Reaching Into the New Year with ONEUS
The weeks ahead will find ONEUS traversing across fourteen cities in the United States and Latin America for their first world tour, and third tour within the United States. Before they embark on this musical journey, The Kraze had the opportunity to sit down with the group over Zoom to discuss touring, the unique color of ONEUS, and what songs will keep TOMOONs’ ears warm this winter.
Q: Could you introduce yourselves, and let us know your most charming attribute?
Xion: I’m the youngest member Xion, and I’m in charge of the vocals in the team. Nice to meet you~
Hwanwoong: I’m Hwanwoong, and I’m in charge of performance and the beauty of slowness. Hi~
Keonhee: I’m Keonhee, and I’m the team’s main vocal, social butterfly, and avid foodie!
Seoho: I’m Seoho, and I’m in charge of the vocals and a wide variety of talents.
Leedo: I’m Leedo, and I’m in charge of the rap… and rap.
[all laugh]
S: Rap and rap~
L: Yes
Q: We are so excited to see ONEUS live stateside again. What can TOMOON expect from this upcoming world tour?
K: First of all, we are so thankful for everyone’s excitement in looking forward to our performances and tour. But this time, as well, with that, we will focus on having more things the fans can enjoy. We really worked hard on preparing for the new setlist. It was really difficult to choose which song, which timing, special stages…We put a lot of time into that. We really prepared a lot for this tour. Of course, we had a tour early this year, but this particular tour, we really spent a lot of time trying to build up and prepare for.
Q: What is one thing that surprised you on your last tour?
H: One thing that surprised me on the previous tour was that when we performed on stage, and we looked at the fans, the fans were in rhythm, grooving, they were dancing together. They didn’t know the exact choreography, but they were inside the music with us, together. It was very surprising, because in Korea, Korean fans tend to do a lot of singing together, during the concert. They have their special routine. So I was a bit shocked but as a performer on stage, seeing everyone listen to our songs and dancing to them made me feel more excited. After the show, we always do the meet and greet, and wow, TOMOON dance so well, so we’re so surprised by that.
Q: What are each of your must-have items on tour?
S: Wi-Fi? That’s important. [The group laughs]
L: Money.
X: I have a hot pad that I always carry around, that I use after concerts, for my knee and for my back.
H: My speaker, named BoongBoong.
K: During [a] tour, one time, I was sick for a bit. So after that I put a great importance on vitamin supplements. I always carry them around, so when I have them, it’s better when I perform.
Q: Since you were in the states earlier this year, is there anything that you are looking forward to eating or seeing again?
S: I want to eat Chicago pizza. When I had Chicago pizza earlier this year, it had bulgolgi on it. It was pretty good, so I’m looking forward to having that again.
K: Since we have a really tight schedule here in Korea, it’s very difficult for us to go on a nice vacation. But during the tour, there was a day off, and there was a swimming pool inside our hotel. We all went down to the swimming pool and we had a very good time, so for this tour, we’re hoping there is another opportunity like that, so we can have some time off and enjoy the time together.
Q: You’re touring the United States when it’s cold. What ONEUS song would you recommend to TOMOON to stay warm?
S: “Stay” [single by ONEWE and ONEUS]. The mood and the vibe of the song really fit well with the weather.
K: I would recommend “White Night.” I feel like it’s a good song to listen to in a very very cold environment, with a hot chocolate in your hand. Then, you will feel like it’s not cold, but it’s actually beautiful.
Q: What is something that brings each of you comfort when you are dealing with stressful times?
S: Vacation.
L: (Laughing) Vacation!
S: Whenever I’m under great pressure or stress, there are many different ways I release that – for example, it could be playing a game. But also, one of the things I really enjoy is that whenever I train my vocals, I choose to do a high-pitch song, so I can release stress by singing.
L: That’s why you’re always shouting.
H: He practices high notes every day, so we’re so surprised at what he said.
Q: When you have a comeback, what is your favorite part of the comeback process? What is the most difficult part?
L: When we have a comeback, the most difficult thing is the preparation period, because we really want to show a lot of different color[s] every time we release a new album – more color of ONEUS, a more special side of ONEUS. Physically, sometimes, it’s kind of challenging, because we have very little sleeping time. But at the same time, the happiest, most exciting period during the comeback is showing TOMOON the stage we prepared. After the difficult period, when the good period comes when we perform, we tend to forget the hard things we went through. We really want to focus [on] the future, and prepare even better.
K: One of the good things about a comeback is that whenever I record my vocals, I tend to have sort of a character to try to focus on the little details of emotions. After a few days, I come back to do more recording, and when I hear that voice from the past few days, it feels different compared to today’s voice. I feel like finding the right voice and the best vocal is very interesting to me for all the albums that we release.
Q: Speaking of ONEUS’s color, the color that you as artists have is very unique. How would you describe ONEUS’s music to someone who isn’t familiar?
K: It’s really difficult to describe which color ONEUS is, to the fans. Until now, ONEUS has been performing many different genres for our previous albums, so it’s really difficult to say, “This is the style for ONEUS, and this is the music for ONEUS.” For us, as well, since we were doing many different genres, sometimes it was confusing. But overall, at the end of the day, we think that process of challenging and trying many different genres actually improved and developed the group, with many different colors that we can perform, many different vocals, [and] many different choreographies. It feels like it is difficult overall to say one thing that can really describe us, but overall, the process was really helpful for us.
Q: If a ONEUS movie was made, would it be mellow, action, mystery, romance, or comedy? Who would be the lead?
L: Depending on who the lead is, the genre will be different.
K: If Xion is the lead, it’s going to be a romance movie – the kind of romance where you try to find your dream and move on. If Hwanwoong is the lead, it’s going to be a documentary about himself, how he performs as an artist, and his career. If Leedo is the lead, it’s going to be action, so it’s going to be what kind of adventure he had when he was young. If Seoho is going to be the lead, it’s going to be a mystery. Seoho has a very unique way of unwrapping his ideas to people, so I think mystery will fit him. I always enjoy doing my job and performing as an artist, so it’s definitely going to be a comedy. Overall, if we could put these five different genres of movie together, as an omniverse movie, it’s going to be even better.
Q: To wrap things up, could you please let us know your resolutions or goals for the upcomingNew Year, as well as any last words to any TOMOON reading?
X: We’re now at the end of 2022, and it’s been a very great year. Starting 2023, we are going to start off with touring the states, and we’re preparing very hard for this tour. In 2023, we’ll do our best to give back with better music and performances. Thank you.
K: 2022 was a full year thanks to TOMOON. Whatever issues we had, we were able to overcome because of TOMOON. In 2023, we hope to give back the love that we received last year, with better performances on stage, more concerts to meet the fans, and more great music.
Thank you once again to ONEUS for chatting with us! Be sure to catch them in a city near you.
*Answers edited for brevity. Additional translations provided by staff translator Julia Hur.