2022.04.21
Marie Claire April Issue
Me On The Way
Days filled with gentle (Onew) and bright energy have started. MC On this day of the interview, aside from DICE all the songs’ highlight clip were released. The mood is very different from your first mini album VOICE which was surprising.
O I prepared (this album) with the hope that others will also feel that same feeling. When you think of Onew, people will expect a lyrical ballad or a slow tempo song. I worked hard to find the middle of SHINee and Onew. SHINee is a team that has solid character as well as their performance. How do I put it, if SHINee is a bright primary color, I tried to find the feel of a slight pastel color. I think that my color was a bit vague before. I think this album is the moment I leave my first footprint to find my color. It’s my first time promoting a solo album, so I wanted to widen my spectrum.
MC There’s a need to have time to understand ‘myself’ more while preparing an album. A time to find the thing ‘I’ like as well as the things ‘I’ want to do.
O These days I’m working hard on focusing on the people and things I like, and also on the people that help and treat me preciously. To be able to do that I needed to actively manage and take responsibility for what I do. I personally decided who will do the producing of my album and after working hard on communicating with my company this album was made.
MC We’re also looking forward to the vocals as much as DICE since it’s an unexpected genre. What kinds of voices can we hear this time?
O There’s quite a lot. This time it’s composed of songs and titles which are the kind of good music you’d like to listen to. The mood goes as something that talks, and hums and I put various voices in there.
MC Did you want the songs to be a bit lighter for us to listen to than having explosive vocals?
O Hm. This is connected to the thoughts that I have. I would love the people who listen to my songs to do something with a happy bright mind and have hope. When they feel down at work I hope they feel better after listening to my song and when that happens I hope my songs make them talk a bit more to their colleagues and greet them warmly. My main goal as a singer is to become one that has good influence.
MC The teasers and highlight clips are being released. We wonder how many days you spent on filming.
O We did the album jacket photoshoot for two days as well as the mv filming. While we were filming we discussed a lot with the other artists we were working with. The ideas that came out during the process were all applied leaving nothing behind.
MC Could it be because of that I was able to feel that everyone who worked on this together felt really excited when I saw the images.
O The communication between us went well. It’s the same with others and I also voiced out a lot of my opinions. It seems that that interaction lead to this result.
MC What were your thoughts when the teaser images and highlight clips were released?
O Actually it was stressful when I was preparing this album. There isn’t a part from 1 to 10 that I wasn’t involved in. Even so, it wasn’t done according to my opinions. There are times when it gets chosen the way I thought it would be, there will be opinions that get added to my ideas, and sometimes we move forward one step at a time as we follow someone else’s opinion. That was a very long process. It was the same with recording. The way we all interpret songs can be different and there were a lot of concerns, so we find an agreement until we agree on the best result.
MC At the end of the worry and communication, you have a complete album.
O The producer who worked with me for this album was Hitchhiker sunbaenim. He understands SHINee’s music very well and I got to work with him again. I thought he’s trustworthy. I thought if it’s him he’ll be able to understand more than I do. If I give 1 then he’ll suggest to offer 1.5. Thankfully we kept going in a good direction.
MC There must have been all kinds of emotions up till the moment the album is being released. Which moments were joyful and which were tough?
O I experienced so many things while making <DICE>. From selecting the songs to figuring the lyrics for the songs, from who should I get them from, which direction I should go for the arrangement, it was made from all these processes. The interactions derived from those were enjoyable. I have also tried writing the lyrics to all of my b-side tracks. Even though only one song got chosen among those I wrote, every moment was memorable. It was tough for me when the album got delayed. The title song that I was going with didn’t go through and though the b-sides went with what was set, another song was chosen to match the concept. That’s <DICE>. I listened to the 2 minutes demo guide and I got this feeling that the title song has been found.
MC When was the peak of your joy?
