K-Pop Stars SuperM On Their New Album: ‘We Hope People Who Listen To Our Music Will Be Encouraged’ – Forbes
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 03: (L-R) Ten, Baekhyun, Lucas, Taemin, Taeyong, Kai and Mark Lee … [+]
Getty Images for Capitol Music Group
Last year, SuperM appeared seemingly out of nowhere, with SM and Capitol Records, two major players in the music industry, recruiting seven members from well-established K-pop bands to form a supergroup. It didn’t take long for the outfit to develop the kind of fan base most artists only dream of, and in no time at all, they were champions.
SuperM shocked the U.S. music industry last year when their introductory EP SuperM debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, making them just the second South Korean musicians (aside from BTS) to score a chart-topping record. Now, they are less than one month out from their next set, and fans can’t wait to hear more from the septet.
I spoke with all seven members of SuperM a short time ago about their upcoming debut album, living up to intimidating expectations and how they feel being mentioned in the same breath as groups like BTS as often as they are.
Note: Most of the musicians who spoke did so in Korean, which were translated into English via a translator. They have been edited only for clarity.
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McIntyre: I was so happy to see the announcement about new music! Tell me about the new album and how it’s different from your last project?
Mark: Well, first of all, we are very happy to come back and to give you a brief explanation of what the team here does and what the full album is. It’s our first full length album ever as SuperM, and it has a variety of different genres for each track. So for it to be completed, it took a while for us to record, but it was really fun, and we can’t wait to show our fans.
McIntyre: You’ve announced the two singles, but what’s your favorite song on the album?
Taeyong: There’s going to be a new song called “Together at Home” that is going to be included in this first full-length album, I’m excited for that.
McIntyre: Last year I was shocked and so happy to see your EP debut at number one.
Mark: Yes!
McIntyre: I mean, what did it feel like? How did you get that news that you were number one?
Baekhyun: Back when we heard that we got the number one, we were obviously so excited and taken aback by the great news. We felt like this was a greater opportunity for us to meet our fans all over the world as well. That was one thing that really made us excited.
McIntyre: Because you’ve already had a number one album, do you feel any pressure to repeat that success?
Baekhyun: We know that our audiences do expect certain things from us, but we think amidst the pandemic and everything that’s going on in the world right now, we hope people who listen to our music will be encouraged and they can find some kind of healing. We think that’s a bigger goal for us than charting on a chart.
McIntyre: Speaking of the pandemic, you held an online concert not too long ago that was huge. Tell me about preparing for that. What was it like seeing so many people tune in?
Mark: We were the first team to open the Beyond The Future concert, and we didn’t know at first how it was going to work. The whole crew was a team, and we practiced and loved and cared a lot, and once we actually finally did the concert, we knew that this was the perfect way, the perfect platform to reach our fans all over the world. It was very different from the usual concerts that we do in person, but considering the circumstances that we’re under right now, we know that this was the alternative way for us to spread our music to the people. Another great factor was that we got to see so many fans at once, which isn’t usually possible in any other location, so you saw the good in all their faces.
McIntyre: You as a group formed last year and you hit number one with your first release. What did it feel like to be so incredibly successful so quickly?
Baekhyun: Obviously SuperM is a group that was formed out of members from all different existing K-pop groups, and each of them have also been successful.
The concept of our team itself is probably really unique and it’s something that’s never been done before. Because of that, I think the fans were probably pretty shocked because it’s so new, the shock value was bigger than other groups when they debuted. I think because it was such a new and refreshing combination of members in a team, that’s what made us able to be this successful. Because of the obvious experience and the talent and the successes of each of the individuals in their previous groups, that’s also what helped contribute to this.
McIntyre: K-pop is having a huge moment outside of South Korea, as a lot of people are waking up to it and finding out who you are. There are a number of groups doing well in America. Do you enjoy being mentioned in the same breath as other groups, or does that frustrate you? How do you feel about that?
Kai: Obviously because all of the news being mostly about the success of K-pop as a genre, and all of these groups kind of breaking into different markets, we love being mentioned in the same breath as them, because it’s about the success of the genre itself. As you mentioned, we haven’t been a group for that long, and just the fact that we’re able to be included in all of this positive news about the success of K-pop, I think that’s what I really enjoy to hear. Going forward we want to show more of our own style and our music as a group as SuperM.
McIntyre: You have a single out now and the album coming in about a month. What does the rest of the year look like for you guys, and how do you intend to promote this album when you can’t travel?
Baekhyun: With the whole situation worldwide currently, most of the promotion will probably be online, as many artists are doing all over the world. We want to meet our fans, we want to perform in front of our fans in person, but I think we will continue doing live concerts online, stuff like Beyond LIVE. The biggest strength of that is that we can have the whole world as our audience at the same time, and that’s not really possible when we do regular tours, and I think that’s probably the biggest strength of promoting online. We can meet our fans all at the same time from everywhere. We hope to do more of that soon.