On August 13, KARD dropped their seventh mini album “Where To Now? (Part.1 : Yellow Light)” along with the music video for the title track “Tell My Momma.”
The title track is a song with a bright yet chill tone, an easy-to-listen to and addictive chorus plus witty relatable lyrics such as “there’s no going back when I tell my momma about you.”
The mini album includes 7 tracks, 2 of which are instrumental versions of the title and the third track, “Boombox.”
GLOW: You just released your new mini-album “Where To Now (Part 1: Yellow Light)” with the title track “Tell My Momma.” It's a song and project that shows a sensual and dynamic side of you all. Please tell me a bit about the process of putting this whole project together?
BM: Yeah! It’s our seventh album, lucky number 7. It’s also our seventh year so it holds a lot of significance for us. Our title song “Tell My Momma,” is a very easy-listening, pop song and talks about how you’re just so in love that you need to tell your mom. And you need to show off, let her know you have your new boo. It’s a very cute type of song! We also have four B-Side tracks that are also very diverse, a couple of sounds that you haven’t heard from us, a couple that you have. And this album represents a turning point of direction, which is why we named it Part 1: Yellow Light. It signifies slowing down, you know, when you make a turn--before changes directions--you always slow down. So that’s where we’re at in this point and time of our careers right now. And part 2 will show you which direction we have decided to take afterwards.
GLOW: The album is filled with bangers. What song do each of you claim as your favorite?
BM: Waste My Time!
SOMIN: Spin
J.SEPH: Uhhhh *laughs* Spin!
JIWOO: Spin
GLOW: Oh wow! You’re the only one with a different preference, BM! What made you choose that song?
BM: Waste My Time just hits a different part of my soul. Like, there’s a line that Somin sings, the lyrics are, “baby I’m selfish but I don’t want to go back to real life.” That line just hits a side of me where I just, like, remember so many hard times as a trainee and as an artist. Imagining how worse it could’ve been as well, so grateful and nostalgic at the same time. My mom likes that song too so!
GLOW: You all are rocking blonde hair this time around. Who’s idea was it to have matching blonde hair?
BM: I think the label wanted to have a sense of cohesiveness between the members. Because there’s alway one or two members that had outrageous hair. Like, I had green the last time, she [Jiwoo] had red hair, I’ve had pink hair before, J.Speh has had blue hair. But this time, we wanted to be a little more cohesive. It was the label’s idea to do that but we agreed with it too. The label gave out a lot of Ideas this time and we were very open-minded which ultimately led us to a nice looking visual.
GLOW: You all are always pushing the envelope of K-pop within your music and concepts, are there any concepts you’d like to try in the future that you haven’t already?
JIWOO: I want to do a noir concept! I always wanted to do it for a long time.
BM: I want to do a concept where we pretty much just shoot a movie with very active acting. I want to be the hero *laughs* in the movie! But not like supernatural, very realistic--it’s happening in someone else's reality type-thing. Very criminal based too, I want to fight with drug dealers and what-not and get in shootouts, and get stabbed, and save the girl, and become the hero, and live happily ever after!
J.SEPH: I like fencing these days because of the olympics. I want to do a music video, all four of us in a fencing outfit! That’ll be cool because fencing is classy and classic at the same time and I really want to try that concept.
SOMIN: I want to have a concept where we reenact the job that we would've done if we weren’t artists, as a concept.
BM: That’s really interesting. She [Somin] wants to be a ballerina, J.Speth a lawyer, Jiwoo a clarinet player?
JIWOO: Huh??? Never!
BM: Oh yeah, you hated that huh!
JIWOO: Fashion designer or police force
BM: I’m a counselor I feel like mine is the most boring *laughs*
GLOW: I think it would be super cool to combine those ideas into one big video!
GLOW: You have been an active group for about 7+ years now. What is your favorite thing about being KARD? And what have you all learned from and about one another?
SOMIN: The best part of being KARD is being able to perform all the songs the KARD has been able to release. Because that’s something only KARD can do! Also, the album that we just released and our previous releases, the fans love the songs--and KARD has a taste uniqueness in their songs and we have the reputation of expanding and exploring different genres at the same time so that’s something I like the most about being KARD.
J.SEPH: Personally, about me--other artists love KARD, that’s why!
ALL: *laughs*
JIWOO: Artists of artists!
J.SEPH: Artists of artists!
BM: So in Korea, we hear a lot of “artists of artists, celebrity of celebrities.” It’s a bit much for us but he [J.Seph] likes the fact that he’s a part of a group that gets called that. For me, I think my favorite thing about being in KARD right now is learning how differently girls and boys are hardwired, emotionally and mentally. I learned a lot of what not to do and what not to say and get punished for a lot too…you guys [Somin and Jiwoo] don’t understand what I said, huh? Good, good *laughs*
JIWOO: So when I was about to first come into the company, they said it was going to be a co-ed group. At the time I had to think a lot because it wasn’t normal here in Korea to be in a co-ed group. I was a bit afraid because it was such a new concept, and I thought a lot about it but the fact that I decided to join is because I felt like I could pursue my career as an artist and do the music I want to do with this team and these people. And that was one of the biggest reasons that I decided to be part of this team and also, I soon received a lot of love from the fans so that’s another reason why I love being KARD.
GLOW: You all are preparing for your upcoming North American tour. And I believe your first stop is Washington DC on Oct. 4th. Are you excited? What are you looking forward to this time around?
BM: We have 5 new songs which means 5 new stages. Some of them are very sexy which is why we’ve made the show 18 and up. They’re not for the kids so all my grown folk, pull up, we’re gonna have a very very good time!
GLOW: Which song are you most excited to perform on tour? Are the songs you picked as your favorite earlier the songs that you really want to perform?
BM: I think I agree with the members when it comes to songs that I’m excited to perform. I’m excited for Spin.
JIWOO: Yeah, Spin!
BM: Spin is nastyyyy!
GLOW: Hidden Kards have a question for you all; they are asking for an official color, what should that color be?
BM: Unofficially it’s black and gold but we should just make it official.
JIWOO: But we don’t have any lightsick
BM: Ahhh we don’t have a lightstick yet! Wow!
JIWOO: Chop chop!
J.SEPH: Oh Na Na’s signature color was black and gold so it naturally developed as our unofficial color.
GLOW: Makes sense! BM, your hat right now is black and gold so *laughs*
BM: Yessirrrr!
GLOW: That was my final question for you guys! Y'all are very lovely, thank you for sitting and doing this with me! I’ve been listening to you since Oh Na Na so it’s great getting to interview you like this. Thank you!
Black and Gold it is! 🫡
ReplyDeleteLol, this interview just shows that BM doesn’t know Jiwoo as well as he thinks. She hated playing the clarinet and yet he thinks she would have chosen that as her profession. Also, Jiwoo sang that line in “Waste My Time” as well 🙄. Another example of why I’m slowly turning away of being a hidden.
ReplyDelete