\n<\/p>\n
\n\tK-pop group P1Harmony can\u2019t get any closer.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s KCON weekend, and the six-member group is running on very little sleep amidst busy schedules throughout the weekend, so perhaps that\u2019s why they erupt into laughter when Jiung, a rapper in the group, suggests they\u2019ve been together so much they\u2019re essentially \u201cmarinating\u201d in one another. They themselves can\u2019t believe they\u2019ve spent over five years together day in and day out.<\/p>\n
\n\tKnown for their dynamic performances and diverse discography, P1Harmony \u2013 consisting of members Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob \u2013 seems to always be evolving. Their latest release, Ex<\/em>, their first English-language EP, is no exception. The five-track album, led by a lead single of the same name, is the group at its best. The album is engaging, fun and could get any potential fan hooked.<\/p>\n \n\tThe album\u2019s fifth track is another first for the group \u2013 a Spanish version of their title track. Keeho, who\u2019s a native English speaker, making him the group\u2019s de facto translator for this conversation, says it was important to include a Spanish version if the group was going to promote an album in the U.S. <\/p>\n \n\tBelow, P1Harmony speaks with The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> about making Ex<\/em>, growing closer to one another, learning how to find themselves and how they want the world to see them.<\/p>\n \n\tYou\u2019re preparing to release your new English album, Ex. What were some of the exciting and challenged parts that came with that?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tJONGSEOB<\/strong> I feel like it\u2019s the right timing. Our North American [leg of the] Most Wanted tour is an all arena tour. I feel like if you can understand [a group\u2019s] song lyrics, you can relate more closely. I hope they like it. There\u2019s a whole bunch of amazing songs in there. It was a very fun experience and process. When we prepare this [album], we shot the [album] jacket first, and we decided what was going to be our title song. I feel like [it was] quite hectic, but for me personally, I love [the song] \u201cEx.\u201d I decided we have to choose this song for the title track.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> Also, English is not an easy language. I mean, for me, I\u2019m OK.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tJongseob, 19, of P1Harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tYou have a bit of an advantage.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> I would hope so (Laughs<\/em>). Just being in the booth with them and looking for their English pronunciation, stuff like that, you can never be too harsh on them because you can\u2019t blame them. That\u2019s not their native language. But also at the same time I\u2019m like, bro, why\u2026 sorry [directed toward his group members], why can\u2019t you just say it like that? But obviously it is just that barrier, so [it was] a lot of hours in the recording booth, getting the right pronunciations down. We also have a Spanish version of \u201cEx.\u201d Shout out to the lady that was in there helping us with our pronunciations.<\/p>\n \n\tI think definitely the language was the hardest and also getting it out on time. We were on such a time crunch, and I think we were still promoting \u201cDuh,\u201d at the time when we were doing it. We were prepping for in between [other schedules], and it was just a really, really crazy time, on top of prepping for tour. But hopefully it\u2019ll be fun for our fans. We really, really hope to maybe do a little bit of [the new album] on tour as well when we\u2019re here.<\/p>\n \n\tThe album\u2019s really fun. You do have a large global fan base. Does that play into why you want to release songs in different languages?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary because I feel like K-pop fans like K-pop because it\u2019s Korean, not because it\u2019s just English, but I think there\u2019s also that aspect of wanting to just get a little closer, being able to relate. It\u2019s better to have it there than not have it there. We\u2019ve done English releases before with different collaborators with Pink Sweats and New Hope Club. We did \u201cFall in Love Again\u201d with Tricky [Stewart], but I was like, why don\u2019t we just do some with just us this time? We\u2019ve never done it before, so we might as well. Those songs also resonated really well with our fans, and so we thought it was just the right time right before tour to release it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tKeeho, 23, of P1Harmony. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tCan you share more about the experience recording a song in Spanish?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tJIUNG<\/strong> The hardest part was definitely because it\u2019s a song that\u2019s not made in Spanish originally, it\u2019s an English song that we changed to Spanish. Sometimes the syllables would be kind of off. If we said, I love apples, sometimes apples in Spanish will be not just two syllables, it\u2019ll be three. But you still have to fit it in that same pocket, so it was hard to translate that and get it [right] because it would be so fast at some parts.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> [As] to the reason why we chose to do [a version] in Spanish, I think it\u2019s because the Latin American fan base is so huge. Also, in America, Spanish, the culture and the language, has such a big place here. Not even just in America, in the world too. We felt like if we were going to promote an album in America, just having an English song wouldn\u2019t really make sense. I think having Spanish would also resonate with a lot of different people. We know we have a lot of fans in Latin America, and also we\u2019re going to tour in Latin America soon too. We thought it was a really important thing to include as many people as possible.