IU, the idol who stole the hearts of fans and received a flood of popularity with her appearance and performances of "Good Day", "The Story Only I Didn't Know" and "Cruel Fairytale". This new face and talent that appeared as an actress in a recent drama is showing up through various activities.
During the time we spent with her, seeing the image of IU telling us her plans calmly and steadily, she doesn't give us the feeling of a young 18 year old girl but of 'singer IU' instead.
Looking forward even more to her future activities, let's go straight into IU's interview!
Q1. This time round, your new song is "The Story Only I Didn't Know"!! Please introduce the song to us~
Yoon Sang senior composed this song for me. Kim Lee Na, who wrote the lyrics for "Good Day", also wrote the lyrics for this song. It has an extremely dark quality to it. Yoon Sang oppa explained to me that he was creating a nostalgic mood. It seems like a dark, sad and somewhat vague song.
(How was it like working with Yoon Sang?)
I've been calling him 'appa' (dad)...
(It seems he is of a similar age to your father?)
They are one year apart ^^. Originally, at first I called him 'oppa' (older brother), then now I'm calling him 'appa'. I call him 'appa' and he calls me 'our daughter'. We address each other that way.
I have always really liked Yoon Sang senior, so this time I made several requests to my company, saying that I definitely had to work with him. Before Cho Young Cheol director, the producer of my album, I received help from Ga In's solo album producer. At that time, it was Yoon Sang senior who was involved. Somehow, upon my request, the connections were made and things fell into place.
(As farewell songs don't match your age, there is talk that you should avoid singing them, isn't there?)
No, I don't think it's something I'll try to avoid. It's just I've heard that they are difficult, even if you understand the lyrics, it takes time so they are more difficult, but I'm not going to avoid them.
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Q2. In coming up with your new album, which part was the toughest???
It's just having to control my emotions on stage that was slightly tough. If I focus on staying in tune, I can't express my emotions fully, but if I try to express the emotions in the lyrics, I get too emotional and my pitch will waver. So controlling that is still a bit... even until the final broadcast, it still seemed hard.
(Yoon Sang's ballad is a ballad that requires moderation. That seems difficult for you to present at your age)
I found the moderation part tough too, but I have always liked such songs. I just don't like new styles. Music with a slightly light mood, sad mood, or something mild is good. I don't like music that makes you excited, or stuff about crying wildly. So I definitely had to get Yoon Sang senior to write a song for me. I wanted a song with a music style that you can often listen to usually and for some reason gives you this 'I don't really understand this person's feelings' sort of feel. Although I like this kind of style, when I actually tried to do it by myself, it was rather difficult.
(Like how this time, you kind of had to use your low voice?)
I don't think so. For me, that's actually easy. Many people assume that IU's voice is high pitched, but there's not much of high pitch when I'm singing. From when I was still a trainee to when I debuted as a singer, I think I used a lot of my low voice. I've also heard from a lot of composers who say that my middle and low voices are good. I don't quite enjoy having to use my high pitched voice.
(Since a girl your age should be quite lively, I think you would use your high pitched voice a lot?)
Beyond what I expected, people seem to like my bright voice a lot more. The people who liked me after listening to songs such as 'Good Day' or 'Marshmallow', probably felt that my low voice in 'The Story Only I Didn't Know' was awkward. Initially, I found that producing my bright voice was much more difficult.
(Did you feel any pressure producing a song with a style like 'The Story Only I Didn't Know'?)
There was completely no pressure on me, yet the people around me thought I would feel even more pressure because it so happened that previously, my 'Good Day' promotions were very well-received. However, because I completely wasn't thinking about the pressure from my popularity when preparing the repackaged album, I wasn't anticipating anything and didn't feel any pressure either. People also didn't expect much since it was just a repackaged album. Also, I really wanted to sing a song like that and told my company so, but when the song was out, even more so the people around me felt this would be a challenge. (laughter) They said, "This would be a total challenge for you". Instead, I didn't particularly think about that when I came out with this song. It was the people around me that were saying I would feel pressured.
(Such music is easily accepted by some, but not by others...)
Also, contrary to one's expectations, almost none of my fans became fans only from watching me on broadcasts of "Good Day" or "Marshmallow" performances. Many of them liked listening to me play the guitar on the radio, the old songs I sang on 'Sebakwi', many of them also liked it when I performed the songs I liked on 'Sketchbook'. Thus, for this song, fans were also unexpectedly supportive. It's certainly difficult for slightly younger friends to listen to. Even friends of my age had some difficulties accepting it. Honestly, it was difficult for me too, but seeing as such is my preference, I began to like it. For now, I'm not feeling apologetic towards those friends, for being unable to satisfy their expectations.
(Ahjussi fans seem to really like it a lot)
Therefore, I'm also slightly varying my emotions. I'm slightly abandoning my younger fans and getting to know the people who are a bit older and would like to know more about me. Especially my mother and those of her age who would find this style very fresh. They wouldn't expect to once again hear music of such a genre on music programmes.
(After listening to the song, as you listen to it more and more, it seems to get better, but it's an authentic ballad with no hook.)