O Getting to do things I have never experienced before and to be talking and sharing opinions with the people I work with makes the work so much easier nowadays. That’s why I am very happy when I am introducing the songs. Even though I did think deeply of music when I was young too, there were times where I would just speak about the concept and visuals as how I memorized it. It’s still not easy to explain music in text clearly but I am able to speak what I feel in this song well. For example, rather than saying DICE’s lyrics are like that, the genre is something like this, I would say it ‘I hope you will be able to feel excited when listening to this song. I want it to be deliver in that way.
MC ‘In the Whale’ which is a fan song and the song you took part in lyrics writing for has as a title that is fairytale-like. It’s not ‘The Whale’ but in the whale.
O Speaking about that, I came to write the lyrics to ‘In the Whale’ all of a sudden. I was doing a photo shoot with a camping concept when I suddenly wanted to write the lyrics to this song. At that point of time, there wasn’t even a title yet to this song. I turned the song on wanting to write the lyrics and that’s when I was able to visualize this image in my mind. I like expressions that would make one speechless and feels vague. It would leave one speechless if one gets caught in a whale, right. (Laughs) It’s a kind of interesting fantasy, I would say. I didn’t express the setting of being in a whale in a dark way. It’s about how one might be walking a dark path by being caught in a whale but even without us making an effort, the whale would definitely help us and just nice, who knows, the site you would be seeing when you get out might be connected to Atlantis. It’s about us holding hands and being able to walk out even from the dark times too. Using the element and the lyrics I wrote, I worked on this lyrics with lyricist Seo Jieum.
MC Does the existence of fans feels different to you right now than when you debut?
O Even though there’s no difference when being looked at in a essential aspect, I can feel the little difference in terms of the emotions. I am the kind that easily gets myself immersed into another’s emotion and would empathize with them. Supposedly, someone looks at me extremely happily, I would feel happy too. ‘In the Whale’ includes that. A hope that we can overcome this together and that it would be nice if we could be happier like that.
MC What’s the song that you are more affectionate for?
O Can I pick 2 songs?
MC Of course.
O To be honest, there’s no song that I don’t feel much for with it being an album that I worked so hard on. If I were to choose among the b-side tracks excluding the title song, firstly, it will be ‘Sunshine.’ It’s a bright and happy song. ‘On the Way’ is also a song I cherish. It was the song that I recorded first and it helps capture the direction of the album.
MC You are showing that you want to do even better throughout the interview. That you can be better at singing, that you want to let people listen to more good music.
O I really, seriously want to do that. However, I am still, according to my own standard, not doing as well. I don’t think I have once when I am satisfied with my singing. That’s why I am continuously filling it up. In the past, there were times that I thought that this is as much as my capability brings me, there’s no more I can add in anymore. However, I came to a realization that I started as SHINee to sing and that what I like the most is to sing. How great is it to have what you like as your occupation. I should be happy that I am able to do that. I am practicing my vocals in order to feel more satisfied with my singing as I believe that’s how it would get better and that would make me even happier too. Also, I want to do music that gives off a good energy. There are lots of people who are going through the blues because of COVID right. People should be able to meet others and share their pain, loneliness and sadness but because of COVID, there is probably a lot of people who are going through this on their own. I hope that my music would give these people hope too. To be able to love someone more, to treat another with a prettier mind. That’s why, I am in the midst of changing myself too.
MC Your first solo album promotion is around the corner. Which part of it do you look forward to the most?
O Nowadays, I want to do things with a good spirit, regardless of what it is. If before this my mindset was to ‘let’s work hard,’ right now it would be ‘Shall we do it interestingly today!’. Take a look. The tone of these two sentences itself are already different right. (Laughs)
MC I can feel that good spirit of yours.
O In the end, it would be the change that gives off the best influence to me. I hope that this energy of mine gets spread out.
MC What made you think of happy influence power?
