Star Beam on K-pop Daebak! with Eric Nam
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DISCLAIMER: In real life, "Flaming Heart"'s Romeo & Juliet was inspired by NCT 127 Johnny & Jaehyun's photoshoot in W Korea
Ahead of their US debut, SeuBim visited Eric Nam's podcast (actually through Zoom) talking about their preparations of their US debut, NCT 127 Johnny & Mark's contribution in the English version of "Flaming Heart", & idol life in quarantine (+ more topics to come
).Nice to meet you Star Beam! What is your goal in debuting in the US?
Ryuna: We always say that we just want to promote unity in K-pop. It should not be a competition because all of us have unique qualities. I hope that people stop comparing a certain group to another. Our goal is to elevate K-pop in the world stage. K-pop is not about this group or that. K-pop should be about the world class quality of collective talent of each artist. I know we all have different preferences but at least, treat it with respect
Who struggled with English the most? who is the "English teacher" of the group? (question by @cherryanons)
Yujia: It's Ryuna unnie who struggled in English the most especially when speaking long sentences spontaneously but she has a good pronunciation. Chloe unnie is our English teacher because she is a Korean-American (biracial like Vernon of Seventeen, Huening Kai of TXT & Nancy of Momoland but her dad is a Korean while her mom is an American)
"Flaming Heart" is a very hot topic thanks to the "Romeo & Juliet" concept. So why Romeo & Juliet?
Chaehee: "Romeo & Juliet" is a very classic story that we all know and love or hate. We watched the movie (the 1996 adaptation was the main inspiration of "Flaming Heart") a few times just to take note for the sake of the overall presentation of our comeback from the outfits, the lyrics to the aesthetic. We just want to present a timeless tale being reinterpreted the Star Beam way. 2020 is a rough year but we want to give hope to our listeners that even life or love is not easy, we can still surpass it all.
Hyoshin: There are idols like Cherry Bomb, Fika, and Nayoung & Jisu of After Moon, covered "Flaming Heart" and we are very honored for that
What is like filming the MV with T3AR?
Jeonah: We vibe together well and we all clown Yujia & Kwangsun during the set
Yujia: Y'all so embarrassing!!!!!!
What is interesting in this era is that some of your outfits were inspired by the male protagonist, Romeo, thanks to the Hawaiian shirts you wear onstage? Who has the idea of wearing Hawaiian shirts onstage?
Saeyoon: Hyoshin unnie. Not because she has a crush on Leonardo DiCaprio but she genuinely finds it cool and she wants to shatter the "Tourist Dad" stereotype onstage
/everyone laughs/
Hyoshin: Saeyoon-ah why do you even mention that
Seriously, I genuinely think that Hawaiian shirts looks so cool on Leonardo DiCaprio and the members was just like... "Girl, you look like a tourist dad". I just laugh it off and find a Hawaiian shirt in the thrift store and try to style it myself in the fitting room. When I came out, Yujia and stylist unnie just shookt on how I look like. I was like: "Hello, I'm wearing a shirt that you call a Tourist Dad shirt". The girls were like... okay... let's get into it... Romeo & Juliet concept it is...Saeyoon: Plus, it was summer season in Korea so everything fell into place.
Jeonah: Just like Chaehee said, we watched the movie a few times then we search articles about the fashion in the particular movie and those articles dedicated to the guys of the movie. We could wear a lot of white dress like Juliet onstage but we might look boring. It's like showing off our warrior side, like a fighter for love and stuff. All of us wore outfits of the same house that means, even if you have different identity but at the end of the day, we all have similar experiences and we have to meet halfway. Compromise is the key
Do you have a backstory on how do you sign with Capitol Records?
Ryuna: When we were touring BC, I mean Before Corona, many journalists recognized Yujia instantly thanks to her appearance in the Highway to Heaven MV and a lot of them were amazed on our teamwork rather than just her alone which is good. We are intended to be group in the first place, you have to deal with the 7 of us! Also NCT 127 always talked about her during the Capitol Congress like "Yujia is so pretty and talented!", "Hey, you should check out her group, Star Beam. Their music is so good!" and stuff like that. Like these boys are so shameless in promoting us in that event without any risk of having a dating scandal with us. Then fast forward to Thanksgiving at Chloe's house in San Francisco, right after we were praying, there is a phone call that the next day, we would go to LA and sign a contract with Capitol Records. It's crazy like we can't believed it!
Fast forward, you won 16 music show trophies, then you announced that you will release the English version of "Flaming Heart" with the help of NCT 127's Johnny & Mark in the English adaptation. Can you give us a TMI?
