24 March 2008 is the 10th anniversary of Shinhwa, who made their debut in the late 1990s together with H.O.T, S.E.S and Fin.K.L . However, Shinhwa is the only group to have continued with their group activities. Though there are many cases of ex-group members such as Lee Hyori being very successful with her solo career, it is very rare to see a group like Shinhwa still very much active as a group.
As the longest-running group in Korea, Shinhwa has their own problems too. Due to the increase of the members' own solo activities, there have been many rumors that Shinhwa will be disbanding. Moreover last year, Eric, Andy, Dongwan, Minwoo and Junjin have either set up their own company or joined a new company for their solo careers, further aggravating the rumors about disbanding.
The 6 members of Shinhwa as a group are still managed by Good Entertainment, and have all stepped out to dismiss the rumors. This year, though several members will be enlisting into the army, Shinhwa as a group will continue after the temporary break.
Shinhwa's youngest member Andy recently commented at a press conference, "We are now preparing for our 9th album in conjunction with our 10th anniversary, and although we belong to different companies now, there is no difference from the time when we were staying together and sharing the same bowl of rice."
He added, "When we hear people saying that we're just like before, it makes us really happy and motivates us. Some of the members have reached 30 but we're just like how we were back then. It'll be best if we can continue like this."
Looking at Japan, such a wish won't be hard to realise. Japanese pop group SMAP has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years and though the members are all round 35 years old, they continue to sing and dance like before, and stay firmly at the top of the music world.
Andy hopes that Shinhwa can be just like SMAP, "The SMAP members are not only active as a group, but they have all proven themselves as actors, solo singers and other roles. We'd like to be Korea's version of SMAP."
As Shinhwa looks to SMAP for inspiration, the new groups look up to Shinhwa as role models. Big Bang who enjoyed immense popularity last year commented, "We want to be a group like Shinhwa in 10 years' time."
Andy has some mixed feelings when he sees the younger groups. He said, "As part of an idol group from the 90s, it's very gratifying to see the new groups making their debut. They have more ideas about music and at the same time they fulfill the current demand for multi-entertainers. The dynamics of group and solo activities are evolving very quickly. We need to learn from them too."
Andy who set up his own ND Entertainment last year, released his first solo album in January this year and kickstarted his solo career. The album features 10 tracks, including his main single "Love Song", which even incorporates his trademark heart dance. The lively atmosphere of the album seems to be consistent with the image that he has presented as part of Shinhwa. As the youngest in the group, Andy commented on his cute image, "When I was a kid I had many friends, but as I grew up there are still many people who think that I look cute. I can only say thank you. (Looks in the mirror) I guess I do look rather cute. (laughs)"
In actual fact it was quite a tough emotional ride for Andy during the preparation of the album. Andy said, "During that time, I heard a lot of discouraging things like 'what can Andy do by himself'. As a result I'd correct the smallest imperfection so that I could present the most perfect solo performance to everyone."
He knows better than anyone that the general audience would find it strange to see him singing. "I've never taken on a solo singing part in Shinhwa before. And because I've been doing only rap, it was the musical 'Music In My Heart' that gave me courage to release my solo album."
"There was no room for NGs in the musical. The musical actually took away a lot of my stage fright and gave me a lot of confidence. I started to really think about singing during the musical's singing practice sessions."
Having realized his dream of releasing an album, Andy continues to demand a lot from himself. He continues to make comments like, "Monitoring this part is still very difficult", "I need to pay more attention to my pronunciation here". To Andy who works hard at improving and correcting even the slightest imperfection, it won't be difficult to succeed.
Source: Kukmin Daily News, Ocean's Six
Chi trans: \x{5e86}琳@andy the world
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
As the longest-running group in Korea, Shinhwa has their own problems too. Due to the increase of the members' own solo activities, there have been many rumors that Shinhwa will be disbanding. Moreover last year, Eric, Andy, Dongwan, Minwoo and Junjin have either set up their own company or joined a new company for their solo careers, further aggravating the rumors about disbanding.
The 6 members of Shinhwa as a group are still managed by Good Entertainment, and have all stepped out to dismiss the rumors. This year, though several members will be enlisting into the army, Shinhwa as a group will continue after the temporary break.
Shinhwa's youngest member Andy recently commented at a press conference, "We are now preparing for our 9th album in conjunction with our 10th anniversary, and although we belong to different companies now, there is no difference from the time when we were staying together and sharing the same bowl of rice."
He added, "When we hear people saying that we're just like before, it makes us really happy and motivates us. Some of the members have reached 30 but we're just like how we were back then. It'll be best if we can continue like this."
Looking at Japan, such a wish won't be hard to realise. Japanese pop group SMAP has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years and though the members are all round 35 years old, they continue to sing and dance like before, and stay firmly at the top of the music world.
Andy hopes that Shinhwa can be just like SMAP, "The SMAP members are not only active as a group, but they have all proven themselves as actors, solo singers and other roles. We'd like to be Korea's version of SMAP."
As Shinhwa looks to SMAP for inspiration, the new groups look up to Shinhwa as role models. Big Bang who enjoyed immense popularity last year commented, "We want to be a group like Shinhwa in 10 years' time."
Andy has some mixed feelings when he sees the younger groups. He said, "As part of an idol group from the 90s, it's very gratifying to see the new groups making their debut. They have more ideas about music and at the same time they fulfill the current demand for multi-entertainers. The dynamics of group and solo activities are evolving very quickly. We need to learn from them too."
Andy who set up his own ND Entertainment last year, released his first solo album in January this year and kickstarted his solo career. The album features 10 tracks, including his main single "Love Song", which even incorporates his trademark heart dance. The lively atmosphere of the album seems to be consistent with the image that he has presented as part of Shinhwa. As the youngest in the group, Andy commented on his cute image, "When I was a kid I had many friends, but as I grew up there are still many people who think that I look cute. I can only say thank you. (Looks in the mirror) I guess I do look rather cute. (laughs)"
In actual fact it was quite a tough emotional ride for Andy during the preparation of the album. Andy said, "During that time, I heard a lot of discouraging things like 'what can Andy do by himself'. As a result I'd correct the smallest imperfection so that I could present the most perfect solo performance to everyone."
He knows better than anyone that the general audience would find it strange to see him singing. "I've never taken on a solo singing part in Shinhwa before. And because I've been doing only rap, it was the musical 'Music In My Heart' that gave me courage to release my solo album."
"There was no room for NGs in the musical. The musical actually took away a lot of my stage fright and gave me a lot of confidence. I started to really think about singing during the musical's singing practice sessions."
Having realized his dream of releasing an album, Andy continues to demand a lot from himself. He continues to make comments like, "Monitoring this part is still very difficult", "I need to pay more attention to my pronunciation here". To Andy who works hard at improving and correcting even the slightest imperfection, it won't be difficult to succeed.
Source: Kukmin Daily News, Ocean's Six
Chi trans: \x{5e86}琳@andy the world
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
No comments:
Post a Comment