IU Describes Her Most Difficult Time And How She Recovered Through A Major Career Change

IU spoke about her music and career on KBS 2TV’s “Art of Conversation” (literal title).

On October 27, IU appeared as a guest on the talk show and looked back at her 10-year-career from her debut to now.

Speaking about her famous appearance on “Yoo Hee Yeol’s Sketchbook” where Yoo Hee Yeol stared at her, he said, “A rookie singer came on and sang, and the atmosphere was so strong. She controlled the atmosphere. Also, my facial expression looks like that when I focus on something.” IU commented, “My name appeared on the trending search rankings, so it was a very grateful thing for me.”

Thinking back to her debut, IU said, “To put it nicely, I worked really hard and my fighting spirit was great. I thought that I needed to whatever necessary to survive, so I did whatever came my way. I even booked jobs myself. I was a VJ for a game channel for a long time and appeared on 10 radio shows as a regular guest.”

IU’s career took a swift turn after the success of her hit song “Good Day.” “At first, I thought the three-level high notes were impossible. It’s quite high, but the breathing lasts for so long, so I felt a lot of pressure. These days at my concerts, I sing this song as the last song since it’s my biggest hit song. I feel like the three-hour concert will become a failure if I don’t succeed at the three-level pitch.”

She then delved into talking about her bad days. “I hit a big slump when I was 22 years old,” said IU. “In the public’s eye, it’s a year where I appeared to be really successful. It’s when I released ‘A Flower Bookmark’ and when I had good results following the success of ‘Good Day.’ But mentally, it was the worst year.”

She continued, “I still don’t know the exact reason. I had never been nervous after my debut, but I was so scared of the stage. I was scared of TV shows and cameras. My face turned red, and I began sweating after receiving attention, so I couldn’t sing. Even the day before, I wasn’t like that, but it felt as if the experience I had built up until then had disappeared. I thought, ‘Can I do this? How did I do this before?’ I was so nervous that there was I time I took mood stabilizers before performing.”

When asked how she got over this slump, IU went into detail about the big change she made as a musician. “That’s when I decided that I needed to produce [my music],” explained IU. “Even if I lose everything and I turn small, I’d rather live shabbily and comfortably rather than live nervously and gloriously. No matter what I become, I need to produce my own music, and that’s what I did starting then.”

Yoo Hee Yeol commented, “It’s not as easy as it sounds. That year for 22-year-old IU was an extremely successful year. She had a lot of scheduled events at the time, and whether or not you take mood stabilizers, celebrities fulfill all of them. After that, you get booked for a lot of ads, but she didn’t do them. It’s really amazing that she got out of them. She wasn’t ambitious about that.”

IU explained, “Out of all of the things I do as IU, the process of producing is the most fun.” Yoo Hee Yeol added, “There’s a facial expression that comes out when IU is really having fun. She kind of frowns and looks serious, but that’s when she’s having the most fun.”

Agreeing, IU said, “Inwardly, there’s a party going on inside of me. It’s like an amusement park. I make this expression and think, ‘This is so fun.’ I’m having so much fun inside of me that I don’t have the ability to make a facial expression. It’s the most fun, and it’s a party for me.”

Source (1) (2) (3)