[FULL TRANS] EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]- PHOTOBOOK: BAEKHYUN INTERVIEW
BE MY BEAUTIFUL FRIENDS, EXO-L
EXO-Ls, I was happy that we were able to meet again at EXO PLANET #4 - The EℓyXiOn[dot]. EXO and EXO-L, we’re friends now, right? In the past, most of our fans would exclaim ‘woah!’ when EXO comes on stage and concentrate on trying to fill more of EXO into their peripheral vision. But recently, there are more fans who would look at us with a relaxed gaze as if they are saying 'Hi friend, it has been a while!” EXO-Ls that became our new friends and EXO-Ls who are our longtime friend, all of you are friends EXO cherish.
I always reflect deep in my heart on the fact that it is due to EXO-Ls that EXO is able to go up on stage, and that we’re able to spread out into the world. If it wasn’t for EXO-Ls, EXO would not be able to grow like how we are now. I think that EXO-L is a strong, steady pillar for EXO, and EXO is a leaf that shines prettily. EXO-Ls, please always be our steady pillar. That way, we will continue to grow from that stem and spread out into a beautiful leaf.
“To me, nervousness is an excitement, a greediness.
An overwhelming excitement for the opening stage,
And a greediness to come up with a perfect solo performance!”
Please share your feelings on wrapping up THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]- without a hitch.
Shall I say that I’m relieved? I was satisfied because I feel like we gave a highly successful stage, and showed a variety of performances through THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. I think we showed all that EXO has got that people would now wonder ‘What other kind of performances can they show us next time?’ Even though I think ‘I’ve done all that I could’ every time we do a concert, it’s always amazing to me that we always have a new stage to show again at our next concert. Which is why I am more excited for our next concert. Because even now, EXO is still growing.
If you were to pinpoint your favourite concert out of all the concerts you’ve done up till now, which would it be?
It would be THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. I actually thought ‘Ah, I really don’t have any regrets today’ after the concert ended.
What do you think is the charm of THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-?
I think a matured EXO was presented through THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. Though EXO’s performances were incredible, the members were really good at their ments too.
How was it performing with a different dance team you had from the pre-existing concert?
I think our performances were made fuller because of the dancers. It was more enjoyable because I got to perform on stage with hyungs and dongsaengs I’m close to. It was fun even when we were doing stage rehearsals. It was really crowded when the EXO members and the dancers all rehearsed together on one stage. It was an unusual feeling to have finished the choreography with so many people. Should I say that it was a feeling that is comparable to when you complete a theatre play together as one? Perhaps that’s why the sense of accomplishment was so great when we finished such a grand choreography.
Which stage in THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]- did you enjoy the most?
I enjoyed the opening stage the most. When we appeared on stage singing ‘전야 (前夜) (The Eve)’. That was the performance I was most nervous about. It was an incredible stage with many firework effects as well. We wore handsome outfits and I liked the vibe of the first stage the most.
The second section where you guys did a musical concept was new. What did you think about that?
I think we were able to show EXO’s powerful charm and carefreeness through the second section. Shall I say it has a ‘Young & Rich’ vibe? More than anything, I liked that we could sing while sitting down. Hahaha. It was even more fun since the EXO members could interact and fool around with each other while performing. The opening section was really tough physically. On the other hand, the second section was a stage where the EXO members could show off their talents comfortably.
The powerful group dance during the EDM section ‘Run This’ in the second part of the concert was really amazing. This EDM section is a lot different from the previous concert, what do you think about it?
This EDM section was a lot more perfect than the one we presented in the previous concert. We focused on adding more adlibs to the flexible EDM performance ‘Run This’, so it gave more edge to the performance, and the development of the performance was smooth. Even the audience were having a lot of fun during the climax. It made me really proud on the inside while I was watching them.
You asked the fans to “show you some aegyo” in the first ment. It seems like a very big progression from the phrase you said to fans in the concert last year, which was ‘You’re pretty’. It’s a phrase one would normally say to their girlfriends, and it’s not like that was your intention, so why did you say something like “Show me some aegyo”?
EXO and EXO-L have a relationship that I can easily explain as us being friends, lovers, family, and the like. Maybe I should say, a relationship where we’ll be satisfied with everything. Sometimes we’re friends, sometimes we’re lovers. Whenever I stand on stage, I always tell EXO-Ls what I am feeling at that moment so I think on that day of the concert, EXO-Ls must have looked cute. I think I said “Show me some aegyo” because I wanted to see more of that side of them.
Did you do a research on what kind of words your fans like to hear?
Hahaha. No way! My ments are always a spur of the moment.
There might be a lot of times where you would express yourself openly to EXO-Ls. You even teased them saying “Why were you guys so bad at singing ‘Universe’ today?”. Even on a concert stage, you showed us that you attempted to have a conversation with EXO-Ls, is that right?
Yes, that’s right. Instead of just me talking about my opinions, I prefer asking the other party ‘what do you think about this?’ and then continuing my speech from there. Rather than just me talking, I ask EXO-Ls questions and continue my ment as though we’re actually having a conversation.
