#e match up
Q. You came back after around 4 months with your 2nd mini album, ‘MATCH UP’. It’s a speedy comeback.
Youngmin:“Even if we want to release an album quickly, it’s not up to us. I think we were able to come back quickly because our fans gave love to our first album. (Our speedy comeback) was thanks to the love of our fans.”
Q. When I saw the jacket picture for ‘MATCH UP’, I realized both of you transformed drastically. Donghyun’s silver hair especially stood out to me.
Donghyun: “The company suggested silver hair to me. It was quite a new and drastic try, but fans unexpectedly liked it, so I feel proud and thankful. My hair became really damaged then, so my hair is currently dyed back to a dark color.”
Q. Compared to the last album, this 2nd mini album doesn’t have a lot of the members’ self-composed tracks. Only Im Youngmin participated in the lyrics for ‘DIAMOND GIRL’. Is there a special reasoning behind this?
Youngmin:“We actually prepared for our ‘MATCH UP’ album while promoting for ‘UNMIX’. Because we were focused on promotions then, we weren’t able to participate in working on our album. We wanted to place our self-composed tracks on the second album as well, but since it had to move quickly, we couldn’t help it. It’s something we feel regrettable about.”
Q. What’s the reason you chose ‘DIAMOND GIRL’ as your title song? Are there areas where you changed musically?
Youngmin: “We didn’t have ‘DIAMOND GIRL’ set as our title song from the start. While deciding what song would be good as a title track, we all discussed it and made that decision together. ‘DIAMOND GIRL’ is a song where we tried out a lot of different things than before. Along with it giving off a funky feel, it also has a retro feel. It’s a fun song.”
Donghyun:“We are sturdier this time musically. Since we prepared it so that even the other album tracks can give off different charms, you should look forward to it. If you felt a ‘freshness’ during our debut album, you should be able to feel a ‘sophisticated’ feel this time. If we emphasized our freshness during our debut as rookies, we plan to appeal with our sophisticated and relaxed sides during ‘MATCH UP’.”
Q. Once you comeback on the 10th, you will be participating in what is being called the ‘January Song Competition’. Aren’t you worried about competing with large-scale singers?
Youngmin: “Rather than be worried, we are anticipating it. I’m really happy that I can personally see the stages of our seniors. I feel especially happy that I will be able to see the stage of Block B seniors, whom I like the most, from the side. Isn’t it already success enough to firmly show MXM’s own charms among these famous and popular seniors? We want to show a charm that’s even more playful and energetic than before.”
Q. I’m curious about what rank you have set as your goal for the music charts.
Donghyun: “Since confidence is important, I want to set my goal high. I think I would be really thankful if we could rank within 15th place and continue that rank.”
Q. What is the goal you wish to achieve through ‘MATCH UP’ promotions?
Youngmin:“Something I felt while promotion for our last album is that since we’re a duo, there’s a limit to what we can show performance-wise. Even our dance formation was either left to right or back to front. (Laughter) We made up for our performance area during this album. In ‘DIAMOND GIRL’, there’s a ‘ring dance’ where we give off the image of a diamond ring. I want to show a cool performance.”
Donghyun:“During ‘UNMIX’, we were only allowed to promote on music broadcasts for around 2 weeks. This time, I hope that we can promote for a longer period on music broadcasts and create more opportunities to meet with fans.”
Q. You guys opened your first fanmeeting in October of last year and met with fans. It probably felt even more different since they were fans who came to only see MXM.
Youngmin: “We entered while wearing suits, but the lights shined on us like stars and the cheers of many people pierced through my in-ear. I really can’t express how I felt at that moment in words. It was electrifying. I could feel that I’m receiving love from this many people, so I felt overwhelmed and thankful.”
Donghyun:“Surpassing chills, it really felt electrifying. It was really a new experience. Near the end, I felt myself tear up.”
Q. Isn’t MXM a duo? Then are there times where you argue?
Donghyun: “Although we don’t not have times where we fought, we make up with each other right away. We really resolve it right away. (Laughter) Since it’s just the two of us, it’s good that we can focus on each other and communicate with each other right away.”
