[TRANS] Dazed & Confused Korea November 2020 Issue - HYOJIN

ONE SHEER NIGHT OF HYOJIN

This kind of treasure is usually found at the break of dawn. Hyojin (whose name means treasure of the dawn) climbs up the stairs. He fumbles the dark.

Q. We met Hyojin two years ago who was then 22 years old. What changed the most between the Hyojin then and now?
A. A lot of things happened over the past two years. I was shy, and I didn't have much experience then so I was lacking a lot. Fast forward to today, after gaining experience on stages, pictorials, interviews, etc., I have become more familiar and natural. I feel a bit relaxed.

Q. Last time, you said you want to challenge either a really bright photoshoot or a photoshoot with a heavy atmosphere next. We wanted to go to the Jamsu Bridge at night with you today. How was the photoshoot today?
A. I really liked it. I think last time was a bright photoshoot. I haven't filmed outside during the night before. I find photoshoots after sunset really cool so I have high expectations for today's results.

Q. Hyojin's name means treasure of the dawn. We thought of the time and location of the shoot today while dwelling on that meaning. What kind of time is night and dawn for Hyojin?
A. Healing time. Whenever I feel tired after finishing all the schedules for the day, I go to sleep right away. On the following day, if we don't have schedules I do whatever I want until late at night. I listen to songs and look up some videos. It's my leisure time. Also, emotions come to life during night and dawn. Like the word sentiments of dawn, I bring out all of the emotions I have at that time and my thoughts get more deepened. I plan for the near or distant future. In many ways, the dawn and night are positive for me.

Q. Is there a song you only listen to on nights where you have deep thoughts?
A. Nothing like that, it varies per day. I listen to songs that suit the weather or songs that I used to listen to when I was a student. That way, I bring out the sentiments of the dawn I had during that time.

Q. For me, Hyojin's voice carries the emotions of the night or dawn. Were you originally that good at singing?
A. No. The original range I had wasn't high and my skills weren't that good. I often heard that my voice sounded really plain before I debuted. I had a lot of thoughts about it. 'Do I not have a talent in singing?' I also blamed myself. At one point, my thoughts changed. Before, I'd get dispirited and worried when I hear those words but eventually I didn't anymore. I went to, 'Let's just do it. It's my voice anyway.'

Q. Ah, so that was the moment when you let go of things.
A. That's right. When I let them go, my own style strengthened. From that moment my skills started to improve as well.

Q. You must have changed how you practice too.
A. Yes, I used to receive vocal lessons and I had an idea of what my style is. Since I also had this greed, I started trying a lot of new things. I tried singing this and that without feeling afraid. Should I say I studied my voice? I worked hard while looking up videos related to vocalization, breathing, and vocal techniques. From that moment on I was sure. "So this is my voice."

Q. I think the feedback you are receiving now stemmed from this kind of leader Hyojin's worries. ONF is called 'A group with great songs' (lit. translation is masterpiece restaurant) right? It may sound silly but if I were a member I'd feel really honored. Making a song people will like is an essential for a singer and a performer, right?
A. We are really grateful. This is a personal opinion, but I think it's very difficult to get recognition from a lot of people. We gained attention with We Must Love. Through that song, people became interested with our other songs as well. We are very happy people. We are working really hard to improve our skills so that we don't disgrace the composer hyung who makes good songs for us and we meet the expectations of the fans and many people who listen to our songs. We felt nervous when we earned that nickname. We don't want to lose it and we have this greed to keep having it. In the future, like the word 'Group with great songs' I want to keep doing music that moves a lot of people's hearts.

Q. In one of your interviews, you called yourself a perfectionist. Are you still like that now?
A. I don't think I can completely remove my pursuit for perfection, but I'm trying to fix it. There are sides of me which I don't want to show when I myself don't feel satisfied. I'm practicing to let go of that obsession bit by bit. I have this and that kind of sides. It's the process of accepting this truth. I'm working hard to show different sides of myself.

Q. I agree. I also know that when you look for too much perfection, you lose more than you gain.
A. That's right. For example: In the past, if I film a singing video and I'm not satisfied, I practice more the following day and film again or delay it to some other time. I'm not like that these days. When I hear a song and think, "This is okay, should I sing it?' I sing it right away, film it, and upload on the spot. I won't be completely satisfied but our fans who watch and listen to that video really like it.

Q. The reactions were great when you joined Road To Kingdom. Were the stages you made out of pursuit of perfection?
A. We pondered a lot on how to highlight our charms and we also tried different kinds of things. Concept, choreography, everything. Actually it was very difficult. We stayed up all night lots of times.

Q. To practice?
A. Yes. There's a day where we have to finish everything, sometimes we have to change things so there are lots of times where we had a difficult time. Looking back, we were happy to the point that we can call it our happiest memory since debut. When we were competing, we slowly climbed up the ranks from the bottom. It became our driving force.

Q. In every competition, you received motivation from each other's creativity. Your stages are amazing.
A. What we felt then was, "So this is possible" "So this kind of imagination can be turned into reality." After seeing the other teams do things we couldn't imagine, we also began to have greed. "We can't lose." As the competition progresses, the quality of everyone's stages become higher too. Since we keep on seeing stages that are fitting for finale, I remember working very hard for countless hours so we'll have better results.

Q. It looks like you like the nickname "Stair-dols" which means taking steps one at a time. Your recent release 'Sukhumvit Swimming' ranked 1st on a music chart. What's the next step for Hyojin?
A. ONF debuted, went on Mixnine and bore good results, showed our unique charms through the song We Must Love, and received unexpected love with the song Moscow Moscow. We gained attention when we joined Road To Kingdom. I, as well as the ONF members, feel that we are going up one step at a time. The next step, which we have been dreaming of, is to win 1st place on a music show. (laughs)

Translations by etionman