VIXX FOR 10ASIA

VIXX FOR 10ASIA

12:21 am - 07/27/2013

From left, VIXX members Ravi, Leo, N, Hongbin, Ken, and Hyuk. [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]

It is always exciting and beautiful to see confidence in youths who have truly worked hard. Hence it is probably only natural that the moment TenAsia encountered the strong determination that was hidden beneath their heavy make-up, their certainty that they will reach the top someday became believable.

Since making their debut in May of last year, VIXX has charged forward and non-stop with three singles, which was followed by their first mini-album “hyde.” Still, they had a clear picture of their future. Their pure and innocent faces turned serious and grown-up when they talked about their future and dreams.

On the special occasion of Hyuk’s birthday, TenAsia met with the six members of VIXX — N, Leo, Ken, Ravi, Hong Bin and Hyuk. With the strong faith that they will ‘make it,’ they are now looking further and higher.



Q: Today [July 5] is Hyuk’s 19th (Korean age) birthday. Is there anything that you guys that are older than him want to say to Hyuk?

N: This is Hyuk’s last birthday as a teenager. I hope that he improves more and gets loved by more people. Also, please stop growing taller.

Ravi: I hope that he becomes an amazing grown-up. It’ll be his last year being a teenager so I hope he will learn a lot of things.

Hong Bin: I hope that he stays as innocent as he is now. And stops growing taller (laughs).

Ken: He practices very hard at singing so I hope that he becomes a singer that is good enough to be a main vocalist.



Q: You ended your promotional activities for your first mini-album “hyde” on June 30. When you promoted your previous tune “On and On,” you said on the radio that your new song, which is “hyde,” would be a huge task to undertake. Do you think you completed that task well?

N: We could’ve done better. We always feel like we could’ve done better. But I think we found our style and the direction we will go in. I think that people now have a better picture of who we are. Before, most people told us, “Oh! They are the kids that do the vampire performance,” or “They are the group that wears contact lenses.” (Laughs) But now, people say things such as, “Hey, it’s VIXX. They came out with “hyde!” (Laughs) We definitely still have a long way to go but I think that we attained the goal we wanted to through this album.



Q: You wore unique color contact lenses on stage for your performances of “On and On” and “hyde” but they made it hard to read your expressions. What are you thinking of when you go up on stage?

Ravi: Our thoughts and mindsets change when we go up on stage. I don’t think the contact lenses are the only reason we create the mood we do on stage though of course, they help us express what we want to show. But for “hyde,” the three members that acted as Jekyll (N, Ken and Hyuk) never wore lenses. So the fact that they still created the right vibe probably means their mindsets changed when they went on stage. The stage is where we express and show ourselves so I think we change what we think about in order to put on good performances.




VIXX member Hyuk (center) [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]


Q: From vampires [in “On and On”] to Jekyll and Hyde [in “hyde”], you have come up with different yet striking concepts for each album. So I can’t help but wonder what you’ll do next. What do you have planned next in terms of your activities?

N: We’re planning to release the repackaged version of our first mini-album at the end of July. It was our first mini-album so our agency thought a lot about whether we should promote another song from it or not. But it felt like we kept coming out with images that were strong and there wasn’t really any other tune in the album that would show a new image to us so we’re going to return with a song that is of a totally different mood. You can look forward to seeing a completely new side to us.



Q: Every Tuesday, you give updates on yourselves through your YouTube channel “VIXX TV.” In the 55th episode, Hyuk expressed his sadness in ending your promotional activities for “hyde.”

Hyuk: Well, compared to “On and On,” I got to play a bigger part and role on stage for “hyde” so I had more opportunities to show who I am to the public. And of course I was sad that our activities for “hyde” had to end but I actually felt that way every time I stepped off the stage. It felt like I could have done better but didn’t, so we didn’t achieve as much as the amount of love our fans and the public showed us.



Q: Leo once said that he felt like he received more love than the effort he put in.

Leo: That doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard (laughs). We worked as hard as we could within the time we have but it just always feels like we receive more support than we deserve.



Q: It can’t be easy uploading new episodes [for “VIXX TV”] each week, which you’ve also done for over a year. You must be very attached to it by now.

N: “VIXX TV” is like a young sister that always nags us. When we’re about to film an episode, we become lazy but when there’s a problem or not enough to show, we get really worried and think, ‘No, we need to do this. We need to protect it.’ And because we’ve done it for over a year, we’ve become attached to it. We’ve never skipped an episode.