Youngmin:“Since our personalities are opposite, we try to match with each other. Although I’m quiet, if there’s something I want to say, I’m the type to say it right away. Donghyun normally has a bright personality. We match along with each other.”
Q. What kind of songs do you want to show as MXM?
Youngmin:“Although there may be people who think MXM are ‘hip-hop idols’ since we’re under a hip-hop label, we want to do a variety of music. Donghyun will also continue to pursue his acoustic music.”
Donghyun:“Our CEO always encourages us by saying, ‘Since you guys are in a hip-hop company, it’s a definite that you guys like hip-hop and become used to hip-hop. However, never throw away the music that you’ve normally done and I hope that you could continue creating upon it.’. If given the opportunity, I think I should be able to show acoustic music through either our next album or at some place like a fanmeeting. I also learned rap for a bit. During our first fanmeeting, I also did the rap part for ‘Boys And Girls’. (Laughter)”
Youngmin:“I am also working hard in learning vocals. You can hear a short piece of it in our album this time. Although it’s still lacking, I’m working to gradually increase my abilities.”
Q. Does MXM not have any personal promotion plans?
Donghyun:“Although I do have a desire for it, it hasn’t been long since we’ve shown MXM to the public, so I think I still want to show a lot of MXM’s music for now. There aren’t really any personal promotion plans.”
Q. Is there something you want to really do while doing MXM?
Youngmin:“I really want to go to an awards ceremony. It’s okay even if we don’t receive an award. (Laughter) When I saw my ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ friends go to awards, I felt jealous too. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try doing while dreaming of becoming a singer.
Q. You made shining results in just one year from trainees on ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ to becoming singers. It must feel astonishing.
Donghyun:“There really were a lot of events. I think the year passed by in the blink of an eye. 2017 was a really meaningful year to me. It’s when I became an adult, did my first broadcast, and debuted. I also held my first fanmeeting and appeared on a music broadcast. I think it will stay in my memory for a long time.”
Youngmin:“This year will mark the 10th year since I’ve dreamed of becoming a singer. Last year was the time I looked forward to while dreaming of becoming a singer. It still feels like a dream. That’s why ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ will always stay in my memory and makes me emotional. Even when I just hear ‘나야 나 (Pick Me)’, I can remember the atmosphere then and the emotions felt. Even when I meet with my friends now, we talk a lot about ‘Produce 101 Season 2’.”
Q. Haven’t those from ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ successfully settled in the music industry? I feel like you would feel proud.
Youngmin:“Although we competed through ‘Produce 101 Season 2’, we all held the same dream. After Wanna One debuted, the others went back to their own places and prepared to debut, but it felt meaningful that we all met quickly again and I felt proud. It’s something that’s fascinating and that I am thankful for.”
Donghyun:“I still contact the JBJ hyungs often. They’re having their comeback a week later this time as well. Donghan joked around by saying ‘Are we meeting again? I’m tired’. (Laughter) I’m also happy that we may be able to see (Lee) Woojin and Rainz hyungs soon.”
Q. Do you still continue to stay in constant contact with Wanna One’s Lee Daehwi and Park Woojin?
Donghyun: “At first, it was difficult to stay in contact, but we’re doing it often lately. Of course, they’re still busy as always, but since they’re kind, they contacted us on New Year’s as well. I received a call on my birthday too, but they didn’t congratulate my birthday and just hung up. (Laughter)”
Youngmin: “We do call each other, but I think they’re shy. The four of us don’t really say embarrassing things to each other.”
Q. You guys are the first idols from the hip-hop label, Brand New Music. Do the senior singers from your company give you a lot of advice? And is there an artist you would like to work together with?
Donghyun: “Our seniors comfort us a lot. They give us musical advice as well as warm words of encouragement by saying ‘We’re watching you well’. We’re also always thankful because the music PDs say that we should work together. Although I would like to work on music with everyone, I especially would like to do a collaboration with Hanhae hyung. Since I liked Hanhae hyung prior to joining Brand New Music, I wanted to stand on stage and work on music together with him.”
