[TRANS] 150805 Kpopstarz Magazine: #UNIQ at 1st Showcase in Japan

(T/N: Long post ahead, prepare yourselves.)

[Shooting schedule and exclusive interview]

UNIQ, the long-awaited landing in Japan! UNIQ SHOWCASE IN JAPAN to be held in Osaka and Tokyo!

UNIQ’s long-awaited landing in Japan on July 19 in Osaka and July 20 in Tokyo respectively to hold UNIQ Showcase in Japan with a total of four performances. On the 2nd day after the performances, Kpopstarz had carried out several photo coverages and exclusive interviews at a nearby shrine within Tokyo.

SJ who was the first to reach the interview room as an opportunity chatted, gradually expanding the depths of the topic of this interview…

Q: The live in Tokyo was carried out successfully!

SJ: Thank you so much! Did you come and see it?

Q: I went, SJ-kun kept singing on stage!

SJ: Hahaha, could it be that you came during the last performance at Tokyo’s showcase? Yes, I’m really happy!

Q: Did you go anywhere to have fun while staying in Japan?

SJ: Currently, is this place counted? What was reserved is that after this interview ended we would like to go and play, (looking really happy) I want to go shopping!

Q: Let’s all talk about your thoughts about the end of Japan showcase for this time around.

SJ: When we came to Japan, the fans’ atmosphere was really good.  If fans’ moods are high, then we would be happy too. It was really a great show.

YB: Japanese fans were really warm, the stage performances were pleasant too. It’s really a blessing to be able to come to Japan.

Q: What are the preparations made for the Japan showcases this time? Was there a set list?

SY: Actually before coming to Japan, we have all gathered together and practiced together for 5 days. Of course each of us have our own individual practices. Lastly we have to make sure everyone’s dance movements are in sync during Osaka rehearsals. I was also worried that it may not go smoothly, hence my mood was very uneasy. But when the real show arrived, the members all gotten a knack of it so I felt that the performance for this time went on smoothly. I was really happy performing on stage and there were no accidents, to be able to end with such a great mood, I’m really happy.

Q: YB’s solo dance was very bold!

YB: Really? The dance for this time is really enough to get choked.
SJ: YB originally likes dancing a lot and his dancing skills are great, even in the practice room he would often consider his own dancing movements and watch various kinds of dancing videos on the internet to improve in learning, and he usually does preparations for the performances. The performance this time around showcased the accumulation of YB’s particularly favourite dance movements, it’s really amazing.

UNIQ members analyze their respective voice charms and performance charms, who chose to cover a song “Drivers High” by L'Arc-en-Ciel, there were really few artists who would chose to sing a rock song in a performance, so it was totally unexpected and unusual.

SY: Choosing this song was the company staff who requested saying “Although it has been decided to perform in Japan, but songs have not been chosen yet, if there’s any good Japanese songs just recommend it” then I thought that this song was quite alright, so I just recommend it.
SJ: I actually have been really fond of rock songs and thought that “Driver’s High” was not that bad either~ the staff still suspected, “This song is popular in Japan?” so I kept persuading him that this song is really popular in Japan, so we decided to cover this song “Driver’s High”. It was a really great song; it is really awesome to think that we are even able to perform it.
SY: Actually even until before the show, there were pretty much replacement songs too, we’ve been hesitating back and forth between Slam Dunk’s song and “Driver’s High”, at last we’ve decided on performing “Driver’s High”. In reality while performing this song for the 1st time in Osaka, there were only a few people who knew this song, the majority ones were all surprised and have the look of what-is-this-that-I’m-listening look on their faces.

All members broke into laughter.

SY: But interestingly after a few performances, the amount of fans that were able to sing along with us gradually increased. Thus looking from this point of view is quite interesting.

Q: To choose Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”, you guys really understand the mainstreams~

SJ: For this song “Happy”, it was the 3^rd one among the 4 performances. Thus according to the usual performance, you have to go up to the audience seats and sing. Fans’ reactions were quite good, to be able to feel their reactions in a close distance is really amazing.

