[TRANS] DBSK - SHINE 2nd Artist Book interviews, Part 1 of 5 - Junsu
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. ♥
Before I begin with the interview, I just thought I`d share some pretty awesome news:
This was an official poll conducted on Yahoo!Japan, asking the Japanese public whose Kouhaku performance they were most anticipating, out of all the newcomers this year. I wasn`t expecting our boys to be anywhere near the top because some HUGE names are making their debuts this year, but here were the results:
SECOND PLACE with 26% of the votes! So why the hell was their appearance time like next to zero? >:C They are second to Mr.Children by only 2000+ votes which is INCREDIBLE (Mr.Children has been one of Japan`s favourite singers for over TWENTY YEARS and have sold over 50 million records). None of the artists even come close to Mr.Children and DBSK`s votes - 羞恥心 in third place were arguably the hottest act in Japan this year (I actually expected them to come in first place before I saw Mr.Children), and if you`re not familiar with the Japanese music scene, the other artists are not exactly small names either (in fact, most of them are larger than life).
I am so proud of the boys, especially after all the things they had to go through in Japan to get where they are today (which you may appreciate all the more after reading this interview) - and I hope this is only the beginning of an extremely successful year 2009 for them in Japan (and the world over). :D
♥
On to the main event!
I tried searching but I have no idea if someone has actually translated the boys' interviews from SHINE before. PLEASE let me know if it`s been done because the interviews are pretty long and I wouldn`t want to waste my time and effort on something readily available elsewhere. :/
[Emotions]
Q: I would like to ask you about the changes of your state of mind, your emotions, that you've had until now - first of all "happiness", shall we start with something that made you happy?
A: Something that made me happy was the last day of our second tour ("2nd LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Five in the Black~") at Budoukan. After that concert ended, I grew to love our activities in Japan more and more, and the feeling that I really had to do my best for the people who listen to our music grew all the more.
Q: Isn't that because when you're at a concert, you can directly feel your fans' encouragement? When those cheers actually reach your ears, you actually feel that this is what you have been searching for all along.
A: Yes, that's true.
Q: What was the impression you had standing on the Budoukan stage for the first time?
A: Even though we were doing the show with pretty much the same menu (setlist) as the rest of the tour, Budoukan is special after all. We made all kinds of preparations for being able to finally make it to Budoukan. So I felt we had to give a perfect performance in Budoukan, and there was a little pressure. But that pressure turned into excitement which grew.
Q: The tears that Yoochun shed during the encore, do you think it was due to the relief and joy he felt at having overcome that pressure?
A: I think so. On the first day Yoochun was the only one who cried, but on the second day everyone cried. I had been trying to bear it for ages, but when I saw Yoochun crying, I couldn't bear it any more...
Q: How did you feel at that time?
A: From the two-and-a-half years ago when we first came to Japan till now, there have been many painful and lonely moments, so those came to my mind. Having activities in Japan was, to us, our first challenge, and we had many feelings of worry, but when I went onto that stage and saw the audience's expressions, that was truly happiness.
Q: That's right. That must have been a really wonderful experience for you. So, next is "anger". Something that made you angry.
A: I was angry at myself for not being able to speak Japanese at the level I wanted to be able to. We came to Japan in order to be able to have the same music activities as "Japanese artists". And so, we had to sing in Japanese. But we really suffered because of the Japanese language (smiles bitterly). We couldn't understand anything the director would tell us during recordings. At times when we couldn't do anything if our manager wasn't around to translate for us, I'd feel my own incompetence. If I thought about how we couldn't do anything by ourselves, everything began to look futile...So, up till last year, to be honest, I didn't really like coming to Japan. In those early days, it was not entirely a good thing to us...to be honest. Coming to a different country, and performing in the midst of people we didn't know at all was extremely lonely, and in those days I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. We were so lonely, and for a while all of us were in depression.
Q: At those times, were you able to overcome them by coming together with your members?
