#this is my favorite interview now just read this read this
Brand New Music’s idol group, MXM, has released their 2nd mini album, ‘MATCH UP’ on the 10th. It’s 4 months after their first album was released. It’s an album that holds the determination of showing the ‘matching up’ of the two members of MXM, who have been with each other since Mnet’s variety show, ‘Produce 101 Season 2’, and their fans.
On January 4th, MXM’s members, Im Youngmin (22) and Kim Donghyun (19) visited the Wikitree office in Seoul, Joong-gu.
Once the two tall people came in, the inside felt like it was packed. They looked much taller than the heights written on their profiles (Im Youngmin is 181 cm, Kim Donghyun is 180cm), so when I asked whether they grew, Kim Donghyun answered, “I keep saying that I’m 180cm, but I think I probably grew a bit.”
After giving a mannered greeting, Im Youngmin and Kim Donghyun took a seat. When I offered a beverage, both of them chose iced tea among an Americano, vanilla latte, and iced tea. Maybe they were thirsty, but they drank it to the last drop.
Im Youngmin did the interview in a calm manner. While quietly listening to what his dongsaeng, Donghyun, had to say, he would say a few words occasionally when it was necessary. Kim Donghyun, who is called ‘Gibaekie (gi-bbeum (happiness)-100%)’ showed that his nickname was fitting as the smile on his face didn’t go away for the entire interview. His large eyes sparkled whenever he talked about music or fans.
— Even if we do well or not, it’s because of ‘Produce’… That’s why we worked even harder
Q. Your second album came out. Compared to when the first album came out, I would think that your thoughts towards it would be different?
Youngmin: We’re coming back to greet our fans with our second album after four months, which can be seen as quite a short amount of time, but we feel really thankful about this. And it’s because we received so much love during our first album, we were able to come back so quickly with our second album… We have a slightly different determination for our second album. It’s something I always think about, but because of the saying that we’re from ‘Produce 101’, if our first album did well, it would feel like we did well because of the ‘Produce 101’ strength. And if by chance, our second album didn’t do well, then that would also be because of ‘Produce 101’. Because of thoughts like these, we thought of our second album as something really important…. Because we want to hear from a lot of people that ‘Ah, those guys are really good’ as Brand New Music’s MXM, and receive love that way as MXM, we planned to work harder during our second time and have our name be known more.
Donghyun: We wanted to show more various sides musically, on stage, and through performances during our second album compared to our first… We prepared harder in order to receive acknowledgement that we’ve grown a bit more. And even in promotional aspects, there were a lot of areas I felt regrettable about because we only did music broadcasts for our previous album for a short amount of time. This time, I hope to promote more in aspects like those, and hold a lot of things such as events where we can be together with fans more often. We plan to do a lot of promotions in order to ‘match up’ more with fans than our last promotion period.
Q. If you were to compare this album with the previous one?
Youngmin:Our previous album was ‘UNMIX’ and this time it is ‘MATCH UP’. If you look at it one way, the biggest meaning behind the ‘UNMIX’ album was that ‘we won’t mix with other groups and show our own style’. And in ‘MATCH UP’, it’s the process of Donghyun and myself becoming more unified. We’ve always said that, ‘Two people with different tendencies will become one in order to show a larger synergy!’, but we’ve become one this time through ‘MATCH UP’. And additionally, I think the largest difference with our previous album is that we plan to show ourselves being more unified with our fans. If you listen to the tracks or the title song on the album, there are a lot of songs that sound exciting. We’ll be able to enjoy it and have fun enjoying it as we become one with our fans. I think that’s the difference.
Donghyun:Even if you just look at the tracks, the title song from ‘UNMIX’ was a tropical house track and was very refreshing. It was a track from a genre that we quite trendy. However, the title track this time, ‘DIAMOND GIRL’, has bit more of a funky and retro feel, so I think there are a lot of differences with the previous album in even the music genres alone.
Q. Your previous song and its music video was very refreshing. Compared to the previous music video, how would you explain the feel of this music video?