Q: It has been a little over a year since you made your debut. When you look at your debut performance for debut song “Super Hero” that you gave on “M! CountDown” on May 24 of last year, you look very different from when you performed “On and On” and “hyde.” You definitely looked like a newbie group back then.

N: That clip should be banned (laughs). We’re completely different now. We watched it during the fan meeting marking a year since our debut this May but before that, we had always wondered how much we had changed during that year. We didn’t know how much we’d improved because we’re always together and practice together. But that video gave us a sense of how hard we worked to be where we are now. And it made us feel a bit proud of ourselves as well. We still have a long way to go but we now know how to enjoy ourselves on stage and we’re more relaxed. Before watching the video we had thought, ‘We’ll see good results since we’re working hard’ but after watching it, we’ve also come to think, ‘If we continue to work with this mindset, we’ll continue to grow.’




From left, VIXX members N, Ken and Hyuk. [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]


Q. Do you remember your debut performance? You must, very clearly, because it was your very first performance.

N: I think we were just shaking all over.

Hong Bin: The only thought I had in my head was ‘Keep looking at the camera.’ But I increasingly felt more pressure so I couldn’t sing well and stuff. I felt a lot of pressure and I was nervous. These days, while I’m coming off the stage I always wish I did better but back then, I was nervous to the point that I was scared and felt relieved to step off the stage.



Q. Ken, you sang very well for your debut performance but it looked like you weren’t sure of where to look.

Ken: At the time, it hadn’t been that long since I had learned to dance. So rather than trying to get more exposure to the camera, I decided I’d show my singing ability as the main vocalist of our group. That’s why I feel like there’s a lot I could have done better at back then because I didn’t look at the camera as much as I should have. Like Hong Bin said, I was scared. Very scared.



Q. But in comparison, you guys looked relaxed and sexy when performing “Love Stoned” [by Justin Timberlake] on “M! CountDown” this June. Your fans went crazy for it.

N: We actually had very little time to prepare that performance so we were very worried at first. One, because we didn’t want to make any mistakes, but also because we always want to put on perfect performances and after promoting “On and On” and “hyde,” we wanted to show that we had improved. But we got excited once we saw how much our fans enjoyed the performance, which I think helped us have more fun.

Ken: N came up with the formation for that performance.



Q. Although you didn’t promote it officially, I heard that N also came up with the choreography for “Light Me Up” (translated title) in your mini-album “hyde.”

N: The general mindset we have is that we always want to give performances that are made by us; with the songs we made, with the moves we came up with, and with the lyrics we wrote. That’s why Ravi keeps participating actively in our albums by writing lyrics and composing songs. And I think that makes us want to do a better job on stage as well.




From left, VIXX members Ravi, Hongbin, and Leo. [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]


Q. So does this mean all of you will increasingly participate in your albums more? I heard that Leo is studying song composition so will his song get included in an album someday as well?

N: Yes. We’re going to end up making all of it so Leo’s song will be in it in the future.

Leo: I’m studying hard (laughs).



Q. ‘Morning’ is the theme of today’s photo shoot. Who is the earliest riser of the group?

Ravi, Ken: It’s N.

N: Sometimes it’s Hong Bin.

Hyuk: It’s different for every room but Ravi is the one who wakes up the latest. Sometimes he doesn’t wake up even when we try hard (laughs).

N: I’m sensitive to sound so I wake up as soon as the alarm goes off. Then I wake up other members saying, “It’s time to go.” I don’t like feeling crowded so I wash up before I wake them up (laughs). Hong Bin is already up a lot of the times I go to wake him up. The others usually wake up when I say, “Hey, wake up, wake up.”



Q. Is there anything that you say or tell yourself in the mornings or before you start your day?

N: Alohomora! (Laughs)



Q. What’s that?

N: It’s a spell from the “Harry Potter” series (laughs). We do cry out our slogan when we think a certain performance seems more special or we need to gather ourselves a bit. And it goes, “Real V, V-I-X-X, VIXX,” which is also our greeting. We sometimes do it for the camera but other times, Ravi or someone else will bring it up and ask, “Can we chant our slogan before going up on stage?” We did it for our final performance of “hyde,” and it helped us gather ourselves.



Q. You’re so busy that you must need time to organize your thoughts. How do you do it? Do you listen to music or read a book?

Ken: I run at a nearby park when we come back to our house at night. I organize my thoughts while running in the park, and then again while I’m lying down after taking a shower. I sort of go through what happened that day.

Ravi: When I have complex thoughts and need to gather myself, I watch performances by the stars I used to idolize when I was in middle school. It reminds me of how moved I was back then, which will help me remember the initial determination I had and organize my thoughts. But if that doesn’t help either, I go on the Internet and type in search words such as ‘touching movies’ or ‘movies with lingering images’ and watch films that used to be popular. I recently watched “Notting Hill.”

