"Ten years ago, I was jealous of idols. But now, I feel glad that I chose to be in a band."
The band Wonwi (Yong-hoon, Kang-hyun, Ha-rin, Dong-myeong, Gi-wook), celebrating their 11th anniversary, released their second full-length album 'WE: Dream Chaser' on the 5th. This new album is their first regular album in about five years since the release of their first album 'ONE'.
Ahead of their comeback, Wonwi met with Maeil Business Star Today and shared, "We are filled with excitement as we return with a full album after five years. The weather is getting warmer, and we are looking forward to a warm comeback with our fans."
'WE: Dream Chaser' is an album that encapsulates everything about Wonwi chasing their dreams. All 11 tracks, including the title song 'The Starry Night', are self-composed by the members, showcasing a wide musical spectrum that embodies the individuality of the five members.
"When we released our first full album, it had been 2-3 years since we joined the company. At that time, we had many shortcomings and relied heavily on the company's help. Now, being in our 11th year, I feel like we can provide detailed opinions on album-related content and promotions. Since all the tracks are written by the members, we treated every song as a title track during the production." (Kang-hyun, Dong-myeong)
The title track 'The Starry Night' is a song written by guitarist Kang-hyun. It is a captivating rock band song with bright and exciting guitar sounds, capturing the pure dream of being together forever while gazing at the starry night. Having previously discussed 'universe' and 'stars' in their earlier albums, Wonwi decided to make a song about stars the title track for this album as well.
When asked about the reason, Kang-hyun said, "As we thought about the colors and strengths we could show, stars came to mind. So we decided to focus on 'The Starry Night' as our theme. I did wonder if doing another song about stars would be repetitive, but since this is our first full album in five years, we agreed to do something we could execute well."
He continued, "While performing at a festival last year, I realized that the songs we enjoy performing are those with an exciting tempo. So, I wanted to take a fast-tempo song as the title. I drew inspiration from Van Gogh's painting 'Starry Night', and I think we came up with a song that fits well with Wonwi's color."
Debuting in 2015 with the single 'Butterfly, Looking for Flowers' (under the name mas0094), they changed their group name to 'Wonwi' in 2018 and re-debuted in May 2019. Since then, they have consistently been active with songs like 'All Memories', 'Nocturnal', 'Asteroid', 'Memory Incinerator', and 'Your Universe', and have recently gained momentum with the 'band boom'.
"Famous idol colleagues have been telling us lately, 'I want to be in a band. I'm jealous.' They say that being in a band seems like it will allow us to make music for a long time. Ten years ago, it was the opposite. We thought, 'If we had been idols, we might have gained popularity faster.' But after hardship comes joy, and hearing such things from our idol colleagues makes me feel proud and happy." (Yong-hoon, Dong-myeong)
Wonwi will hold solo concerts in Korea and Japan in 2024, followed by appearances at major domestic festivals such as '2024 Soundberry Theater', 'Peak Festival 2024', '2024 Seoul Park Music Festival', and 'Grand Mint Festival 2024', establishing themselves as 'performance powerhouses'.
Dong-myeong shared, "At the end of the year, fans posted how many performances we had this year, and it was over 70. The most valuable activity for a band is the stage, right? I was so grateful for a year where we could perform a lot. So, I set a goal for the new year to perform at least once more than last year."
In response, Yong-hoon said, "When we have concerts, many people tell us they came after seeing us at festivals. It made me emotional to realize that our enjoyment of going to festivals and performing wasn't just for us."
Dong-myeong added, "After a performance at a festival, I stayed to watch another team's stage. I was curious about why people were drawn to Wonwi, and I noticed that our team's performance was quite strong. So, I thought that might be why they came to our concert after seeing us at the festival."
Wonwi will kick off their first world tour 'O! NEW E!volution IV' starting in Vietnam on the 21st. They will then head to North America in April-May and conclude the tour with an encore concert in Seoul on June 14-15.
Yong-hoon expressed, "It's our first time going to the U.S. as a group, so we are very excited and nervous. Since it's a U.S. concert, there will be cover songs, and we will show songs that we can jump around to," adding with a smile, "These days, we have English classes once a week, and I'm diligently memorizing sentences to use on stage."
Meanwhile, Ha-rin said, "I'm excited about doing a proper tour overseas, but I'm also curious about how the audience will react. Since the culture is different, what we find fun might not be fun for them," and added, "I'm half excited and half nervous, so we're preparing hard, so please look forward to it."
[Lee Da-gyeom, Star Today Reporter]