Q: Each member please respectively describe your voice charms and performance charms and other types of an artist.

SJ: I’d like to say one first. YB is the dancing type, his dancing skills is outstanding, his rap were also frisky, exploding with handsomeness and cool image. YX hyung’s bass pitch is super attractive, other than YX, the few of us are all high pitched. YX hyung is the only person who’s responsible for the bass part, which holds an important part in a song.
YX: This time SJ and I have sang our own composed song.

Q: The set list given to the media was written “self-composed”, is there any title for it?

YX: The title is “My World”, SJ is singing the high pitched part, it’s very cheerful and lively, his voice is really impressive.
SJ: WH is the type to be vibrant on stage. My high pitched voice is the strong type, WH’s voice is the soft and gentle type. Both of us are main vocals, although both voices are not the same, but it can be well mixed and balanced. SY’s skill is rap, but it’s not just an ordinary rap, it is the kind of crazy cool and dragged rap performance. SY’s cool rap helps to raise up the overall atmosphere of our song. Of course his voice is really great too. Our group is served to carry out our individual roles.

UNIQ exposing their strengths and weaknesses. SJ expressed, “YB’s unique voice has not been fully unveiled yet.”

SY: Singers who know how to enjoy the stage.
WH: Tone quality with full of energy. How to say this, to put in a sentence is that it makes the listener felt touched and having goosebumps.
SJ: This this this…. A boasting comeback. Usually you guys are not quite modest, what’s wrong with you guys today~
YX: Using colours to represent voice, SJ is red, WH is green. Mine is the colour that I’m wearing today, this kind of rouge colour.
SY: YB’s is a colour that is similar to black, he can go beyond his age and expressed it out with a song that has a dark feel in it.
SJ: Our YB’s unique voice is really amazing! For this showcase, I’ve been high spirited up till now. Because of this showcase, whether it is “Happy”, or our self-composed song, or our dances, it’s all about us preparing it for the first time, to perform it for the audience. We’re not only a group who only know how to stand there and sing dryly, we’ve known too much and have performed for the audiences to see, even my own emotions followed high.

SY: At the end of each public performances, our mood will gradually go high. I feel that this is not a showcase, in fact this is almost caught up with a mini concert. We also had a wonderful time performing on stage, what we wanted we have already gotten it. To be able to perform happily on stage it’s really good enough.
YX: When we were in Korea for the program called “The Show”, depending on EOEO and took 1st place in the first half of the year for popular votes, the time that we’ve won popularity award.
WH: When we won Rookie Award in China.
YB: When EOEO was published in China and we performed it and won an award.
SY: As long as we’re working our mood will be very high and alert, especially when we are excited to perform the opening of stage, everyone was excited as if we’re already standing on stage. Oh yeah, just now YB suddenly “aaoooo” its because SJ stepped on his foot.
SJ: It was not even on purpose~
YB: You even stepped on it twice!

Q: Next question is, please expose your strengths and weakness.

YB: My strength is that I can use my body to express the rhythm of the music. When I rap, not only I use my voice to rap but my whole body to show it. My weakness is that, I’ve not excavate my unique voice.

4 members: Ahhhh~

SJ: Don’t worry you’re still young, you’re still only in your teens.

YX: My strength is I do things diligently.

SJ: He’s literally, his persistence and courage are too strong.

YX: Although I’m persistent, but I’m still clumsy. So that weakness is too laid-back.

WH: My strength is I’m good in self-management, and my weakness is that I’m too beautiful.

4 members: Are you teasing us! (Protest sounds one after another)

SY: Your weakness is that you really like to say this kind of nonsense!

WH: They asked what are the disadvantages, my face is just so handsome like this, could you still see the other parts of me? —  Joking.

SJ: Sorry that we’ve revealed our shortcomings.

Every member bursts into laughter.

