[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]: FTISLAND’S Song Seunghyun, The Idol, The Actor, The Entrepreneur

As K-Pop bands face a resurgence with the popularity of new groups such as Xdinary Heroes, ONEWE, LUCY, and wave to earth as well as established bands such as The Rose, DAY6, N.Flying, and CNBLUE, it’s hard not to think of the band that set in motion the K-Pop Idol band movement: FTISLAND. FTISLAND debuted in 2007, with Song Seunghyun who joined the band in 2009 and left in 2019, and current members Lee Hongki, Lee Jaejin, Choi Minhwan and former member Choi Jonghoon. The band set a standard for pop rock in Korea for the last decade. Korean rock bands do and did exist, and still are popular today. YB and Crying Nut are examples, but for a brief window FNC Entertainment’s FTISLAND and CNBLUE ruled the genre. In 2019, Seunghyun announced his departure from the band to acting, and more recently last year, announced his retirement from the entertainment industry.

Seunghyun sat down with us ahead of The Shops at Skyview March 15 Spring Forward/Give Back charitable event in New York. With his gorgeous wife sitting alongside as our translator, he was excited to talk about the new chapter of his life with marriage and enterprise in New York City. Forthright and humble with a smile, he openly conversed about the highlights of his entertainment career, desires for the future and the various stages of his former life. Through the conversation, he revealed himself to be a man who is content with who he is, happy with the current direction in his life, but open to whatever is in store for him. Though we want our idols to stay idols forever, it’s refreshing to see the former idol transitioning to the next phase of his life as a husband and entrepreneur, who is still open to do more.

Q: Congratulations on your wedding! How is married life so far?

A: To start, we haven't been married that long, but married life seems real good so far. I feel healthier, mentally and physically, than anytime in the past.

Q: So you retired from the entertainment industry about a year ago. When did you move to New York and how has it been?

A: So it's been about seven months. A movie that I was in promoted in Korea after I came to the states, so though it seems like I've been in the states awhile, at the same time, it doesn't. Frankly, it was after our wedding, when I was already in the states, that I uploaded the news (retirement) on Instagram. These days retirement isn’t the same. When you see other artists retire, they come back, then retire again. There are artists that have retired already three times, and in my mind I'm not that famous a star, so people might not even know I've retired. These days people have second characters with a myriad of careers, so I think we're in a very good generation. Here in the states, I’m currently building my business, Film Memento photo booths, but if other opportunities arise…

Q: So this might not be your final retirement?

A: You never know. I don't think you need to be firm about it.

Q: Has it been difficult adjusting from being an idol personality to becoming a regular citizen?

A: So when I first came to New York, my father-in-law had me working at his restaurant. It was incredibly different. I was a waiter. He strongly suggested I work, and I was open to it. It was such a different type of work experience, but at the same time, it made me mentally healthier. I thought, aside from being a musician and acting, I can do other work as well. Doing it helped, and I thought, if I didn't already have that experience, maybe I would've been weaker mentally. I'm much better now. And to clarify, I never said that I wouldn't sing, play or act anymore. Anything is possible if the opportunity arises, but right now I want to focus on my photo booth business.

Q: Can you tell us about your business?

A: It's a photo booth business called Film Memento. You know the Korean photobooths? My goal is to get my photobooth into every restaurant and shopping mall. My goal is to get it everywhere to the point you say, “hey, there's a Film Memento here too? I'm so tired of seeing them everywhere.” We're an American based brand and we want to match the focus of the American people, incorporating all diversities, not just K-Pop, so we can be like the Korean ones, but a bit different.

Q: Do you still play music?

A: Yes. In my house. A little bit.

Q: Composing songs or OST?

A: Well, originally I'm not a composer who writes specific music, rather while I'm playing the guitar, as I get inspired, I just directly record on the microphone and I've written songs that way. I've pretty much played and written that way. Later on, Im a bit older now, if an opportunity presents itself and I could get together with a band in New York, I think it would be fun to perform here.

And of course, I had a lot of interest in OSTs as well, but there weren't that many opportunities. If there were more opportunities, I'm confident that I could've done more well, but unfortunately the opportunities didn't come my way.

Q: Before retirement you shifted from musician to actor. Was the shift from musician to actor difficult? Do you miss acting at all?

A: That wasn't difficult at all because it was something that I was always doing. While with the band, I was also doing musicals, stage acting, though I wasn't in really famous dramas like Lee Hongki, I continued in my style, so it wasn't difficult at all. If anything was difficult, it was that my schedule was so busy and the time commitment became more difficult.

Q: Have you kept in touch with any of your FTISLAND members, or FNC artists in general?

A: Most recently I was in touch with CNBLUE's Yonghwa, he also came to our wedding. To be honest, I don't have many famous friends. Back then, I had many of course, ZICO and other ‘92 liners, but as a lot of time has passed, and we're all so busy with our own lives. As for FNC people, I'm not really in touch with others.

Q: Speaking of CNBLUE, they’re having a concert soon in NY, any chance you'll come?

A: Actually, Yonghwa asked me if I was free to attend, but unfortunately I was already booked with plans I had made a while ago for my business. Photo booths are my life [he says with a smile].

Q: What was your highlight from your career as a musician and then an actor?

A: Musicals. Once I did musicals, I kept wanting to do those projects.

Q: Which one do you recall the most?

A: My first one, Jack the Ripper. I think things were great back then and it was fun.

Q: What’s next for Song Seunghyun? Where do you want to be in five, ten years?

A: Just doing what I'm doing now, with a successful business. Rich [said with a laughing smile].

Though the interview was over, Seunghyun would continue to join in the charitable spring events set by Skyview Mall. With the clothing drive and donations to the Queens library, he took time to meet with fans, take photos and answer questions.

What struck this FTISLAND fan the most was his sense of humbleness and poise. Magnanimous by nature, he was appreciative he could help the charity and most excited when speaking about his business venture. We of course also had to try out Film Memento, and the photobooths were so much fun. Though he may be retired, he hasn’t ruled out popping back into the entertainment industry if the opportunity arises. We hope all the best for Seunghyun and hope that Firm Memento is soon everywhere, and that we can also find him with a band somewhere in New York playing and singing. You never know what can happen in New York.

In the meantime, congratulations again.

Thank you to the Shops at Skyview for arranging the opportunity and to Song Seunghyun. The event raised $1,000 for the Queens library and was attended by local city politicians. Those who donated clothing also received an opportunity for a photo and a signed poster could participate in related events.

Interview translated from Korean and edited for clarity.