Arena Homme+ January 2020 Interview - Seventeen MINGYU

 

 

Q: How are you spending 2019? You’re currently in a world tour, how far in the world are you performing?

MINGYU:  The tour will continue until March, including the Americas and Europe. It’s very exciting. 

 

Q: There must have been a lot of concerns/worries while preparing the 3rd album <An Ode>. The key point must have been to capture how different your thoughts are now from when you were in your teens. 

MINGYU: SEVENTEEN is known as a bright/energetic group. But while preparing for <An Ode>,  we thought we could become a bit more mature and take a serious side. The sincere voice when talking about our music is also there even when we were shooting for the album.* 

 

Q: What is “SEVENTEEN-like”** ?

MINGYU: All of the activities that we do are Seventeen. It’s important for us to work with confidence with our music.  If we get caught up in worrying and figuring out what is ‘SEVENTEEN-like’, we will have doubts about the music and the work that we do. Then it will become a series of endless doubts. So after we first decide on a concept, I (we)  go ahead with it with confidence. 

 

Q: The recent happenings around you must have an important role in projecting the current look of SEVENTEEN.  What are you interested in right now? What gets you motivated? 

MINGYU: To tell you honestly, I get motivated by seeing many artists from our same generation. While we’re on a break, I get motivated while seeing other artists on music programs and (doing) promotions, and I feel like I have to do better. Feels like  I’m itching to make a comeback. 

 

Q: The album <An Ode>, which was released in September, sold more than 700,000 copies. What was the most impressive moment after the release of this album?

MINGYU: On that night (the sales) was around 690,000. To reach 700,000, I heard that there were fans who went to offline/physical record stores to buy.  It was so touching. It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am. (We know) the sales were steadily rising but the number 700,000 is too big that it was unexpected. That moment was the happiest. 

 

 

 

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Interview Notes:

* t/n:this might mean even the album shoots tell the story/reflect their music.

** Seventeen-like, as if a definition of what ‘Seventeen’ is. 

 

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KR > ENG by kidmingyu  @ Twitter

MAGAZINE SCANS by cat_dog_taste

 

As of 200306: edited for clarity and choice of wordings since original posting

*May contain inaccuracies, please let me know if there are any mistakes!