VERIVERY is Ready to Spill on Comeback, Heroes, and Hobbies
VERIVERY, the septet under Jellyfish Entertainment who recently came off from their U.S. tour, sat down with The Kraze via Zoom to follow up on their latest digital single SERIES 'O' [ROUND 0 : WHO] and give us some insight into some of their favorites and desires.
The septet consisting of DONGHEON (leader), YEONHO, GYEHYEON, KANGMIN, MINCHAN, YONGSEUNG and HOYOUNG have been all abuzz since the world started opening for live music. Though their tour was cut short due to COVID, the guys were feeling fantastic and ready to take on the world. For any broken hearted VERRERs, VERIVERY’s strong digital single comeback and upcoming first full-length album SERIES 'O' [ROUND 3 : WHOLE] is sure to heal any wounds and further demonstrate why this group is the one that all ears should be on now.
With enthusiasm pouring out of them, VERIVERY quickly introduced themselves and was ready to dive right into our questions. If you don’t know who they are, take a listen to their latest digital single album SERIES 'O' [ROUND 0 : WHO], part of a series that started last year with the EP SERIES 'O' [ROUND 3 : HALL] last May and continued with SERIES 'O' [ROUND 2 : HOLE] last August. VERIVERY’s upcoming next chapter SERIES 'O' [ROUND 3 : WHOLE] is set to release on April 25. Be ready to fall into the VERIVERY rabbit hole!
Q: We’re very excited for your comeback! Can you tell us a little more about your new single and the SERIES 'O'?
YONGSEUNG: This digital single album is, as you said, part of the Series ‘O’ and is a prequel album. With this album, we hope to further expand our presence into the world so that all of you can meet a more mature VERIVERY.
Q: How does the new single differ from previous releases?
YEONHO: This latest single and title song “O,” rather than having the intensity and powerful energy of previous songs, is filled with a looser and more sexier vibe.
Q: If you were talking to a younger version of yourself, what advice would you give to yourself?
YS: Be confident.
HOYOUNG: Probably sleep earlier, drink a lot of milk.
YS: Haha—for your height.
Q: You mentioned in your last interview with us that you wanted to try hip-hop, ballad, or folk genres. Your latest, “Our Spring,” is lovely and I listened to the ballad for the Itaewon Class OST (“With Us”) a lot through COVID. Have you had a chance to try hip-hop or folk genres yet?
HY: I think…not yet. We want a chance to try hip-hop, because we all wanted to try hip-hop right now. We’re interested in hip-hop choreographies, so hopefully in the future, we’ll have a chance at it.
Q: What song or album have you been listening to lately that you can recommend to fans?
YH: So first, the song I’ve been listening to the most lately is our latest song “Our Spring.” So we really want to recommend it to our VERRERs too.
DONGHEON: Recently I like Machine Gun Kelly. You know, MGK. He’s good. His album is good (thumbs up!).
GYEHYEON: I can’t think of anyone right now.
Q: VERIVERY is well known for your synchronized dancing. I saw your LA show and can agree that it is amazing. I heard that you even tried to synchronize your eyeball movements. Is this true? How did you practice that?
HY: We do that sometimes. When we synchronize our eyeball movements, actually, our like heads are in the same direction. So, that’s the reason why we synchronized our heads as well. We don’t do it that often, but sometimes we have to synchronize the movement a lot using that method, just to get into the flow.
DH: Yeah, that’s true.
Q: So how do you practice that? Do you look at the same point then?
VERIVERY: Yeah, the same.
HY: 45 degrees (pointing the direction of 45 degrees).
DH: It is a very important thing.
Q: As for dancing, how long does it take to get a dance routine in perfect sync?
HY: I think a lot of times. There are four to five hours a day for like a week to make a perfectly synchronized stage for us. Just one stage.
Q: Aside from synchronized dance movements, what else do you want to be known for?
YH: If you take out knife sharp group choreography, our inspiration. Do you know CHAOTIC VERIVERY LAND? We have video content known as CHAOTIC VERIVERY LAND which is a lot of fun and we really hope that others will definitely watch this and have fun watching and thinking of us.
[Note: CHAOTIC VERIVERY LAND is a 37 episode variety show that aired in 2021 which you can stream online.]
HY: Our live skills. I think our rap, performance, and live skills are pretty on point.
DONGHEON looking at HOYOUNG: Ok, be confident! [laughing].
Q: What would you consider as a “signature style/sound” that makes you stand out from other artists?
GH: Before our debut, we pushed along with our music and dancing life, but now we have a definitive style. But if you want to think back from the start of VERIVERY, our music and dancing skills still come to the forefront.
Q: Is there any superhero, anime character, or other fictional character you feel you relate to?
DH: For me, Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange has many abilities, seriously. He has a lot of talent.
YH: For me, the seven members who work together to fight as one, the Power Rangers.
GH: For me, Spiderman. Young and wild.
KANGMIN: Me too, I like Spiderman, because he likes partners.
MINCHAN: For me, Iron Man, because he’s smart.
YS: I want to be Thor. He’s really nice.
HY: Me…Antman. Yeah, I like his suit.
Q: If you had to pick a color to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
DH: I think black. Because when you mix a lot of colors you get black. And because we’re a group that you can fill with many colors, I think black is best.
GH: I think our group color, the purple color, is perhaps the color that most suits us.
YH: For me, white. Because on a white canvas you could paint any color, so I think perhaps the color that can make VERIVERY stand out is white.
YS: I think it’s white for me too. Because I think one by one all of us are rays of light and when the rays of light come together, you get white.
HY: For me, blue. Because we’re very energetic and bright and I think it suits the color blue.
KM: I also think our official color, purple, and white are the colors that suit us best.
MC: I also think white suits us because we’re so pure and so that might be the color that shows our heart the best.
Q: What is your go-to order at a cafe?
DH: I love an Iced Americano.
YH: Me too.
GH: Iced tea – plus one shot.
KM: Me too, I like Iced Americano.
MC: For me, I like yuja mint tea. Honey taste.
YS: I like chamomile tea.
HY: I like hot chocolate.
Q: What are some new hobbies that you’d like to try out?
HY: I’ve been watching this drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Yeah, I want to try fencing. I think I would be good at it. I want to try it.
YH: Usually I like to go camping, but because of our schedule we haven’t been able to go. When the schedule opens up, camping is something that I really want to do.
GH: For me, billiards. These days I have [an] urge to play, so I want to play it.
MC: For me, I’d like to try swimming. I’ve been told if I go swimming, my shoulders get broader so…
KM: I’d like to try playing futsal with the members.
YS: Just like Kangmin, I’d like to play futsal.
DH: For me, basketball.
[All the members look at Dongheon laughing, surprised]
KM: Haha, liar.
GH: But you don’t like to exercise…
Q: Any last words for the VERRERs?
YS: Yes. We’ve traveled through a long comeback road since debut and have returned to find you again with this digital single album. As it’s been a while since we’ve found you again, we’ve put that much more effort into this digital single, and we hope that you completely love it and have big hopes for it. Not just this digital single, but for all our works, if you can look to them and love them, we’d be very thankful. Thank you!
VERIVERY: (finger hearts and claps from all). Thank you! Love you!