Don't get it twisted. It's 'CIRCUSSSS', not 'CIRCUS'.
Earlier in the month, W&Whale released their first mini-album in over two years titled, 'CIRCUSSSS', with an 'S' for each member of their group. When asked what the title meant, they replied, "It's a four-person circussss."
Bae Young Jun, the eldest of W&Whale actually debuted in 1993 with the male duo group, 'Kona' and their title track "Our days are more beautiful than your nights". Then with the addition of Han Jae Won (keyboard), Kim Sang Hoon (Bass, guitar, drums), The three became 'W' (Where the Story Ends). But now, with the addition of the newest member Whale, they have become W&Whale and released an album. For Bae, this album is a project that has been 18 years in the making, and for the youngest member Whale (vocal, guitar), it's the end product of 5 years of hard sweat and tears.
The group had very few solid opportunities to promote their band in the past, but they were hesitant because the electronic-music genre was still too new to introduce into mainstream media.
They could've easily taken a career break but they decided to use that time off from the public eye to work harder on their album, attempting to make it an absolute, flawless masterpiece.
During this time period, they also realized a harsh reality- entertainers don't make a lot of hard cash, but their struggles made their hard-earned success as a band that much more sweeter. The road to stardom was a long and crazy ride, very much like... a circus.
Your outfits are quite eccentric.
Bae Young Jun: (laughs) "For our last album, all the guys dressed rather conservatively. But this album, we're doing something a little different. Our new concept for not only Whale but for us guys as well, is 'eccentric and edgy.'"
Each person looked unique and they showed a completely different style in comparison to their last album.
This is the first album you released in two full years. I'm sure there were things you guys thought a lot about during that time. Has your music changed at all since then, and did you have a concept in mind before the actual recording began?
Bae Young Jun: "No, we didn't begin with a concept that was set in stone. But after Whale composed "Acrobat Girl," it kind of set the tone for the entire album. After that, we produced "Magician Boy", followed by "Break it Down", and "The night is short, let's go lady."
Tell us what the demo version of "Acrobat Girl" was like.
Bae Young Jun: "A strong blues melody. A track that would be featured in a movie like, "Paris, Texas." "
Han Jae Won: "Whale is motivating us immensely."
Does that mean Whale has that much more of an important role now?
Bae Young Jun: "When she joined the band back in 2006, I honestly didn't have any expectations for her to play such an important role, as she does now. I just thought, 'Hey, a new prominent female vocalist. We just need to pick the songs that work well with her voice, and we'll be set.' But one day she started picking up chords on the guitar, which we never even taught her, and then she started writing songs. When she continued to improve herself as an artist, I thought to myself, 'This girl is more than just a pretty face; she is capable of leading our band."
Whale: "Frankly, when I first joined W&Whale, I knew very little about the electronic-music genre. I was more interested in things like Acoustic Jazz & Blues. I felt like a great conflicting of interest existed between me and the bandmates. But the more time I spent with them, the more I learned and the more electronic-music began appealing to me. So I decided that for the album, I was going to to write a song and have them edit it accordingly, and was excited to hear the end result."
Was that your way of seeing what they were capable of?
Whale: "Not necessarily. I had complete faith in them. In the beginning when Jae Won edited one of my songs, it had a completely different feel to it and I was pretty bewildered, but now after 5 years, I trust that he knows what he is doing. Now, I'm excited to see what the track sounds like after his magic touch. And every time, it's as if my songs have sprouted wings and are able to fly. The fact that the album took off with the song I composed as the title track was more than exhilarating, and I've become more confident as a composer as a result. In some ways, this is my first, real album."
Just like Whale mentioned, if your past albums are a collaboration of all of your efforts, that means Whale has probably also taken a lot of initiative for this new mini-album, and it definitely shows. It sounds like you incorporated more electronic instruments, is that right?
Han Jae Won: "Actually, we used less instruments this time around. Because Whale is so ambitious we wanted to really let her shine in this album, and in order to highlight her voice we needed to use less instruments."
Whale: "But because I wanted to do everything and anything, a lot of times when I put in my two cents about how something should sound, they would frequently tell me, "Whale. This doesn't go well with the song that YOU wrote."
Were there times when Whale simply asked too much of you guys?
Han Jae Won: "Yes, constantly!"
Ildong: (laughs)
Bae Young Jun:"She would tell us about her favorite guitarist of all time and ask us to emulate his guitar solos (laughs)."
Han Jae Won: "Whale has high-standards when it comes to music, and we felt badly because we can only do so much."
Whale: "It's because I'm still young and inexperienced. I needed to draw out their fullest potential from what they know to do best, rather than bringing in something completely foreign and asking them to perform it to the Tee."
Han Jae Won: "We wanted to do it for you. We're just not that capable."
Bae Young Jun: "Whale, I would bring you London's Philharmonic if I could."
It feels more like W 'with' Whale, rather than W 'and' Whale.
Han Jae Won: "Well, we prefer 'with' (laughs), but... for the sake of Whale's success, it is 'W&Whale'. She needs to come out with her solo album shortly as well."
Bae Young Jun: "Whale is really talented when it comes to singing Acoustic... she should release an acoustic solo album, broadening her talents in the process, then come back to W&Whale to utilize her new skills."
