[INTERVIEW] news1 - October 2019 (Kei)

Kei (Kim Jiyeon) of group Lovelyz has released her solo album. She is the first in Lovelyz, debuted for 5 years since 2014, to have a solo album and it's also her first album by herself.

Kei (Kim Jiyeon) will be promoting together with her real name as a solo this time. She is determined to showcase a different color of 'myself' and also Lovelyz's Kei.

Kei (Kim Jiyeon) releases 'I Go' off of her first solo album on the 8th at 6 PM and sings about hope and consolation. She will show a stronger vocal color with a different color than the pure one she uses for Lovelyz.

We recently met with Kei (Kim Jiyeon) where we could see her love for her album and she talked about appearing on Mnet's 'Queendom', and her innocent and cute charms were shown.

Below is a series of Q&A.

- You came out with your real name for your solo album.

▶ I worried about this a lot, whether it'd be good to come out with Lovelyz's Kei. I worried about this a lot with the CEO. He said, 'It'd be nice if you come out with Jiyeon and get Kim Jiyeon to be recognized', so I believed in what he said and ended up using my real name. I can't miss the name Kei, so I ended up coming out with Kim Jiyeon (Kei). I think you'll be able to see a lot more of Kim Jiyeon's side.

- What's the point that differentiates [the solo] from Lovelyz?

▶ I worried a lot about style. I'm a member who doesn't change, and this is my first time going blonde and also not having bangs. I mostly sing prettily while promoting as Lovelyz. I wanted to give off a strong, powerful feeling in this solo album, so I tried hard to do it. The music is different too. I gave a lot of power in the title track. The bridge has a soft sensibility, but I also used a strong, low vocal tone.

- How much did you prepare for this?

▶ I prepared for this for around a year. It wasn't decided then that it was gonna be a solo album, and when I received this song, it wasn't confirmed as well, so I prepared for it without any promises. When I first received this song, it felt so amazing. I was very worried. The members gave me a lot of strength. I worried a lot, but they told me that I would do well enough. They assured me by giving me a lot of courage. I'm going to work harder as much as I've prepared for this for a long time. I put my sincerity into everything. It ended up being released because it's the right timing. I didn't even think that it would be released. They told me that it was time for me to release it. When it was confirmed, I felt assured. I thought, "When will it be released?" The song's arrangement used to be something for a spring release. They re-arranged the song to fit the current season and they made it grander and richer. It made me want to release it as soon as possible.

- What is a story that you want to focus on?

▶ I tried to put a lot of stories of hopes and dreams. It contains dreams as well. I have my own goal, but I feel like I want to repay the strength that I've received.

- You have to fill the stage by yourself.

▶ There's no mic other than mine. I'm still working on it even now. I worry a lot about whether I can fill the stage by myself for 4 minutes. Rather than acting, I'm going to show it naturally. I want to leave it up to what appears when I sing. I think a lot about my members. I lean a lot on them. My love for them has grown bigger. I also felt more gratitude for them.

- You didn't have any featuring and just sang by yourself.

▶ I wanted to fill this album with only my voice. The company also thought that, so [the album] only has my voice. I had a lot of opportunities, so I wanted to fill my first start with only my voice.

- Who gave you the biggest support?

▶ Soul-unnie gave me a lot of support. We've been living together for 5 years, so she knows me so well and I can feel that she supports me even only through her gaze. I feel that even her existence itself is a strength for me. The members are also looking forward to it and are curious, but they didn't make it obvious on purpose. I didn't talk about it because I was worried that it would seem like I was boasting about it. I wanted them to listen to [the album] on the day it comes out but as soon as they heard it, they said, "I think this is something that Kei can do well." They also hoped that I would be successful [with the album].

- Is there any other Lovelyz member who wants to release a solo album?

▶ I haven't heard anything about it. They all have talents that can't be missed out on. I started it off, so I hope they'll go have opportunities. So I have a feeling that I want to do better. I think that I need to do really well so they would get the opportunities.

- You're appearing on 'Queendom'.

▶ I'm straightforward like my title song 'I Go'. I'm having fun tirelessly. I can't think that it's hard. It was really fun and because it was my first time, I learned a lot. There's a lot of groups with excellent skills there and there's a lot of styles that I haven't tried yet, so I''m having a lot of fun. The members are doing it tirelessly.

- The 'Sixth Sense' stage on 'Queendom' was impressive.

