With P1Harmony‘s new album Unhappy Music launched on Friday (Sept. 20), the Ok-pop boy band continues to rise in inventive maturity and chart success. Final summer season’s Concord: All In debuted at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 to mark the group’s first look on the albums chart, whereas their first full-length LP Killin’ It, launched in February, peaked at No. 40 entry and secured their first No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart. The Christopher “Tough” Stewart–produced “Fall in Love” earned them a licensed high 40 on the Pop Songs airplay chart and, now, the sextet is taking even larger steps—on stage in addition to behind the scenes.
For Unhappy Music, P1Harmony took a extra hands-on method than ever. “We’ve by no means been this concerned with an album earlier than,” the group’s chief Keeho defined to Billboard throughout an early album preview in Los Angeles. “It’s an enormous stepping stone from the opposite albums.”
Keeho and his band mates Jiung, Theo, Intak, Soul and Jongseob say the late-summer climate of September marked the right likelihood to lastly experiment with Latin music on the title observe single, whereas the EP additionally brings their first sub-unit observe with “WASP,” a standout rap reduce carried out by Intak and Jongseob.
“Now that we’re turning into extra senior, we’re beginning to hear the corporate listening to what we’ve got to say and trusting us much more,” Theo says of working nearer with their company, the influential Ok-pop company and expertise administration agency FNC Leisure. “I’m in a way more snug of a place to actually discuss to our in-house employees about what we wish to do .”
Past the precise music itself, Intak stepped as much as assist develop the stage choreography for “Unhappy Music” (“I actually wished to seize, ‘How can we glance extra emotionally invested?’” he says). On the identical time, Theo’s increasing function right into a musical director of P1Harmony’s reside reveals particularly impressed Jiung to supply the EP’s rock live performance anthem, “Final Name.”
As P1Harmony look to climb greater on the charts, diving deeper into their inventive instincts is producing extra assured and cozy power within the boy band who aren’t afraid to talk up for his or her pursuits with out abandoning what has made them distinctive since Day 1.
Learn on for extra into P1Harmony’s course of of manufacturing their newest EP, Unhappy Music.
Billboard: Inform us about “Unhappy Music” and the way this title observe single matches throughout the album?
Keeho: I’m certain you already know, however P1Harmony likes to experiment with new genres and attempt to combine in several types of vibes. I really feel like we by no means wish to keep in a single place. We’re all the time attempting to maneuver round, but in addition add P1Harmony’s coloration into it, proper? The entire Latin inspiration was one thing that we actually wished to experiment with and I really feel like we actually introduced it out with this title observe [single]. It’s out in September so I really feel prefer it’s proper when it’s nonetheless heat, however beginning to get cooler — I really feel like with the climate’s vibe, it’ll simply go well with the track so effectively.
Particularly with this album, we did loads, loads, of experimenting throughout the the songs within the album as effectively too. We’ve by no means been this hands-on with an album earlier than. It’s a studying curve, so we’re additionally very scared. Now we have one track referred to as “WASP,” which is Intak and Jongseob’s [as a] sub-unit, so the 2 of them are simply rapping. Truly, it’s certainly one of my favourite songs on the album. You’ll hearken to the album and it’ll be a totally completely different vibe. So, it’s like actually cool that they’ve that in there. Additionally, Jiung and I did separate songs for the album. He did “Final Name,” and I did “It’s Alright.” Mine is a bit little bit of a reggae-like guitar vibe, however he’s extra like a band guitar vibe.
On the albums earlier than, we normally solely had one track the place we might be very concerned in its manufacturing, however this time, we’ve had three. So, it’s an enormous stepping stone from the opposite albums; we’re actually excited to see what the followers are going to assume. I’m a bit scared, however we’re actually, actually excited. And that is the primary time the place our mini album has seven tracks. So we’re together with the English model of “Unhappy Music” within the album as effectively, in order that’s three out of seven tracks that we’re very deeply — like complete foot in — concerned.
However P1Harmony has all the time been concerned in music, particularly on the subject of songwriting. What was so completely different this time?
Keeho: Earlier than, I feel it was extra like, “We wish to have a track that’s this vibe” and we sort of simply write to the tracks. However this time, we had been actually within the construction of it, so we talked to producers and had been like, “This can be a vibe we wish, this can be a melody we wish,” and we might really be within the track camps with like different actually nice wonderful writers and producers. We’d sit down with them, bounce off one another’s concepts and actually be part of this song-making course of. Whereas [the past] was sort of like, “That is the vibe; you guys sort of simply write on high of it.” And I really feel like Jiung and Jongseob even have loads to say about it as a result of, whereas I wouldn’t say they had been restricted, I might say that there’s undoubtedly a restrict to what they wished to do creatively. However I really feel like this time they had been allowed to sort of run wild and be capable of actually simply do what they need. That is our first time having a unit track as effectively, generally, too; I imply, creatively, they gave us a whole lot of freedom this time.