Leo: I listen to New Age music. My favorite artists are Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yuhki Kuramoto. I also like Yiruma.



Q. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Ravi: I do. I think I’m going to fall in love at first sight someday. We all come to form sort of an ideal world we want to live in, right? And an ideal type? Something in a certain direction. I think it’ll happen once I know what my ideal type is. I think I’d fall in love at first sight when I meet someone who meets the standards that I establish for myself.

N: I think I do too but I don’t really know why. I would like to fall in love at first sight, and I believe that you can fall in love with someone at first sight and stay in love with that person for a very long time. I think I’ve read too many novels (laughs).

Leo: I have an ideal type… I like someone smart. I’m deeply into people who have an intelligent side to them but I haven’t met someone like that yet. But I’m also the type that considers first feeling very important.



Q. N, you read a lot, right? Which book did you read recently?

N: I prefer watching dancing clips these days rather than reading books. I watch lots of things and nowadays, I’m into the American TV show “So you think you can dance?” It’s professional so there are some concepts that are difficult yet it’s deep so I look up a lot of those types of clips these days.




Clockwise from top left, VIXX members Hongbin, N, Ravi, Leo, Hyuk, and Ken. [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]


Q. Leo, I did expect you to be quiet but you talk in a really calm voice (laughs). It seems that you’re sensitive and have a lot of emotions. And yet your father was a military guy. Did you ever try to be rebellious in your own way while growing up under a strict father?

Leo: When I was a teenager, my father never really scolded me unless I made a huge mistake. My mother was the one who usually scolded me and only when I crossed the line did he give me a good scolding. But he probably doesn’t know about my wrongdoings in high school (laughs). I was just like the other kids, getting my hair dyed, getting perms… Stuff like that.



Q. What is your biggest concern these days?

Hong Bin: For our next album, I’d like to show that we’ve improved despite the short amount of time we had to prepare. So that anyone can tell even just by our voice that we really improved. Being able to show that is my biggest concern.



Q. Your low voice was gorgeous when you did a rendition of John Legend’s “Save Room.” Is there a specific song that you listen to often or practice singing?

Hong Bin: Oh, thank you (laugh). I used to listen to a huge number of pop songs but these days, I’ve been listening to all of Taeyang’s recent albums and every single track in them. I try singing along to them too. It’s my goal to make our albums reach that level of quality. I tell myself, ‘I’m going to try to have a song as great as this in our next album.’



Q. What do you think you’ll be like another year from now? Your fans say, “A year that VIXX spends is equal to three years that other groups spend.” And it seems that it’s because you’ve improved a lot in such a short time.

N: It’s really nice to hear that. Our goal is to become a trendsetter. And I see ourselves being close to achieving that goal in a year. I guess we’ll also be much more mature than now. It’s impossible for me to imagine us staying where we are or taking a step back. Am I too confident? (Laughs)

Ravi: I think we’ll still be eager to achieve more and be working hard to achieve it. And I think I’m confident that’ll be the case based on what we’ve been like till now and what I think we’ll be like. I think I’m confident it’ll happen because I’m with people who have pure and genuine intentions when it comes to doing music. I appreciate our members for it.


Clockwise from top center, VIXX members N, Ravi, Hyuk, Hongbin, Leo, Ken. [TenAsia/Gue Hye-jung]


# Hongbin calls out “Oh-gong!”

There was a big fuss for the group shot that took place on a bed because if you don’t already know, all six members of VIXX are quite tall. Their legs got tangled, faces overlapped, and whenever they moved their bodies according to the photographer’s directions, the temperature in the room seemed to go up. So everyone, from the staff to the members, screamed out “It’s hot!” whenever the shoot came to a halt. But just as the shoot was about to resume, someone called out, “Oh-gong!” with a playful voice. It was none other than VIXX’s Hongbin who was saying, “Oh-gong, your legs!” “Oh-gong, your head!” “Oh-gong, over there!” to the group’s youngest member Hyuk. So why on earth Oh-gong? After the shoot was over, I looked up at Hyuk and asked, “Why is he calling you Oh-gong?” Hyuk broke into a smile with his eyes and answered, “Oh, [he's referring to Goku (or Oh-gong in Korean)] from Dragon Ball because my hair is yellow today.”



