[Interview] “We Want To Have Many People Listen to Our Music For a Long Time.”

JYJ “We Do Not Believe That We Must Get Out From the Shadow of TVXQ”

JYJ Will Hold Solo Concert in Spain and Germany as First Among Korean Artists End of This Month

Now, Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, and Kim Junsu are more used to the group name of JYJ than of TVXQ. The three who have become separated from the 5-member group TVXQ and have undergone two years of tempering have recently released their first Korean-language regular album In Heaven and have stepped out in earnest to stand alone. That the album’s major songs, Get Out and Fallen Leaves and the title song In Heaven are members’ creations is a characteristic that gathers attention. The digital music has mostly been released earlier through performance in Asia. Thanks to that perhaps, the album has reached 300,000 copies in pre-orders already. I met JYJ on the 30th of last month in a café in Jungdong, Joonggu, Seoul.

Kim Junsu: “If we were on the level of just putting on color on an already-drawn sketch, this time we have created starting from the sketch. Just the fact that over 80% of the album is produced or written by the members is unique and I have special affection.”

At recording, opinions enthusiastically incorporated… Emphasized the JYJ-ness

Park Yoochun: Because of that, it is possible that the album falls in its degree of completion but the JYJ-ness of the music has become more emphasized. Above all, it was great that in the recording room, our opinions were enthusiastically incorporated and our creativity were able to be expressed without sparing. We were not able to stand on the popular stage for quite a while, but we heard that there has even been a checkout counter exclusive for our albums in album stores and were very surprised and had a very grateful heart.

Kim Jaejoong who has also directed the Asia Tour: “In making music needed for the tour, many dynamic songs fit for a live performance were created.”

JYJ says that just in showcasing the album filled with their itinerary and memories of the past two years is very meaningful. However, in between the lines, the reason that they could not help but separate from TVXQ and the suffering endured in the meantime were conveyed.

Their activities are still blocked by a giant wall. It is because the public stations are shying away from recruiting them to appear with the reason of their legal conflict with their former agency SM Entertainment. KBS which had said that once a regular album is out it would have JYJ appear made the determination that the term P.S.M. in the lyrics of the song Pierrot referred to Lee Suman and thus unfit to air. The reason was that it was an attack on a specific individual.

Jaejoong: “That P.S.M. is an English acrynim for ‘President Suman’ is a nonsensical conjecture. It is a term that merely went in for the purpose of filling out the meter/rhythm of the lyrics. (Even though I should not have to do so,) If I had to assign an explanation to it, then I tried to criticize the social conditions of chasing solely the material success through ‘performance success museum.’ It is truly disappointing that the broadcast agency has laid down an arbitrary definition without once asking the creator of our agency about the intention of the lyrics.”

Regretful that KBS Arbitrarily Explained Lyrics Without Questioning

Park Yoocun also said: “Our disappointment at seeing the cancellations of even music programs on which we were scheduled to appear was large.”

What they wish to use as the breakthrough are their solo activities as actors. Park Yoochun who gathered popularity through his debut work Sungkyunkwan Scandal solidified himself as an actor through Miss Ripley and Kim Jaejoong also smoothly completed his initiation ceremony onto the drama scene through the recently-finished SBS Wed-Thursday drama Protect the Boss. Kim Junsu who is also highly recognized as a musical actor appeared as a cameo in the SBS weekend drama Scent of a Woman.

Jaejoong: “At first I wished merely that I would not be seen on screen as a singer (but rather an actor). But as my practice increased with each episode, I gained confidence and also discovered new attractiveness to acting.”

Yoochun: “I felt a great sense of lacking while appearing in Miss Ripley. I very much envied Jaejoong. (The role of Protect the Boss) was the image that I had thirsted for. The co-existence of softness and strength… We were both acting directors of headquarters but just how different were we, haha.”

Junsu: Musicals do not have close-ups and so we need a bit of an exaggerated expression but a drama in TV was not such. Anyways now that I’ve done an all-night shooting I don’t think (the drama scene) is a field that should be challenged rashly.”

All members have experienced dramas… Acting is a new breakthrough

They have finished a World Tour successfully by stopping in 10 countries in Asia and North America. They will hold solo concerts in Spain (10/29) and Germany (11/6) as the first of the Korean artists to do so. The three said in unison: “We gained confidence seeing the foreign fans sing along to our songs. Instead of making ourselves fit to the European trend, we want to showcase the music that we can do well and become recognized in that way.”

It was impossible not to ask about their conception of their relation with TVXQ (U-Know Yunho, Max Changmin).

“JYJ is also a group which came out of TVXQ and so we do not think that we are obligated to get out from the shadow of TVXQ. We also do not suffer from the obsession to become the top. Merely—we want to have many people listen to our music for a long time.”

Source: Seoul Shinmun

Translation Credit: JYJ3