Jiung: Truly, I talked loads about our album with Theo. As a result of he does a whole lot of issues for the phases of our concert events and excursions. So, I requested him, “What do we’d like for our live performance? What do we’d like for the following tour?” he stated, “We want a track that may hype folks up — make folks take pleasure in us on stage much more and simply bounce.” I then made the idea of the track [“Last Call”], then I talked with our producer and the highest liner from the very starting of the method. Figuring out that we might use it for a sure event, it was loads simpler for me to create my track and map out what I wished to make sonically. Theo is de facto the one who units up our complete setlist for our excursions and conceptualizes and creates the entire present.
Theo, have you ever all the time been inquisitive about musical route, or is that this a task you naturally stepped into?
Theo: I’ve all the time been inquisitive about musical directing and beloved the concept of musical reveals and concert events. It’s not one thing I did out of the blue, however I’ve been arising with concepts and speaking with the corporate because the starting. And now that we’re turning into extra senior, we’re beginning to hear the corporate listening to what we’ve got to say and trusting us much more in what we wish to do for reveals, so a whole lot of my concepts have come to life. Now, I’m in a way more snug of a place to actually discuss to our in-house employees about what we wish to do for our subsequent tour, the present excursions, and what we’re doing proper now. I feel we’re regularly increasing our horizons.
Keeho: Yeah, they’re actually listening loads now, and Theo is all the time on the forefront of that.
I really like that. Unhappy Music is your seventh mini album. Beforehand, you had three Disharmony EPs, three Concord EPs, Killin It was a full album. Is that this the start of a brand new period or trilogy?
Keeho: I feel our trilogies, like Concord and Disharmony, after which what’s occurring after Killin’ It are very two various things. I had talked to our folks as a result of I’m part of a whole lot of the visualization and conceptualizing of the albums. With the storytelling side of it, I informed our firm that it’d be actually dope to not make trilogies anymore however sort of make it, like, a standalone mission every time. That approach for every album, we will actually usher in one thing new and completely different with out having to really feel like we have to tie every part collectively. It offers us extra freedom to creatively create one thing new only for the album with out having to be like, “Okay, however how is that this going to tie into ‘Killin’ It’?”
Visually, it’s very completely different too. However as you realize, we debuted with a film and the entire story of the six of us being superheroes which might be coming collectively to save lots of the world figuratively, and likewise actually on the identical time with our music, I wished to maintain that idea going. So, even when the songs and the ideas are completely different, I nonetheless wished to deliver [the idea] that we’re nonetheless superheroes. Visually, I feel you’ll be capable of see it within the music video and the ideas. That’s the one factor that we’re conserving constant.
Inform me about creating the choreography and what we should always look out for?
Soul: By the point of KCON in July, we had discovered all of the choreography for Unhappy Music tracks. Problem-wise, “Unhappy Music” shouldn’t be that tough in comparison with our different releases as a result of I really feel like within the refrain, there’s a easy level choreography that anybody can actually simply have a look at and sort of perceive. Intak was very concerned in how the choreography was made this time.
Intak: Yeah, after I listened to the track, I actually wished to seize, “How can we glance extra emotionally invested within the stage?” So, I considered the way it’s referred to as “Unhappy Music,” however there’s additionally a lyric the place it says “mad track,” and we repeat these two lyrics loads. When creating the choreography, I wished to have the ability to painting that on stage as effectively in order that when folks see they will simply perceive the disappointment and the insanity within the choreo. I talked to our efficiency director again in Korea and we actually sort of curated this choreography to hopefully painting that emotion.
Keeho: And if I put my little two cents in, we really get “skeleton” choreographies from, like, 4 completely different dance groups. That’s what’s actually enjoyable about Ok-pop. I don’t know if different folks do it too or if different dancers do it, however we’ll pick choreographers that we actually assume are tremendous cool and good at what they do, and ask them to create a choreography for the track. Then, we’ll have 4 completely different choreographies for a similar track. And Intak and the inventive director would then sit down, have a look at the movies, and kind of combine and match to see which choreo fits us greatest and the way we will make it higher, proper? Intak was tremendous, tremendous concerned in that course of.
I bear in mind when P1Harmony began, you shared the way it was crucial for you to not lose yourselves or really feel such as you’ve offered out. As you go extra international and experiment with completely different genres, how have you ever stayed true to yourselves?
Keeho: Truthfully, I don’t assume it’s that tough anymore. I really feel prefer it’s turn out to be actually easy and straightforward for us as a result of we actually perceive that nobody may be us — and we will’t be anybody else. So long as we’re actually in tune with what we predict is cool, what’s scorching, and what we really feel is sweet, that mechanically turns into P1Harmony.
So, it doesn’t matter what you throw at us — it may be rock, pop, R&B, jazz, Latin — if it goes by us, it nonetheless comes out as P1Harmony. And I really feel like that’s so easy and straightforward now as a result of we’re so assured and so in tune with what we all know our strengths and our weaknesses are; I really feel prefer it’s not one thing we’ve got to consider; no matter we do, there’s all the time that feeling of P1Harmony in there.
Since we’re nearly 4 years into our careers now, I really feel prefer it’s extra of a unconscious factor. A pair years in the past, I might be like, “Okay, how can we make this ours?” or “If that is this experimental, how can we make it with out sounding like another person?” That was all the time one thing behind our heads, however now it’s coming by subconsciously.
