[INTERVIEW] Songstress IU - Part 2

IU [Loen Entertainment]

So do you intuitively know how you should sing a song when you first listen to it?IU: Since I was six years old, I think I spent more time analyzing songs than singing them. Things such as how the song would be if I sung it in my own way. And I thought of different versions and arrangements as well. So I think having done a lot of such practice has helped me know how to sing a song. In that sense, I think you have a different taste and sensitivity from singers your age. Even the dramas you watch or you reading Alain de Botton's novels are usually for people older than you.IU: Even adults have a hard time understanding Alain de Botton's books so there were a lot of parts to it that I don't understand. At first, I didn't know if I was reading a book or just looking at it. And I could understand what he was saying only after reading his books five or six times. But there was a shock I felt when it happened. There are a lot of greats quotes in his books so I underline them while reading them. Does that help with when you write lyrics? I'm sure you need a lot of indirect experience since there only a limited amount of things you can experience as a teenager.IU: Yes, it helps a lot. Even elementary school kids cry while watching sad movies or love stories. And it's not because they understand what's going on but because they become assimilated with the situation and immerse themselves into the actors' acting. So a lot of people ask me how I can understand everything and sing it but there's so much that I've seen, heard and felt that even if I haven't experienced them directly, I act with what I do know. But you have to show a cuter side to you for songs such as "YOU&I" and hit high notes rather than sing in your husky low tone. You even have to look cuter.IU: Composer Lee Min-soo, who wrote "YOU&I," writes a song with a perfect image of the song in his head. So I can feel what he's doing just from listening to the song. I don't have to think the song over in my head. Because he knows my voice like the back of his hand. Songs like "L'amant" are actually more comfortable for me to sing than "YOU&I" but I once again realized that the voice that the public likes is the voice I use in "YOU&I." Well like so, you're being shown to the public in a wider variety of ways now which brings you popularity but also unintended controversies. How does it feel to know that people you have never talked to before, all respond to and talk about you in different ways?IU: I've decided to leave things the way they are. Whether someone says something good about me or someone says something bad about me, I just understand all of them. It becomes understandable after thinking that those are all the sides that people see to me. I have a pretty placid personality so I don't really get hurt too much by what people say.※ Any copying, republication or redistribution of 10Asia's content is expressly prohibited without prior consent of 10Asia. Copyright infringement is subject to criminal and civil penalties.10 아시아 Reporter : Lee Ga-on 10 아시아 Editor in Chief : Kang Myeong-Seok two@10 아시아 Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@10 아시아 Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@<ⓒ즐거움의 공장 "10 아시아" (10.asiae.co.kr) 무단전재 배포금지>