Interviewer: You’re currently promoting as a soloist. What is your mindset like?
Yuju: It’s a lot of fun because the range of things I can express has expanded. Of course it also means that I have more choices so I always have to think about them. I always think about my shortcomings, but I don't think I'm doing too bad simply because I have fans who love me.
Interviewer: Looking at the solo albums you’ve released so far, the styles are diverse. Is that the way you are?
Yuju: I like various things. While listening to music, it doesn’t matter what the genre is as long as the message is good. Even if it’s an area you’re not normally interested in, it just needs to touch your heart.So what kind of music do you mostly listen to these days?These days, I really like Aimyon. Not only the style of music, but the process of starting with busking and creating your own world is very cool. I’m also listening to a lot of Selena Gomez. Some of it I like, some of it I don't, but I find it fascinating how she absorbs everything on stage.
Interviewer : I’m curious about what you liked when you debuted as an idol 9 years ago.
Yuju: Secretly, I listened to a lot of hip hop back. then. Rather than powerful songs, I focused on emotional songs. Loco, who I worked with on ‘Spring is gone by chance’, is also a musician I came to like because of that.
Interviewer: In actual fact when we talk about Yuju, we can’t help but mention ‘Spring is gone by chance’. It’s a song that many people are constantly looking for so I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.
Yuju: ‘Spring is gone by chance’ is a song that felt like unexpected luck. I received it less than a year after my debut and I remember recording it with a nervous mind as it was just my first OST. I never thought I’d be loved for this song.
Interviewer: You’re also an artist who has done a lot of OSTs. Aside from ‘Spring is gone by chance’, are there any other song you have a soft spot for?
Yuju: Although it is not that well known, there’s a song called ‘Just This Song' that was included in the drama <Let's Eat 3>. I don't dare to compare it to other great OST seniors like Baek Ji-young, Gummy, and Lyn, but I think it's a song that incorporates my own delicate sensibility.
Interviewer: What do you especially keep in mind when recording the OST?
Yuju: When a request comes in, I try to receive at least a simple synopsis of the drama and watch it. Also considering that it is background music, the focus is on conveying the lyrics rather than making it loud or flashy.
Interviewer: Besides Loco, you’ve got quite a few collaborations with hip hop musicians. Do you continue to do this because you feel the synergy works well?
Yuju: Hip hop is very different from me, so it's fun to meet musicians from that genre. When I did 'Peach Blossom' with Sokodomo, I thought, "Who else would I have done it with but him?" I think there's a unique power that comes from collaborating with someone with a different style. (When asked if there are any other artists she’d like to collaborate with) I'm interested in WOODZ because he’s close to my age. He uses the band sound well and his vocals are attractive.
Interviewer: In terms of vocals, I wonder how Yuju evaluates herself.
Yuju: The first thing is that I'm good at capturing emotions in a delicate way, so I still have a lot of fun when I sing. I think what I need to improve is my low and mid-range. When I was in GFRIEND, I showed a lot of powerful high notes but now that I'm a solo artist, I want to show a lot of other aspects.
Interviewer: The title song 'Play' of your first EP <[REC.]> after your solo debut is very oriental. Sometimes traditional Korean music elements don't work well in pop music, and it's very different from the music from your time with GFRIEND. Whose plan was it?
Yuju: The company I’m currently with, Konnect Entertainment, is a company that listens a lot to artists' opinions, so we put our heads together. I also thought that ‘Play’ was the genre I could best express myself at that time. I tried to incorporate the sound of Gayageum, which I liked at the time, into the trend but I thought that there would be clear likes or dislikes. It's either really fresh or it sounds completely out of place. I was fearless so I boldly took on the challenge and just went for it.
Interviewer: The next single you released, 'Evening', which is a digital single with Big Naughty, was the complete opposite.
Yuju: It's a single for the summer season, but there's a lot of music you can listen to when you go on holiday, so I wanted to make a song that would soothe you on your way back. It's a song I really love.
Interviewer: You’ve been actively participating in writing lyrics for almost all songs, not just ‘Evening’. How come?
Yuju: Ultimately, I think singing is putting sound into words. I can put my emotions into someone else's language, but when I sing the lyrics I wrote, I feel like the music becomes entirely my own. That doesn't mean I have to write it myself and I do like to sing other lyricists' lyrics, but I still want to pursue the path of a singer-songwriter.
Interviewer: What are your own efforts for songwriting?
Yuju: I keep reading books even when I'm busy. I don't read only books like a literary girl but reading is the most basic thing and I'm currently reading a book called ‘3000 Short Mnemonics for Writing Poetry’. I'm doing an exercise where I look at a lot of words in the book and write a different poem with the same title.On the other hand, I also value meeting people. When you're with people you've never met before in your life, you end up hearing about their life stories and I learn a lot from those conversations.
