TVXQ! 'We're Only Half Way There' - Part. 1

It seems only a few years ago when they were singing in animal costumes and make girls' heart flutter with "Hug." Now in their ninth year as K-pop artists, TVXQ!'s Max Changmin and U-Know Yunho have matured like its music has. Making a transition from "Keep Your Head Down" to "Catch Me" was not an easy task, but such challenges are a great joy to the singers who say they're only at its half point of success.Back with the power as strong as "The Avengers" and "Hulk," TVXQ! members shared their thoughts about the new album and goals at the La Casa Hotel in Seoul on September 27.

TVXQ! members Max Changmin (left) and U-Know Yunho (right) pose in simple black and wine-colored suits in a photo released for the duo's sixth album "Catch Me," dropped on September 24, 2012. [SM Entertainment]

How did you spend your time during the hiatus?U-Know Yunho: I didn't even realize that we've been out of the spotlight for about a year and eight months now. Taking part in SM Town tours and other live shows, time just flew really fast. We had tried to make our comeback date a bit earlier than planned but we all agreed it's better to perfect the album by trying out new genres. From deciding the number of tracks and choosing the title song, it got delayed.What have you tried to focus on while preparing for the album?Max Changmin: "Keep Your Head Down" was powerful enough to make a strong impression to people about our return to the music scene. Doing such impactful performance is important of course, but we've tried to make "Catch Me" easy to listen to and remember. Before, I avoided losing our color by following the styles of trendy pop music. But we've found a compromising between those two and it took us about one or two months to work on that part. If people could feel that we've kept our distinctive style but still made some difference from previous albums, I'd call that a success.Yunho: Well, some might not even notice the change. To explain, we mixed dubstep with our unique performance style. It's somewhere between what SM Entertainment is good at and what the general public wants.Can you tell us about the music video? There are mixed opinions about it. Yunho: Famed choreographer Tony Testa, who choreographed SHINee's "Sherlock" and directed late Michae Jackson's "This Is It," was in charge of the "Catch Me" moves. Testa came up to us with four versions but we put them into one performance. He even had to push back his schedule for Justin Bieber because we weren't able to decide how we'll arrange it. The final choreography has a story like a musical and features what we call a "Mirror dance" and "Hulk dance." While Changmin and I face each other and move in the same direction as if I'm facing a mirror, our back-up dancers connect our emotions through their separate moves. Testa told us that the Hulk dance was inspired by the Hollywood film "The Avengers." I wanted to name it "Transformer dance" but that didn't work out. (laugh) I think kids are able to follow the moves quite easily too.

TVXQ! member U-Know Yunho poses in a simple wine-colored suit in a photo released for the duo's sixth album "Catch Me," dropped on September 24, 2012. [SM Entertainment]

The "Catch Me" choreography is pretty intense. How are you going to manage live performances?Changmin: In terms of the intensity, our back-up dancers are more physically tired than me and Changmin are. They hold us up, down and dance around so that's not easy. Yunho: We'll mostly do live performances but once in a while use the recorded version of the song to show the full performance. If we mess up in live, it'll be a disaster because team work is really important in "Catch Me." I feel like we have a better team work now because of this. (laugh)Have you not worried that compromise in the music style with the Korean audience could make the song less appealing to your overseas fans? You've mentioned that your choreographer said it was difficult for him at first to understand the culture he felt from the lyrics.Yunho: Because of the cultural difference, I felt more eagar to appeal that Korean style and culture to fans abroad. Testa later understood our emotions in the song and that's how the Hulk dance came out. I'm aware that people may have mixed reviews about the choreography and the song because "Catch Me" is unique in some ways. But we like to try new things and I'll leave that judgement to fans. ※ 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>