Youngmin:This time we did just a bit of acting. (Donghyun: Just~a bit ㅋㅋ) It’s not a large amount of acting, but to us, it was a large challenge… To be honest, we looked forward to the last music video too after filming, but I think it’s a bit more different this time. Even while we were filming it, we were somewhat looking forward to it (Donghyun: The new feeling of it?) Yeah. The two of us were looking forward to it. And I think the excited feeling that it would come out really well was quite stronger. The color scheme is really pretty too.
Donghyun: More than anything, I think that the props and concept itself was really new. Such as clothes that would make us think, ‘Would we ever have a chance to wear something like this?’. (Youngmin: Something you can’t see from us) You will be able to see sides of us that you wouldn’t normally be able to see, so… when you watch the music, I think that there will probably be a lot of points that will be fun. (Youngmin: Facial expressions?) Facial expressions, ah, don’t look too forward to that. (Laughter) I think it would nice if you watched it carefully.
Q. Speaking of clothes, your hairstyles on the album jacket were very shocking.
Donghyun: It’s shocking, right? Haha. It was shocking.
Q. Youngmin did reggae hair, but it’s your first time, right? Wasn’t it difficult while doing it?
Youngmin: Yes, of course it was my first time (laughter). To be honest, I never really thought that I would do reggae hair in my life. We tried out a completely sophisticated street look for our M jacket picture, but it was fun to try it out… I think it was a really good experience. And Donghyun kept saying that it suited me well. So I enjoyed it. (Q. Do you have thoughts on doing it again?) I don’t (Firm in his thoughts).
Q. Donghyun had silver hair, but how did that hair come to be? Did you bleach your hair a lot?
Donghyun:Yes, (Youngmin: He bleached it a lot) I did, quite a bit. Because I bleached my hair so much, I continued to do the bleaching over and over again and saw my hair color change gradually… But it felt like I was slowly transforming. I felt like I wasn’t myself and it was somewhat fascinating. I had a lot of weird thoughts like these. Afterwards, my overall look changed a lot, so I realized that this is why people suddenly take a large challenge and transform themselves.
Youngmin: But to be honest, Donghyun said that he wanted to completely change. And we were able to show that kind of side this time.
Q. Your fans seemed to be sad because you bleached your hair so much.
Donghyun:That’s right. (Q. How many times did you do it?) Five times.
Q. If you’re able to put in another color, what color do you want to try?
Donghyun:If given the opportunity to do something drastic next time, since I’ve tried silver now… I want to do somewhat of a- (Youngmin: Red color?) I think red or something purple would be nice. I want to try a lot of those unique colors.
Q. Youngmin also did red hair before, but do you have thoughts on doing it together?
Youngmin:I will do a different color now instead of red. (Laughter)
— Our title track in one phrase is ‘sparkling’, ‘a challenge’… I think they’ll like the mature ‘LIPS’
Q. If you were to express your title track, ‘DIAMOND GIRL’, in one phrase, what kind of song is it?
Youngmin:When I hear the song, I imagine something sparkling. Sounds like the brass continue to bounce. And I get a feel that it’s sparkling. So ‘sparkling’.
Donghyun: For me, it would be somewhat like ‘a challenge’? We’re doing something this time that others don’t. I think there’s definitely a challenge we’re taking here.
Q. Is there a killing point or place where it would be good for people to focus on in ‘DIAMOND GIRL’?
Youngmin:We focused a bit more on the choreography this time (Q. Is this the ‘ring dance’?) Oh, yes. Ring dance. We focused on that this time.
Donghyun: The point of it is that we show imagery of a diamond ring.
Youngmin:If you look at the choreography, there are points where we’re dancing with a ring or pulling out a ring… There are a lot of points like these within the song.
Donghyun:When you watch the performance, I think the stage in itself will be fun, so we’re looking forward to it as well.
Q. I heard that you plan to do a lot of music broadcasts this time, but you weren’t able to last time, right?
Donghyun:We performed for around 4-5 times previously.
Youngmin:We felt a bit sad about it too. So because of that, we hope to do things more together with fans…. We need to ‘match up’ like that.
Q. Besides the title track, is there a song you like the most among the tracks, and the reasoning behind it? Please recommend a song.
