[INTERVIEW TRANS] 160210 WINNER Says, “We Will Make ‘Fans of WINNER’ Proud”
[Interview] WINNER Says, “We Will Make ‘Fans of WINNER’ Proud”
Source: Sports Dong-ah via Naver
Group WINNER has made a comeback with a new album called “EXIT:E” in 1 year and 5 months. The album, which is filled with songs written, composed, and produced by all 5 members, recorded #1 on music charts the moment it was released.
Actually, it is very rare for a group to make a comeback in 17 months within a music industry where new albums are released every single day. Every time a YG artist released new albums, the time fans of WINNER had to wait increased. During the long hiatus, WINNER was more impatient than their fans. They could not allow themselves to make a sloppy album because they were intent on showing better music. After a long battle of internal strife and against music, they created a precious outcome.
On the 1st of this month, WINNER’s new album was released and it is clear that the double title tracks, “BABY BABY” and “Sentimental” purely contain their effort. The songs didn’t record #1 for a long period of time but they are staying at the top of music charts and are receiving much love from fans.
(Following is an interview with WINNER members.)
Q. How do you feel about coming back in a long time?
SEUNGHOON: We finally made a comeback. As much as the fact that we came back in such a long time, I feel like this comeback is very precious and abundant. Because of this, I feel much more affection for this album. Since we worked on it by pouring all our energy, we looked forward to it a lot and worried a lot as well. We prepared as if we were trainees again during the hiatus so I want to have an enjoyable and fun promotion period.
Q. What were you worried about the most with this comeback?
MINO: As much as our hiatus was long and as much as how we worked on it by pouring all our passion, this album is an album we can show off with confidence. We were worried about not compensating our fans who waited for a long time. We also faced realistic fears such as, “What if we get forgotten?” and “What if there are only a small number of fans when we make a comeback?”
Q. However, you recorded #1 right when the album was released. You must’ve felt something special.
TAEHYUN: Actually, when our album entered the charts, we recorded #1 and #2, respectively, but right now, they have fallen in terms of rank. It’s regretful but we often talked amongst ourselves that we won’t care about how we do on the charts. We are simply grateful that many people remembered us despite our long hiatus. Truthfully, good songs stay on music charts for a long time. Park Hyoshin-sunbaenim’s “Wild Flower” is still on the charts. We want to be a group that makes music that is loved for a long time.
Q. Was there a reason for your ridiculously long hiatus?
JINWOO Some people were asking if it was because we were getting pushed aside for iKON. It is true that iKON debuted during our hiatus. Honestly, we were the first people to wish for iKON’s quick debut. The number one reason for our long hiatus was because of the burden we felt for receiving so much love on our first album. We were afraid that we would get responses that our second album isn’t as good as our first. So naturally, we became obsessed with the music and our work hours increased as much as that. We all worked hard until all 5 of us were satisfied with the music.
Q. Then how would you rate your satisfaction on this album?
TAEHYUN: First of all, while I was making the song, “BABY BABY”, I worried about whether we would suit this kind of genre. But it ended up suiting WINNER more than I thought so I’m really pleased. Honestly speaking, disregarding the results recorded through our first album, I wasn’t satisfied with our skills and the degree of completion. We made that album thinking it was the best but when we look back to it, we even think, “What were we thinking when we made this?” I think this is proof that we matured a lot. Compared to our last album, we’re much more satisfied with this album.
Q. What is the difference between the music WINNER likes and the music the public likes?
SEUNGYOON: All five of us have different tastes in music. The best thing to do when this happens is to have Jinwoo-hyung listen to it (laughs). Jinwoo-hyung as the most public friendly and objective ears. When Jinwoo-hyung responds with something like, “This song is good”, all five of us proceed to recording it. And since each song has a different producer, we often follow the producers’ wishes. With our current title tracks, we often went along with what Taehyun thought was best. We also often look at our fans’ reactions through comments.
Q. What is the most memorable comment?
TAEHYUN: Naturally, positive comments come into our eyes more (laughs). Whenever we skim through and see comments that seem even slightly negative, we don’t look at it. Since we are also human we don’t like looking at negative comments. If you want to know something we can’t forget, it was a comment that said, “These guys look so old”. On the other hand, comments we like are comments that compliment our music. We find comments that give a detailed explanation of how they thought the music was good more memorable than comments that simply say, “Their music is daebak”. We want to be continually acknowledged by the public through a wide variety of music.
Q. What is the musical direction WINNER is pursuing?
MINO: It is true the public has a musical prejudice when they think, “WINNER”. When we do music, we actually aren’t stubborn with genres. We don’t make music according to specific genres so it’s difficult to label a genre on our music. It is natural for people to say, “Listening to it made me realise it’s this/that genre”. Because we each work on music individually, I think we each have genres we work well in. I think we can challenge ourselves to do a wide variety of genres. All of us are openminded about music.
Q. What is a type of music you want to challenge yourselves in?
TAEHYUN: When you watch “Sentimental”, each of us hold a instrument. In the case for Seungyoon-hyung, he plays the guitar and practices with it. Jinwoo-hyung recently started taking drum lessons so he got the part of the drummer. I think you’ll be able to see each of us play an instrument in the future. I’m very charmed by live music. It’s still not quite possible but I want to say we may be able to do it through concerts and performances often. We want to show many different sides of us without musical boundaries.
Q. What do you want to show through your upcoming promotions?
SEUNGYOON: First of all, I’m very thankful towards my members who view music with seriousness. All of us participated in album preparations without sleeping and with zeal. I am also really thankful to our fans who waited for us until now even though we’re not particularly special. We promise to show maturity in regards to music and character so that fans of WINNER are not embarrassed to say they are WINNER’s fans. Also, since we don’t really go on variety shows and we don’t have many individual promotions, it has been difficult to see our faces on TV. We will go on variety shows to greet everyone.
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