Weeekly talks future music, YouTube aspirations and why it's 'much more comfortable' with its fans

K-pop

Weeekly talks future music, YouTube aspirations and why it's 'much more comfortable' with its fans

Published: 07 Aug. 2024, 08:00 Updated: 07 Aug. 2024, 13:11

CHO YONG-JUN
cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr

Girl group Weeekly poses for the camera during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily, held in Mapo District, western Seoul shortly after wrapping up promotions for ″Lights On,″ the lead track of the group's latest EP, ″Bliss.″ [PARK SANG-MOON]

Weeekly, as it begins the fifth year of its career, has grown a lot, and grown much closer, since its debut. The six members now think so alike that they can communicate without even talking to each other — an intimacy that they hope will help them communicate more naturally with their fandom as they promote their upcoming album.

“We don’t need to talk when we order food. We will also sing the exact same part of a song together. That’s how close we got over the years,” said Soojin, Weeekly’s eldest member, during a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily held in Mapo District, western Seoul shortly after wrapping up promotions for “Lights On,” the lead track of the group's latest release.

That closeness, the members say, extends to the group's fans, known as Daileee.

“We were very cautious in interviews and TV reality shows for a while,” Soeun said. “But now I think we are more daring in showing the real side of ourselves. We even share spoilers with our fans.”

Weeekly debuted in 2020 with its acclaimed lead track “Tag Me (@Me)” which saw the members dressed in school uniforms, performing with school chairs and desks on stage. The girl group continued its distinct upbeat “teen music” with “After School” (2021), which told the stories of teenagers.

But as all six members grew older, their music also matured.

“We were teenage students during our debut,” Soojin said. “Like a group of school friends. But now that we've all turned adults, our bonds became tighter. We are at the stage where we just understand each other.”

“I was also shy in front of our fans before, but I feel like I’m much more comfortable in front of them now,” Soojin said. “Which, in return, makes the fans relax more.”

In contrast to its youthful start, the group is now venturing into its first summer-themed lead track with “Lights On.”

“After the upbeat fun energy of teenagers, we wanted to continue with an album that displays the vibrant youth and the happy stories of our twenties,” Monday said.

“I wanted our group to pull off a seasonal song, whether that be a Christmas carol or a summer song. I’m glad that we were able to come up with ‘Bliss,’ a cool song that fits the season of summer — a song that you would want to listen by the beach.”

The members seem happy with the results of their experiment so far.

“Both the members and our fans loved ‘Bliss’ so much,” Monday said. “I would want to go for a follow-up album that is similarly happy and refreshing, one that we can only pull off in our current age.”

Weeekly sat down with the Korea JoongAng Daily to talk about its career so far, the upcoming Americas tour and the girl group’s future.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Weeekly held its first fan meeting “WU (Weeekly University)” in Seoul on Jan. 6 followed by “WU (Weeekly University) in Japan” on May 3. How were they — up to your expectations?

Zoa: We've never really gotten to spend much time with our fans on stage. The closest we got was showcase events. But with a fan meeting, we get to spend two hours or even longer just with our fans, Daileee. With the two fan meeting performances, I could feel that I was getting closer to our fans, and I’m sure our members also felt that way, because we went over time and performed for almost three hours.

We made our debut during the pandemic, and many of our fans didn’t get to see us perform our early lead tracks. We did a short, medley-like performance of our past lead tracks, and our fans really loved them. Listening to the intro followed by our fans' loud cheer gave me shivers.

Jaehee: [During] a fan meeting, there are only Weeekly and Daileee in the venue. Everyone had our Weeekly light sticks and they cheered for us so very enthusiastically. Looking at our fans made me emotional, and I thought to myself, “I’m proud to be a member of Weeekly.”

Monday: I’m not good at imagining things, being a super S-type of person, and the only image of a fan meeting that I had was just me performing in front of our fans, which I could just see faintly. But in reality, it was radiant. I could see all our fans’ expressions, and we all had a happy infection. Every moment of the fan meeting felt like a fantasy and like a fairy tale. It also snowed as we left the venue and greeted our fans.

Soeun: I was able to see the faces and expressions of many of our fans. Many of them were in tears. I could tell they'd waited for such an event, and I just wish we'd get more opportunities to hold events like this.

Weeekly will bring “WU (Weeekly University)” to the Americas. Are you excited for the tour?

Soojin: I’m so very excited. We met with a lot of overseas fans through video call fan sign events, and many invited us to come to their home country. We obviously told them we’d love to and promised to visit one day. I’m very glad to keep our word, and I’m looking forward to performing in different countries and meeting our fans there.

Jihan: Experiencing different cultures, environments and vibes will help us grow, both in terms of our skills but also our mindset. I’m very much looking forward to it.

Monday: The fundamentals of “WU” won’t change — but we maybe, just maybe, are preparing something a little special for different countries. We dropped “Bliss” after the fan meetings in Korea and Japan, so perhaps you can expect that, too. Maybe there will be songs that you wouldn’t have imagined.