A: That's right. At that time, the only people I had to confide in were the members, so we were always coming together to give each other encouragement. The occasion that made me feel that we should do our best in Japan too was the fanclub event we held at Makuhari Messe last December. The two years since we had come to Japan hadn't really produced any special results to speak of, and there was a period of time where we honestly thought to ourselves that we didn't know what we were doing there, but for the first time, we felt that the hardships we had faced up till that point had not been for nothing. From then on our feelings began to change, and we began to think more along the vein of "Let's work even harder!"
Q: Now emotionally-speaking, what kind of condition are you in?
A: Now things are going great, emotionally, too. I'm spending my time here feeling as good as I do in Korea. Timewise, we've got a bit more free time here than in Korea too (laughs).
Q: So now it's not really a pain for you to come to Japan any more, is it?
A: To be honest, previously when we were in Korea, when we were told "You'll be going to Japan" we'd all be like "Ahhhh~ (sighs)", but now coming whenever is fine with us. From that time, we've also become able to think of the house (dormitory) we're staying at in Japan as our own home.
Q: What kind of bedroom do you have? Did you arrange the furniture in your room, or have some kind of personal scheme in mind?
A: I bought furniture recently. Only my area is gradually becoming beautiful (laughs).
Q: What kind of furniture did you buy?
A: Designer-ish, a little cyber chic kind of furniture (laughs).
Q: And you're the only one who put in your own furniture?
A: No, Yoochun and Jaejoong did too. Everyone composes music, so I remodeled my room in order to make the composition process easier. I have something like a bunk bed, with the bottom being a desk, and on the top I put furniture to use as a bed, like a loft. I have curtains around my bed too, and my lights are red and blue, I bought some cyber chic kind of lights. The atmosphere of my room has completely changed. My instruments also all arrived from Korea today. Even though we've been going back and forth doing activities for about two-and-a-half years, because we kept thinking of our home as being in Korea till now, we left all our important equipment in Korea. But because we have more time to chill out in Japan, I thought of bringing it all over, and did it!
Q: Is that so?
A: Yup. When we return to Korea we're busy with work, and even if we have a little time I'd want to go to my parents' place, or meet my friends. In Japan I don't really have that many friends yet, and because we can make time, I thought I'd be able to make more progress composing music here.
Q: I see. So basically, you're making use of your time in Korea and Japan for different things. Now, "sadness". What saddening or painful memories do you have?
A: Not being able to see my parents during hard times. Also I heard that "it's difficult to sell records in Japan", but because we had a certain degree of popularity in Korea, we came to a different country and had to start all over again, that was difficult and saddening.
Q: Living apart from your family, there have got to be lonely times after all.
A: During difficult times, don't all of us think of our parents? When we catch a cold, or even when our head hurts. At those kinds of times, being in a different country was saddening.
Q: At those times did you call them on the phone?
A: No, during times when I was lonely or in pain, I wouldn't call them instead. Because I didn't want to worry them.
Q: That's very big of you.
A: I try to hide that...
Q: This is the real Junsu?!
A: What I show on the outside is not the real me. The essence of charisma is not something to be shown, it lies in the parts that are hidden and cannot be seen.
Q: Very good, let me use those words too. I was a little touched (laughs).
A: (laughs) It was a bit embarrassing to say it myself.
Q: Next is "enjoyment". What is something you enjoyed?
A: There's been lots of enjoyable things in these two and a half years. Going to a river for a shoot for "WHAT's IN?", playing sports, those are some things I strongly remember. When we hadn't become very busy yet we went to Shimoda's hot springs, that was good too. We pretended to be samurai before getting into the springs. All the way till the springs, we were in our yukata using disposable chopsticks as swords (laughs). There were many various things, so many I can't count them all. And this year's Okinawa. That was really good.
Q: It was your first time in Okinawa, wasn't it? And you said it's a place you'd always wanted to go to.
