but because of this a lot of people at first think that we're supposed to be beasts and rough kids. But after we came out, they realized we have cute kids like Yoseob. (Yoseob is the center of the nickname pet-dol) We got the name pet-dol because of Yoseob.
Yoseob> I got a nickname like Shih Tzu, so we got the nickname pet-dol, and since the fans were friendly when they approached us, it felt really good. And because it seemed like I was the key person, it felt good.
BEAST> (This concept is very strong, is there any nickname that you want) Things like wild animal dol, domestic animal dol, like an upgrade to another level.
Doojoon> Domestic animals that you can raise, but you can't raise at home? I think that would fit well.
Bugs> Doojoon, it seems like you like taking pictures. You seem to upload a lot of pictures on your minihompy (T/N Cyworld)
Doojoon> Because I travel to a lot of amazing places, I want to take pictures so starting from Cambodia, I took a lot of pictures and found it to be fun. I wanted to show it to a lot of people, so I uploaded them through my minihompy.
Bugs> You upload a lot of selcas (T/N self cameras- take pictures of yourself) on your minihompy, are there times when the members try to refrain you from revealing them? Or if there is any episode related to selcas?
Doojoon> I don't take a lot of selcas.
Junhyung> He takes selcas without birds or mice knowing. (T/N That's a Korean idiom meaning that he takes them when nobody knows)
Dongwoon> When I go on my minihompy, they're already uploaded. But the thing that's sad is that Doojoon hyung is really handsome, but the selcas don't do him justice.
Doojoon> Why, it came out well.
Dongwoon> There are some that don't do you justice.
Junhyung> So you're saying that the pictures came out ugly?
Dongwoon> He's very handsome in person, but the pictures don't come out as well.
Bugs> You guys appear on variety shows, is being on stage harder or appearing on variety shows?
Doojoon> Both. They're both hard. On stage, you practice hard for years to be on stage, but it's still hard and in the case of variety shows, because it's our first time doing it, it is very new and you do it with a lot of sunbaenims (T/N- Sunbaenim are the celebrities that debuted earlier than them). It's a very hard place to be, but because the Sunbaenims take care of you so well, it's hard but fun at the same time.
Bugs> The age of the members are all around the same. Even if the members are dongsengs (T/N younger members of the group), it is still hard for the leader, but since the age is nearly the same, I think there would be even harder aspects. Doojoon, what do you think. Who makes the leader struggle the most?
Doojoon> They all equally make me struggle, so I can't really choose one person.
Dongwoon> We don't really wake up easily.
Doojoon> Waking them up in the morning is the hardest. I always wake up earlier and wake them up, but only Yoseob wakes up at once.
Dongwoon> There's me too.
Doojoon> I wake him up several times, he just doesn't remember. It's so hard to wake them up. It's also hard to wake up first. First you have to depend on the alarm sound and you have to wake up on your own will. You have to fight your strong desire to sleep to wake up in the morning, so it's very hard. However, after you wake people up and stuff, it's better. and you also have that sense of achievement if you wake up first.
Yoseob> (If there is something you would like to say to your leader) We ask you to keep doing this for us
Junhyung> We will use you well as an alarm clock.
Bugs> Dongwoon is the maknae, and because you have a lot of hyungs (T/N older boys) are there a lot of hardships?
Dongwoon> If I can't say anything, I get very frustrated so I have to say everything so I don't really have any problems with them.
Yoseob> He's just like a friend. He looks like one too.
Junhyung> There is no sense of incompatibility.
Bugs> On a radio program that Kikwang could not be on, they said that 'the other members care the most about the replies about Kikwang. They also have a lot of greed for the ending'. Do you agree?
Kikwang> I honestly didn't hear that broadcast.
Doojoon> We definitely do have a greed for the ending.
Kikwang> But they don't really care about the comments on the internet. When we see bad comments, we're just like, oh there are people who think that.
Doojoon> (Don't you get stressed looking at mean comments) At first when I was a trainee or right before our debut, we got a lot of stress from it. Because we came from all over the place, a lot of people looked down upon us for no reason. At first we received a lot of pain from it, but after looking at those comments, we decided to work even harder, and we think that a lot of people's opinions changed. Because there are a lot of good comments, we gain a lot of confidence, and use this to work even harder.
Bugs> For Shock, I heard that Hyunseung found a draft for the make up and had some personal input into it. If there is a member that has a particular interest in fashion or make up?
Doojoon> Junhyung and Hyunseung have the most interest.
Bugs> If this is true, when your stylists bring accessories or clothes, do they choose first?
