Time flies, as people tend to say. But reality tends to be even more surprising. Shinhwa's youngest member Andy is only 27 this year, but he has already been in the business for 10 years.
The entertainment industry is dynamic and unpredictable, where many singers can release an album in just one month, and disappear off the radar soon after. In the high competitive industry where popularity doesn't remain forever, Shinhwa's Andy has been able to stay at the top with love and support from the fans, and now he is already an oppa, a hyung with 10 years worth of experience.
Having gone through a somewhat tumultous decade, Andy - together with the rest of Shinhwa - has just released Shinhwa's 9th album, and also his own solo album at the beginning of 2008, moving into the ranks of established singers. Time does fly, as Andy recounts, "There was a fan who told me that she has been my fan since she was in primary school, and now she has already graduated from senior high. After I heard that I could really feel that I've aged."
But Andy is still a kid at heart. Though time and tide waits for no man, Andy remains youthful as ever. We felt ashamed when we noticed Andy's flawless skin and appearance, and time doesn't seem to have left its mark on him at all. There is a reason why people say that he's "an eternal idol" or "always the cute baby of the group"
On the 25th at a restaurant in Gangnam, Star News had a good time interviewing Andy 'oppa' over dinner and soju.
- You seem very professional at doing this (Korean BBQ), have you worked in a BBQ restaurant before?
▶ Not at a Korean BBQ, but I helped out in my mom's clothing store. I'm good at folding clothes.
- We noticed that you kept folding clothes in We're Married.
▶ I really like to be clean and tidy. If my sister's room gets too messy I'd complain to my mom, "She's a girl who's supposed to get married, how can her room be in this state?" (laughs) I'm good at folding clothes, and I chat with my mom when I'm doing that. It's ok if Solbi doesn't fold the clothes, but I can't have my family members not doing that. The moment I see clothes scattered about, I have to fold it. (laughs)
- Can you feel your popularity increasing because of the show?
▶ In the past everyone always says "It's Shinhwa's Andy!" Now when they see me they'd say "It's Andy oppa! Oppa, don't fall in love with Solbi unnie!" Some people ask if we're really dating, but in the show I'm just showing how it'd be like if I really had a girlfriend. A few days ago I was in China, and one of the fans was holding a banner that wrote "Oppa, let's get married!" I didn't expect the show to be so popular in China as well, I was quite surprised.
- We heard that your concert in China was a great success.
▶ At first I was a little worried, I wasn't sure if my intentions would get lost in translation, but it turned out better than expected. I greeted everyone in Chinese, then I got the translator on stage to help me communicate with the fans. Then I realised that many fans actually do know some Korean, and could understand me even without the translation. I feel quite bad that my fans know my language and yet I only know how to greet them. I regretted not learning more Chinese.
- It's a solo concert, were you worried that the other members aren't around?
▶ It's actually more interesting this way. Everyone knows me well in Korea, they know what songs I'd be singing so in a way it's more stressful. I worry about not being recognized for my music. But overseas fans seem to be more responsive, maybe because they haven't seen many of my performances and don't really know me well yet. I'm glad about that.
- People who watched your concert in korea said that you seemed to be really enjoying yourself.
▶ At first it was difficult, I was worried about handling the entire performance by myself and a live performance at that. But I guess singing and acting are quite similar, the more you do it the better you get. I'll give myself a pep talk when I feel the pressure, "Won't it be fine as long as you do it better the next time?" Honestly, the pressure comes from wanting too badly to do well.
- Shinhwa's at the top of their game, and so is Andy. Would you feel that there is no more room for improvement?
▶ No, new singers are constantly making their debuts, and we're also nervous when that happens. When we experiment with something new and the results are not good, we'd review ourselves. There are so many things that I still want to work on, it just seems like there's more and more.
- Shinhwa just held the 10th anniversary concert not too long ago, will we be expecting a 20th anniversary concert?
▶ Of course. We're a little different, in the beginning everyone was saying "Shinhwa wouldn't last 10 years, they'll split up eventually", but this only made us more united. We celebrated our 10th anniversary over a round of drinks, and we were reminiscing about the times when we secretly drank in the wardrobe room. It was quite poignant, and it really felt like time just flew by.
- You seem very moved yourself.
▶ After the Shinhwa concert was over I watched the SMAP concert DVD, and I thought to myself how it would be when we are 30, 40 with the group still intact while we're busy with our own activities. We all want to experience that too. We just took our first step towards that, and now we need to grow by ourselves.
- Besides Shinhwa, what are your other dreams?
▶ I'm slowly achieving them. Firstly performing in the musical was one of the bigger achievements. Now I'm moving on to a career as a solo singer, once I succeed at that I'd like to act. I'm going to be promoting my follow-up track next, and I've been thinking how I can do it better.
- When will you start your activities for your follow-up track?
▶ Next Fri (2 May) I'll be performing Propose for the first time. It should be a little more mature than Love Song. I'm not going to say too much just in case people have too high expectations for that, so I'll just keep it at that (laughs).