A: Ever since last year. We said we'd go to Okinawa to shoot the PV for "Sky", but at that time there was a typhoon so it was changed to Saipan...
Q: What were your first impressions of Okinawa?
A: I thought it'd be a quiet island, but I was shocked seeing many more big buildings there than I thought there'd be. But there are those kind of city areas, but once you get in a car for 20 minutes there's a quiet ocean and naturalness.
Q: In Okinawa that's called chanpuru (a mix of everything).
A: Is that so?
Q: The food was okay?
A: The food...I didn't really eat it (smiles bitterly). Because everyone would go to eat Okinawa food at night. And I can't really eat once it's past 6pm.
[Travel]
Q: I should think by now you've traveled to all kinds of places, but which place stands out to you?
A: Bora Bora. Bora Bora is the greatest place I've been to in my life. The sea and sky are so beautiful it makes you think, "There's still islands this beautiful that exist on this earth." But because the cost of living here is high, I think there are places Japanese people can't really go to. I think Japanese and Korean people probably go there on honeymoons or something. When I went there I really got the impression of "an island that is only for a selected few". At the bungalow of the Meridien Hotel where we stayed, it seems that people like Zidane, Halle Berry and Mariah Carey had stayed there, so there were their pictures stuck on the wall. "Ohhhh! They came here!" we thought, and had our picture taken there together too (laughs). I will definitely go again before I die!
Q: Your recommendation for a honeymoon?!
A: I think it'd be good to go with a girlfriend or boyfriend. If you go to Bora Bora and confess your love, your success rate will be 100%. The bungalow's living room had a glass kind of style, so at night the bottom of the glass would light up, and you could see fish swimming from the living room. It was like a fantasy, it was so beautiful. But at night, when it was just us boys, we took all our clothes off and went swimming (laughs).
[Music]
Q: Will you tell me what artists and CDs you've been into recently, in the following order: foreign, local and Korean?
A: Foreign music would be Brian McKnight. I respect him as an artist. The song of his that I like most is "ONE LAST CRY". His voice is just beautiful, and I like how he sings like he puts his own soul into his singing.
Q: He sings with his heart, doesn't he?
A: Yes, he sings with his heart. And I think his R&B improvisation singing is cool too, I think he's a perfect artist.
Q: How about local music?
A: As a member of Tohoshinki I like the Gospellers the most. Their harmonisation is really beautiful. Since we are also a team that harmonises for people to hear, I'd like to become like them. Songs of theirs that I like are "Hitori" and "Towa ni". And personally I like Hirai Ken's "Hitomi wo Tojite".
Q: And Korean artists?
A: Our senior Shin Seung Hun. I think it's awesome how he's been able to let us hear his beautiful voice for such a long time.
Q: Which song of his do you recommend?
A: "I Believe".
Q: Earlier you mentioned that you compose music. Is singing one of your own songs one of your dreams for the future?
A: Of course. I'd be really happy if I were able to sing a song that I composed.
Q: Do you already have any completed songs?
A: Right now, there are about four that are complete. I've been playing around a little lately, but today since my instruments have arrived, I'm going to start composing again!
[Private]
Q: What have you been into lately? Is there anything you want to do?
A: I want to go on a trip! (laughs) Not for work, I want to go somewhere to have fun. It can be within Japan. If there's time I'd like to go have fun in Nagoya or Hokkaido or Fukuoka or something.
Q: Don't you have any interest in theme parks or anything?
A: I love theme parks. I'm up for going to a theme park anytime! Because the last time I went to a theme park was five years ago. I think if it's Japan, it'd still be alright. Because people don't really know me in Japan.
Q: No, it's pretty bad in Japan too.
