interview: 82MAJOR Aspire to be the 'FIRST CLASS' Idol in Their Own Colour
82MAJOR, a six-member South Korean boy group under GREAT M Entertainment, has made their official debut with the release of their 1st single, ON. Their name was inspired by South Korea’s country code, 82, and the group’s aspirations to introduce a new direction to K-pop and establish themselves as a major presence globally. Let’s get to know more about the group and their music direction in the recent interview.
Hwang Seong Bin (left), Nam Seong Mo (right)
Q: Some of the members contributed to the song writing process for this debut single. Can you offer some insights to the song writing process and the messages that you wanted to convey through the lyrics?
Nam Seong Mo: When I first heard the melody of "SURE THING," it brought a positive, hopeful feeling. It inspired me to write lyrics as if directly communicating with our fans. Crafting these lyrics, a lot of beautiful words came to mind. In a section mentioning "a small firefly," I remembered being a child and witnessing a firefly, amazed at how something so small could emit such a bright light. I aimed to be a similar source of light, even if small, for our fans. That’s how the lyrics came together.
Hwang Seong Bin: While creating "FIRST CLASS," my focus was on the aspiration for 82MAJOR to reach a first-class status in the future. I aimed to express this ambition through the song's lyrics.
Yoon Ye Chan: When I was working on “FIRST CLASS,” I just realized that it was natural for us because we are confident with our writing and rapping skills. So, when it came down to writing process, with the ‘first class’ and ‘this is who we really are’ mindset, it was really easy to write the lyrics that match the song.
Q: Do you have any particular goals for this debut single?
Cho Seong Il: Even though we just made our debut, it is my goal to receive the Rookie of the Year award. It is the biggest goal that we have. After receiving the Rookie of the Year award, we will do our best to receive the grand award through our next album.
Nam Seong Mo: I really want to be first place on a music show.
Park Seok Joon: We aim to showcase our group's incredible presence to the public. With tracks like "FIRST CLASS" and "SURE THING" offering different vibes, our goal is to excel in expressing those diverse vibes through facial expressions and gestures, highlighting our capability to pull off such different concepts.
Q: On your journey to debut, did anything funny or memorable moment that you will remember forever?
Cho Seong Il: During the filming of the music video for "FIRST CLASS," the weather started out great but took a turn with sudden rain in the evening. We were concerned about continuing the shoot, but the director proposed capturing the current atmosphere, so we ended up filming the music video in rain. The director did a great job in bringing out the vibe even during when it was raining, and I think it came out better than what was originally intended.
Park Seok Joon (left), Yoon Ye Chan (right)
Q: What is one thing that is very different between being a trainee and a rookie idol?
Cho Seong Il: I think our daily schedule changed a lot. Before as trainees, we would always practice here in the practice room. Now that we've made our debut, we have more opportunities to attend schedule elsewhere. Also, we get more time to interact with our fans, which I find to be great.
Park Seok Joon: For me, when I was a trainee, I did not have the confidence that I will debut for sure. Now that we've made our debut, I want to show a better side of us, and it motivates me to do well during practice sessions as well as lyrics writing.
Kim Do Gyun: I think I was able to gain new experiences, and it allowed us to come together more as a team and improve our teamwork.
Q: What is something that you really look forward to now that you've debuted?
Yoon Ye Chan: Personally for me, performing in front of other people and writing more songs. That’s what I look forward to.
Park Seok Joon: When our debut was confirmed as we received the songs for the album, I really look forward to finding out the songs that we will get to perform.
Hwang Seong Bin: I'm really excited for getting the opportunity to collaborate with other artists.
Cho Seong Il (left), Kim Do Gyun (right)
Q: What attracted you to have music as your career and what made you decide to be an idol?
Yoon Ye Chan: My family has a very long and extensive line in music; my brother is already an idol (P1Harmony’s KEEHO), my mother was a pianist while my uncles major in guitar and drums (respectively). Since our whole family has been working in the music industry, so I have always been surrounded by music and naturally compelled in doing music.
Cho Seong Il: As I was thinking about what career path I should take, I thought about how I loved singing and dancing. I decided to audition and eventually landed a spot in the company, leading me to debut as an idol.
Hwang Seong Bin: When I was 16, I was mesmerized Post Malone's stages, which eventually inspired me to take the path of an idol. I found solace in his music and it inspired me to pursue a path as an artist. I was deeply moved and wished to provide that comfort to others as well. That’s how I decide to have a career in music.
Q: What are your long-term goals as a group?
Hwang Seong Bin: With all six of us in the group, I want to leave a lasting impression that 82MAJOR is a cool group that others aspire to become.
Yoon Ye Chan: As a long-term goal, I wish to be our own producer for our albums, instead of receiving demos from other producers. We got two producers, the third one is on the way, so, I hope we can make our own albums soon.
Kim Do Gyun: Also, we want to create music that is distinctly our own colour and present it to the public.
Q: Do you have a message that you want to leave for your fans?
Hwang Seong Bin: Thank you so much for supporting us. You are the reason for our existence. We love you! ❤ ❤ ❤
Yoon Ye Chan: All of us have the same mind and heart. Thank you so much to all our fans. We are reading all of your comments and watch all the TikTok videos that you uploaded. We love you guys too! ❤
Park Seok Joon: To our international fans, I hope to see you in person someday through a tour. We will work our best and try to make that happen.
Thank you Great M Entertainment and Helix Publicity for the invitation.
Watch 82MAJOR 'Sure Thing' MV here!
Watch 82MAJOR 'FIRST CLASS' MV here!
*photos courtesy of Great M Entertainment
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