<\/p>\n \n\tYou\u2019re about to go on tour, and I know this is your biggest tour yet. Do you feel that adds more pressure to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tSOUL<\/strong> I\u2019m definitely scared (Laughs<\/em>). I\u2019m scared because it\u2019s not only the fact that the scale is getting bigger, there\u2019s so many things that follow that as well because the scale gets bigger. We have dancers this time on tour. We have a whole bunch of other preparing just because the scale got bigger. Even though we have more to prepare for, the amount of time we have to prepare for it is either the same or even less than before. Having to prepare all of that while having that burden of needing to level up and do something different, even from my solo stage. Last tour, I thought I did a really good job, but this time having to kind of one up, that just feels like a big burden.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> But I think we always figure out a way.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tIntak, 22, of P1Harmony. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tHow do you feel as a group, you have evolved together? How has your relationship with one another changed?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tSOUL<\/strong> We can\u2019t get any closer to each other.<\/p>\n \n\tJIUNG<\/strong> It feels like we\u2019re marinating in each other at this point.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> We understand each other very, very well. Everyone can\u2019t get along 100 percent [of the time]. There\u2019s some parts where we\u2019re like, \u201cI wish you could change a little bit about yourself.\u201d I think that\u2019s also very healthy. Being able to communicate that in a way that\u2019s not offensive, we\u2019re so good at that now. We\u2019re so close now. It\u2019s kind of crazy. It\u2019s been five years.<\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s a long time<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> Every day [for] five years.<\/p>\n \n\tJONGSEOB<\/strong> I feel like it\u2019s over five years, [it\u2019s been] seven years.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> Not even on and off, every single day for multiple hours, straight for hours, so, I mean, we\u2019re really marinated (Laughs<\/em>).<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tSoul, 20, of P1Harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tI have to be honest, I don\u2019t know a single person I could see every day for seven years. Obviously, you have to work at that relationship though, I assume, to openly communicate with one another.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> I think the whole job that we have is really mental Olympics because you have to be on. So many people expect so much from you. Your members expect so much from you. There\u2019s just that kind of hidden rule to just be. There\u2019s no such thing as a day where you can be kind of meh. But when it comes to your members, I think you\u2019re allowed to be a little more human. Be a little different when we\u2019re with each other.<\/p>\n \n\tThat idea is something I\u2019ve talked about other groups that have even passed that 10 year mark and how that affected them, not even particularly in a negative way. But it just changes the way you live your life when you are always on, in a career. How do you feel that that has changed your relationship with yourself, and your relationship with each other?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> I think with yourself, it\u2019s really crazy. Sometimes, I just look at myself, I\u2019m like, wow. It\u2019s just like, wow, you work so hard, and sometimes you kind feel bad for yourself. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a good thing to say, but this is very humanly insane. But it\u2019s so crazy that, if you put our mind to it with discipline, you can still do it. You\u2019re being perceived [by others] so much, sometimes you forget who you are, and sometimes you remember yourself as the way other people perceive you. Sometimes you\u2019ll say something or do something and people are like, oh, Keeho is this type of person [or] he\u2019s this type of person. I\u2019m like, am I that type of person? Sometimes things get blown out of proportion \u2013 positive things, negative, whatever it may be \u2013 some days I\u2019ll be like, \u201cOh, I really like carrots,\u201d for example. But then I actually don\u2019t really carrots. I don\u2019t know why I said it, but now everyone thinks I like carrots. You just feel like you are obligated to carrots now. Sometimes you just believe the way you\u2019re perceived, I think. There\u2019s a little bit of a weird self-finding moment there that you need to have. But I think what\u2019s really cool when you\u2019re with your members is [that] they\u2019ve known you longer than anyone else has. They\u2019ve known you before you were even famous, right? I guess they can see you for who you are without having to go through all of the layers that were kind of pushed onto you from all the years of being in the spotlight. I think that\u2019s what makes your members special.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tJiung, 23, of P1Harmony. <\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tWhat do you guys do to ground yourself and take care of yourself during busy schedules?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tJIUNG<\/strong> This year, I started meditating, and it helps me a lot. I\u2019m always meditating. I\u2019m trying to meditate at least five minutes in the morning, at least 20 minutes before I go to bed. It helps me to be in the present. After I started that, I became able to focus on what I\u2019m doing right now, who I am right now, what I can do right now. It helps me to reduce any stress that I get.