UNIQ ‘s belief and perception in music

SY: My strength is taste which is great. My weakness is, although I still have it now, but in future I don’t know how would my taste (in music) will be like. As I increase in age, I’d gradually lose this kind of feeling. So before that and a certain level, I myself will not do any sort of preparation in advance, so from now on, I will desperately be diligent to prevent myself from regret.

SJ: My strength is that I can be in good terms with anyone. I especially like to chat with people, there’s lot of things to talk about, and I also like to play pranks.

There’s too much of pranks already!

SJ: There were lots of them, there are times where I would piss off the members. So my weakness is that I’m too mischievous. My real intention is that hopefully through the pranks that I played (on them), those with a bad mood can feel better, but it backfired and it made their mood go worse. But nonetheless there were people’s mood that got better.

WH: Most of the time is make people’s mood go worse.

YX: Got bothered by to death already, stop being a fool.

SJ: No no no, I really made people feel better before!

4 members: Yes yes yes, as long as there’s enough reasoning then you can make people convinced.

Q: In music, were there any important mottos as beliefs of that sort for you?

SJ: My mom is engaged in a vocal profession, so since young I grew up watching my mom performing in front of audiences, my mom’s voice can bring lots of audiences to tears and bring cure to them, so I would also wish to be a singer that is able to move the audience and heal them.
SY: I think that, [music is part of mankind itself] because the song itself is full of emotions thus when you listen to the song and love it, giving it unlimited love, no matter where I am it was as if I’ve heard this song before. Music is like mankind, it’s not the same as expressing them with language, music itself has injected a lot of emotions in it and there are many mental impacts, and many of them are the things that people recover from. Music on one hand is really great, but on the other hand it is an unpredictable thing. And because of this, it’s most important to do the things that I like.

Q: Music is a message carrier?

WH: Yes, it’s some sort like this kind of feeling. It’s often words that you wanted to say, or the things that you wanted to express.

YX: I think that music some sort like a memory storage, it’s like constantly filling in the things that are currently thought about, and after a few years taking it out back and listen, reminiscing the days of whom you’re with together, whom you’ve encountered with, a song is like a memory storage that stores all these happy memories.

YB: For music, it’s also important that it helps us enjoy the stage, but for the audiences to watch those performances feel really happy. To me, that’s music.

Q: You guys really know how to portray a very vivid image of it!

All: Thank you!

UNIQ [Everyone wished me a happy birthday for the first time together, never forget this for life] - WH

Q: After coming to Japan, were there any hidden mini episodes?

WH: There was one that touched me. It’s my 1^st time to celebrate my birthday like this, I’ll never forget this for life.

SY: Because it was a surprise, so WH cried. But it was a little pitiful.

WH: A man shouldn’t let others see their tears easily.

Q: When you blew the candle what kind of wish have you made? What kind of wishes you made for a lifetime?

WH: Hey hey~ This can’t be said out loud. If I said it then it will not be effective, so I’ll keep it a secret.

SJ: To be honest, we didn’t even hear what wish he made.

WH: It’s a secret!

Q: Lastly, please tell us your plans after your activities in Japan and leave a message for your fans.

SJ: When we go back to Korea we will immediately prepare for the next album, the next time when we come again we will bring more surprising good songs and will meet up with everyone, so please anticipate a lot! To be touched by our song and have good mood, we will be happy enough.

SY: This showcase has not ended yet, we still have lots and lots of things to be delivered. I’m really happy for the performance this time, the next time we meet again we will prepare more interesting things for everyone. So in future please support us UNIQ, just like how you’ve always loved us!

WH: The next time when we return to Japan, the things that we prepared will be much more than this time and compose much more new songs for everyone to anticipate the next performance to the fullest!

YX: As for me, I would like to see cherry blossoms at the Japan showcase.

4 members: Cherry blossoms again! (Even on stage he still wants to see cherry blossoms)

YX: Because I still haven’t seen it, the next time I must see the cherry blossoms!

trans: jiji (@wenjoox)

translated jp - chi: UniCode-ING
original article: here