[AKDONG MUSICIAN] “AKMU is all about performing a variety of music styles and continuously evolving”

[스포츠서울=이지석 기자] AKDONG MUSICIAN (AKMU, CHAN HYUK and SUHYUN) has made a comeback after a two-year hiatus. They released a new album titled “SPRING Vol.1” on May 4, and its title track “RE-BYE” has topped the realtime charts of Korea’s eight major music steaming websites upon release.

AKMU’s “RE-BYE” is a jazz pop song that is very different from the music that they did before. Regarding such response, AKMU said, “AKMU is all about performing a variety of music styles and continuously evolving” at an interview on May 11.

-How do feel now that you released a new album?

CHAN HYUK= We had a two-year break before we released the album. It means that we’ve put in that much work into this album. We’ve also made a lot of modifications to the album. This means that the quality has gone up, but it also means that more techniques have been added to the album compared with our previous one. Our music has not changed but rather matured. AKMU’s music has become more diverse. We will explore other genres in the future. I want to say that’s what defines AKMU.”

-Did you feel pressure about the chart results?

CHAN HYUK= Our album did better on the charts than I expected. It’s not that we feel pressured but people have high expectations. That put us under a lot of pressure. People saying things like “people will like your music no matter what” were comforting but also felt like a great burden.

SUHYUN= People saying that we’ll top the charts no matter what put me under pressure. I thought to myself no one would know for sure. But then, people kept saying that and I thought, ‘Will it really? What if we don’t? Won’t people be disappointed if we don’t?”  ‘

-What were your worries during your two-year break?

CHAN HYUK = When our first album came out, people said that all the songs are similar. Some even said that we are trying to grow but we’re just copying other artists. I wondered ‘Should we go back to our early music? Or come out with something more high quality?” I thought about going back for a second, but then I wanted to show that we’ve improved. I put a lot of thought into SUHYUN’s vocal skills and my rapping skills and my songs. I observed and did a lot of thinking.

-Have you gained confidence now that you’ve topped the charts?

CHAN HYUK= The reason why becoming no.1 is so good is that that’s how we get to have a strong say about our music to our label. I can do the music I want and if people still like it, things will work out.

SUHYUN = I don’t gain or lose confidence over chart results, but our song becoming no.1 has made me think that I have to work harder for our next album.

-Whenever you release a new album, issue makers such as Seo Taiji and I.O.I release a single or an album on the same day.

CHAN HYUK= It doesn’t matter which day you release an album; you’d feel the same amount of pressure. But it did feel like we’re up against strong players. If they release an album on the same day as us, they look bigger, as if they will just crush us. But then, we’re also their fans. When Seo Taijireleased “Sogyeokdong” last year, I listened to that song a lot.

SUHYUN = We don’t get to choose our comeback date, so there’s nothing we can do about it. In any case, we need to do our best.

– Tell us about your new album “SPRING Vol.1”.

CHAN HYUK = It’s not just about teenagers going through adolescence but also about people who have already been through it, the way they were back then. But, “SPRING Vol.1” deals a lot about people in my age. They are rebellious and disappointed about the world that they have just set foot. But they also try to stay hopeful. This is what I wanted to talk about in this album. In the second album, I’ll focus on adults, who have already been through adolescence, and those who are just about to enter adolescence.

-The title track “RE-BYE” is very different from your past songs.

CHAN HYUK= The title track of our first album “MELTED” was also very different from our previous music style. “RE-BYE” wasn’t even a title track. When we presented our album to Mr. Yang, we chose “HOW PEOPLE MOVE” and another song as the title tracks. But then, Mr. Yang listened to our album and said that “RE-BYE” is really good. It all turned out well in the end. When time goes by, people will accept this as our style too. It just means we’ve taken a new road.

– AKMU is the byword for refreshing music.

CHAN HYUK = I’m very thankful that people think that way. “MELTED” of our first album is a dark song yet it also has an innocent air to it. I try to do diverse genres but I am happy that people like the refreshing nature of our music. I’ll try to maintain that as much as possible.

SUHYUN = I heard that I was chosen as one of the celebrities that are like grapes. It was a big surprise and made me really happy.

-How has AKMU’s music style changed?

CHAN HYUK= We appeared on the music scene with “DON’T CROSS YOUR LEGS” and “YOU’RE ATTRACTIVE” on K-Pop Star. Our songs became huge hits in an instant. I was worried that our image would get stuck, so I tried to come up with a different style of music right away. But the production crew of K-Pop Star thought that me without the guitar was a bad idea. I really wanted to, but I couldn’t. I wanted to shed off that image. But I ended up playing the guitar in our first album. That image stuck with me.

SUHYUN= When our first album came out, people said that our music changed. But now people accept that as our music. It’s the same this time. When time goes by, I think people will accept this as our music too. We’ve done jazz music this time but next time we could also do hiphop, trot or rock music. I want to do all sorts of music.

-Can you tell us something about your next album “SPRING Vol.2”?

SUHYUN = “SPRING Vol.1” was released on May 4, my birthday. Our goal is to release the second one within this year. I think it will come out at the end of this year, but CHAN HYUK wants it to be released on his birthday in September. Our next album will have a lot of ballads and quiet songs.

2016. 5. 11.