[FULL TRANS] 140121 BARFOUT MAGAZINE - WINNER INTERVIEW 

“Ah~ these are the people who acted in Moteki*.” Looking at the past publications of BARFOUT, the members would chat with smiles on their faces, occasionally using some Japanese words. Winner, who frequently watches and talks about Japanese comics and shows, is part of YG Entertainment, which also houses Big Bang, 2NE1 and other artists. In the reality survival programme ‘WIN: Who Is Next’, where they were split into two groups competing for the opportunity to debut, their group emerged the winner and won the chance to debut as a 5-member group.

As a step before their debut, Winner played the role of being the opening act for Big Bang’s dome tour starting from November last year. Even though this is only a minor part of the tour, the members have had a first-hand experience of their increasing support from their fans. After the performance at the Tokyo dome tour ended, BARF immediately went up to interview the members, which include Kang Seung Yoon (vocal), Nam Tae Hyun (vocal), Lee Seung Hoon (rapper), Kim Jin Woo (vocal) and Song Min Ho (rapper), asking them how they feel about their upcoming debut and taking part in their seniors’ concert tour, about how they would begin showing themselves in this magnificent world being accompanied by anticipation and nervousness, while having to understand that it is important not to become proud after seeing the passion their fans have towards them. Bravely but naturally revealing their happiness, occasionally playing around like ordinary youths, and looking around with eyes that sparkle: this outlines the lovely, fresh new side of the members.

Jinwoo: Is it good that we are standing at a place like that? It is still hard to believe, and I’m still really surprised. Following the Japan tour, I feel that Winner has gained a lot of support. I feel like I can continue to grow and improve because our fans are there for us, and standing on stage makes me have many new feelings beyond thankfulness.

Mino: Being able to stand on such a wonderful stage as in the dome tour even before our debut is a moment I will never forget. Even though we are performing for our Big Bang seniors’ dome tour right now, but I dream of being able to have a dome tour that belongs to Winner.

Q: Can you tell us what you learnt from going with Big Bang on tour and standing on the dome tour stage?

Taehyun: When the opening performance ended, we changed our clothes and stood together at the two ends of the stage to watch our seniors perform. There was one part where our senior, GD, took off his sunglasses. Even though it was just a simple act of taking off his sunglasses, it brought about a lot of screams in response (ahh~~~). That moment and that simple act allowed everyone to see such a cool swallow (?) and it really taught me a lot. Even though these simple acts are seen as very natural, we are slowly building up experience and we hope that one day we would be up to the level of our Big Bang seniors.

Seunghoon: It is because I was a huge fan of our Big Bang seniors from the start! (Suddenly using Japanese in the conversation)

The members: (laughs)

Seunghoon: I’m sorry. I’ll start speaking in Korean from now on. Right now we still sing and dance with our Big Bang seniors, and enjoy the concert like ordinary fans would. Every time I watch the concert, I would find a new charismatic side (to our Big Bang seniors). I’m learning how to incorporate this into my own style, and I’m enjoying the concert at the same time.

Q: Could you tell us what you found particularly striking about this dome tour, including some examples?

Seunghoon: From this tour, I realised, for the first time, that when the camera is on us, it would not necessarily mean that the bigger our actions are, the better. To be able to better understand what we have to take note of while performing, I would observe our seniors’ performances!

Q: The programme ‘WIN’ is full of non-stop competition. What kind of feeling did you get at the moment when you won?

Seunghoon: No words can express how I felt then, a lot of complication feelings came to me, and that’s why I couldn’t stop crying. I feel sorry for our (younger) brothers who have worked together and competed against us, but I am still touched that I have the opportunity to release my own works as part of Winner. No matter what, this will always be a moment that I can never forget.

Q: On the 28th of October last year, your self-written song ‘Go Up’ was released among a few others, right? This was the song that you performed for the mission at the final battle. Under what circumstances was this song made?

Seungyoon: It was originally a song called ‘Today’, but our CEO and I were not quite satisfied with the song (laughs), so I wanted to change it, and ‘Go Up’ was born. Since it was a song that was made when it was not decided who would win the competition, and I did not know if the song should include feelings of happiness upon winning the competition or feelings of sadness from losing, I incorporated the feelings of all 11 of us wanting to improve and rise up, into the song and used ‘Go Up’ as a theme. This song does not have the feeling of anyone losing (or winning), but rather has a sense of hope.

Q: I see. Apart from Seungyoon, is there anyone else who can compose songs?

Taehyun: Yes. My part was “when your head aches, it is a song related to your head aching’ (?) (Laughs). If you fall in love with someone, you would write a love song. I made a song based on my own feelings at that time and kept it directly in the form of music. It felt like I was making a recording so I didn’t have the feeling that it was part of my work and a job that I had to complete while I made the song.

Q: Are there songs that you took so long making that you ended up not finishing it because you did have that sense that there was a deadline you had to meet?

Taehyun: Ah~ There are many songs like that. Peoples’ feelings change very often; Many times, I would out making a song based on my own feelings, but after that my feelings changed a lot so I was not able to complete the song, and the song ended up being wasted.

Q: After debuting, Winner is going to be active within and outside of Korea. What kind of artists do you think you will become?

Jinwoo: Firstly, each of us has a very strong individual personality. For example, Seunghoon is good at dancing and Mino is good at beat-boxing; we all have things that we are individually good at. We will present these sides of us to our fans, and let everyone see our inner selves bit by bit. We also have our individual beliefs, which you will uncover and learn more about as we go along, so I think it will be really interesting for everyone. To be able to form a band with 5 people like us is also really cool, so we hope to show more of our individual traits and practice to become a better band.

Seunghoon: I feel that what our Big Bang seniors stand out in is having not only (many) female fans but also (many) male fans, and that they are popular even among artists of different generations. Not only is their music outstanding, their fashion is also quite a trend. Seeing a picture of them at some party can also make everyone go crazy. We would like to have that kind of lifestyle, and become a band that is the subject of attention of everyone, just like our seniors.

Mino: Everyone is done talking, being the last to be interviewed is so hard~ (laughs) we have such big dreams even though we have not officially debuted in Korea. We hope to become a band that can represent Korea, and grow as a national artist. I’m not joking; I really hope that Winner could be promoted worldwide. (thumbs-up) We will work hard for that!

*Moteki is the name of a Japanese movie

via: Godirritated /translated by SY@fy-winner

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