QxEddie Talks KCON, Under Nineteen, and Lalary’s Debut
We love a good underdog story; it just so happens that this one is still in the making. While his story is still being written, Eddie’s journey thus far is nothing short of inspiring.
Scrambling from stage to the backstage room to the convention floor, it seems like everyone wanted a piece of Eddie at this year’s KCON in Los Angeles. You couldn’t miss him or his fiery red hair—whether he was hosting a dance workshop or performing on the KCON main stage. The demand comes after a pretty crazy year for the dancer. In late 2018, Eddie—more notably known as QxEddie—participated in the Korean survival show Under Nineteen, which pitted 57 aspiring boy band members against each other in the hopes of ultimately landing in the nine-member boy group, now known as 1THE9. Although he was eliminated, his on-screen charisma and affinity for girl group choreographies has opened up doors for him to dance alongside the likes of Red Velvet, MOMOLAND, and Chungha.
Eddie has been building his following for years, posting dance covers on YouTube and Instagram. His success may seem overnight, but it’s evident across the Internet how much work he has put in to get to the level he’s at today. With hundreds of thousands of followers across his social media platforms, Eddie is using his star power to debut in his own group Lalary. The co-ed, multicultural K-Pop group is preparing for their upcoming debut funded through Kickstarter by their loyal fanbase. There’s no doubt that the support received stateside will cross oceans; he’s moved his home base from his native Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea.
In the midst of his bustling KCON schedule, I squeezed in a minute to talk to Eddie about his survival show experience, Lalary’s debut, and more.
Q: How has your life changed since competing on Under Nineteen?
A: Since competing on Under Nineteen, my life has changed a lot because now I’m living in Korea, which is so fun. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try. So, I’m so happy to finally be able to live in Korea alone. I permanently live there now.
Q: What did you take from the show that you’re implementing into debuting with Lalary?
A: I feel like I learned a lot on the show about what it’s like to be in a group, what it’s like to perform on stage professionally, and what the people want to see. So I definitely am trying to put that into Lalary.
Q: How did Lalary come about as a group?
A: Basically, I had a cover dance group before, and a few members of my old cover group wanted to be singers as well. So I just put together all my friends who wanted to be in a singing group. So it’s just a bunch of friends coming together and doing a group together.
Q: Was it your idea?
A: It was my idea, of course!
Q: How does this year’s KCON compare to your first KCON?
A: I think this year is definitely a lot bigger. I mean, I’ve been doing KCON for almost four or five years, so each year gets crazier and crazier! I think, especially after Under Nineteen, this year was definitely the craziest for me.
Q: Other than being co-ed, how is Lalary different from other K-Pop groups?
A: I think Lalary is really different because I feel like our music style is already so different. For example, we have a one-minute breakdown in our new song, which I think is a really long one! I kind of want to show more attitude in our music rather than just EDM or R&B or any genre. We want to be something different in all of our songs—something unique.
Q: Is it all self-produced? Or do you guys have a team?
A: Yeah, so we’re working on our own; we don’t have a company. But we all have different connections with people and so we do have a team that we work with—a producer, music video director, we have them all.
Q: What were your goals when you were a K-Pop cover dancer when you first started and how have those changed now?
A: When I first started, I just wanted to join cover dance competitions and I just wanted to win. That was enough for me. But these days, I don’t even really do dance cover competitions. So now, my goal is always like, I want to perform on bigger and better stages. I think my next goal is I want to do a music show with Lalary, because I did a music show with Under Nineteen, but I also want to try it now with my own group!
Q: What have you been listening to lately in terms of K-Pop?
A: I’m always listening to the latest girl group tracks! I’m really into ITZY’s “ICY” right now. Also into Chungha’s new album, that’s really nice. I like fromis_9 now after seeing them at KCON NY. I don’t want to miss anyone! I always like (G)I-DLE, and CLC is my favorite girl group. Always CLC!
Q: What advice would you give to other aspiring K-Pop cover dancers?
A: I think, always, just try to keep improving yourself and don’t think—I feel like a lot of people worry about their likes and followers, but I think they will come when you get better yourself. So I think if you focus on improving, you will be doing a lot better for yourself and also people will be watching you!
Q: What can we anticipate from you in the future?
A: Next, we definitely want to do more Lalary stuff because it’s only our first year. I definitely want to have at least two songs this year. Well, it’s kind of the end of the year already, so before next year, we want to do another one. And hopefully, we can do more KCONs and bigger stages!
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