Source: Star News
Chi trans: pax_lee@ANDY THE WORLD
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
The entertainment industry is dynamic and unpredictable, where many singers can release an album in just one month, and disappear off the radar soon after. In the high competitive industry where popularity doesn't remain forever, Shinhwa's Andy has been able to stay at the top with love and support from the fans, and now he is already an oppa, a hyung with 10 years worth of experience.
Having gone through a somewhat tumultous decade, Andy - together with the rest of Shinhwa - has just released Shinhwa's 9th album, and also his own solo album at the beginning of 2008, moving into the ranks of established singers. Time does fly, as Andy recounts, "There was a fan who told me that she has been my fan since she was in primary school, and now she has already graduated from senior high. After I heard that I could really feel that I've aged."
But Andy is still a kid at heart. Though time and tide waits for no man, Andy remains youthful as ever. We felt ashamed when we noticed Andy's flawless skin and appearance, and time doesn't seem to have left its mark on him at all. There is a reason why people say that he's "an eternal idol" or "always the cute baby of the group"
On the 25th at a restaurant in Gangnam, Star News had a good time interviewing Andy 'oppa' over dinner and soju.
- You seem very professional at doing this (Korean BBQ), have you worked in a BBQ restaurant before?
▶ Not at a Korean BBQ, but I helped out in my mom's clothing store. I'm good at folding clothes.
- We noticed that you kept folding clothes in We're Married.
▶ I really like to be clean and tidy. If my sister's room gets too messy I'd complain to my mom, "She's a girl who's supposed to get married, how can her room be in this state?" (laughs) I'm good at folding clothes, and I chat with my mom when I'm doing that. It's ok if Solbi doesn't fold the clothes, but I can't have my family members not doing that. The moment I see clothes scattered about, I have to fold it. (laughs)
- Can you feel your popularity increasing because of the show?
▶ In the past everyone always says "It's Shinhwa's Andy!" Now when they see me they'd say "It's Andy oppa! Oppa, don't fall in love with Solbi unnie!" Some people ask if we're really dating, but in the show I'm just showing how it'd be like if I really had a girlfriend. A few days ago I was in China, and one of the fans was holding a banner that wrote "Oppa, let's get married!" I didn't expect the show to be so popular in China as well, I was quite surprised.
- We heard that your concert in China was a great success.
▶ At first I was a little worried, I wasn't sure if my intentions would get lost in translation, but it turned out better than expected. I greeted everyone in Chinese, then I got the translator on stage to help me communicate with the fans. Then I realised that many fans actually do know some Korean, and could understand me even without the translation. I feel quite bad that my fans know my language and yet I only know how to greet them. I regretted not learning more Chinese.
- It's a solo concert, were you worried that the other members aren't around?
▶ It's actually more interesting this way. Everyone knows me well in Korea, they know what songs I'd be singing so in a way it's more stressful. I worry about not being recognized for my music. But overseas fans seem to be more responsive, maybe because they haven't seen many of my performances and don't really know me well yet. I'm glad about that.
- People who watched your concert in korea said that you seemed to be really enjoying yourself.
▶ At first it was difficult, I was worried about handling the entire performance by myself and a live performance at that. But I guess singing and acting are quite similar, the more you do it the better you get. I'll give myself a pep talk when I feel the pressure, "Won't it be fine as long as you do it better the next time?" Honestly, the pressure comes from wanting too badly to do well.
- Shinhwa's at the top of their game, and so is Andy. Would you feel that there is no more room for improvement?
▶ No, new singers are constantly making their debuts, and we're also nervous when that happens. When we experiment with something new and the results are not good, we'd review ourselves. There are so many things that I still want to work on, it just seems like there's more and more.
- Shinhwa just held the 10th anniversary concert not too long ago, will we be expecting a 20th anniversary concert?
▶ Of course. We're a little different, in the beginning everyone was saying "Shinhwa wouldn't last 10 years, they'll split up eventually", but this only made us more united. We celebrated our 10th anniversary over a round of drinks, and we were reminiscing about the times when we secretly drank in the wardrobe room. It was quite poignant, and it really felt like time just flew by.
- You seem very moved yourself.
▶ After the Shinhwa concert was over I watched the SMAP concert DVD, and I thought to myself how it would be when we are 30, 40 with the group still intact while we're busy with our own activities. We all want to experience that too. We just took our first step towards that, and now we need to grow by ourselves.
- Besides Shinhwa, what are your other dreams?
▶ I'm slowly achieving them. Firstly performing in the musical was one of the bigger achievements. Now I'm moving on to a career as a solo singer, once I succeed at that I'd like to act. I'm going to be promoting my follow-up track next, and I've been thinking how I can do it better.
- When will you start your activities for your follow-up track?
▶ Next Fri (2 May) I'll be performing Propose for the first time. It should be a little more mature than Love Song. I'm not going to say too much just in case people have too high expectations for that, so I'll just keep it at that (laughs).
Source: Star News
Chi trans: pax_lee@ANDY THE WORLD
Eng trans: midnightgirl13@shinhwabiz
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