Catch Up with B.A.P During MTV Sessions Media Interview

On the afternoon of September 11, just hours before the MTV Sessions with B.A.P, the members met with several media outlets taking time to answer questions. As the media has been requested to field only questions relating to their songs and performance, the questions submitted by Soompiers through Twitter hash tag #BAP_Soompi may have been rephrased to meet the requirement.

Let’s find out if your question has been answered through the round-robin style interview and other updates on the boys!

XinMSN: You guys are known as Best Absolute Perfect. Can you share with us your “not so Best” Absolute Perfect moment? Is there any embarrassing moment on stage? (Interpreter misheard the question as “Best Moment”.)

Him Chan: Our best moment is when we debuted as new artists. That was the Best Absolute Perfect moment for us on stage.
Dae Hyun: We debuted with this strong and powerful image but when we started to do some kind of different stuff like the song “Don’t Do That” and “Crash”, these are kinda mellow dance kind of song. So when we did that we feel a little bit embarrassed doing that because it’s different from what we’re from.

The New Paper: Where did Jong Up get the inspiration to write his song?

Jong Up: The thing is, Yong Guk is the one who is actually writing the songs apart from me. I am still at the learning stage at the moment so I cannot actually have those kind of inspirational moments yet.

Today: This is your third time in Singapore in a year. How do you feel about coming back to Singapore?

Young Jae: Singapore is the country we performed in for the first time while overseas after our debut. The reaction from the fans in Singapore has been really great and that made us come back to Singapore.

Youth.sg: What are some of the challenges you faced as a young group?

Young Jae: In term of the music shows after we debuted, our schedules were really tight. Like doing live performances today, we have to do it over and over again the following days so that was quite hard for us to adapt to.

GoKPop: Recently you have a promotion in Japan. What’s the difference between promoting in Japan and outside of Korea? How are the fans like in Japan?

Him Chan: When we first performed in Japan, the fans in Japan were different from the fans in Korea because the Korean fans are very enthusiastic and passionate when they see our performances. Quite differently, Japanese fans are quite moderate and they were listening to us actually not reacting. But nowadays the Japanese fans become more active, so we like this kind of changes of the culture. Japanese fans have the Matokki, so everytime we perform, the fans will wave the Matokki, and we like it!

Kavenyou: You have toured so many countries. Any memorable experience or unforgettable stage that you still remember?

Dae Hyun: Every single stage that we performed overseas have been a memorable moment, especially when we were doing our tour in Europe for the first time this year. At this moment, the Europe tour has been the most memorable moment for us because we have experienced something that we have never experienced before.

Korean Indo: When will you have a comeback stage in Korea and when will you visit Indonesia?

Young Jae: We have no plan for our comeback in Korea at this moment. As for Indonesia, we always want to go to Indonesia because through SNS, our fans are so active and we look forward to going to Indonesia as soon as possible.

Korean Updates: It will be end of the year soon. What is your goal for next year?

Young Jae: We will be very happy if we can release an album for our fans or perform for our fans.

KPopStarz: It has been more than two years since your debut. So what does B.A.P mean to you guys now?

Young Jae: After being together for two years now B.A.P is more like a family rather than just members or friends. So as time goes by, we are going to be more comfy, bond more strongly and expect all of us to be a real family.

Officially KMusic: What are some of the variety shows that you guys are eager to be on?

Him Chan: Rather than saying a variety show, we actually want to do a musical.

Soompi: Describe the current status of B.A.P in one word or phrase and the reason. (@daemchyoo)

Him Chan: B.A.P is the best.  Because we believe that we are the best and are number one.

Yahoo: What would you say to the fans who are not able to attend the MTV Sessions today?

Young Jae: I love you!
Jong Up: Today’s program will be broadcast so many more fans can watch us from TV.

MeRadio.sg: Can you share with us what you like and dislike about the members?

Jong Up: I like Him Chan, he is very friendly and what I dislike him about him.. I can’t think of any because there are too many.

Teenage: Things have gotten really busy since your debut. Is there anything you miss about your normal private lives?

Dae Hyun: There are many things that we want to do, but we can’t enjoy easily. I cannot go shopping by myself whenever I want. These kind of small minor things in our lives are the things that we miss the most.

XinMSN: Are there any plans to release the second season of “B.A.P Attack”?

