JYJ have made a comeback with their first Korean album ‘In heaven’.
The album had already hit pre-orders of 300,000 copies before its release and topped various album charts as soon as it was released. It is expected to become the highest selling album of this year.
But with great success comes many controversies. The group have hit a wall with broadcasting companies over the lyrics of ‘Pierrot’. The discontent of fans is running high as it’s impossible to see JYJ sing their songs on TV though they’ve just released a new album.
The three members who stand at the center of these controversies are Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu and Park Yoochun. What saved the album from dying out without seeing the light of day was the passion of their fans. The members said they wanted to ‘gift’ their fans with the fruits of their labor.
With no hesitation, the members said that this album, which is filled with their compositions, ‘belongs to the fans’. It is because they know of their fans’ support that the members can’t feel satisfied with their current situation. So they are headed outwards, towards the rest of the world once more. They plan to hold concerts in Spain and Germany and be one with their fans again.
We met with the members of JYJ, who have released a new album after overcoming yet another rough wave, at a cafe in Seoul amidst the blooming charm of the autumn month.
▲How do you feel about your album release?
Jaejoong = It’s an album that we were able to release because our fans waited for us and gave us courage. It’s not ours. It’s a small result that we’re giving to our fans. We want it to be a gift. Through this album, we want our fans to feel our determined resolution to never give up and keep going.
Junsu = This album is like our first official album. It’s ironic that it took two years for it to be released. We want to show the determination and will we have that another album will follow it later.
▲You’ve grown musically from beginning as idols to being able to fill your album with your own compositions.
Jaejoong = It would be difficult to say that we worked hard just to fill our album with our own compositions or just to be called singer-songwriters. It’s quite a heart-wrenching story. These songs that are in our album were made due to unavoidable circumstances. We were scheduled for concerts, but we didn’t have any songs to sing. We had over 130 compositions but not a single song we could use at a concert. The songs that we made for our concerts are the ones that are in this album.
▲It looks like you’ve turned your misfortunes to your advantage.
Junsu = We think of it that way. It was an opportunity for us to grow. In the past, we were given the rough sketch and all we had to do was color it in so it was hard to have to start from scratch. But when we saw the end results, the feeling of accomplishment was immense. It was only possible because of the trust we had in each other. I believe that it was something I was able to try because I had full faith in the capabilities of my fellow members. We learned from it and we gained confidence about our next album to come.
▲Because you feel such a sense of accomplishment from this album, you must want to stand on a broadcasted stage more than ever.
Jaejoong = We really do. Please help us.
Junsu = ‘Music Bank’ and ‘Show! Music Core’ feel like overseas programs. We feel this distance between us and them.
Jaejoong = Since we’ve released a new album, wouldn’t we still be on their ranking charts even if we can’t appear on their shows? (We said that was probably and he seemed relieved) Then we’re just grateful to be included on those charts.
Junsu = It makes us think, ‘Where was our album released?’
Jaejoong = It almost didn’t make it out into the world. The album was supposed to be released in the summer. But for some reason, the distribution company gave us the notice that they couldn’t release the complete album twice.
Junsu = It could have just died out. So we’re happy with the mere fact that it was released.
▲Please introduce the tracks to us.
Jaejoong = ‘Get Out’ is a song Yoochun and I thought up in two hours. We decided to write a song about a bad friend and a girl and it’s a song we tried to make it as unerotic as possible because we were thinking of the reviews (by broadcasting companies) that would be made on the album. (laughter) ‘In heaven’ is a love song that depicts the longing someone feels for the person they had to let go of. The story is that the person who’s left behind lives in an illusion that the person who left is still there. We tried to make it appealing to the masses without losing JYJ’s color.
▲You have a tour in Europe scheduled.
Jaejoong = We’ve been receiving love calls for a while now. We haven’t been able to go because it clashed with our schedule, but we’ve finally found an opportunity. The preparation process is more complicated than we expected. We have to prepare a variety of documents from hospitals and police stations.
Junsu = This is the first time any of us are going to Spain. It’s a stadium with 3000 seats but we heard that over 80% of the tickets were sold on the first day. We learned a lot of things while on our tour in America. It was like we had found a different path. I think we’ll be able to learn and experience new things through our tour in Europe.
Yoochun = We’ve been offered performances in South America, we are currently unable to go there due to security reasons. I’m sure it’s the same for other teams as well.
▲You’ve been quite active as actors.
Yoochun = I’ve always wanted to act but I didn’t have any opportunities to pursue it. I finally found my stride after my second production (Miss Ripley). There are roles I want to take on and I naturally began to foster a greed for acting. Acting has its own charm as it lets me meet with the general public.
Jaejoong = I had no greed for acting. As ‘Protect the Boss’ came to an end, I began feeling bad for the actors and staff who I had worked with in past productions. I sometimes wonder if I had done nothing but read my lines without putting any emotions in them. So I wasn’t good at it. I was able to experience a new world through this drama. My father gave me a reason to act. He asked me why I wasn’t acting when both Junsu and Yoochun were. He’s been really ill, even collapsing twice, and when he said that, I made the decision to act. I want to thank my father.
Junsu = I acted in front of a camera for the first time through ‘Scent of a Woman’. It’s completely different from being in a musical. I’m still in the learning process as I continue to act. I’m still only there. I want to become stronger as a musician and as a musical actor.
▲When was your heart too full for words because of your fans?
Yoochun = I was touched when I watched a video of all the things that we did since becoming JYJ at a fanmeet.
Jaejoong = When our fans came to the filming location (of my drama) and prepared a buffet to support us, they asked me about our future activities. I told them that we weren’t sure and were just setting ideal goals for now, and they started to cry. That’s when I felt that they really think of us as their sons and family members.
Junsu = When I see our fans filling the concert venues no matter which country we go to, I get the feeling that we aren’t alone. Even if hardships face us, I want us to not settle with what we’ve been given, to never give up and to get back up again, at least for them. (Junsu says) JYJ. (All the members say) Hwaiting.
▲Your activities have been restricted. What do you want most?
Junsu = I want us to be able to perform as singers domestically. The fact that we don’t have any opportunities to sing in our own country though we’re Korean is sad. Though topping charts and receiving awards (at the end of the year) were important in the past, they aren’t anymore. But I’m not trying to underrate those things. I just want us to be able to perform on a stage that was given to us fairly. It’s suffocating that we aren’t given any opportunities. We’ll form even a tighter bond and work to get that fixed, and we will keep moving.
Translated & Shared by: dongbangdata.net
