2021. 05. 21
cr: https://t.co/EBYE5jj1Z7?amp=1
GQ There is less than a month to your enlistment. You must really busy nowadays, right?
TM. I am kinda busy because there are various activities that are constantly being overlapped right now. Even so, I do sleep.
GQ. You did your online solo concert <Beyond LIVE - TAEMIN : Never Gonna Dance Again> not long ago. What are your thoughts about it?
TM. It was good. I was able to present the direction I wanted. The completion level and the satisfactory level are completely different questions. As it’s being made to match the format of ‘Beyond Live,’ the liveliness didn’t reach the level I wanted but I made my case and did it with the direction I wanted. With just that, I think of it as a meaningful first button.
GQ. The concert planned for spring last year was called off. We are curious what did you prepare at that time.
TM. I wanted to try out lots of new performance methods on a big scale stage and I had lots of different thoughts too. For example, it could be the stage that moves 360 degrees or being inclined, or it splits up (explain how it would be like dancing on one’s hand). Even though I did present an inclined stage, an even more dynamic one was being planned. There are parts that are hard to be done as an online concert.
GQ You talked about putting many thoughts on controlling the speed at this concert. Is there a reason why?
TM. It’s started when I thought about what should I do to allow the one who is watching to feel that it’s cool. There are times when the fans like the rehearsal clip more than the actual concert. It’s an irony. What’s the charm of rehearsals? What’s the biggest advantage of the real concert? How great would it be if the strengths of both can be combined? I think to put force into it when needed, to let loose when needed, controlling the speed, create a flow in it is more important than working hard and doing it passionately without any planning in mind.
GQ Is that why? We can, for sure, see that you are able to be a little more immersed than before.
TM. Is that so? (Gathers his hands politely and lowered his head) Thank you.
GQ. So what is style, have you found the answer?
TM. I think there is an answer to how accurately you express what you want to express. For example, it’s something like this. The word “I am sad” makes people feel differently depending on how they express it. I am a person who sings and dances instead of talking. If I am able to sincerely deliver a message with my method, isn’t that style? I hope that the expressions that I am delivering can reach someone well, and I want those who are watching to receive good influence and inspiration. That’s the artist that I have in mind.
GQ We can feel that Taemin’s coolness comes from him knowing what’s his own coolness is.
TM. I think I am walking on a path of my own. I have walked on the path that my company presented to me while having more than half of my life being together with SM, and I think I have made my own boundaries based on that. I have been working hard, developing and trying out things while thinking of my solo activities’ identity on my own. The 16 years old boy who promoted ‘Noona Neomu Yeppo’ with bowl-cut hair and currently sitting right here with long hair. If there’s growth rather than regression, I think that series of processes can be said to be cool.
GQ When you were preparing for <Never Gonna Dance Again : Act 1> that you released last year, it has been said that the choreographer pulled out Taemin’s inner rebelliousness.
TM. There were points in time that I felt it’s hard to create something new. I felt that I was stuck and I felt exhausted. What could be fresh when I do it? If I only sing and don’t dance, that would be rather exceptional, wouldn’t it be? I poured out those worries of mine in a serious manner to a director hyung that I am close with. That’s why, the <Prologue>, <Act 1>, <Act 2> that were released last year were able to capture lots of me as well as my honest inner self.
GQ Between the desire to show your honest self as it is and to present a perfect stage, which do you work on more?
TM. I think I am at the crossroad of both. It’s contradicting to not have the heart to dance when you want to dance, isn’t it. Should I say it as me wanting to express that contradicting mind passionately with my body? I wanted to include grunting and whining in the performance. “Never Gonna Dance Again” isn’t as its words mean to not dance but the whining in hopes that others could understand this emotion of mine.
GQ You are excreting honest thoughts of yours through your body. You said that you want to express the lyrics with your body someday, didn’t you?
TM. I try to put meaning to each and every movement. Even when I am just standing still, the tension, gaze, fingers, details, and even the smallest nervousness differs depending on what I was thinking. People who are watching can feel it too. When I am doing the choreography, I am not only immersing myself in the movements but I am feeling each and every one of them. Inner dance is a dance where you feel yourself. However, if I feel it, people who are watching will get to feel it too. No matter how small the movements are, people watch them with focus. On the contrary, no matter how hard you try doing a huge movement, you wouldn’t be able to draw attention.