Q. You guys participated in last year’s Brand New Music concert. Isn’t it the first time as artists and not trainees?
Youngmin:“The largest event that Brand New Music hosts is the Brand New Year concert that they do at the end of the year. We stood as back-up dancers for Kanto senior in 2016, but we were able to proudly stand on stage as MXM this time. We also did collaboration stages with our seniors, so it was a meaningful time.”
Q. Please tell us your promotion determinations for this year.
Youngmin:“I’m happy that we could be together with our fans for the new year of 2018. As much as I am happy, I will give back to the love. Because my personal goal this year is to enjoy it, I hope that there could be a lot of moments to enjoy with our fans while doing this set of promotions.”
Donghyun:“The reason we were able to come back quickly with our second album was because we wanted to quickly stand in front of our fans and show a lot of sides. I want to show a varied side of myself than our promotion and showed where we’ve improved in our skills. And more than anything, I hope that we could have more places to be together with our fans than before. And more than anything, I hope that everyone could be healthy.”
original post: news1 (1/2/3)
translation credits:@woojinprk
The rookie group, MXM, commented, “We feel proud now that we get royalty.” This was said at a recent interview with 10Asia at Brand New Music’s company.
Kim Donghyun, who showed his potential as a singer-songwriter through placing his self-composed song, ‘I JUST DO’, on their debut album, expressed his hopes by saying, “I feel a happiness from having other people hear a song that I’ve made. I hope that there can be a lot of opportunities to show my own musical color in 2018 as well. I want to show many music genres.” He added on, “I turned 21 this year. I spent last year busily at the age of 20, so I hope to become more mature this year.”
Im Youngmin, who turned 24, brought out laughter as he showed a proud smile and answered, “I received allowance from my parents up until last year. Now, I receive royalty and personally pay for taxes. It feels different. It feels like I’m building up the strength to live on my own.” He showed a reliable side by saying,“Now that I’m starting a career, I have more responsibility towards my actions and I feel like I am becoming an adult.”
MXM’s Im Youngmin revealed that he contacts Wanna One’s Park Woojin often. Im Youngmin and Park Woojin are colleagues under the same company, Brand New Music. With Kim Donghyun and Lee Daehwi, the two of them participated on Mnet ‘Produce 101 Season’ and gained popularity. Through that, Park Woojin and Lee Daehwi went onto debut as the project group, Wanna One, while Im Youngmin and Kim Donghyun debuted through Brand New Music’s unit group, MXM. Although they are promoting under different groups, they still hold close relationships with each other.
Im Youngmin commented, “The calls with Woojin usually consist of almost meaningless topics.” He added, “I had a missed call from last Christmas, so I called him back, but he suddenly said, ‘What’. I told him ‘You called me first’, but he said ‘I don’t know why I called’. That day was actually my birthday, so I think he called to congratulate me.”
He continued by saying, “We didn’t have the time to contact each other at the beginning of our debuts, because we were busy. However, since we have more time now, we contact each other more often. We didn’t have the opportunity to meet last time because our promotions didn’t overlap with Wanna One. I want to see them more often while doing future promotions.”
Along with Wanna One, MXM didn’t hold back on showing their affection towards their ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ colleagues. Kim Donghyun brought out laughter by saying, “I saw JBJ’s Kim Donghan often during our last promotions. We joked saying that ‘We’re tired of seeing each other, because we see each other so often’, but I was happy to be able to promote together with a friend.” He showed his thanks by saying, “Since I’m from Daejeon, I don’t really have friends in Seoul to talk about my problems with. Even if I had things I was upset with or worries, I had to keep it in, but I talk about it with Donghan a lot lately now.”
Continuing on from last year, there are many comebacks of ‘Produce 101 Season 2’ singers in the first month of the new year. Along with MXM, who are revealing their 2nd mini album <MATCH UP>, there will be or have been the comebacks of N.Flying, JBJ, Rainz, The East Light, and Jung Sewoon. Kim Donghyun showed his anticipation in promoting with his colleagues by saying, “We all spent time like family when filming for ‘Produce 101 Season 2’. Even if we see each other after a long time, it feels comfortable as if I’m meeting my hometown friends.”
original post: 10asia
translation credits:@woojinprk
