【E】씨엔블루, 그럼에도 불구하고 ‘음악’ (인터뷰②)
Q. The lyrics of “Young Forever” sound almost autobiographical. What do they mean?
YH: It’s my personal favorite aside from the title track. I have a bit of insomnia, I wrote this when I couldn’t get to sleep at night. When we first debuted, it was a jackpot. When we don’t feel that big of a hype ourselves, it didn’t really feel like success. Come to think of it, we were always evolving, but there was a period where it was hard for me because we didn’t feel it anymore. I thought of that period when I wrote this song. Is it difficult because I got older, now that I’m an adult? When I didn’t know anything and could just challenge, I didn’t think of the consequences. I had a pressure to show something now that I’m an adult. Though this hasn’t completely disappeared, my stress was resolved through making music. I realized that compared to before, I can express much of what I want honestly when writing “Young Forever”.
MH: When YH hyung let me listen to “Young Forever,” I thought it’d be nice to have this as the title track. It made me think much reading the lyrics and the overall theme. YH hyung and JH hyung take responsibility as they lead and make CNBLUE’s music. I was concerned that it might be a burden for them to always lead and take responsibility. Though I didn’t say it after listening to this song, I felt that he’s such a big help to the members and that message is also transmitted to us. This song means a lot to us.
Q. The lyrics to “YF” have the part, “in the illusion that I’m left alone.” Do you really think that?
YH: A little. I didn’t feel that before but it’s quite felt these days. For instance, I read so many people saying “I’ll be with you forever,” but after a certain moment, they disappear. It makes the fans who are still with us and those around us all the more precious. At that time, I was too stagnant and took them for granted. As I wrote, I thought it’s still not too late and I’ll be nicer to my fans.
Q. How long have you had insomnia?
YH: It’s been quite a while. I have too many thoughts. One thing leads to another. Though I want to relax, it doesn’t work as I wish. I have too many desires and I hated it when such desires don’t come to fruition. I think I’ll lower my expectations more, but not to be satisfied with what I have now, but I’m gonna lower expectations and try harder. Now, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to take a good night’s sleep. I really want to have that again soon.
Q. Maybe you’re going through a slump.
YH: But I didn’t really go through a huge slump. Though it’s not a slump, it was success from the get-go, and there was a period when whatever I did was a hot issue. Having that much attention in the beginning made me feel like it didn’t seem like success without such feelings. Now that I think of it, that cannot happen every time. If so, I’d be a Billboard star already (laughs). I feel that coming this far as a band in its 7th year without much fluctuation means we’ve done well. But I think we’ve got to overcome something one more time.
Q. Did the members know about YH’s story?
JH: Around the time we were 23-4, there was a period when everyone was having a hard time. We tried to overcome something that cannot be easily felt by those who are of our age, and that put us under a lot of stress. I’m not sure whether we’ve overcome that stress, but we continuously endured it and feel that we’ve grown a lot. We’re learning little by little how to garner victories, I like that we can experience many things by expressing through music.
Q. You’re an idol band in your 7th year. There must be much pride as well as hardship.
YH: There’s pride and certainly much hardship. Even now, the most frequent comments are “What do they know?” that makes me feel, “what do YOU know?” I think we’ve attained a certain level of impassivity when it comes to negative comments. It’s quite difficult being an idol band. As a major band, there’s the middle ground we need to reach with the agency. There must be elements that the fans favor. It’s hard to accommodate everything. Before, the agency had a bigger hand, but now we have more say in including what we want. We don’t want to make music that we like but the public doesn’t want. I feel that we’ve grown quite well thus far. We’ll never give up this position.
Q. Do you read the comments often?
YH: I read in the order of “most liked” (laughs). If someone says something that requires feedback, I would, but those are rare. Most often it’s nonsensical stuff. Now it’s rather humorous. “What do YOU know?” (laughs)
JS: It’s something we need to endure as celebrities. Some people definitely use it to vent, it’s our fate to let them take a punch.
Q. What is the most difficult thing as you promote?
JS: During “Loner,” we had so much attention at first. We lived so busily, without much time to feel such things. No one made trouble while we promoted, but there must have been hardship for each member. We’ve overcome that and celebrate what’s good. I think that attests to how well we’ve done so far.