Youngmin:For me, it would be ‘ERRDAY’. I normally enjoy hip-hop, but I feel like I can introduce ‘ERRDAY’ as a hip-hop track that is fun, bright, and playful. In aspects like those, I think that I like it the most.
Donghyun:I have quite a bit of affection for ‘Perfectly Perfect’. Even while recording it, I remember feeling very excited and having fun. And when practicing, I would feel really excited and happy whenever we sang this song. I want to recommend this song a lot of our fans and it’s a song I have affection for.
Q. Is the last track on the album, LIPS, a sexy song?
Donghyun:Yes, that’s right. Rather than something fresh, I think it’s a song where you can see a more matured and slightly more of an adult(?) side.
Youngmin: I think many people will like the song, ‘LIPS’. Since we’ve always shown a bright side of ourselves, I think those who like something like ‘Cold Donghyun [Naeng-Donghyun] (A nickname for Kim Donghyun when he gives a cold and chic feel)’ or ‘Zero (A nickname for Im Youngmin when he’s cold and chic)’ will like ‘LIPS’ a lot.
Q. Do you look up all of your nicknames?
Youngmin:People post it in the comments. When we post on Twitter or the fancafe, we read the comments to those as well. When I see the comments, there are words like ‘Cold Donghyun’ or ‘Zero’. ㅎㅎㅎ
Q. During ‘Produce 101’, trainees searched themselves up a lot then, but did that habit stay with you?
Youngmin:I did it a lot. So there’s that too, but we try to converse a lot… on our fancafe or Twitter. Through looking at those, we’re able to see a lot of what our fans are thinking. (Donghyun: It’s like monitoring.)
— Goal of 2018: We want to create our own album
Q. I think there’s a lot of stories of dating or love within the last album and this album. Is there another topic you would like to try out?
Donghyun:To be honest, we’re still in our starting stages right now and want to give a brighter energy… Since those tendencies are strong, we want to give that kind of message to our fans, so we’re doing bright songs for now. If given the opportunity later, I want to try out a song related to breaking up or try out songs with a slightly darker or quieter feel. To be honest, there are a lot of things that I want to try out musically. Hyung is like that as well.
Youngmin: For me, I just have so many things that I want to try out. And in order to do that, we write our own songs, but if given the opportunity, I want to release a track about my story? About myself. And if you listen to that song, you would either learn about my growing process or learn about me more. I want to release a song where you could learn more about who I am as a person or who Donghyun is as a person.
Q. Some people probably look forward to hip-hop from just looking at Brand New Music’s style while others probably dislike hip-hop. What kind of standards are you using to base it off of?
Youngmin: Although we came from a hip-hop label, we aren’t hip-hop idols. There are opinions for both sides of those, but… I think it’s fitting to say that we just want to be MXM who are idols that can do various types of music. Just as MXM, a group of idols that have artist tendencies. And in order to sing our own songs and show sides of those, Donghyun is writing more self-composed tracks lately and I’ve also been putting an effort in areas like that to write self-composed tracks. I have one goal that I hope could come true in 2018. To make our own album. My goal is to make an album where we make all the tracks.
Q. There was a self-composed track on your previous album, but there aren’t any on this album.
Youngmin: We were lacking a bit on time since we were preparing for this album while promoting for ‘UNMIX’. But we’re still individually writing songs. We’re working hard in order to participate in the next album or albums afterwards.
Q. MXM is already trying out many genres, but do you have any thoughts in wanting to try out a very drastic genre?
Donghyun: If you listen to ‘DIAMOND GIRL’, I think you may think that it’s a bit drastic? And I think this because the moment you listen to it, it’s very funky and has a slight retro feel. It’s a song that can differentiate us and is a bit different from songs that idols create these days. I think you’ll be able to feel that it’s shocking this time.
Q. The two of you are both good at singing, rapping, dancing, and can even write and compose. Is there an area that you would like to focus most on?
