[INTERVIEW] Songstress IU - Part 1

IU [Loen Entertainment]

If you are looking forward to reading about the cute IU, you may feel that the following conversation is strange. IU, who was reminded of an old drama while singing "It's You" with Sung Si-kyung and is born with a personality that is placid enough that she feels nothing over ill comments on her on the Internet, said that she taught herself to protect herself from others from a young age. Hence although all the songs to her latest album "Last Fantasy" placed on top of music charts following her popularity from "Marshmallow" and "Good Day," IU is an 18-year-old singer who believes that she should "not get used to being popular" instead of enjoying the moment. To call her mature would probably not do her justice. Below is 10Asia's interview with IU.

<#10LOGO#> I saw you give your comeback performance on KBS' "Music Bank" last week. And you sang "Uncle" with Jeon Hyun-moo. But why not with Lee Juck who wrote the song? [laugh]
IU: He was really busy and a bit embarrassed to appear on the show. And while thinking of who has the image of being an uncle, I remembered having seen Jeon Hyun-moo for KBS' "Dream High" so I asked and he willingly said yes.

<#10LOGO#> How did you come up with the concept of the song which you wrote with Lee Juck?
IU: The song I had originally planned to work on with Lee Juck was a bit gloomy. So we said we should come up with something that's more like a theme song and fun, about uncles. I guess you could say it's meant to be a fan service.

<#10LOGO#> A gloomy song?
IU: There was a song called "Anxious." It had a great melody but was so gloomy that we said we'd save it for when I'm older. [laughs]

<#10LOGO#> But even your album seems to become gloomy after "Last Fantasy." Songs such as "4AM" or "The Abandoned."
IU: We sort of placed the songs in that order on purpose but while the front half is very happy and cheerful, the back half shows exactly who I am right now because I can write more serious and gloomy songs now and try new things in my next album.

<#10LOGO#> I think that's why I remember how you had on nonchalant or stiff expressions in a lot of the photographs in the jacket of your album. Was that on purpose?
IU: All the people who take photos of me like to see me with no expression.

<#10LOGO#> Have you asked them why? [laughs]
IU: They said it's because I'm not cute in them. [laughs] I laugh and make a lot of cute expressions on television but I actually don't have a cute face. Maybe my nose is? But it's not like I even have cute, round eyes. Not once had I thought that I have a cute face before I debuted.

<#10LOGO#> I think "The Abandoned" was the song that really showed that gloomy side to you which was unexpected. It's about a presence that's been abandoned but even when you were singing "Good Day," you said that you're scared of your popularity disappearing. I guess you've been thinking a lot about who you are right now?
IU: I think I'm preparing and protecting myself so that I don't get hurt. And the reason I tell myself I shouldn't get used to such things is not because I'm smart but just because I really think I should protect myself. I don't like becoming close with people either. Nor do I think my popularity is all about me. I haven't become the IU you see on TV all from my own effort. After handing out the hair stylist's share, the make-up artist's share [laughs], there's really only very little that comes to me. And that's exactly how much I'm enjoying myself.

<#10LOGO#> In that sense, I think this album would be more meaningful to you. You worked with famous musicians and I heard that you were involved in the album-making process from the stage that you receive the songs.
IU: More than anything, I was very moved by how all the seniors who worked with me treated me as their equal. Even when writing a single line they'd ask how I think about their expressions. Albums are things that'll be around my entire life but I had always wanted more for them. So if there were a lot of things I had regretted not saying in the past, I said everything I wanted to this time. And that means I have that much more responsibility. Because if people say my new album is weird, I'm partly responsible for it as well. But I don't have any regrets. That's also why nobody really wanted to give me detailed vocal directions. Most of them told me to try analyzing their songs in the way I wanted to and sing them. So I think that's why I told myself that I want to try changing my vocal tone for the tracks 1 to 14.

<#10LOGO#> Hearing you sing in a low tone which you haven't really revealed up till now, left a strong impression. "L'amant" contained from low to high notes and "4AM" made me think that you're really producing deep vibes.
IU: That's actually what I like. [laughs] "4AM" was a song I very carefully put out. The song isn't that commercial so I felt that it would sound weird if sang it in the tone I used to sing "Good Day." So I thought long and hard about how I could present this song to people without making it seem out of place. I started by singing it in the tone I used to sing "YOU&I" but re-did it all over and sang it in the way I wanted to which is how "4AM" turned out the way it is. I recorded it without warming up because there were no high notes to it. I just sang it in a husky tone, like the voice I use to speak, and I was worried it would sound a bit awkward but luckily, I had a lot of people to help me.

<#10LOGO#> Don't you have to know your voice well to be able to know what to sing for each song?
IU:I think I have a lot of voices. I used to think I want a voice of my own but now prefer it the way it is because people would get sick of listening to the same voice for all 14 tracks of my studio release. And I think I think more about the feeling I get from a song when I first listen to it rather than calculating anything in particular.

<#10LOGO#> I think song "It's You" that you sang with Sung Si-kyung in particular showed that well. But the song itself was about love that has returned for people who are quite older than you so how did you understand and express that emotion?
IU: I considered it as sort of like acting. I sang it thinking of a woman who is quite older than me, doesn't really talk, and is standing under the sun on an autumn day. There's actually a part of the lyric that says 'Your face that the sunlight is stroking.' The song's writer and I had the same image for the song so I didn't have much difficulty singing it.

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