Interview: UP10TION Talks Swapping Bodies, Bieber-sunbaenim, and Closest Friends

Apr 02, 2016

With UP10TION making their comeback later this month, we wanted to sit down with them and talk about their super successful debut and recent promotions with “Catch Me!”. We also, in our usual Soompi fashion, had some fun with the questions and the members showed off their strong variety skills.

For example, did you know that member Kuhn is obsessed with shopping? Or that Bitto is the members’ dance teacher during their practices? Check out the full interview for all of their hilarity. As a bonus, we also received some signed polaroids (taken by the members themselves!) from the group to give you you all! See the end of the article for all of the giveaway details.

Here are some additional questions from the interview:

Can you give us any hints about your next comeback?

Kogyeol: We are preparing a comeback that is really different from “Catch Me!” and “So Dangerous,” one that is more “10tion up.” The performances will make you feel good and energized while you can also follow along and join in so please look forward to it!

Sunyoul recently released a song with Yuju from GFRIEND. Are there any other artists that you’d like to collaborate with next?

Sunyoul: First of all, be quiet Hwanhee, next time, I want to do another song with Yuju-sunbaenim. Also, perhaps if there is another opportunity, with MAMAMOO’s Hwasa-sunbaenim. She’s really amazing at singing. I saw her at a music show and when she sang “come on hey mommy,” my heart dropped. She’s just so good at singing and her voice is amazing too! She’s really charming. I want to try with MAMAMOO-sunbaenims. And Yuju-sunbaenim jjang!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from a sunbae?

Xiao: Our boss always says this: manners are the most important. Greetings and our attitude towards our sunbaes, those are the most important.
Hwanhee: The sunbaenims from our agency always say “you’ll do well, work hard!” And that our hard work won’t go to waste so we are always really touched.
Sunyoul: Is that really advice?
Hwanhee: “We’ll do well!” Yeah!
Kuhn: C.A.P.-sunbaenim, from TEEN TOP. I was in the practice room rapping and he came in and taught me how to write lyrics. He taught me about word pairs and how to rhyme the ends of lines using word pairs. He was really cool!
Kogyeol: Not too long ago, I had a ssireum match (Korean wrestling) and I lost. Was it after the first time I lost or the second, but Kangin-sunbaenim told me “if you’re going to lose, at least do it in a funny way.” So I realized that next time I do variety, if I lose I have to be more funny. Next time, I will definitely lose in an amusing way!
Kuhn: Please win if you can…
Kogyeol: If I can win, I’ll win!

City you want to visit that you haven’t yet?

Sunyoul: I heard that Japan has a lot of drug stores…I heard there’s a lot of them in Tokyo so I want to go there.
Gyujin: Truck store?
Sunyoul: Drug store!
Wei: What’s that?
Sunyoul: It’s a place that sells a lot of things! Like, Don Quixote – can I say that? I want to go there and shop to my heart’s content.
Xiao: Later on, once we get more famous, I want to go to LA and hold a big performance.
Sunyoul: What about New York? We have to go there!
Xiao: Is it New York? I want to have a big performance!
Jinhoo: Our Japanese fans always tell us that the ocean in Okinawa is really beautiful so I want to visit it. I haven’t taken – oh I did ride a plane once, we went to China.
Kuhn: Twice
Jinhoo: Oh yeah. Well I haven’t been to Japan yet so I want to go to Okinawa!
Wooshin: Of course I want to visit China or Japan since our fans always recommend it, but I also want to go to Europe and just relax. Wake up, eat brunch…
Hwanhee: Since we’re still rookies, we haven’t visited many countries. I want to visit all the countries with our fans!
Kuhn: For me, the country of freedom: America! I want to go to New York and feel that freedom. I also want to go to Paris and go up the Eiffel Tower.
Bitto: Climb it!?
Wei: I feel like he’d climb it like this! [vigorously mimics climbing]
Kuhn: I want to go up it… it’s just my hope.
Kogyeol: Not too long ago we had a schedule at Sinsa Station – it was actually my first time there. I want to go to Garosu-gil and go shopping and try the food.
Hwanhee: I want to go too.
Wei: Let’s go together.
Bitto: My dad goes between Indonesia and Korea for work, he told me that Indonesia is really great! Everything is affordable, luxurious, and it’s really like heaven so I want to go with him at least once.
Gyujin: When I was younger, I traveled a lot with my family. Japan, China, I went to many different places. But one of the regions we didn’t visit was Europe. Italy, Paris, I really want to travel to that area.
Wei: As I said earlier, traveling the world is on my bucket list so I want to visit a lot of places. But if I have to chose somewhere, my aunt got married abroad and I didn’t get to go to her wedding, so I want to go to Paris. I also want to go to California!