Editor : Monica Suk
"Sexy, Free & Single" teaser images of Shindong (top left), Siwon (top right), Eunhyuk (bottom left) and Yesung (bottom right) [SM Entertainment]
We're seeing the peaking trend of electronica music here. It seems like Super Junior is trying to make some change from what you guys have been calling, 'SJ Funky' [The term used for Super Junior's style of a musical genre, coined by Super Junior and their fans]. How would you define Super Junior's music?Eunhyuk: From "Sorry, Sorry" to "Mr. Simple," we've been focusing a lot on the SJ funky music. Those songs pretty much set templates of our musical style so it was a bit worrisome to try something totally different from the past works; probably one of the reasons why we have put more emphasis on the stylistic and technical aspects of performance. Likewise, when you listen to our new title track, you might think 'hey, it's pretty much similar to their past songs.' That's understandable because our title tune needs to go well with what we pursue on stage. And when you go through all the tracks in "Sexy, Free & Single," you'll notice that Super Junior has tried out many different genres this time.Siwon: Majority of people recognizes us as a dance group. I personally hope we could try more ballads. Since we're all artistically sensitive, we're good in expressing our feelings. What differentiates Super Junior from other K-pop idol groups to keep the strong fandom?Siwon: We don't hesitate reaching out to our fans first. Some artists avoid that (direct communication with fans) but we try to get along with our fans freely; talking through social networking services and when we receive funny posts on Twitter, we retweet them too. I guess people are fond of how we are different on and off stage. Shindong: I think we owe a lot to the modern social trends. It's now common for people to search videos (of their favorite stars) on YouTube. And whatever Korean show they're watching, it's funny that at least one of our members is on the show. For example, Leeteuk is the co-host on SBS "Star King" and I'm on MBC "Show Champion." This is probably because we're active in all fields (of the entertainment business). We're on duty 24/7, 365 days a year. Whether it's a good stuff we're doing or bad, I think it helped (receiving attention from the public) that we were open to people whatever we do. Any burden on your shoulders of meeting fans' expectation for this album?Siwon: I have no burden. I'm thinking positive that people will like it if we do our best. It's more like challenging myself than being weighed down with pressure.Shindong: What was most burdensome is learning foreign language. I'm learning Chinese and Japanese at the same time and it's really confusing sometimes. Let's say I'm being interviewed by a Chinese reporter and without noticing, I say, 'Hi' [a Japanese word for 'yes']. And when talking with a Japanese reporter I say 'Nihao' [a Chinese greetings meaning 'how do you do?']. But that began to change a little bit because people were starting to learn Korean. So I thought, this is it. People were starting to learn Korean and wherever I go, I sometimes don't even need translators and people were singing along to our Korean songs. I feel like a member of a national sports team in that regard (promoting Korea and the culture).How are fans' reactions different in other countries?Eunhyuk: We read Twitter messages by using the translation service, and it's pretty much similar everywhere when judging solely by (the messages people send us on) social networking websites. But every single country is different when we actually go there for concerts. Japanese fans are very calm and they are in order, while European fans are actively expressing their excitement at concerts. Someone tried to kiss me by grabbing my face at Paris concert.Yesung: She was a true sexy and free single (laugh).Siwon: In the past, French musicians were flying to Seoul to perform and they had received so much love from Korean fans. And it's overwhelming that now we're going to France and French people are giving us so much attention and love. When we had just arrived at the airport, it didn't feel real (that we were going to stage a show there). But once we were up on the stage, gosh. It's an indescribable feeling. You get goose bumps and the moment we appear on the stage lifts right after the opening, I feel electrifying excitement. It's the best. So you were electrified (laugh).Shindong: Yes. Very.In which country do you receive the strongest fan reaction from?Shindong: We're too humble to say...It's the earth (laugh).Siwon: (The nationality of fans is meaningless now because) People come to Korea now to see us. We've gone through a number of problems since releasing "Sorry, Sorry" and since then, we've noticed our fans gathering in Seoul, like a safe house, as a cohesive unit. Just because we're promoting our album in Korea, it doesn't mean that it's only for Korean fans. Wherever we go, whether it's KBS' "Music Bank" or other music programs, we see overseas fans supporting us. Shindong: We're more known as singers in other countries, whereas in Korea, we're more recognized as TV personalities that are active in various areas. We've been doing radio DJs and TV show emcees too, which are probably difficult for us to do so abroad. Siwon: We just came back from Taiwan and someone had complimented us there that there's no Taiwanese singer who is as funny as Super Junior. I guess what we show on TV has helped us to be perceived as humorous and entertaining artists abroad.※ 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 Editor : Monica Suk monicasuk@<ⓒ즐거움의 공장 "10 아시아" (10.asiae.co.kr) 무단전재 배포금지>