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> You know what, I don\u2019t have a way to [de]stress. You just kinda live through it. I think I like to take vacations, but obviously that\u2019s limited. I think for me, I like to just not overshare. I think for the longest time I felt like sharing a lot is so fun and cool, but I [realized] some things, keeping it sacred and keeping it to myself makes it feel more special. Those things just kind of keep me grounded, and I don\u2019t need to share everything. I think K-pop idols are very different, in the sense that oversharing is encouraged and almost needed.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s like, what did you eat today? What did you do today? What time did you wake up today? What are you doing today? If you don\u2019t share that, fans [will ask] why [you aren\u2019t sharing]. But I think, obviously there\u2019s a balance that needs to be kept. Some things I think are cool to share. I think [there are] some things that are cool to be private. Having that balance, I\u2019m starting to now feel that. I\u2019m five years in, I\u2019m starting to feel it now. But I think keeping things a little more private, keeping things that need to be mine to be mine is what is special and keeps me grounded, less stressed.<\/p>\n \n\tDo you, Keeho, feel more pressure with that? People with you in particular have put a personality on you that maybe isn\u2019t always how you feel. Do you feel that because you were born in Canada and when you come to the U.S. fans converse with you more freely, that you feel obligated to share more because of that?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> Yeah, I think so too. I would never blame anyone for it, but I definitely think because they\u2019re able to connect to me in a way that\u2019s not foreign. They can also feel like, oh, this is just my dude. But also there\u2019s boundaries, so I think that balance is also really, really important. That\u2019s why I feel like I also need to take a step back and just kind of keep some things private because I\u2019m also human too. These guys are also all human. But I think the reason why they seem a little more further away is just because of the language barrier.<\/p>\n \n\tI also feel like there\u2019s definitely ups and downs to it because as an English speaker, because they feel like they can just see someone like me at school or even at work, they just feel like they can resonate with me, which is a good thing. But I also feel like there also comes with a lot of responsibility when it comes to that. They kind of expect a certain thing from me as well too. I mean, I love all the pressure and all the stress, all the ups and downs that comes with it, but I think there\u2019s definitely that aspect.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tTheo, 24, of P1Harmony.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of FNC<\/p>\n \n\tAs a group, you don\u2019t always get to choose how the world perceives you, but I have to assume you have a way you\u2019d like people to see you. What does that look like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tJONGSEOB<\/strong> I feel like my ideal vision is that I want to try something that I want in that moment. I write my own lyrics and I write my songs, and I feel I want to try more diverse genres. I want to keep [pushing] my own creative boundaries. That\u2019s my ideal vision.<\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> For me, I think it ties into the last question. Being in the spotlight and also just like you said, being an English speaker in a K-pop group that promotes in Korea, I think I\u2019m just so used to pleasing people and just being a people pleaser. Even though it doesn\u2019t benefit me, I\u2019ll say or do things that I know will benefit the group or benefit me or whatever it may be. I like being perceived that way, but I wish I could just be a little more raw. I wish I could just, I don\u2019t know. It comes out every now and then, and that\u2019s why everyone\u2019s like, oh, he\u2019s so sassy and whatnot. But I\u2019m actually a very, very, very straightforward, and I wouldn\u2019t say the nicest, person. I don\u2019t think I am.<\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s OK, you don\u2019t have to be.<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tKEEHO<\/strong> I think I\u2019m a really honest and a very straightforward person, and I think sometimes that scares people. But that\u2019s who I am truthfully. As time goes by I want people to kind see\u2026 so we\u2019ll see how that plays out.<\/p>\n \n\tINTAK<\/strong> For a long time, I thought that looking cool, looking bougie and like [a] superstar was what was needed to be perceived. But I think now at this point, I just really want to everyone to see the group as just as honest as it can be. [We\u2019re] just some dudes, some boys, that are just chasing our dreams, working really hard. [I want them to] see it as almost kind of like a movie, kind of like a fictional story. [I want them] to see how hard we\u2019ve worked and how hard we\u2019re willing to work and to see it as a romanticized version of our lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" K-pop group P1Harmony can\u2019t get any closer. It\u2019s KCON weekend, and the six-member group is running on very little sleep amidst busy schedules throughout the weekend, so perhaps that\u2019s why they erupt into laughter when Jiung, a rapper in the group, suggests they\u2019ve been together so much they\u2019re essentially \u201cmarinating\u201d in one another. They themselves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[818,1936,14579,1934,14578],"class_list":{"0":"post-23936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bond","9":"tag-group","10":"tag-idols","11":"tag-kpop","12":"tag-p1harmony"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}