A: Nobody knows who we are, do they? (laughs)
Q: No no, you're recognised well enough! (laughs)
---
If enough people let me know in comments that they're interested, next up is Yoochun. ^^ This took a long time and I have a horrible backache now, so even a simple thank you would be great to let me know this wasn't wasted! ;_;
And Happy 2009 once again :D
Before I begin with the interview, I just thought I`d share some pretty awesome news:
This was an official poll conducted on Yahoo!Japan, asking the Japanese public whose Kouhaku performance they were most anticipating, out of all the newcomers this year. I wasn`t expecting our boys to be anywhere near the top because some HUGE names are making their debuts this year, but here were the results:
SECOND PLACE with 26% of the votes! So why the hell was their appearance time like next to zero? >:C They are second to Mr.Children by only 2000+ votes which is INCREDIBLE (Mr.Children has been one of Japan`s favourite singers for over TWENTY YEARS and have sold over 50 million records). None of the artists even come close to Mr.Children and DBSK`s votes - 羞恥心 in third place were arguably the hottest act in Japan this year (I actually expected them to come in first place before I saw Mr.Children), and if you`re not familiar with the Japanese music scene, the other artists are not exactly small names either (in fact, most of them are larger than life).
I am so proud of the boys, especially after all the things they had to go through in Japan to get where they are today (which you may appreciate all the more after reading this interview) - and I hope this is only the beginning of an extremely successful year 2009 for them in Japan (and the world over). :D
♥
On to the main event!
I tried searching but I have no idea if someone has actually translated the boys' interviews from SHINE before. PLEASE let me know if it`s been done because the interviews are pretty long and I wouldn`t want to waste my time and effort on something readily available elsewhere. :/
[Emotions]
Q: I would like to ask you about the changes of your state of mind, your emotions, that you've had until now - first of all "happiness", shall we start with something that made you happy?
A: Something that made me happy was the last day of our second tour ("2nd LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Five in the Black~") at Budoukan. After that concert ended, I grew to love our activities in Japan more and more, and the feeling that I really had to do my best for the people who listen to our music grew all the more.
Q: Isn't that because when you're at a concert, you can directly feel your fans' encouragement? When those cheers actually reach your ears, you actually feel that this is what you have been searching for all along.
A: Yes, that's true.
Q: What was the impression you had standing on the Budoukan stage for the first time?
A: Even though we were doing the show with pretty much the same menu (setlist) as the rest of the tour, Budoukan is special after all. We made all kinds of preparations for being able to finally make it to Budoukan. So I felt we had to give a perfect performance in Budoukan, and there was a little pressure. But that pressure turned into excitement which grew.
Q: The tears that Yoochun shed during the encore, do you think it was due to the relief and joy he felt at having overcome that pressure?
A: I think so. On the first day Yoochun was the only one who cried, but on the second day everyone cried. I had been trying to bear it for ages, but when I saw Yoochun crying, I couldn't bear it any more...
Q: How did you feel at that time?
A: From the two-and-a-half years ago when we first came to Japan till now, there have been many painful and lonely moments, so those came to my mind. Having activities in Japan was, to us, our first challenge, and we had many feelings of worry, but when I went onto that stage and saw the audience's expressions, that was truly happiness.
Q: That's right. That must have been a really wonderful experience for you. So, next is "anger". Something that made you angry.
A: I was angry at myself for not being able to speak Japanese at the level I wanted to be able to. We came to Japan in order to be able to have the same music activities as "Japanese artists". And so, we had to sing in Japanese. But we really suffered because of the Japanese language (smiles bitterly). We couldn't understand anything the director would tell us during recordings. At times when we couldn't do anything if our manager wasn't around to translate for us, I'd feel my own incompetence. If I thought about how we couldn't do anything by ourselves, everything began to look futile...So, up till last year, to be honest, I didn't really like coming to Japan. In those early days, it was not entirely a good thing to us...to be honest. Coming to a different country, and performing in the midst of people we didn't know at all was extremely lonely, and in those days I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. We were so lonely, and for a while all of us were in depression.
Q: At those times, were you able to overcome them by coming together with your members?
