It's been only a year since their debut, but ZEROBASEONE — formed through Mnet's survival program 'BOYS PLANET' — has already been making waves, cementing their status as the fifth generation's K-Pop giants.
The nine-piece act debuted in July 2023 with the mini-album that made them the first debut group to become a million-seller on Circle chart in 26 years, 'YOUTH IN THE SHADE.' The album also recorded an impressive 1.2 million copies sold on the first day of its release on Hanteo chart, making them one of the promising groups to keep an eye on.
Fast forward to 2024, ZEROBASEONE now have four mini-albums under their name. In addition to their first project, they have released 'MELTING POINT,' 'You had me at HELLO,' and their recent one 'CINEMA PARADISE.' All the albums have more than 1 million sales, displaying their consistency and growing popularity.
'CINEMA PARADISE' boasts a total of seven tracks, spanning genres like electronic synth-pop, Afropop, pluggnB, and hip-hop: "GOOD SO BAD," "KILL THE ROMEO," "The Sea - ZB1 Remake," "Insomnia," "Road Movie," "Eternity," and "YURA YURA - Korean Version," with the message of wanting to "eternally capture" the moments they have created together along with their fans. "ZEROSE, our pride, we love you," said SUNG HAN BIN.
Following their latest musical project, ZEROBASEONE officially embarked on their anticipated inaugural world tour, 'TIMELESS WORLD.' The band kicked it off with a three-day show in Seoul in September followed by stops in Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Macau, Aichi, and Kanagawa.
In commemoration of the release of 'CINEMA PARADISE' and their first tour, allkpop had the opportunity to sit down with SUNG HAN BIN, KIM JI WOONG, ZHANG HAO, SEOK MATTHEW, KIM TAE RAE, RICKY, KIM GYU VIN, PARK GUN WOOK, and HAN YU JIN to talk about the album and what you can expect from their performances. Check out the full exclusive interview below!
allkpop: First of all, thank you for your time, and congratulations on your recent comeback! Could you describe to us your idol life so far? How would you describe the first year of being part of ZEROBASEONE? You got to release four mini-albums in a year!
SUNG HAN BIN: We've had an incredibly grateful year, filled with lots of opportunities like this interview! Thanks to our fans who have shown us so much love, we’ve been able to keep releasing albums. We need to keep working hard to deliver music and performances that we can share with our fans.
allkpop: If you could compare your 2023 selves to your current selves with just a year gap, how would you describe to us your growth in that short amount of time? What’s an improvement you can see in yourself?
ZHANG HAO: Whenever we practice, we always discuss and share ideas to create better performances. Watching us work together like this, I can feel that every member is working hard to perform our best. I also think that ZEROBASEONE has grown a lot over the past year.
KIM JI WOONG: As we’ve spent more time with ZEROSE, I feel like we’ve become closer and love them even more! I also feel like the members have become one, and I think ZEROBASEONE has become stronger.
allkpop: Tell us more about your recent album ‘CINEMA PARADISE,’ the message you want to convey with it, and why you think “GOOD SO BAD” is the perfect title track for the album.
PARK GUN WOOK: With this album, we wanted to deliver ZEROBASEONE’s unique “super positive energy.” All the songs in this album are great, and I think the reason “GOOD SO BAD” is the title track is that it shows our own color the best. Just like the lyrics, the song reflects our desire to express love to ZEROSE and our determination to protect that love.
allkpop: Were there any core memories from preparing ‘CINEMA PARADISE’ that you can share with us?
SEOK MATTHEW: Personally, shooting the trailer for ‘CINEMA PARADISE’ was the most memorable, because I wrote and recorded the narration myself! So it was very meaningful for me. I wrote it to fit the concept of the trailer and to express the feeling that I can’t lose you even if love changes. I also tried to capture that mood during the recording, and when we watched the video together, we were all satisfied and happy with how cool it turned out.