O Could it have been thanks to my parents. It feels bashful to be saying I love you to them despite them being the existence that you share your tough times, your happy times and the ones who laugh with you, sad with you. However, from some point of time, I wanted to be friends with my mother. I took the film strip pictures with my mother and went sightseeing and drank coffee with her too. We went fishing and grilled meat to have it together as well. Hmm, the reason why my father doesn’t follow us, because you guys might be curious! My father would say that he doesn’t want to even when we ask him to come along. (Laughs) He would say ‘What fishing, I am going to go to golf practice. (Laughs) That’s why, nowadays I have started learning the golf that I have not been playing for a while now, again.
MC Even though it’s always feels affectionate when thinking about our parents but that is not easy to be expressed in forms of action.
O Firstly, you should immediately get to it and not hesitate. Our parents are getting older and from some point of time, I realized that our parents won’t be with us for life. At the beginning, it was so much that I was like ‘I should visit home more often.’ Later, I would think that I should go home to have meals with my parents and next, I would be thinking about preparing a meal with my own hands for them and after we are done eating, we should go for a karaoke. You would one by one do more things gradually.
MC It seems like the heart you feel for your parents are being continued on to the energy you have for your promotion.
O Yes. I think I am changing towards the direction that I really like. If there are doubts or days that things don’t go well, I would call my mother and tell her ‘Mom, I miss you.’ My mother will really like it when I tell her that I am calling because I miss her.
MC How much would you rate this album over a 100 score according to the things you want to achieve as artist Onew?
O Since this is only the start, I would say 50%?
MC Is this just a start to you even though you have already achieved a lot?
O I am going to try a lot of the things that I want to do in the future. Even though I have been doing music for over 14 years, I still have lots of things that I want to try. Even though I always want to do something new, it might not always be new.
MC There’s not a need to always be doing something new.
O Hmm, but there’s an obsession to that. I think it’s probably because I am SHINee. I start <VOICE> while letting down a little on the obsession for new things. And for my 2nd album, I thought that I would be able to do more things in the future if I were to do something different from what I have done in the past. I want to do all those that I can when I can. I will work hard in finding the things that I like from time to time.
MC What kind of influence has SHINee had on Onew’s solo album?
O It’s a driving force that makes me think. It’s because there were my members that I could be where I am right now, it’s because there were my members that we were able to be SHINee together. On top of that, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I want which is singing, if there wasn’t SHINee. The stage I stand on will change a lot as time passes but I want to protect the stage for a long time.
MC What kind of song do you want it to be Onew?
O I have let out lots of my greed right now.
MC That doesn’t seem so to me though. (Laughs) O I really have a lot that I want to do. However, I will let the anticipation be in the hands of others and I will do what I can. For example, it’s something like this. If someone was to say ‘It would be good for you to do a calm medium tempo song this time’ I would have just went ahead with it in the past but right now, my opinion would be stronger. I got to know that it would be better if I add what I want to do on top of people’s anticipation.
MC The last question from the last interview you had with Marie Claire was ‘SHINee-ish.’ Today, we shall end the interview with ‘Onew-ish.’
O I think even though it’s slow but being able to show a good side is what’s Onew-ish. I have a promotion period and non-promotion period right. Even though I want to show a lot during my non-promotion period, I am a perfectionist despite being slow. In return, I won’t show you anything less.
MC I think moments where it can be felt at heart is more important than the need of it being in its complete form. More than anything, I have to be able to feel this at heart in order for it to be well delivered to others.
O That’s right. Listeners will only be able to feel that its real and smile with it when they can feel the happy energy unconsciously. Just because you are smiling, it doesn’t really mean that you are happy right. I used to consciously think that I need to smile regardless of the situation. Right now, I got to know that good things will happen when I express my thoughts more and when the smile comes because of it. I don’t like having bad energy coming into me right now. I will show that I am feeling uncomfortable and I don’t like it as how I honestly feel and with that, I will put more responsibility on it while being better.