YH: During “Loner” days, I’d done everything that was possible, including variety shows. I slept 2 hours a week. It was tiresome for my body and I wanted rest. It’s not that I wasn’t busy afterwards. When sunbaes on TV say, “YH is good at variety, good at acting, good at singing,” it makes me feel rewarded and that I’ve done well until now. When the (TV) writers ask for me, I’m touched by those around me. I wonder, why was it so hard back then.
Q. Because you debuted at a young age, there might have been allure of self-indulgence (making trouble, going outside the rules, etc).
YH: I didn’t want to take responsibility for doing so. That’s what makes me sleepless at night (laughs). If I go off the track, that’ll make me be a certain way after a year. When I’m 30, what do I do? Things like this keep leading on and I can’t go to sleep. (laughs)
JH: You don’t need to really go off the track to enjoy life. Like fishing for instance, and many other fun things to do.
Q. There were many negative comments about your hand-syncing. Did you overcome them?
YH: I think I’ve overcome them. It’s difficult to show live stage on music shows due to time restraints. Some criticize that “you shouldn’t go on in that case.” But you do get skillful even if you just hand-sync for 7 years (laughs)
JH: There used to be many who viewed it negatively. Now lots of people are on our side, I see victory in this long battle.
YH: I feel that the perspectives have improved compared to before. In interviews, I’ve always said time will tell. The more time passes, the more they acknowledge.
Q. While you were growing, your agency FNC also became a massive entertainment company.
YH: First off, I’m so happy that Yoo Jaesuk hyung is with us (laughs). But it’s embarrassing to say ourselves, “We’ve worked hard in the past.” I really dislike selling past memories. I also dislike saying “this is my brick” when there’s a new building (laughs). I don’t think it’s nice to directly call the CEO in terms of the system. We should also change our thinking according to the size of the company.
JH: Only 3-4 years ago, if our album didn’t succeed, our agency as a whole suffered. Nowadays, we’ve taken a step back and it’s more relaxing for us.
YH: But I still want to note that last year, with my solo album and CNBLUE’s album, we’ve made 60% of the agency’s sales (laughs). Now, AOA’s doing well and it’s so nice.
JH: I feel so superficial when I take coming to Cheongdam-dong for granted, when it was only a few years ago. I keep forgetting what’s precious.
Q. The members are also continuing your good teamwork.
YH: Nothing’s changed from back then to now. Guys, let’s answer cheerfully!
JH: It’s been nearly 10 yrs since we’ve met. Things that could clash have been ironed out when we were little. I think our relationship is getting better as more time passes.
YH: Maybe not if we kept living in the dorm together (laughs). Now we live separately by ourselves, have our own leisure time, and when we meet it’s nicer. That pulls us closer.
MH: I think we go along with each other really well. We connect so well. I think we’ll last very long as a band.
JH: What really makes me feel good when I go out is “how could the four of you meet together?” I like hearing this.
Q. Despite all the hardship, what makes you never give up on music?
YH: I think of it as my calling. I always think, what would I have done if I wasn’t an artist? My friends are trying very hard to get a job, when I see them, I feel that I’m happy with what I do. I want to set an example to my friends. It makes me feel very happy when I hear them say “I’m friends with Jung Yonghwa.” Such things empowers me to continue on.
(other members' last comments omitted)
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Thank you so much for the translation. I can sense their maturity in facing challenges and all the negative crap that gets thrown in their way, and most of all happy that they openly talk about it. I now only wish for Yong to take it easy and be able to have a peaceful rest (both mind and body).
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I really love these interviews! While reading through yonghwa's answers, i can feel that he really is maturing well as time passes :) I love the song Young Forever too! Somehow, his lyrics and his words can always bring a healing effect to me.
Lastly, a big thank you for translating ^^ -
Always a pleasure to read yonghwa's interviews. Thanks for the translation!
I think this is something that cannot be avoided, but I'm glad they are mature enough to overcome by themselves and through music!
Fighting Yonghwa and CNBLUE & good luck with your promotion's period!