Donghyun:To be honest, I wanted to show a lot of sides of being a singer-songwriter, so I wanted to put a lot of focus on personally writing lyrics or composing songs. But since we’re doing MXM, I want to focus first on the music that MXM does. Wouldn’t it be the right thing to innovate upon that while still keeping my own colors. I have a lot of thoughts like those. (Q. Is there a self-composed track that has recently been updated?) Yes. I’m writing a few more songs. Gradually. Even if it’s not the length of a full track, I try to gradually often write at least a line for each.
Youngmin: I focused mainly on rap and dance… But my role model is Park Jaebum senior. I really have a desire for singing too, so I practiced while putting a bit of my focus on singing. So that’s why I sing here and there a bit this time (ㅋㅋ)…. Although it’s small, I think I grew my capability while singing a bit here and there.
Q. Is there an aspect that you feel you’re lacking in?
Donghyun:Of course, there definitely is. While composing… Since I started out doing a band and listen and sing to a lot of acoustic tracks, my song naturally comes out in an acoustic style. Although I like the acoustic style, I want to write various genres. So I feel that I’m lacking quite a bit in areas such as those. So I’m listening to hip-hop music more often lately too. (Q. Do you have thoughts in writing hip-hop too?) If possible, I want to try writing hip-hop too. I want to write one in a similar style as DPR Live, who are really hot these days…. I want to try a lot of things.
Youngmin:My singing is still lacking in an overall aspect. Because I don’t have basics for singing. But something I thought I had was that I’m able to sing at a high range? But because I only have that, I think I concentrated mainly on trying to set up the base and foundation. Since I’m lacking in the foundation.
Q. Then you guys probably are of help to each other.
Youngmin:I receive a lot of advice on singing from Donghyun. Whenever I sing at fanmeetings, Donghyun always slightly mind-controls me.
Donghyun: That’s why the hip-hop songs I listen to these days are all mostly the songs that Youngmin hyung listens to. He gives me a lot of that kind of influence. To be honest, I didn’t know hip-hop that well, but I get to listen to what’s hot these days and there are ones that Hyung tells me about too. I think we receive good influences from each other.
Q. I feel like there would be a lot of things you gain while promoting as two.
Youngmin: I think it’s a really good aspect. If there were a lot of people, then the views on us would be split more, but since it’s just the two of us, you’re able to focus (easily).
— JBJ’s Kim Donghan – Wanna One’s Park Woojin, added to our ‘fixed pick’
Q. You danced the Alpaca Dance and even showed cute acts such as ‘Noona-yah’. But is there another cute act that you’re in the middle of preparing right now?
Youngmin:Ah, this is, not yet…
Donghyun: Yes, we’re still a bit…
Youngmin:Although we do need to prepare…
Donghyun:I’m always thinking about it though. (Q. As to what kind of cute acts you’ll show?)No, about whether or not there’s something else. Since it might be a bit too much to constantly show fans the same thing. I’m always thinking ‘What could there be~?’. Although I didn’t prepare.
Q. I think the two of you have been stuck on rice noodles lately.
Donghyun:We ate it yesterday and the day before too. (Q. Do you keep going there because there’s a tasty place for it?) It’s not like that, but… But there is a place that’s good near our office. It’s the best. Really, really.
Q. Is there a method on eating rice noodles deliciously?
Youngmin:For rice noodles, the best is the original.
Donghyun:I like eating it in the original way or this may be a bit towards personal tastes, but, you know how some people put in a lot of sauce because they feel that it’s a bit bland? But for chicken rice noodles or the original beef rice noodles, isn’t it better to enjoy it for its original flavor. And not put in too much sauce. But also putting in a lot of bean sprouts…..
Q: During ‘Produce 101’, there was a time where you named your fixed pick and Youngmin chose Wanna One’s Yoon Jisung while Donghyun chose Jung Sewoon. A lot of time has passed since ‘Produce 101’ has ended, but if you were to choose your fixed pick now, who would it be?
Donghyun:Mine would still be Sewoon hyung without a change, but I think I would add onto that. Donghan to that. He’s the same age as me and is a friend I’ve been relying on a lot lately. If either of us are having a hard time, we talk a lot about it, so I add him to my fixed pick. 1st pick, 2nd pick.