Whale: "As of now, I have no plans to release a solo album. I used to think of ways in which I could perform and record the kind of music I enjoyed, but now I like electronic-music and I want to pursue it."
Bae Young Jun: "That's why we started the 'Whale in My Place' project. We plan on recording Whale emulate tracks by AC/DC and Radiohead on the acoustic guitar and uploading them onto YouTube."
Han Jae Won: "It comes together nicely."
Whale: "I'm still scribbling it out at home (laughs)."
Considering this is just your mini-album with your full album due to be released towards the end of this year, the mini-album still feels whole & complete. Your intro song, "Burlesque" is an exciting track that introduces your album, followed by "Acrobat Girl" that slows it down a bit, then ends with "Break It Down".
Bae Young Jun: "We wanted to make all our albums like that. Sang hoon and Jae Won are responsible for the programming for this album and they wanted the album to include all the things we planned to do from the beginning, making it feel complete."
Kim Sang Hoon: "We put this album together in hopes that it would resemble a well-written piece of literature."
When you each presented your demos to one another, how did you decide which ones made the cut?
Bae Young Jun: "We got together once every two to four weeks to see what each of us had. We each presented our demos and took a vote. If three or more members liked the demo, then we went to work on it. If it was tied 2:2, unfortunately those songs were thrown out."
In this day and age, a lot of musical artists are releasing digital singles and it's hard to find a full album, so why do you guys insist on releasing one?
Han Jae Won: "Full albums require a lot of hard work and if it is simply released as a few digital singles, I feel like the hard work is thrown out the window."
Bae Young Jun: "We're not bashing digital singles; it's just that we are pretty traditional in that sense. We still value CDs and we are collectors, and therefore we are very involved in producing our own CD albums- everything from the choosing the pictures to go in the CD jacket to hitting every single note in each song. It becomes something that represents us and is a part of us, so if at all possible we want to use the best paper material for our jacket cover and choose the best picture of Whale to go on that piece of paper."
Whale: "Even for the mini-albums, the oppas work so hard to produce something that's whole and complete. I am proud to say that I produce music with these people. They know what it means to be a true musician and to produce something that you can be proud of. This is the mentality of a true professional."
Bae Young Jun: "Why did you wait so long to say such nice things?" (laughter)
On a radio program, you recently said that Whale had changed a lot in the past five years. She used to be this feminine girl that only ate fruit but now after spending time with you guys, she prefers eating red meat. Just like you have influenced each other in your daily lives, I'm sure you have influenced each other musically. Specifically, what kinds of changes took place?
Whale: "(laughs) There have been a lot of changes! I've rarely spent time with anyone else, other than my band members. They're like family now, we're completely comfortable with one another. Jae Won is like my older sister, and Young Jun is like my daddy."
Han Jae Won: "We share a lot of secrets, the two of us."
Whale: "He says things like, 'girl, don't do that!' (laughs) and Sang Hoon really feels like an older brother to me."
Han Jae Won: "There is a downside, however. Whale used to hang out with her friends a lot more in the beginning, but now not nearly as much."
Whale: "Spending time with these three is more than enough. I guess I don't feel the need for friends anymore, so I don't go out as much."
Han Jae Won: "Honestly speaking, the three of us don't have friends either. This is our problem (laughs)."
What was it like, getting to know each other personally once the music died down?
Bae Young Jun: "The road to getting to know someone is never an easy one. There are times we try to understand each other, but on the flip side to that, there are times we curse and refuse to give in. But we've been there, done that now and now we know each others personalities all too well."
Did the process of getting to know each other have an influence on how your album turned out?
Bae Young Jun: "When you acknowledge that everyone is different and unique, it makes it a little easier to work together. We had to trust that each would carry their own weight to make this album great, and because of that, we were successful."
Whale: "We didn't have any problems, as far as recording the album was concerned."
As a band, you guys are now well on your way. Do you still worry about being able to pay the bills as a musician?
Bae Young Jun: "There was never a time in my 18 years of being in this industry in which I told myself to have hope and continue this career because things would look up. It was always hard, and got progressively harder. We thought we were through when 'Seo Taiji and Boys' debuted, then we thought we were finished when album sales were down, then the Hallyu wave came and the idol stars were the new trend so we didn't think we had a chance. The market was never in our favor. You can't get rich trying to be a musician. We know this, but we do it because we enjoy ourselves. And one thing is for sure: when we enjoy ourselves, our listeners will too."
What do you hope your fans get out of this album?
Bae Young Jun: "I hope they can sense that this album is made with our sweat and tears and we hope that for the few minutes that they listen to our music, they are able to let down all the burdens of this world and escape reality for just a short while."
What will < CIRCUSSSS > symbolize for W&Whale in the future?
Bae Young Jun: "A time when music was enjoyable, and a time when the four of us developed a mutual respect for one another, both personally and musically-speaking."
Whale: "Same."
Han Jae Won: "Even now, I feel content when I listen to music I produced 10 years ago. I hope to feel the same way then, that I do now. Content."
Kim Sang Hoon: "I'm going to be nostalgic and want to return to this time."
Han Jae Won: "There is a little girl inside of you, (laughs)"
Source & Images : 10asia via Nate
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