Dae Hyun: We are always ready to film for Season 2 if our company actually approves it.

The New Paper: You guys are staying together in the dorm. Please tell us one habit of each other.

Jong Up: We sleep next to each other in the house and when Him Chan is sleeping, he moves a lot. Sometimes he will cross the line and sleep on my side.
Him Chan: Likewise. Sometimes we’re at the other side because we move too much while we’re sleeping.

Today: Every time we see you, you have a different hair color. Is it painful for you guys to go through the process?

Dae Hyun: Every time we change our hairstyles, it’s really hard to maintain. Whenever we go out we have to do something to our hair to make them look nice so that was kind of a bother before. Now, we’re trying to cut our hair short so that we can maintain it easily. There’s nothing that is painful or anything.

Youth.sg: What is the most heartfelt song that Yong Guk has ever produced?

Yong Guk: There are many heartfelt songs produced by me, I think songs with a little bit of political theme are the most heartfelt songs.

GoKPop: Is there any difference between B.A.P on stage and off stage?

Him Chan: What’s most different between off stage and on stage is that when we are on stage we have our image which is strong and powerful, but when we go off from stage we are just normal, active, and energetic. We have different looks: professional and cool image on stage and being normal and ordinary off stage.

Kavenyou: You have tried a lot of different genres before. In the next album, are there any genre you guys would like to try or challenge?

Dae Hyun: Yes. We would like to try a song like “Excuse Me,”  our latest Japanese single, which has a trendy vibe.

Korean Indo: Among all the K-pop idol groups, which group do you consider as your rival?

Dae Hyun: We don’t think of any specific Korean group as our rival because we can be combined. We treat all the K-Pop idols as our role models, at the same time as rivals. We have a lot of things to learn from them and compete against them.

Korean Updates : What have you learned in these two years since your debut?

Dae Hyun: As we’re working in the music industry, we were able to meet a lot of people from different industries. So from that experience, I think we have learned a lot of different things to live our lives more maturely in different ways.

KPopStarz: What inspires Him Chan to come out with cute and interesting social media accounts usernames?

Him Chan: Berry Berry Strawberry? I live with my elder sister when I was young. My sister’s name is Ye Ji so we make these king of jokes. Her username was YeJiYeJi and my name is Him Chan so… HimChanChan, HimChanHimChan, StrongChanchan. It’s also easy to memorize.

Officially K Music: What’s the best piece of advice you have received since debut?

Him Chan: Somebody told me to keep the relationship between each member for a long time.

Soompi: What was the last song you listened to before stepping into this room? (@IrIda_space)

Him Chan: Lost Star
Jong Up: Change Your Mind
Young Jae: Swimming Pool
Zelo: Last Kiss (instrumental version)

Yahoo: The K-Pop industry recently lost two artists. How does B.A.P feel about this and has your management do anything to tighten the safety of the band when you are travel?

Him Chan: It was really heartbreaking and we all prayed for them. We really hope this kind of accident will not happen again.

MeRadio.sg : Which member is the most different from their on-stage persona?

Dae Hyun: I think Jong Up has the most different persona because Jong Up is really manly on stage but actually in real life he is just a cute and shy brother.

Teenage: What is the one thing that you wish to be complimented on?

Him Chan: I want hear “I love you” from Jong Up.

Question: What do you think about the lip sync ban on music core?

Dae Hyun: There must be some reason behind it if some of the bands are doing lip sync. Despite that, as a vocal group, we would like to keep doing it live because that is the most efficient way to express what’s on our mind. That’s why B.A.P is always doing live instead of lip sync.

The New Paper: What does Yong Guk think about Jong Up’s songwriting skills?

Yong Guk: I have never listened to Jong Up’s songwriting because I don’t think Jong Up is really doing songwriting, yet. So I would like each member of the band to do songwriting some day so that we can give compliments to each other.
Young Jae: Jong Up wrote only eight bars of beats and he keeps listening to it. So it’s kind of irritating.

With Young Jae’s joke, the interview came to an end. We hope you have enjoyed the full list of questions and answers.

Special thanks to MTV Asia for inviting Soompi to the interview.

Feature image credit: MTV Asia/Aloysius Lim

See also: B.A.P Left Fans Hyperventilating at First Performance for MTV Sessions