Youngmin: I don’t think mine would change. Jisung hyung is a hyung I relied a lot on. But, when I search up videos lately, I feel that Woojin (Wanna One’s Park Woojin) is doing well. Although I’ve personally seen Woojin for a long time, when I watch recent videos, hyung views aside, I personally think he’s cool. That’s why Woojin.
Q: Woojin has recently become an adult, right?
Youngmin:Yes. After dancing with Woojin when he was in his 6th year of elementary school and seeing him suddenly become an adult now, it’s a bit… a bit… somewhat fascinating? And good, I think. (Q. Seems like you contact him often usually?) I wasn’t able to normally, but I’ve been contacting him a bit more lately. (Q. I heard that he called on your birthday too.) That really wasn’t that important ㅋㅋ It wasn’t to congratulate. (Donghyun: It really was just a call ㅋㅋ)
Q. Youngmin’s birthday is Christmas, right? You talked about an episode on ‘V App’ where only one friend came to your birthday party, but are there any other episodes that you’ve experienced because your birthday was on Christmas?
Youngmin:I told this to Donghyun before, but the second reason why it’s bad that my birthday is on Christmas is that… when my relatives or older cousins would gather on Christmas, I would receive a present since it’s my birthday. I received a blue, no wait, a green. I received a green robot, but I was so happy in receiving a toy present that was really big. But they gave the same Christmas present to my older cousin in a red color and to my older brother, they gave it to him in a blue color. I would only be receiving one (gift), but others would be receiving two then. That, to me, was a bit… sad… (Donghyun: It’s definitely something to be sad about at a young age.)
Q. Were you able to find that one friend who came?
Youngmin: I did find him, but it’s been awhile since we contacted… and it’s a bit… for me to contact him. Something I’m slightly counting on is that my friend’s mother is friends with my mother. If I received a contact from my friend, I would contact him. But I can’t really contact right now… and I can’t look for him either, because I think a problem might arise if I used an account on the Internet. I hope we could get in contact though.
Q. I feel like you would hear a lot of compliments. Is there something you’ve heard recently that made you feel the happiest?
Donghyun: For me, I like my bright and cute side as well, but I think I feel really proud when I see comments like ‘You’re the coolest on stage’. As someone who stands on stage, I think I feel the proudest when I see words like those.
Youngmin:Rather than a compliment, I remember something I heard that made me feel really good. But even if I post something short like ‘Did you have a good day today?’, I see in comments something like ‘My day was really tiring and hard, but that all went away with just your post’, and when I see something like that, I think I feel quite good. I think it causes me to post things like that more frequently.
— Received a lot of love thanks to ‘Alpaca’… Plans on making an alpaca farm
Q. I feel like there are many fun fans, but is there a fan you happen to remember?
Youngmin:During our most recent fansigning. On ‘Weekly Idols’, I wore a pink turtleneck on ‘Weekly Idols’, and when I performed with Donghyun, I wore a curly wig, but someone wore that exact outfit (to the fansigning). That fan introduced themselves as ‘I’m Youngmin’s hyung’… But I remember laughing a lot with Donghyun at that time.
Donghyun:There’s a fan who makes a lot of calligraphy and bookmarks and gives them, but that fan was an examinee in her 3rd year of high school. She told me, ‘I’m going to study hard in order to become a fan that Oppa can be proud of. I’ll work harder.’ But after CSATs were finished, she came to the fansigning that the ‘Youngmin’s hyung’ fan came to. So I asked her if she did well on her CSATs, but she said she only got 3 wrong on the entire exam. I remember being impressed and saying that she’s really amazing. But I think she’s the one I remember the most.
Q. Youngmin is famous as Block B’s fan. Block B is having their comeback on the 8th, but do you plan to go and greet them?
Youngmin:Of course (Happiness). Last time, I was really happy when I greeted Park Kyung senior on ‘Problematic Men’. And he also came to our CEO’s marriage with Zico senior. I wasn’t able to greet them then… (Q. Seems like you have deep regrets about that) Yes. I’m happy because I think I’ll be able to greet them this time.