Chloe: I've been writing songs for a while as my quiet time in the dorm but I was never confident in my skills. But when I finished the draft then I showed it to Yujia. Knowing Yujia... she is very bad at keeping secrets
Yujia: Unnie, you're good in writing... seriously
Chloe: Then Mark suddenly called me and said, "Hey, your writing is good but I will give more ideas". He is so willing to be in the production process but yeah... Mark Lee is Mark Lee the pro-debuter of K-pop who is super busy AF. Then I called Johnny and he is willing to fill in the gaps Mark left in the process. Surprisingly, he is very good in songwriting and you can feel the passion and sincerity through the words he wrote for the song. After few more finishing touches, Capitol Records gave us the green light to release the English version.
Ryuna: We are grateful to have them [Mark & Johnny] contribute in our song specifically in the adaptation because they have more experience in the US market and they are generous in giving us very useful advice. We are also grateful for them in believing in us from the start.
I just wanna ask Yujia if Johnny is scarier as a boyfriend or as a senior?
Yujia: Johnny sunbaenim is definitely scarier. He is a perfectionist that he has to check our pronunciation every few seconds but he is very patient that we overcame this. He also gave us advice on how to deal with Western interviewers who don't know anything about K-pop at all. As a boyfriend? He is very caring but he never controls me. I'm glad that he let me be myself. Like he never have a say in what I wear on and off stage so I'm glad. ALSO DID I EVER FORBID HIM TO SHOW HIS SIX PACK ABS ON NATIONAL TV?
/the members were shookt/
Also another exciting news that Mark will also be included in "Can We Love" which was originally featured the current NCT Dream lineup (Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle & Jisung) . How do you feel?
Hyoshin: We all miss NCT Dream Mark and this is our way to celebrate his reinstatement in the unit. Mark also admitted that that's his favorite song from our discography so it's an honor for all of us to have him in the re-recorded version.
Now that we are now in the quarantine, how do keep yourself sane in this times?
Ryuna: Recently we do gardening and raising our dog named Jeno. We can relate to WayV now
Hyoshin: I'm a germophobe even before Covid exists so I panic when someone did not sanitize themselves so we always have disinfectant in every room
Jeonah: I do kick boxing for a few months now. Please anticipate T3AR's comeback with "Divergent"!
Yujia: Drawing
Chaehee: Solving crossword puzzles to improve my English
Chloe: Basketball
Saeyoon: Computer Games! Recently Jeonah-unnie & I played games with STARWISH's Soyeon & Yein. It is a fun experience
Thanks to gaming, Jeonah-unnie & Yein became super closeHow does your company deal with the new normal?
Hyoshin: Our bosses observed that we used our dance practice room as our studio for our VLives and some performances, they already invested in some video recording equipment so we don't have to go to every studio in Seoul and risk ourselves. We lost some but we gain some.
Chaehee: Of course, we avoid mass gathering by having shifting by having some work at home and some at the office and they shift. We missed the old office which is fun and lively but we have to stay safe. Now, we only celebrate through Zoom parties. Plus we have to follow health protocols
Speaking of gatherings, you even wished that you became close with Stray Kids because your mutual friends are NCT Dream and Cherry Bomb
Yujia: Yeah... we are genuinely interested with their music especially "God's Menu" but since there's a lot of us... not now because we don't want another 97 Liner 2.0
Chloe: We greet each other but we are not yet in the level that we can joke around.
Among K-pop idols today, Who do want to be friends with?
Hyoshin: (G) I-DLE
Chaehee: ATEEZ
Ryuna: CLC!!! Hi Eunbin-ah~~~~
Chloe: BlackPink sunbaenim! If not because of Jaehyun, Saeyoon & Rose will not be friends. Jokes on you, Mr. Jeong!
Yujia: Oh My Girl since my co-MC is Arin
Jeonah: IZ*ONE
Saeyoon: LOONA. Cherry Bomb told us that they are so pretty inside and out
Speaking of Jaehyun, for Ryuna, how did you react about the news that the two of you will be the leads of Dear M (the spin-off of Love Playlist)
Ryuna: I'm very happy and excited. You know I have to step up my acting game since Jaehyun is so competitive. I just want to have a good chemistry with him in the upcoming drama. Please anticipate!
Now... what can you say to ByulBis around the world
Chloe: Hello ByulBis!!! On September 12, we will drop our English version for "Flaming Heart" that we worked hard for! We hope that you will all appreciate it!!!! Thank you for having us, Eric!!!!!!
Ryuna: Thank you for listening to my boisterous dongsaengs
MENTIONED: @misc-anons @moonanons @bumbleeanons @JDK @trevor2 @junelilliesanons @I.Coco @daeyang-ent @cherrybomb-ofc @Misc_Flumps
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