A: That's right. At that time, the only people I had to confide in were the members, so we were always coming together to give each other encouragement. The occasion that made me feel that we should do our best in Japan too was the fanclub event we held at Makuhari Messe last December. The two years since we had come to Japan hadn't really produced any special results to speak of, and there was a period of time where we honestly thought to ourselves that we didn't know what we were doing there, but for the first time, we felt that the hardships we had faced up till that point had not been for nothing. From then on our feelings began to change, and we began to think more along the vein of "Let's work even harder!"
Q: Now emotionally-speaking, what kind of condition are you in?
A: Now things are going great, emotionally, too. I'm spending my time here feeling as good as I do in Korea. Timewise, we've got a bit more free time here than in Korea too (laughs).
Q: So now it's not really a pain for you to come to Japan any more, is it?
A: To be honest, previously when we were in Korea, when we were told "You'll be going to Japan" we'd all be like "Ahhhh~ (sighs)", but now coming whenever is fine with us. From that time, we've also become able to think of the house (dormitory) we're staying at in Japan as our own home.
Q: What kind of bedroom do you have? Did you arrange the furniture in your room, or have some kind of personal scheme in mind?
A: I bought furniture recently. Only my area is gradually becoming beautiful (laughs).
Q: What kind of furniture did you buy?
A: Designer-ish, a little cyber chic kind of furniture (laughs).
Q: And you're the only one who put in your own furniture?
A: No, Yoochun and Jaejoong did too. Everyone composes music, so I remodeled my room in order to make the composition process easier. I have something like a bunk bed, with the bottom being a desk, and on the top I put furniture to use as a bed, like a loft. I have curtains around my bed too, and my lights are red and blue, I bought some cyber chic kind of lights. The atmosphere of my room has completely changed. My instruments also all arrived from Korea today. Even though we've been going back and forth doing activities for about two-and-a-half years, because we kept thinking of our home as being in Korea till now, we left all our important equipment in Korea. But because we have more time to chill out in Japan, I thought of bringing it all over, and did it!
Q: Is that so?
A: Yup. When we return to Korea we're busy with work, and even if we have a little time I'd want to go to my parents' place, or meet my friends. In Japan I don't really have that many friends yet, and because we can make time, I thought I'd be able to make more progress composing music here.
Q: I see. So basically, you're making use of your time in Korea and Japan for different things. Now, "sadness". What saddening or painful memories do you have?
A: Not being able to see my parents during hard times. Also I heard that "it's difficult to sell records in Japan", but because we had a certain degree of popularity in Korea, we came to a different country and had to start all over again, that was difficult and saddening.
Q: Living apart from your family, there have got to be lonely times after all.
A: During difficult times, don't all of us think of our parents? When we catch a cold, or even when our head hurts. At those kinds of times, being in a different country was saddening.
Q: At those times did you call them on the phone?
A: No, during times when I was lonely or in pain, I wouldn't call them instead. Because I didn't want to worry them.
Q: That's very big of you.
A: I try to hide that...
Q: This is the real Junsu?!
A: What I show on the outside is not the real me. The essence of charisma is not something to be shown, it lies in the parts that are hidden and cannot be seen.
Q: Very good, let me use those words too. I was a little touched (laughs).
A: (laughs) It was a bit embarrassing to say it myself.
Q: Next is "enjoyment". What is something you enjoyed?
A: There's been lots of enjoyable things in these two and a half years. Going to a river for a shoot for "WHAT's IN?", playing sports, those are some things I strongly remember. When we hadn't become very busy yet we went to Shimoda's hot springs, that was good too. We pretended to be samurai before getting into the springs. All the way till the springs, we were in our yukata using disposable chopsticks as swords (laughs). There were many various things, so many I can't count them all. And this year's Okinawa. That was really good.
Q: It was your first time in Okinawa, wasn't it? And you said it's a place you'd always wanted to go to.
A: Ever since last year. We said we'd go to Okinawa to shoot the PV for "Sky", but at that time there was a typhoon so it was changed to Saipan...
