[INTERVIEW] 4minute, "We would like to give an interview at a hot spring resort"

Popular girls group “4minute” released their long-waited Japanese single “Love Tension” and will soon release their single collection album “Best of 4minute.” We asked them who stayed in Japan for their promotions about the single CD which hasn’t been released in Korea yet, the album and their private life.

4minute debuted in Korea with “Hot Issue.” 4minute is consists of five girls, leader Jihyun, main vocalist Gayoon, lead vocalist and rapper Jiyoon, main rapper Hyunah who is also popular as a solo singer and the youngest Sohyun. They had a comeback with a new song “Volume up” in April this year and won first in rankings in various charts. They are quite popular.

Some idol groups are different, between their look on-stage and off-stage. 4minute definitely fits that category the gap between their two images is 100% positive. On-stage the girls are attractive, sexy and cool. Off-stage they are girls in 20s who are very nice and cute. They have a complete change of image, powerful and sexy right after getting on stage. That is, I believe, 4minute's pride, professionalism and charm.

Back in August, 4minute came to Japan to promote their new single CD. The members walked in the press conference like normal girls in their 20s. I almost forgot the fact that they were top idols for a second because they were so friendly and answered every single question politely and smiled from beginning to end.

Your new single is going to be released in Japan. First, what do you think of it?

Gayoon: The MV for “Love Tension” was shot in Japan for the first time. So we are looking forward to seeing Japanese fans’ reactions. Also this song hasn’t been out in Korea yet. I think this is the one song that Japanese fans love the most since the lyrics are easy to remember among our previous singles released in Japan so we are very happy if fans love it!

Hyunah: We shot our MV in Japan for the first time.

Gayoon: That was what I just said. (laugh)

Hyunah: I didn’t listen to what you just said because these snacks are delicious. (laughs)

Jiyoon: We haven’t promoted in Japan for eight months so I am very excited and happy
to see our fans.

The girls were very happy when they got the snacks as a gift and said “Thank you so much. We think all Japanese snacks are really delicious.” Also they were thoughtful so they said to us “Please let’s eat together.” before starting eating. This scene was very memorable.

What kind of song is “Love Tension”? Please let us know the concept and characteristics.

Hyunah: The main theme of the lyrics is a girl who falls in love. I think girls can easily relate to many parts of the lyrics. About the outfits, we had so many different outfits for this song. We tried to show our various sides. And we do “a whip dance” during our performances. We put the sound of a whip into the song so I want you to listen to it carefully. I think this is a song mixed with different genres.

While you girls prepared to release “Love Tension”, were there anything difficult thing you remember or something you worried about?

Gayoon: There is a word in the lyrics “tsuyoku (strong)” on chorus, but the pronunciation was difficult so I sang the part many times because it was the most difficult pronunciation for Koreans.

How long did it take to shoot the mv? Are there any interesting anecdotes while you were shooting?

Sohyun: It took an all day long from morning to night.

Gayoon: I think the director’s facial expressions were very funny. I remember he always said “good (English)” while making a funny face. When we were worried about our performances, if we were doing well or not, he taught us eagerly so we could do our best to make the MV.

Sohyun: He always said “from the head” and I didn’t understand what that meant and then learned it means “from beginning” this time.

Jihyun: Jiyoon and I dressed like men and we all created a boyish atmosphere and I think this is a new image for us.

The outfits of the MV for “Love Tension” were mainly pants so I thought it was very chic and cool. Also the outfits of “Volume Up” had gorgeous patterns and I liked them so much. So did you have any part in choosing the outfits and telling you staff about it?

Gayoon: When we produce our new song, we usually have a meeting before starting recording or shooting. For our outfits, we give our ideas to them or if we have an example like a magazine, we show it to them. For hairstyles, we know what we like so we often suggest like “What do you think of this style?”

New song “Love Tension”'s lyrics go “Throughout my body, now I'm in a daze because of you” and what kind of man are you crazy about?

All: That’s a tough question. (laughs)

Sohyun: Let’s see, I like a guy who doesn’t have double eyelids. (laughs)

Jihyun: That is really detailed. (laughs)

Sohyun: And of course, a guy who has muscles.

Hyunah: What are you imagining? (laughs)

All: (laughs)

Sohyun: I think I should stop here now.

You are going to release a single collection album in Japan and what do you think about it?

Sohyun: This album includes all songs we released in Japan so far so at first I couldn’t believe that. I think you can feel how we changed listening to this CD and also I am very glad if you think we have matured. This is the album from which you can feel that we have been trying to do new things. I myself want to listen to it soon.

Which song is the most memorable?

Gayoon: I think I will choose “Muzik” without any hesitation. When we promoted this song we went to Osaka took the Shinkansen and we had so many delicious foods. I remember we went to many places in Japan and ate delicious foods every places we visited. When I listen to “Muzik” it reminds me of the days we used to promote hard in Japan, concerts and events. This song is our Japanese debut song so I chose this one. Also this was the first one we sang in Japanese.