Q. What song do you like the most among Block B’s songs?
Youngmin:I liked all of Block B senior’s songs, but I remember enjoying ‘Toy’ and ‘Her’. (Donghyun: That’s right) And I liked their old song ‘Synchronization 100%’. And ‘Unordinary Girl’…
Q. Youngmin is famous for looking like an alpaca. Then you probably received a lot of presents too, but how many alpaca dolls do you have?
Youngmin: To the point where I can say that I’ve collected all the alpaca dolls… (Donghyun:He has to the point where that’s not an exaggeration) I actually plan to open up an alpaca farm. In my room. I plan to make an alpaca farm. I think that the alpaca is an animal that’s nice to look like. I think you just feel good for no reason. Thanks to that, I think I was able to receive a lot of love. (Q. Seems like you’ll have to be thankful towards Donghyun who told you that you looked like an alpaca) Yes. I’m thankful. (Donghyun: He should always be thankful ㅋㅋ)
Q. There are a lot of things/people that Donghyun looks similar to. GOT7’s Jinyoung, B.A.P’s Daehyun, Weki Meki’s Doyeon, actor Kwak Dongyeon, Longguo&Shihyun’s Kim Shihyun, and Pokemon’s Farfetch’d…. Who do you think you look the most like?
Donghyun: Ah, I’m very cautious about this. But to be honest, for characters, I really do think that I look similar to Farfetch’d. And I’m quite cautious about this, but the senior I think I look the most like is B.A.P’s Daehyun senior and Longguo&Shihyun’s Shihyun. B.A.P seniors were there when we promoted ‘I’M THE ONE’, but… it was fascinating even for me.
Q. It became a hot topic when Youngmin pulled out a cushion compact on ‘Produce 101’ and you even become a makeup company model, but do you know a lot about makeup?
Youngmin:I’m actually more the type that does. Although I don’t wear makeup. But ever since I was younger, I liked styling my hair. Putting on wax and styling it. Also, since my skin isn’t really that great, I think I focused a lot on areas like that.
Donghyun:Contrasting with that, I’m more the type that… doesn’t really know things like that. The makeup that I know are just three things which are BB, wax, and hair spray. Just that. Ah, tint, I know tint too.
Q. Donghyun is famous among fans for being a ‘selca master’. But do you have a method? Like an angle or item that makes selcas come out prettily.
Donghyun:Ah, this title is a bit burdening, but I’m thankful that people look at me prettily. Ha, if I have a slight time, I think it’s good to find a filter that suits you… I think that’s a large factor… Because Youngmin hyung is also really improving too. His selca skills. (Youngmin:The one that Donghyun uses ㅎㅎ) I recommended filters and cameras to him. All I did was recommend that, but he starting taking them well on his own. So I think that choosing a filter that fits you well is key.
Q: You said during the last WIKITREE interview that you were preparing abs. Are you ready?
Donghyun: A bit more than before? Because lately, I’ve been… losing quite a bit of weight. And I gain muscle easily. But if I stop for a bit, then I lose it quickly too.
— Last words
Q. To finish up, if you were to give each other words of blessing in ‘five characters’ to fit with the new year?
Donghyun: For me, although MXM doing well is a ‘new year’s wish’, health comes first, so. “Be healthy, Hyung”. Exactly five characters.
Youngmin:Since my motto for 2018 is to enjoy it. I want to tell Donghyun, “Let’s enjoy it, fighting”.
Q. Please say a word towards the fans.
Donghyun: Is this five characters too?
Youngmin:I can’t fit it all then… ㅎㅎ
Donghyun:I think we’ll be starting promotions for our second mini album, ‘MATCH UP’, together with our fans as we start the new year, but we have a lot of things prepared and we have a lot of things to show, so please anticipate it a lot. And whether you’re a fan who lives overseas or lives in Korea, I really want to say that I hope that everyone could all be healthy.
Youngmin: For ‘MATCH UP’, we prepared a lot of things where we could become one with our fans. And if you carefully listen to our album, you’ll know that we created a lot of stages that you can have fun enjoying, so let’s start out 2018 in an exciting and enjoyable manner, and I hope it could be a happy year.
original post: wikitree
translation credits: @woojinprk