Interviewer: I can tell that you are very interested in writing. I'm curious about what the ‘best literature of your life’ is.
Yuju: ‘My Sweet Orange Tree’ by J. M. Vasconcelos. The protagonist Zeze, who was having a hard time feeling someone alive in his heart, is very similar to me when I was younger. I felt like I was seeing another me.
Interviewer: Among other musicians, who do you think writes lyrics well?
Yuju: I really like Lee Sang Eun and Kim Dong Ryul.
Interviewer: So, I’d like to ask out of the songs you have written so far, which is your favourite?
Yuju: I’d like to choose ‘Peach Blossom’ from my previous EP <O>. These lyrics were written quickly to condense what I wanted to express. It's a story that compares love to a flower, and the flowers that bloom on the ground are easy to pick and their scent is easy to smell. I wanted to show the kind of love that blossoms on a tree and is difficult to reach or touch. Because that kind of love is more interesting (laughs).
Interviewer: When talking about ‘Peach Blossom’, the <Seoul Music Awards> performance cannot be left out. The pole dance choreography was very impressive. How did you plan to incorporate it?
Yuju: I was very thankful that I was given time to show two songs so I decided to show 'Peach Blossom' before singing ‘DALALA’. Originally, I was going to start the first song as a ballad but after much thought, I decided to express 'Peach Blossom' visually. In particular, I thought I would be able to visualise the image better if I was on top of the pole. Pole dancing itself is a very delicate sport so there were many difficulties such as slipping seven times out of ten when practising a choreography that lasts less than a minute, and it was difficult to get equipment, but since I approach every stage as if it were my last without regret, I asked the company to give me a good stage in Bangkok.
Interviewer: It was very refreshing because it was the opposite of Yuju's usual image and was like the singer P!nk. Was it an attempt to reverse your image?
Yuju: Not really. I’ve been learning pole dancing for a long time but during my girl group days I could only do it as a hobby. When I started solo, I was able to show it on stage for the first time. In the past, I differentiated between dancing and singing, but now I think that in order to express my music well, I need a performance that matches it. Rather than dichotomously choosing between the two, if dancing can make the song stand out more, then of course take it.
Interviewer: What kind of song is ‘DALALA’, sung after ‘Peach Blossom’, to Yuju?
Yuju: This is a song that captures the most recent version of me in the most catchy way. I had been thinking so deeply when working on <O> that I had a lot of worries about how to change myself for the next music. On the other hand, I thought that clearing my head would be the answer so I just started humming along and the chorus came out. I thought it would be interesting if I went further, so I made the guide as if it was a way to relieve stress. It's my favourite song at the moment, and I've grown to love it even more after its release thanks to its unique charm.
Interviewer: You seem to be a person who worries a lot about diversity.
YujU: I think about it every day. I'm the type of person who wants to express everything I can from what I have, so I think my task is to express it in various ways for the time being, but ultimately find one that can be the main one.
Interviewer: ‘Apple’ and ‘MAGO’, which GFRIEND released after the company was acquired was met with mixed reviews due to the drastic changes. What were your thoughts at the time?
Yuju : I still remember being so surprised after hearing the 'Apple' demo. I thought that it was definitely not the music that came to mind when I thought of GFRIEND, but despite these changes, I gradually had fun recording it with the attitude that if we expressed it with our voices, it would become GFRIEND’s music. There is a phrase in the lyrics, “The transparent glass bead shines red,” which refers to the title of the debut song ‘Glass Bead’ and I had a lot of thoughts, but I was open-minded that I could be like that instead of being scared and wary when given a situation. In the end, it's more important to digest anything completely as your own.
Interviewer: Last question. What artists, songs, and records have influenced you in music?
Yuju: Tori Kelly's 2013 EP <Foreword>. This is a work that expresses the unstable and dynamic emotions of love and loneliness with the most comfortable sound. It is a work that you will want to keep around for a long time without getting tired of it.If I had to choose a song, it would be Destiny's Child's 'Stand up for love'. When I was growing up, my older sister was into pop, especially diva-style musicians with big voices, and she kept playing that kind of music to me. At the time, I often didn't really understand the big, bold lyrics about standing up for love, but it's the song I grew up singing the most, so I guess it's stuck with me. I'm also grateful to my sister for broadening my horizons.Singers I admire include Sting and Canadian singer Tamia. Sting is a musician whose singing can be said to be ‘cool’ itself. Tamia is a singer who was recommended to me by my vocal teacher when I first learned to sing, saying she suited me well. Her voice, with her delicate emotional expression and power, is fascinating.