Junhyung> If the stylists prepare it for us, we don't choose. This is because they bring things that match us specifically, so we don't choose, but when they make a draft for our album, we get to give them our own ideas. But honestly, the things we wear on stage is different from street clothes. We don't really get involved in our stage outfits, but we take particular care in our street clothes, but we're still lacking. We have to care more.
Bugs> On Hyuna's 'Change' stage, Junhyung was featured in the song allowing him to promote with her, what was the most different in the two stages?
Junhyung> To tell you the truth, while I was featuring for Hyuna, I felt a little sad. 'Change' was composed by Shin Sa Dong Ho Rang hyung, and I was going to be involved in this, but because it was in the middle of our promotions, I couldn't really get involved. At the end, I just received the song and performed it on stage, I just felt really sorry. Also, if you go to the broadcasting company by yourself, you feel really down. Because Hyuna is a girl, there are some broadcasting companies that let you use the same waiting room, but because I was a boy, they put me in a different room. Because other people are with their team members, I felt really crestfallen. Honestly, while I was performing, I wanted to bring my BEAST members everyday. I thought about this a lot. So when we were preparing Shock, I really wanted to do it. But now that we're doing, It's not that great (laugh). I'm just kidding, it feels good to do it with them.
Bugs> How did the other members feel after watching the stage for 'Change'?
Dongwoon> It was amazing. He did well, and I felt proud.
Doojoon> Everytime I watched him, I felt happy, and I was waiting for the time where we could perform again, and now that we are I'm very happy.
Junhyung> Honestly, a lot of requests to feature for other girl singers were supposed to come, but it didn't. I'm sad (Laugh)
Bugs> Kikwang also had a time when he promoted solo as AJ. What is the main difference between performing solo and performing with BEAST?
Kikwang> First, it's very strengthening when I stand on stage. When I stood by myself, I felt very burdened because I had to do everything by myself, that I had to fill the whole stage by myself. But with a team, you have your own part and you are less burdened.
Bugs> Everybody has different experiences prior to debuting as BEAST. There are members who trained for a long time and other members that got eliminated in the Survival shows. Because these kinds of members joined, I think that the determination level would have been very different. Amongst the members, who do you think was the most spiteful?
Doojoon> I think that Hyunseung really worked the hardest.
Junhyung> Everybody will pick Hyunseung I think.
Doojoon> He had a very public wound and had a lot of hard times. He joined a dance team by himself and worked hard and had the most spite. Seeing him work so hard, we all learned from him.
Bugs> Seeing a team that you would have been a part of or was a part of, how do you feel when you meet them?
Doojoon> It's fun. It's very fun thinking about the past and because I'm with BEAST, it's very reassuring and also get the idea that it worked out for the best. I'm having a lot of fun right now and we're very thankful that we're receiving a lot of love as BEAST.
Bugs> We heard you were going to be involved in the choreography and lyrics. Are you preparing or learning how to compose? Which member do you think will compose a song first?
Doojoon> Well I wouldn't say we practice composing, but we are studying it. I think that Yong Junhyung is going to compose one first.
Junhyung> I am still studying. It's not because I don't see the composer after we finish our work, in our case everytime we can, we have private talks and play around talking about music related stuff too. Because of this, we can look over his shoulder and learn, so we're working hard to try to show you fast.
Bugs> Yoseob received the nickname pet-dol, we're curious to what the reactions of people around you were.
Yoseob> There were very opposite reactions. There were some friends that asked me how I was a pet-dol and others that said it matched well and that I needed to work hard. First, the BEAST members really liked it. They weren't happy because they got the name because of me, but because the public had interest in us and looked well upon us, so we were all happy.
Bugs> When the song comes out, it's natural to look at your parts. Because Junhyung is the only rapper and the rest are vocalists, do you guys think that Junhyung's parts are more secure than the other members?
Junhyung> Doojoon raps very well too, but he let me do it. When we first started preparing, I wanted to rap and I studied it a lot byy myself, so I got to do the rap, at first a guide comes out. When a guide comes out, I always write my own lyrics for my own part, so they leave my parts blank. Because I am the only rapper, my part is a bit more secure.
Doojoon> Junhyung's part is either Mo or Do (T/N This is a Korean idiom meaning that it's either super good, or super bad)
Junhyung> It's either a lot, or a little (regarding his parts), but I'm still satisfied. Like in ballads, when there isn't a lot of parts for me, the vocal members do very well. When there needs to be a rap, I need to work hard in order to make it the best.
Doojoon> (Who distributes the parts for the vocalists) The composers arrange it for us. It's important to listen to the experts. They are way better at music than us and can objectively know each member's talent, so we don't have any complaints and just record.
Bugs> You guys mainly show us fast songs, but do you have any plans on showing us songs with an Easy atmosphere?