It evokes somewhat feelings of the old days, just by listening to the song, Yoon Sang's emotions start to surface. This is what many people say. It seems Yoon Sang's fans approve of it too.
(After Yoon Sang produced the song, how did you 'digest' it? At your age, the lack of possibility is worrying...)
Honestly, I simply thought about it a lot during recording. I wondered how to express something like that. When I tried imitation, it didn't turn out right, but really when I tried to express what was within me, it worked. The lyrics were extremely difficult too. I had to read it up to 10 times before I understood them and then, I felt they were really good lyrics. That's what I thought, but when I read them at first, I didn't really get it.
(The lyrics seem to be difficult to understand at your age...)
By just grasping its form, you wouldn't be able to understand all the minor details bit by bit. Therefore, before recording, I just tried singing it about 10 times, receiving direction instructions from my senior. After singing 10 times, I was slightly better at getting a hold of the feel and started recording, but then I just abandoned it. I'm not going to say more than that, but singing using my interpretation, what came out sounded so typical, but singing without it from beginning to end, even more so, I thought I could do better. Honestly, if my senior singers with more mature voices sang it, they would have done a much better job. No matter how I looked at it, it didn't seem right, there was probably something significant that I had not digested yet. I felt it was a song I didn't deserve, even so, it was a song that I couldn't give up on. Initially, when I received the demo, the PD said it would not be difficult, but of course it would be. Even so, it was really good. I didn't give up and motivated myself to try singing it once more.
(Just like how good actors can accomplish roles they don't have experience in, you will be able to grasp the emotions and sing well...)
Yes. Thank you.
(Therefore you seem to be receiving so much popularity.)
Therefore I'm in a good mood. When I got to first place on the music charts, I felt really great too. Even better than when I was promoting "Good Day".
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Q3. IU... What do you think of when you're singing? I think you do a really good job of delving into the emotions.
I think of the lyrics as I sing. On second thought perhaps you don't really think of anything when singing... At any rate, because you have the lyrics in your mouth, as you sing, you listen to the music that comes out from the mouth. Recently, it's slightly confusing, whether to think about the lyrics as I sing or to listen to the music I sing to grasp the emotions. Offering such an answer sounds ambiguous, but I don't think I have any fancy imaginations as I sing.
(That seems like an honest and frank reply. The gist of IU's emotions seems to be expressed well in the song Yoon Sang composed.)
Yes. It appears to be so. (Hehe)
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Q4. What comes to mind when you're singing the songs 'Cruel Fairytale' and 'The Story Only I Didn't Know'??
(Please comment on just 'Cruel Fairytale'.)
Even more so, when I sing 'Cruel Fairytale', I thought this was such a challenge. Even when people who were fans of me from the start listened to it, they would find this fresh too.
(What were your thoughts when you received this song?)
This too, was something I said I would do. At first, we had the "Good Day" album. Aside from this repackaged album, during the production stages of previous mini-albums, I simply received songs just like that. I would listen to up to 20 demo songs and tell them which ones I liked, and most of them would be included in the album, but when I heard Yoon Sang senior's "Cruel Fairytale", I completely fell for it right there. So, too bad. Too bad that 'Cruel Fairytale' was the very first song intended for the repackaged album. There were 20 demo songs, but 'Cruel Fairytale' was the first song and I thought it was really good. At that time, there were still no lyrics, but just the feeling of a fairytale, grand and waltz-like, that it would stand out from other pop songs. It seriously really fit into the image, both on stage and even in the music video, so I thought I definitely had to do this and when the lyrics came out, it would be a real song that would be really good. It said exactly what I had in mind about fairytales.
(Not just a pretty fairytale?)
Yes. I like this sort of stuff terribly. I liked what it said about fairytales so much, from just reading the title, it completely appealed to me. Instead of a song that makes you think as you sing it, it's a song that makes you think as you just hum it. It seems that when I really just sing it with passion, the song doesn't allow my voice to stand out as it's covered by the accompaniment music.
(That's strange but beautiful. It seems like a song that has a hidden yet distinctive grotesque feel. Have you thought of having a concert?)
Grotesque... it's difficult. hehe. That's the reason I chose it initially. If I performed this for my concert, the stage decoration would be really cool. That's what I thought, so I decided to choose this song first.
(So there's such a part...)
That's just the first part. When I perform it at the real concert, it's going to be really cool.
(To date, through your hit songs and bright and pretty appearance, you have showed us impressive performances. It makes us wonder about your concert...)
In this album, the new tracks are all quite dark, so I liked them. It seems I have slightly awakened the senses of many fans and listeners that got to know me through "Good Day".
(On the other hand, you also want to strengthen your image, that seems to increase the pressure on you.)
It seems as if in order to have a good image, I should be a bright and cheerful child, but honestly that's not true, that's just good packaging. Rather than continuing being like that once more, with a lovely and cute image, I thought it would be alright even if I slightly shattered the expectations of people with such expectations of me.
(In order to truly show us that you have many different sides...)
Yes.
Translation: squishyblob @ WeHeartIU.com
Source: Daum
Credit: WeHeartIU
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