# Ravi is an observant rapper and a curious boy

Ravi showed much interest in the props for the photo shoot such as a toothbrush, razor, cereal, and milk that were laid out on a table. As if he had knew he’d be using the razor for his shoot, he picked it up and stared fixedly at what was written on it. Then he said to Hongbin sitting next to him, “Look at this, it’s a 6-blade razor, 6-blade. Have you seen this before?” And Hongbin responded, “Is it good?” After a “Wow,” Ravi repeatedly uttered ’6-blade razor’ as if rapping (according to a member of his staff, Ravi uses an electric razor). He then picked up the cereal box and started to scan the words on it, seemingly reading everything on it including where it’s from and what ingredients are in it. Ravi had a good memory. During the interview, he showed that he seemed to remember what leader N wore on a past reality show and why he wore it. It showed that Ravi’s songwriting skills probably come from his keen observation skills and curiosity.



# Hongbin is shy!

“Let’s look back as you naturally take off your shirt as you head into the shower,” the photographer said to Hongbin, who kept laughing as if it made him shy. And rightfully so since other than his manager, everyone on set was female. The shoot resumed after leaving only the necessary people in the room but Hongbin still seemed to feel uncomfortable. And that’s when a staff member called in Hyuk, who scurried into the room and sat on the bed. He then tried to make the situation seem natural for Hongbin by saying, “Hurry and wash up.” But the casualness with which Hyuk said it made Hongbin burst out into even louder laughter.



# The young one’s acting is great!

VIXX’s youngest member Hyuk stretched his arms out while sitting on the bed to express that he is just waking up. And when the photographer told him that his arms would get caught in the frame if he stretches them out too much, he immediately understood, and put on a variety of poses within the range he could move. He put on a huge range of expressions for the shots that were taken while he was lying on a pillow. And that’s why Hyuk’s individual shots took the longest time to shoot. (When Hyuk was doing his shots, Leo, who’d been in the living room, came into the bedroom and silently watched Hyuk.) Hyuk was smart and bright. He didn’t worry about looking ugly or weird but he also knew the best way to show make himself look the most attractive.



# ‘Moist’ or ‘wet,’ that is the question.

For his photo shoot, Leo had to show that he is stepping out of the restroom just after taking a shower. And he was asked to come out of the restroom while drying his wet hair with a towel. The shoot started off with spraying Leo’s hair with water but it didn’t seem real enough. When the photographer said his hair needs to be wetter, the staff started murmuring. So the two parties agreed that ‘moist’ will be good enough for his hair, instead of ‘wet,’ and a few more sprays of water landed on Leo’s hair. But Leo, who had been quiet till then, carefully raised up his bangs with hand and said in a low but clear voice, “Spray some more. It’s okay.” When I asked the photographer who left the strongest impression, she answered Leo. She said she liked how he looks cold but was surprisingly easygoing.



# Ken, why so quiet?

Ken was noticeably quiet. He seemed like a stranger because even for the photo shoot, he displayed his charms as a composed and chic man. He had been bright and witty on his reality show so when asked why he was so quiet, he modestly answered, “Because everybody else talks so well.” Leader N said Ken is usually not that quiet and that he’s a lot of fun. Nonetheless, he sat on the left side during the interview but the surprise I felt every time my eyes turned to him! He looked like a dashing foreign model.



# Like a boy from movie “Love Letter”

The concept for N’s scene was reminiscent of how boy Itsuki Fujii (from film “Love Letter”) read a book while leaning against a window with its curtains ruffling in the wind. N had perched himself by the window and was reading a book with one leg down, when he smiled embarrassedly and asked, “Excuse me… Would it be okay not to show my feet in the photo?” My eyes shot to his feet as he explained that it was because his feet are ugly but goodness, they were wonderful like those of a dancer who has worked hard. But still, it was a request by VIXX’s leader N so the photo ended up as an upper body shot. N was told he could keep the books he used for the shot but they were far from his liking. He said he preferred fantasy rather than romance.



# Hyuk’s 19th (Korean age) birthday party

To congratulate Hyuk on his birthday, candles with the numbers 1 and 9 were lit up. But as Hyuk tried to move away after blowing out the candles, the remaining members of his group turned their attention to one thing. “There’s smoke coming from his mouth!” “Wow, he’s like a dinosaur,” “It’s amazing!” “How did he do that?” they said, one after another, which led to a 30-second discussion on how smoke came from his mouth. They reached the conclusion that when he blew out the candles, the smoke from it went into his mouth and came back out again as he exhaled, but they were quite a curious bunch! Oh, just in case you’re wondering or worried, Hyuk drank mango juice since he is not allowed to drink yet while the rest of the group drank champagne.

source: 10asia

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