Sohyun: I will choose “Good Bye” This is the one we recorded in Japan for the first time. I felt the atmosphere of a recording studio in Japan and I remember how nervous I was. I have good memories and I love this song too.

4minute was the first Korean group to debut in Japan before others followed. How did you feel when you were told that you would debut in Japan?

Sohyun: I didn’t feel our debut in Japan was really happening. Because it was just after we debuted in Korea and also we were busy promoting “Muzik” so when I heard about our Japanese promotion's plans, it didn’t seem real to me and I wasn’t sure if we could promote in Japan. We debuted in Japan earlier than the other groups so “the first group” means a lot. We are going to try harder to become a group that many fans love.

Did you change compared to the days back then when you debuted? And who changed the most?

All: (looking at each other) All?

Gayoon: We all changed, I think. We are much prettier than before. At that time we were told we could be pretty doing camera massage but we couldn’t believe that.

Sohyun: Camera massage is important, isn’t it?

In Korea, they think they become more beautiful being shot a lot by camera and they call it “camera massage.” “Camera massage” which means being used to the camera and being pretty through it lens, is one of the beauty secrets of 4minute.

The title collection album is “Best of 4minute” so what is “the best of 4minute”? What are your charms?

Gayoon: I'd say the gap between 4minute on stage and off stage.

Sohyun: Our bare faces are not shocking. (laughs)

Gayoon: Be more confident and say it out louder. (laughs)

Sohyun: (embarrassed) Our bare faces are epic! (laughs)

The other members: That’s just Sohyun’s opinion.

If you have free time, where do you want to go and what do you want to do?

All: We want to go to a hot spring resort!

Sohyun: We have never been to a hot spring resort in Japan so we really want to go. After this question, we were chatting about famous resorts and different types of hot spring resort. One is like a theme park and some members excitedly said “we wish we could answer this interview at a resort, soaked in a hot spring.”

If you can have a week off, what will you do?

Gayoon: I want to go traveling because I have never done that before and after our debut, even once. We all always say that we want to go.

Where do you want to go?

Gayoon: Maybe we could all go to places we'd like to see.

Jiyoon: I don’t care about the place. I just want to travel, anywhere.

Sohyun: It doesn’t have to be far, like a water park.

Gayoon: We can’t visit countries far from Korea if we have only one week off, so Japan will be good because Sohyun can speak Japanese well. But it might be difficult. It will cost us a lot if we all go together and I am worried that we can go traveling by ourselves.

Is there anything you all are into or that you all love?

Gayoon: I think we have different interests but the things we all do together is watching movies and comedy programs. And we always talk that we want to go traveling together.

Jihyun: If I should choose a song, it will be “Love Tension.”

All: Yes, that’s right.

You have busy schedules so what routine do you keep to take care of your skin, throats and health?

Hyunah: Eating! We really eat a lot.

Sohyun: I don’t do anything particular but when I feel my skin condition isn’t good, I put some good lotion on my skin. That’s it.

Gayoon: When I find good cosmetics I recommend them to members so they can use them or we can use them together. Recently I heard that Korean pomegranate vinegar is good for health so I drink it.

Sohyun: And we exercise a lot.

Do you have any Japanese favorite food?

All: Ramen, Takoyaki, Tempura, Yakitori, Crepe, Udon, and Kebap that we had in Harajyuku.

Jiyoon: There are so many delicious foods in Japan.

Hyunah: When we come to Japan, we can eat delicious food so we always gain weight.

Sohyun: There are so many delicious foods at a convenience store.

Jihyun: We are get excited when we talk about foods.

Is there anything you'd want to try?

Sohyun: We had our first solo concert in Japan so if we have a chance I want to have another concert again. Our fans come to our concerts just to see us and they enjoy themselves and have fun, I want to feel the strong emotions again. And we haven’t promoted much here except the concert so I want to see our fans at our next concert.

Where do you want to have your next concert?

Hyunah: Tokyo Dome!

All: That’s impossible.

Gayoon: We should have a big dream. (laugh) I hope we can have like a tour in Tokyo.

Lastly please give say something to your Japanese fans.

Sohyun: (in Japanese) Thank you for waiting for us. We are going to promote in Japan doing our best so please support us. Thank you.

It didn’t even take 4minutes for me to be charmed by them when I saw them in person. They were really cute and have pure smiles and unaffected personalities. They each have their own personality and charms.

4minute debuted in 2009 in Korea as the first group whose members were all born in 1990s. And they debuted in May 2010 in Japan as the first Korean girl group and became the group to lead the other k-pop girls groups. They always try to do new things and keep growing up through their releases. We are waiting for their future promotions because we don’t know how they are going to change and what kind of new styles they plan to show us next time.

Source: K-fan☆me
Translating: mia92 @4-minute.com
Editing: Yoobin @4-minute.com