▶ I tended to be like, "Let's put Lovelyz's color in," and some members thought that we should show a different side of us. It was really interesting. I have no regrets. It's such a shame about the responses, but [the responses] helped me a lot while preparing for the solo album by pointing out where I should do better. I've only ever sang easily but while watching the ['Sixth Sense] stage, I thought that there was a lot that needed fixing.

- Which part was pointed out?

▶ There were a lot saying how I need to sing stronger and that I need to study more on making expressions on stage. I made expressions that I usually use for Lovelyz stages unknowingly. How to make expressions that fit the song.

- It looks like the rivalry between the girl groups on 'Queendom' is not severe.

▶ Still, the broadcast tend to show us dissing [each other]. It's still due to the evil editing. We [Lovelyz] are like friends, and we don't have many chances to get close with other girl groups, so we talked about the hardships while doing 'Queendom' and we talked while doing the stage, so we leaned on each other. It just feels like we're watching performances without any competition. I felt the rivalry. We're doing it while having fun.

- Is there absolutely no war of nerves?

▶ We're busy doing our own stages. I personally don't feel it. It could be that I'm not sharp (oblivious), but we saw each other's stages. Sometimes it helps to be oblivious. You don't get hurt when you're oblivious.

- What do you think about watching Kei on 'Queendom'?

▶ I only told myself to have a positive attitude, but I didn't know that I have this kind of aegyo.

- Your harmony with Hwasa was impressive.

▶ We had fun filming it. I thanked Hwasa too, and Hwasa had a really busy schedule on that day and was tired, so I joked around with her more. But the show made it look like Hwasa was exhausted.

- What's your color with Hwasa?

▶ She has a really different color than me. That friend thought of the performance and drew her vision for the stage. My style is just to focus more on singing. Hwasa coached me a lot. She accepted me well and I've wanted to be close with her from a long time. I learned a lot from her and it was a great opportunity for me.

- Do you have anyone you want to resemble while preparing for your solo album?

▶ BoA-sunbaenim. She can be into every genre and what I respect about her is that she doesn't lose her original intention. I want to keep trying in order to be successful like BoA-sunbaenim. I want to do a few genres. I studied BoA-sunbaenim a lot by watching her.

- Which b-side do you love more?

▶ There's a song called 'Papermoon'. It's my first try on R&B. The title track required a lot of strength but I loosened up with 'Papermoon'. I communicated a lot with the composer and we tried an arrangement that we haven't tried before. This is a song that made me think, "So I can also do a different singing style." It's the only song with a choreography. It has kind of a sexy vibe, so I think I can show you something that I haven't shown so far.

- Are you expecting the charts results too?

▶ I've decided not to be attached to it. I'm already very happy that I can go solo, which has been my dream. Even the CEO said that this album was to showcase my potential. It would be nice if it could be followed by good results, but I want to show you the side of me who is singing sincerely.

- What kind of evaluation would you want to receive?

▶ I hope you wouldn't think that you're alone and that you can cheer up after listening to my song. I want you to know that I'm by your side. I want to keep singing if I can give strength even to one or two people.

- If you can look back at your life as a singer for the past 5 years?

▶ I worked hard. I am hugely proud of Lovelyz. I thought, "So I'm doing well." The members' trust in me is immense. My job from now on is to protect Lovelyz and grow.

- What do you think is the hardest thing for you?

▶ I can't eat jokbal. When I eat my favorite food, jokbal, I eat it while drinking milk, but I don't eat jokbal anymore to lose my cheek fat, to look mature. The hardest thing is to not eat jokbal. I'm going to hold back for only 3 weeks.

- You occasionally drink with your members, right?

▶ I'll sleep after just taking a sip. The members do drink at the dorm sometimes, but everyone other than me drinks well. Alcohol isn't delicious. Milk is way more delicious.

- Woollim has a new girl group, Rocket Punch. Do you have any special feelings about it?

▶ It's amazing. It's my first time to have female juniors, so I want to help them, but we're not close. The kids can't eat a lot and it's hard at first. I can't sleep well too, so I can't give advice, and I want to treat them to a meal. I think the coolest thing is to treat them. They're doing well even without my advice. I'm fond of them because we're labelmates, and they're all doing so well, so I hope they'll just improve their health.

- Do you have any goal for your first album?

▶ Like I said, I want to show my potential in doing solo. I want people to think, "So she can go solo." I want them to have expectations and think, "What kind of stage can she do?" I want to be able to meet those expectations. I want to continue [promoting] as a solo and as Lovelyz.

Source: 1