Junhyung> We don't have any set plans, but we also want to have the chance to perform a slow, groovy song. However, we spend a lot of time preparing a strong performance, so we are still trying to show our manly side, and afterwards we will be able to show more hot, sticky performance.
Bugs> Dongwoon is the maknae, but doesn't have the appearance as the maknae. What was your reaction when people first started calling you 'Song Elder'?
Dongwoon> But honestly, I acknowledge it now. I decided to accept it. But lately I cut my hair and dyed it a little so there are some people starting to say that I look like the maknae so I feel good. It's an obvious thing, but I still feel good.
Yoseob> (What was your first impression of him) The first impression was very serious. I felt like I had to bow 90 degrees and greet him?
Junhyung> (You first met without knowing his age) After knowing his age and seeing him was more shocking. If I didn't know his age, I would have definitely greeted him, but he was supposd to be 2 years younger, but he looked older? But the way he acts is the maknae. (Does he use aegyo (T/N- act cute)) It's hard to accept it, but he does
Yoseob> He does do aegyo, and sometimes when we have a shooting, he acts like a little kid.
Doojoon> Even though he listens well and is very mature, there are times when he acts like a little kid and it's really cute.
Junhyung> Oh. So cute.
Bugs> We're curious as to what your personal interest in music is.
Junhyung> The members in general like Black music, and in my case I listened to mostly rappers' music, so I think I mostly listen to hip hop. The first time I listened to music, I liked it and until now I still listen, at times I like acoustic music but mostly I listen to hip hop.
Doojoon> I like authentic R&B, and there is a genre that is kind of unfamiliar in our country: Neo soul. It's kind of like a new soul, but has a hip hop beat and has a lot of emotions in the song with a sticky kind of style but I was really into it in middle and high school and I still listen to it now.
Yoseob> I too like R&B songs, but I first got into music by listening to rock, so I really like rock. (What rock music did you like) I liked heavy metal. Like Nirvana, Metallica. I really liked fierce songs, but it doesn't really match with me.
Junhyung> This guy used to be a vocalist for a band and he starts yelling and singing rock in front of us. It doesn't match him.
Dongwoon> I too listen mostly to Black music and I usually listen to songs with strong beats so at night I listen to a lot of New Age and Classical music. My ears need to rest too.
Doojoon> Dongwoon is very good at piano.
Kikwang> I listen to Groovy R&B.
Bugs> It really must have been a debut you have dreamed about and it's been a little less than 6 months since your debut. It was a short period of time, but if you look back, how do you feel. You received the rookie award and you're starting to get some hoobaes (T/N people that debuted after them), so how do you feel whenever you go to the waiting room?
Junhyung> Whenever we go to our waiting room or a broadcasting company, the sunbaenims really take care of us. Whenever we greet them, they always greet back and on top of that they give us a hug and take care of us and whenever they do that we feel good and feel like we have to do even better. Also, it's a little hard to call them hoobaes, but there are a lot of people who debuted after us and honestly there are a lot of amazing people. Everytime this happens, we feel like we need to work harder.
Yoseob> We get a bit nervous and a bit wary.
Bugs> These days the idols have a lot of talent, but there are still people with prejudices and draw a line between you and musicians. What do you think about this?
Junhyung> We all agree that there isn't a separation between idols and musicians. We aren't only trying to appeal in the outward appearance, but we really look at each and every detail, so we practice every night and work really hard. For this reason, we don't think that there is a boundary. If there are people who still have these prejudices, we will work even harder to break that prejudice.
Bugs> Please tell us your future plans in order to make this year BEAST's year.
Doojoon> We will keep performing with Shock, but there aren't any set plans for the future. We have some thoughts, but we don't have anything that is set for sure, but we will work hard to become a group that approaches the public and let more people listen to BEAST's music.
Bugs> Thank you for the interview. Can you please say some last words to the Bugs family?
Doojoon> Bugs family, this was BEAST. Please love BEAST's Shock and we will cheer on Bugs to become the best music portal site, so please send us a lot of love.
BEAST> We will work hard. Thank you
On this day, Hyunseung had acute indigestion and couldn't fully engage in the interview. It was hard for him to move his body properly, but to see him try his hardest to participate in the interview was very memorable. Many people were worried if he would be able to perform on stage, but after the interview, he went on stage as if nothing happened and showed no change in his performance leading me to understand why the other members chose Hyunseung as the guy that worked the hardest. Not only Hyunseung, but also the rest of the members looked very tired because of their schedules, but they finished their amazing performance like any other day, and I again got to understand why they have received so much love. In the future, I am anticipating even more of BEAST's amazing performances.
CREDITS: BUGS MUSIC(SOURCE); glfishyy@B2ST Rising (TRANS)
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