“I think the thing with K-pop is it’s so saturated,” says Keeho, the outspoken Toronto-born chief of P1Harmony. “I feel like a lot of people like to copy whatever works and stay away from whatever doesn’t, so I feel like there’s not a lot of groups that are willing to take risks, and I don’t even think it’s the group’s fault.”
Keeho is squeezed in between the group’s 5 different members — Intak, Jongseob, Soul, Theo and Jiung — on a curvy lodge sofa the day of their August efficiency at KCON.
“K-pop is not just about looking pretty and being great on stage,” he provides. “I think it’s the artistry and it’s the music and concepts and the visuals and choreography… So I think the more involved and the more freedom we have to make the decisions that we want to is what will make each group stand out in their own ways.”
“The people who are really the ones that are being artistic should be the ones taking creative direction and control,” he continues, “and I think our group and our company are really trying to make that happen for us, so I’m thankful. Obviously, I still think we have a long way to go. I think that’s the direction we need to take.”
5 years can look like eons within the lifetime of a Ok-pop star, however when P1Harmony burst onto the scene in darkish aplomb again in October 2020, it was the thick of the pandemic. Unable to foster an in-person connection, they as an alternative relied on music exhibits void of an viewers and an ingenious introductory film.
Now, they’re making up for that each likelihood they get, as within the night time earlier than this interview, after they performed on the Academy Museum’s Ok-Tradition night time, leaping within the aisles inches away from attendees. Jiung, an all-rounder within the group, speaks on that second. “We always want to interact with our fans, so every time we go on the stage, we always ask, ‘Can we go down into the crowd?’”
These days, P1Harmony’s trajectory is on an upward swing. The 2024 mini-album “Sad Song” turned their highest-charting album on the Billboard 200, peaking at 16. They adopted that up this previous Might with “Duh!,” their eighth EP and first to debut at #1 on the Billboard World Albums chart. They even discovered time to stretch their solo chops. Simply final month, ace rapper and dancer Intak launched a sultry cowl of Usher’s “Good Kisser.”
With 18 million views on YouTube, the punky boom-bap “Duh!” from its eponymous launch barely had an opportunity to chill after they introduced their newest album ‘‘Ex,” which they released last Friday.
“Ex” is timed to coincide with the “Most Wanted” tour, their biggest yet, kicking off last weekend on the East Coast (they debuted the lead single on GMA last week), and making its way to the Inuit Dome in Los Angeles on October 18th.
If it seems like it’s quite a bit, it’s. Particularly because the members are actively concerned within the songwriting course of. When requested if they want slightly extra time to catch their breath in between releases, Keeho pauses to translate after which quirky singer and dancer Soul deadpans, “Yes!” dissolving them into giggles.
“K-pop, as you know,” Keeho picks up, “is such a fast-paced industry, whereas in America, it’s like you know, artists will drop an album every two or three years, which is wild… but in K-pop it’s like twice a year, sometimes more.”
“Ex” is a sonic departure for P1Harmony with mid-2010 rock and R&B leanings. The third monitor “Stupid Brain” is a cool ode to overthinking, whereas the riffy “Dancing Queen” would match proper in on an Ed Sheeran album.
“‘Stupid Brain’ is one of my favorite songs on this album,” Jongseob, the group’s youngest, and a rapping-songwriting ace, jumps in. “And I feel like when we were making this album, I tried to figure out how we can bring some fresh songs.”
“Ex” is notable as their first all-English language launch, with one exception: The title monitor has a Spanish language model. Whereas they’ve lined Spanish songs earlier than, releasing their very own model of the catchy, feminine empowerment music “Ex” was a present to their international fan base.
“It’s such a widely spoken language not only in America, but all over the world,” Keeho says mentioning they’d somebody available within the vocal sales space to assist with pronunciation. “It didn’t make sense to make only an English version and leave it at that. We felt like we were going to promote it in America, so we definitely wanted to sing in Spanish as well.”
Vocalist Theo provides that he cherished the problem of working within the language. “Because of the pronunciation,” he says, “there is a lot of attack… it’s like a clean sound in the ears. It’s soft when it needs to be and strong when it needs to be.”
The connection extends past language into tradition. Recognized for its on-line presence, P1Harmony achieved a viral second again in 2021, wilding out on a livestream when followers recommended they play “La Chona” by the norteño band Los Tucanes de Tijuana.
It’s the small moments like this which have linked them extra deeply to followers like dance teacher and influencer Alejandra Guzmán, who has adopted the group since its 2022 KCON look and was tapped by its L.A.-based file label Hello82 for collaboration on the album rollout.
“I feel a special place in my heart with P1Harmony,” she says when reached by cellphone. “I have had the opportunity to see them many times here because they come so often. And to me, being a Mexican-American who was born and raised in L.A., to have a favorite K-pop group [of mine] say how much they love coming here and how they see it as a second home, and on top of that, for them to acknowledge the influence that Latines have in the U.S. and the [other countries] they frequent, it makes me feel really seen.”