KIM GYU VIN: There’s a scene in the “GOOD SO BAD” music video that was filmed in a tunnel. The lighting in the tunnel was so beautiful, and I think ZEROBASEONE in that long tunnel looked amazing. The scene actually turned out great in the final cut, so it left a strong impression on me.
allkpop: A lot of you are K-Pop fans before being K-Pop idols yourselves. Do you often think how different your lives were two years ago? What are you most proud of and thankful for in this journey so far?
KIM TAE RAE: The biggest difference compared to two years ago is that having songs released under my name and ZEROBASEONE’s name. And it still feels unreal. When I perform on big stages that I've only heard about before and every moment I spend time with our fans, it’s like a dream come true. I’m truly thankful for all of it.
allkpop: How different were your first impressions of the members vs. now? And what have you learned from each other?
RICKY: Personally, I think my first impressions of the members and how they are now are quite different. For example, I thought TAE RAE was an “I” (introvert) when we first met, but the more I got to know him, the more I realized he’s really an “E” (extrovert). HAN BIN is also more playful than I initially thought. I’m happy to know so much about them.
HAN YU JIN: After spending more than a year together, I feel like we’ve become much closer. I often find myself feeling bored when I’m not with the members! This means we are naturally relying on each other and I feel like we’re always learning from each other as we spend time together.
allkpop: After performing at various festivals like KCON, you’re now embarking on your first solo tour. Congratulations on that! Holding a tour a year after debuting is an impressive feat.
SEOK MATTHEW: It’s always exciting and amazing to be able to perform not only in Korea but also many other countries through events like KCON. Now that we’re holding the world tour as our solo concert, it still feels unreal that we’ll get to meet ZEROSE in various regions we haven’t been to yet. Speaking of popularity, when we see our concert venue, full of ZEROSE with their light sticks and loud cheers, I think that’s the moment we know we have become famous. And definitely that’s one of our happiest moments.
allkpop: Is there a particular song from any of your albums that you’ve been so excited about performing on stage?
PARK GUN WOOK: I’ll mainly talk about our concert...we’ve set the setlist to match different themes, so I’m looking forward to performing every song. We’re also showcasing some new dance moves for the first time, which we haven’t shown before, so I’m excited to show something new, and I wonder how our fans' reaction will be!
allkpop: Lastly, please leave a message for your fans, ZEROSE, and allkpop readers! Feel free to invite them and tell them why they shouldn’t miss your first tour!
SUNG HAN BIN: To allkpop readers and ZEROSE, thank you so much for all the love you’ve given to us, ZEROBASEONE. Every moment we spend with ZEROSE is precious, and I promise we’ll continue to create happy memories for you. We’ve prepared so much for our first tour, ‘TIMELESS WORLD,’ including performances you’ve never seen before and you will also be able to walk down memory lane with ZEROBASEONE, so don’t miss it! Please keep supporting ZEROBASEONE! ZEROSE, our pride, we love you!
ZHANG HAO: ZEROBASEONE’s first world tour! We’ve prepared performances that ZEROSE haven’t seen before, so you can fully enjoy it. Through ‘TIMELESS WORLD,’ I’m sure ZEROBASEONE and ZEROSE will create unforgettable memories together, and that would make me really happy!
_📌
— ZEROBASEONE (@ZB1_official) July 15, 2024
2024 ZEROBASEONE THE FIRST TOUR [TIMELESS WORLD] 안내https://t.co/UjNZm4YcK9#ZEROBASEONE #ZB1 #제로베이스원 #ZEROBASEONETHEFIRSTTOUR #2024_ZEROBASEONE_THEFIRSTTOUR_TIMELESSWORLD #TIMELESSWORLD pic.twitter.com/pqOpofZHbG
SEE ALSO: ZEROBASEONE's Tae Rae showcases his growth as an all-round performer beyond vocals
SEE ALSO: ZEROBASEONE expands global reach with U.S. release of 'Ascend'
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