You said, “When I took a car and arrived at the concert venue, I greeted the people waiting outside the venue but they didn’t know it was me! That was when I felt the importance of make-up”, did your fans really not know it was you?
Yes. I rolled down the window and greeted them but they couldn’t recognise me. There’s never really the chance for us to wind down the window and say hi because of security reasons. But the weather that day was really nice. I was so happy to see the fans who were there since morning, waiting for the opening of the concert, so I tried to make conversation. But no one recognised me so I hurriedly closed the window. Hahaha.
You like to fool around on stage and you used to mainly tease Suho previously but now your target seems to have changed to D.O. Is that right? If you did change targets, why did you change it?
It’s not that I am now targeting D.O. instead. I normally play pranks on D.O. a lot. Hahaha. It’s because D.O. is always reserved. I fool around with D.O. on stage because I want EXO-Ls to also see the other side of him. Because when we bicker, there are times where the cute side that D.O. hides away will come out. I am actually leading D.O. Hahaha.
Baekhyun, you show how comfortable you are to the point where you fool around with fans and the members on stage, but are there times when you get nervous?
I’m mostly never nervous before going up on stage. But I was nervous during the first concert of THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. I think I was trembling greatly for the first stage of my solo performance, ‘Psycho’. For my previous solo stage, I wasn’t nervous because I had a weapon, which was my abs. Hahaha. However, there was no equipment or whatsoever for ‘Psycho’, it was just me performing and singing. I was really nervous.
You presented your solo dance performance ‘Psycho’, how did you come up with this stage?
In THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn-, Xiumin hyung and I presented a unit stage but it was Director Shim Jaewon who proposed my solo stage for THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. I was really happy. I wanted to try a grotesque stage. And I was also hoping for a stage that has a different style from Kai. I gave many of my opinions when we were making the choreography but the last pose was my idea.
Your last pose and expression was really the best. When you were doing your dance performance, even your facial expressions were grotesque-looking, were you acting? Or were you immersed in your feelings that they were natural expressions?
I wanted to be immersed in my feelings but my nervousness was so great that I totally couldn’t get into it. It really helped that I had a lot of image training during the practice for ‘Psycho’ choreography. I had image training while thinking, ‘Who will win in the fight between good and evil?’, ‘What kind of expression does someone who is having a meltdown wear when they are having a battle with themselves?’. In the end, I decided to finish on an expression of me going crazy trying to fight between good and evil.
The third and fourth concert, you picked to do dance for your individual spotlight performance. I’m curious about the reason as to why you chose to do dance stages.
It’s been sometime now that I found an interest in dance and the thought of showing EXO-Ls my dance performance has gotten more recurrent. I like singing but I think I’ve come to realise that when you add dance into a performance, it becomes one level more powerful. And so I practised just as hard for my dance choreography as I did for my singing. I want to plant the awareness in many people that ‘Baekhyun is also a member who can dance well’.
I know that you shortened your sleep time to practice diligently but how much did you actually practise? Like what you said during your ment, did you really practise with only 30 minutes of sleep everyday?
Ayy, even EXO-Ls knew that I was joking when I said I only slept for 30 minutes. But it is true that I practised till the wee hours of the night. It was a performance that included choreography like gestures so it wasn’t easy. I worked even harder because I was uneasy that the choreography was hard to master.
You said, “I worked really hard because I felt the pressure of having my solo performance”. How does performing a stage with EXO differ from performing a stage on your own?
If it’s with EXO, I may feel less pressured, but I felt burdened because my solo performance was just a stage where I received the spotlight. I was under the pressure that I couldn’t make even the smallest mistake.
‘CBX’s ‘Ka-CHING!’ was presented in THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]- but what was the difference between performing ‘Ka-CHING!’ as EXO and performing ‘Ka-CHING!’ as CBX?
If CBX were to perform ‘Ka-CHING!’, the performance would be more robust, but when I perform ‘Ka-CHING!’ with EXO, the atmosphere is a little bit more relaxed. I should say that with EXO, ‘Ka-CHING!’ is like a party kind of song but when it’s just us three, the vibe becomes more ‘Show’-like!
You also did a unit stage for ‘월광 (Moonlight)’ with Chen, [Suho] and D.O. Please say something about the vocal chemistry the four of you showed in ‘월광 (Moonlight)’.
It was fun because our vocal colours are different from one another between the four of us. If we’ve only just met each other, the individual voices of us four would have stood out awkwardly and it might’ve even been a strange performance. But we’ve been singing together for more than 7 years, and we are members who have completed performances together. I should say that we developed the ability to be able to sing the next part of the song, continuing in harmony with the others. And so I think we were able to complete such a fun performance. Not just us four, but I think even if we had to sing with any other EXO member, no one would ever stand out and we would be able to harmonise naturally.
In the latter part of the concert when you were singing ‘Power’, you said “I can play some more!”. Weren’t you tired at all? Do you really gain strength just by watching the lightsticks waving in the audience?
