【E】씨엔블루, 7년차 밴드에게 찾아온 여유의 힘 (인터뷰①)
Q. How do you feel about this album’s release?
YH: It was rather easy to work on this because it was prepared since ‘Cinderella’ last year. It wasn’t targeted for the spring season, but I thought we should release something again around spring. I didn’t mean to write it about the season. It was already written back then. We’ve written too many farewell songs, so I thought it would be nice to come up with a refreshing, breezy music.
Q. It’s interesting that the album description says “newly blossoming musical horizons.” How did your musical horizons blossom?
YH: I think “blossoming” is a bit of an exaggeration (laughs). It’s filled with all of our self-compositions, including Jungshin’s new composition. I think having other members’ composition shows our musical growth.
Q. It seems like your dialect is a bit thick today (laughs)
YH: When I’m using Seoul dialect, it has to go through a sort of filter (laughs). Using dialect lets me be more honest, I tend to use more vivid words.
Q. What is the musical focus to pay attention on this album?
JH: We’ve had many things we wanted to express all this time. Because we experienced many things that aren’t easy to experience since we were in the early 20s. When we were 22,23, other people couldn’t sympathize with us because we looked too young. But now that we’re in our late 20s, they seem to resonate more. We can even use more frank expressions.
Q. Many spring songs are being released. What makes “You’re so fine” special?
YH: I pondered whether to include “spring” or not because it wasn’t meant to be a spring song. In “Can’t Stop,” released in 2014, there is the word “spring” in the lyrics. When we go on tours, it’s a bit awkward to sing it when it’s not springtime. “You’re so fine” is not a spring song, either.
Q. Then how did you select the title song and the tracks for this album?
YH: Until now, the title tracks have been written anew with the thought of making them the title tracks. This time, it was picked among the songs that had been previously written. The members said it sounded the best, so I pitched it to the agency. Thankfully, it was decided (to be the title track).
Q. You included “stay sober,” which was a Japanese release. Is there a reason you included it?
YH: I tried to balance things out overall. It was the necessary sound for the balance of the album. “Stay sober” only uses original band instruments. As for the title track, it has many brass elements, and each song has (a specific) element. I wanted to include “Stay sober” because that’s what many people consider typical of bands.
Q. The lyrics of “You’re so fine” are witty. Is it based on your experience?
YH: Actually, I wrote the lyrics after reading the phrase “(was she) this fine?” The melody was there first and when I sang “You’re so fine”, it went perfectly well with it. The phrase I read was a title in a news article, “Bare-faced selfie: was she this fine?” (laughs). It has attributes of my romantic style, too. I tend to be cheesy to women. It’s something cheesy but sounds good. I tried to write things that they’d say, “cut it out~” but still feel good. I wrote it to gear toward female listeners’ taste.
Q. Have you asked female acquaintances about it?
YH: Actress Jung Hyesung, who appeared in our music video, said “When women listen to it they’ll feel good.” I thought that’s spot on for my intentions.
Q. CNBLUE has been promoting continuously with JYH’s self-compositions.
YH: About self-compositions, I think it means that I’m responsible for all of the consequences if it doesn’t do well. I think that I must overcome “I’m a Loner,” perhaps too much. I believe that CNBLUE, who creates own compositions, is the real CNBLUE. Though we were very lucky during “Loner,” and the song was great too, but this is the real start for CNBLUE, this is the real CNBLUE. If we could accomplish what we had and feel that achievement from the album we’ve created ourselves, it would make us feel so great. That’s why we keep trying. This is our color.
Q. What is CNBLUE’s color?
YH: At first, the portion of what the agency wanted was bigger. Now, I think we know more about the four of us better ourselves. For a song to succeed, it also requires luck. Combining all the tracks we’ve made, in Korea, Japan, and abroad, amounted to 140 songs. Now it feels like we loaded the gun. I believe we have the power to shoot it when there’s the opportunity. I want to fire this gun with my self-composition.
Q. What is the biggest concern you had making this album?
MH: We made it thinking, we should show something new and good. We think it’s better to more frequently present our music, perhaps in a more casual way. We hope to continue to present our music in a more laid-back manner.
Q. You said you wanted to overcome “Loner.” Is that your final goal?
YH: Since the early days of debut, the dream is always no.1 on the Billboard chart. Whenever, I just keep that in mind. The most immediate goal is “Loner.” Once that is overcome, there will be a new goal. When people first hear it they laugh, but I’ll succeed. I think it comes true when I keep talking about it. My motto is that if I say my objective, it comes true. When we debuted, we were confident we’ll win the rookie award. We won the rookie award and the bonsang. When we say, “I want to go (to a location) on our tour,” we end up going there. I have this thing stuck in my head, so I keep talking about it.
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Thank you so much for the translation. It's great to find out more about JHY's creative process as well as his thought process.
He's a smart cookie -
Thanks for translating the interview, we are appreciating news about Yonghwa and his works, I hope he will continue to provide us with great work and music! We wish him all the best!
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Thx for translate this, gomawoyo ☺☺☺☺
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Thanks for the translation. I love Yong and his dreams and targets. So far whatever Yong says, he has done it or achieved it and I believe it is a matter of time that he will achieve his Billboard goal.
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Excellent answers! He really really is very smart! Thumbs up!!! And I like "Now it feels like we loaded the gun."
이런 심도깊은 인터뷰가 한국에선 거의 처음 아니었는지?
용화가 말하는것들이 꼭 이뤄지길..이제껏 말한대로 다 이뤄진 용화니깐요ㅎㅎ