Zoa: I think it’s going to be so much fun. I’m most excited to see our fans in the Americas and to perform in front of them. I’m also excited to eat tasty snacks and dishes with the members.

Are you guys prepared to communicate in English and other languages?

Monday: I think you learn languages by actually talking to others, and we got plenty of experience through video-call fan signs. It was a bit like signing up for phone English classes. I studied myself after video calls, and I think I improved my English quite a bit. I’m sure I can be more fun and relaxed when I get to meet our fans.

Soojin: We plan to prepare by only talking in English from now on. I mean, we are just going to be confident with our English, and if we are stuck, we always have our trusty translators.

Do you have a message for Weeekly fans who haven't decided whether to attend the tour yet?

Jaehee: It’s our first journey to meet our fans in the Americas. We’ve prepared a tracklist that our fans can really enjoy, so I hope we can have a fun time together. If you want to spend a fun week, Weeekly will be there with “WU.”

Monday: Oh, and if you are someone who loves Weeekly’s vocals, you must come.

Soeun: And you can also look forward if you love our dances. You guys are using your precious time to watch us, and we will not waste it.

Soojin: [In English] If you come to our concert, you will never regret it.

What were some of the memorable moments of your career so far?

Monday: I have a memo on my phone filled with videos. I titled it “When I’m Tired” and filled it with clips of moments when my heart overflowed. That includes the clips of people singing along during our “After School” performance and videos of our Indonesian fans singing along loudly to our music. I think that’s when I find my career worthwhile, and there are moments where I can reignite myself.

Zoa: Whenever I read our fans’ handwritten messages after a long day. It might be me being more sentimental late at night, but I can really feel their sincerity. Those are also moments where I go, “This is why I worked so hard today — for our members and for our fans. I should continue to work hard tomorrow.”

Soojin: We couldn’t meet our fans during our debut years due to the pandemic. So when we were allowed to perform in front of our fans, and our fans were allowed to sing along and shout our fan chants, that’s when I knew why I was trying so hard. Even now, watching Daileee cheering loudly makes me want to perform as much as I can.

How do you think Weeekly will be in five years? Would you rather see Weeekly stay the same or change drastically?

Jihan: I think we will stay the same, still playing with each other.

Jaehee: Our relationship will be friendly and close, just like we are now, and I think we will feel more like a family. As a group, I think we will rise even higher!

Monday: We still felt like trainees even a year or two after our debut. We couldn’t really feel much because of the pandemic. But I think we got really close to each other in the last one or two years, so I’m curious as to how we will be in five years. I think our advantage lies in the fact that we stay consistent. All our members are so kind and nice, so I think we’ll still be eating braised chicken and playing board games with each other five years later.

Soeun: Our relationship with each other will stay the same, but I hope to hold fan concerts and solo concerts in that time. I feel like Weeekly will have grown a lot after going through different experiences.

How will Weeekly’s solo concerts in the future differ from “Weeekly University?”

Soojin: Our fan meeting saw the members communicating with fans through games, and we also talked a lot on stage. With a proper concert, we’d have solo stages, unit stages and other performances that you’ve never seen before. I really hope that opportunity arises.

Monday: We’ve practiced a lot since our trainee days, from [English] pop songs to a cappella practices, performance-focused stages and solo stages, but we haven’t yet had much chance to show them all to our fans, and I’m sure they are very much waiting for it. There are many genres of music that we practiced that are different from Weeekly’s current style of music, and we hope to show them all when the time comes.

Weeekly won a gold medal in the 2022 “Idol Star Athletics Championships.” Do you think Weeekly can win another gold medal this time?

Soojin: We won gold in the team relay last time, and we were so eager to win a medal back then. We ran near the Han River, practiced in our free time and we even analyzed the other idol groups that we’d be competing against. But time has passed, and we are older now. Maybe we should be more relaxed and enjoy the game.

Monday: Oh, I’m very much into winning another gold medal. The competing players may have changed, but Weeekly is still Weeekly, and we hope to remain a gold medalist this time. I’ll train our members hard.

Soojin: When you tune in to “ISAC,” you’ll probably see us with our hair tied up and trying our absolute best. I was just trying to be humble before

Zoa, you recently started your YouTube channel “even better ZOA.” How does it feel? And what solo activities would the other members like to do?

Zoa: I always thought about starting my own YouTube channel so I’m thankful to have such an opportunity. I started the channel with the resolution to try my best, but it’s not easy hosting a YouTube channel all on my own. I felt lonely, and I wanted to see our members. I invited the members on a recent video shoot, and it felt so reassuring.

Monday: I think I’ll open an Instagram account for my dog before I open an Instagram account for myself.

Soeun: One of my dreams, an item on my bucket list, was to properly learn how to cook and bake bread. I would like to be a cooking YouTuber.

Jaehee: I don’t think I've told our fans yet, but I actually had a YouTube channel when I was young. It was called Jaehee TV, and I never showed my face, and it was just me having fun with slime. I eventually deleted that channel, but I would love to revive it once again. I still have no idea what I’ll be doing on that channel.