Of course I was really tired. But I had to have lots of fun till the end. Because I wanted to be able to say that we had to be more enthusiastic even up to the very last second of the concert. I thought of the EXO-Ls who came all the way down to Gocheok Sky Dome and I wanted them to have more fun, to be happy, and to give them a time that they won’t regret. I thought I would be happier if EXO-Ls thought ‘Today was really fun!’ while they were going home after the concert.
In your ment, you said, “Everyone is so passionate as if today was your last day. Those up in the third floor, you guys are unbelievable though?” Are you actually able to see up to the third floor?
Honestly, I can’t see the people in the third floor clearly. But if I focused and stared at one spot, I could see a little bit better. So I am going to concentrate on them and watch them. Even though we’re in the same space in Gocheok Sky Dome, if I feel that the third floor seats are far from the stage, then those people in that area might even feel alienated. So I am trying hard to consciously look up during concerts.
During your ment when you were talking about Kai’s solo stage outfit, you said ‘Respect’. I’m curious as to what you mean when you said the word respect.
I’m jealous of Kai’s body because I gained a bit of weight recently. His natural body was already nice but he’s been diligently working out lately so even though it’s such an extreme outfit, he was able to make it look good. Exactly what that word means, ‘Respect!’. Also, Kai’s outfit matched really well with the stage. Kai transformed at his will to follow the concept of the choreography and stage but I think the performance of ‘I See You’, even the outfit, was perfect.
When Chen said “Just like how everyone filled every crevice of the concert hall, if there is a hole in EXO-L’s heart, EXO would like to fill that crack for you”, you said “How did you think of that kind of words?” even though you’re an expert at ments too. However, what is your reason for being surprised by Chen’s ment?
I felt that what Chen said was extremely romantic. It was cool. Though I am witty, I can’t be as poetic as Chen. It’s just the way I talk.
When you appear on the LED screen, the fans raise their voices even if it’s just you holding your mic. How do you feel during those times?
I like it to the point where I can’t express in words. Even if I have my in-ear headphones in, I can hear their screams. When I hear that sound, I think I joke around more because I have thoughts like ‘I can’t just stand here and not reply to the fans’ screams and just let it pass’.
You said “When EXO and EXO-L become one” in the encore ment, so when do you feel that EXO and EXO-Ls have become one?
From the start to end of the concert, it can be seen that EXO-Ls are very concentrated on the concert stages. So I always feel that concerts are when EXO and EXO-Ls are one. And especially during the EDM section, that is when we reach the peak of shared interactions. I feel like EXO and EXO-Ls combined each of their power to successfully end the concert.
You also said, “We will love you more!”. What do you mean by that?
To wait for someone is a really difficult thing to do but EXO-Ls are always waiting for EXO. Because of that, during our periods of inactivity, it makes EXO give our very best while we prepare for a new and handsome stage. I said ‘We will love you more’ because I want to give back more than what we received from EXO-Ls.
How do you show your love for EXO-Ls?
I mostly express my heart through SNS. And during concerts, I talk to EXO-Ls with a friendlier tone. I hope EXO-Ls won’t think that EXO is ‘faraway’. Because I want us to be like close friends. Friends who I can always greet with ‘Bye, let’s meet again!’ at the end of concerts and say ‘It’s been a while!’ when we start our album activities. Like friends with a relationship that lasts, whether we meet each other often or whether we hardly see each other.
Besides that, your every ment is also very affectionate. You said “Everyone, where did you practise the choreography of ‘Tender Love’? In your rooms? I’m curious now. Someday I hope to see [you guys practice it]”, so do you imagine the fans when you’re communicating with them through SNS?
Of course. When I read the comments of EXO-Ls on SNS, I wonder, ‘What kind of look did they have when they wrote this comment?’. Did they leave an SNS comment while lying in bed? Or, are they watching this V App while sitting at their table? Whenever I imagine EXO-Ls writing a comment that expresses their feelings for EXO, I think ‘They’re so cute’ and I unknowingly break into a smile.
What was the most memorable view of the fans at THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-?
The view of the seats has changed. Since debut till 2~3 years ago, there were many people who would exclaim an awed ‘Wow!’ but these days we have a lot more fans who have become like longtime friends. Shall I say that they somehow feel more relaxed when they see EXO? When I have eye contact with those people, I get an ‘Ah, that person has liked EXO for quite a long time now’ kind of sentiment. A feeling that this isn’t the first time we’re meeting but have already met before.
What was the most memorable performance at The EXO PLANET #4 - The EℓyXiOn[dot]-?
After ‘Power’ ends the audience would sing EXO songs. I would always feel touched every single time. Even while on an overseas tour, the fans would sing in Korean. I like the fans’ voices more than our own performances.
I AM satisfied because I feel like we gave a highly successful stage, and showed a variety of performances through THE EXO PLANET #4 -The EℓyXiOn[dot]-. Even though I think ‘I’ve done all that I could’ every time we do a concert, it’s always amazing to me that we always have a new stage to show again at our next concert. Which is why I am more excited for our next concert. Because even now, EXO is still growing.
Translation done by 103oclock and BYUNBAEEE
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