GQ There was a vote using Taemin’s songs at an event not long ago. MOVE vs IDEA. Taemin was so sure that it would be IDEA but it didn’t go well with the fans’ result.
TM. I knew that fans would pick MOVE so I purposely said IDEA. I mischievously twisted it. (Laughs)
GQ What kind of song is the title song ‘ADVICE’ for the album being released this time?
TM. Everything is clearly explained with the first line. “No matter who says what, it’s my way” Everyone has their own views on things, right. Lots of people like to project their view on things on others and advises them that this is right. I, of course, respect that but I don’t think you can force your own thinking on others.
GQ Even though you didn’t write the lyrics, it’s actually Taemin’s story?
TM. Since I have forwarded my thoughts to the lyricist, I think that’s kind of it. My songs are weird, too much, always the same. If one was to follow other’s advice, they would end up becoming the same as the others. In the end, a person’s character fades off. If one was to make an appropriate choice, you won’t be able to be the 1% that survives. ‘Advice’ is a sort of advice to people who gives advice as they wish.
GQ Is there a gap between the artistic point that Taemin is aiming for and the identity as a pop singer?
TM. Of course, there is. I have pondered a lot on how should I adjust the gap. Should I press it down a little and show only sufficiently or should I just show it as it without filtering out any. However, in the end, mass appeal is something that follows later. No matter how maniac an artist could be, if they were to present themselves sincerely, the public would accept that and that would in the end become popular. If I continue to walk on my own path, continue to strike, wouldn’t the time come when people will accept and understand it. That’s because empathy is something time plays a part in too. If we were to look back to the current 10 years later, wouldn’t this be also a path that only Taemin has?
GQ In a past GQ interview you said that you want to return back to when you were 1. Is that still valid?
TM. Even though I was half-joking and half sincere, I would like to do so if I can. I want to firmly build it up from the start with no mistakes. I want to extract crucial mistakes and hold onto those things that I can’t miss out on again. Ah, but I am not really sure. It would be boring if it was too perfect too.
GQ Is there any truth that you weren’t able to see due to prejudice up till now?
TM. I often made speculative conclusions because I was eaten up by my greed. I have also misinterpreted people’s intentions when I was young. It would have been good if I was a little wiser. I want to go back. (Laughs)
GQ Can you remember the things you scribbled on your memo pad recently?
TM. It’s something that can’t be revealed here.
GQ Do reveal one that is mild.
TM. It’s mostly things like this. There would be contradicting words of me saying that I want to be alone while hoping others to know that I am lonely. Am I going through puberty again?
GQ Wouldn’t everyone be having such contradiction too?
TM. Hahahaha. Right? I write down the foods that I want to eat on the memo pad whenever it comes to my mind. Recently, I wrote stir-fry spicy pork with lots of fat, garlic pizza, and chicken galbi. I am very careful when choosing my menu because I am eating just 1 meal a day nowadays. What should I eat today?
GQ Your memo pad seems to be really interesting.
TM. Right. It comes and goes. I don’t write a lot when I am happy. I mostly write it when I am hungry or feeling tired. Hahaha!
GQ We think it’s something you need as an artist, including those ups and downs.
TM. Not sure if it’s because I am sensitive but there are times where I have ups and downs. There are definitely pros that come from it so I will have to endure the cons.
GQ You are going to start shooting now. How did you feel after hearing that the pictorial concept is called ‘Last Performance’?
TM. I really liked it! A gallery, it’s a special space, isn’t it. I am looking forward to it wondering if a different picture will come out from it.
GQ A dancer said this in an interview. A sincere dance is being created when one no longer has anything to dance.
TM. That’s something said really right. There are those that open up for the very first time when you were unaware of it. There are those that come out like a habit when you dance but at the moment when you no longer have anything to dance, that habit gets abandoned. That’s when something new comes out.
GQ Then shall you gradually start to throw them away?
TM. Yes, that’s good.