Q: What were your first impressions of Okinawa?
A: I thought it'd be a quiet island, but I was shocked seeing many more big buildings there than I thought there'd be. But there are those kind of city areas, but once you get in a car for 20 minutes there's a quiet ocean and naturalness.
Q: In Okinawa that's called chanpuru (a mix of everything).
A: Is that so?
Q: The food was okay?
A: The food...I didn't really eat it (smiles bitterly). Because everyone would go to eat Okinawa food at night. And I can't really eat once it's past 6pm.
[Travel]
Q: I should think by now you've traveled to all kinds of places, but which place stands out to you?
A: Bora Bora. Bora Bora is the greatest place I've been to in my life. The sea and sky are so beautiful it makes you think, "There's still islands this beautiful that exist on this earth." But because the cost of living here is high, I think there are places Japanese people can't really go to. I think Japanese and Korean people probably go there on honeymoons or something. When I went there I really got the impression of "an island that is only for a selected few". At the bungalow of the Meridien Hotel where we stayed, it seems that people like Zidane, Halle Berry and Mariah Carey had stayed there, so there were their pictures stuck on the wall. "Ohhhh! They came here!" we thought, and had our picture taken there together too (laughs). I will definitely go again before I die!
Q: Your recommendation for a honeymoon?!
A: I think it'd be good to go with a girlfriend or boyfriend. If you go to Bora Bora and confess your love, your success rate will be 100%. The bungalow's living room had a glass kind of style, so at night the bottom of the glass would light up, and you could see fish swimming from the living room. It was like a fantasy, it was so beautiful. But at night, when it was just us boys, we took all our clothes off and went swimming (laughs).
[Music]
Q: Will you tell me what artists and CDs you've been into recently, in the following order: foreign, local and Korean?
A: Foreign music would be Brian McKnight. I respect him as an artist. The song of his that I like most is "ONE LAST CRY". His voice is just beautiful, and I like how he sings like he puts his own soul into his singing.
Q: He sings with his heart, doesn't he?
A: Yes, he sings with his heart. And I think his R&B improvisation singing is cool too, I think he's a perfect artist.
Q: How about local music?
A: As a member of Tohoshinki I like the Gospellers the most. Their harmonisation is really beautiful. Since we are also a team that harmonises for people to hear, I'd like to become like them. Songs of theirs that I like are "Hitori" and "Towa ni". And personally I like Hirai Ken's "Hitomi wo Tojite".
Q: And Korean artists?
A: Our senior Shin Seung Hun. I think it's awesome how he's been able to let us hear his beautiful voice for such a long time.
Q: Which song of his do you recommend?
A: "I Believe".
Q: Earlier you mentioned that you compose music. Is singing one of your own songs one of your dreams for the future?
A: Of course. I'd be really happy if I were able to sing a song that I composed.
Q: Do you already have any completed songs?
A: Right now, there are about four that are complete. I've been playing around a little lately, but today since my instruments have arrived, I'm going to start composing again!
[Private]
Q: What have you been into lately? Is there anything you want to do?
A: I want to go on a trip! (laughs) Not for work, I want to go somewhere to have fun. It can be within Japan. If there's time I'd like to go have fun in Nagoya or Hokkaido or Fukuoka or something.
Q: Don't you have any interest in theme parks or anything?
A: I love theme parks. I'm up for going to a theme park anytime! Because the last time I went to a theme park was five years ago. I think if it's Japan, it'd still be alright. Because people don't really know me in Japan.
Q: No, it's pretty bad in Japan too.
A: Nobody knows who we are, do they? (laughs)
Q: No no, you're recognised well enough! (laughs)
---
If enough people let me know in comments that they're interested, next up is Yoochun. ^^ This took a long time and I have a horrible backache now, so even a simple thank you would be great to let me know this wasn't wasted! ;_;
And Happy 2009 once again :D