Welcome to the SIFF Battle of the Bands and Rising Stars Magazine. Good to have you here. Taehyun: Thank you so much for having us here!
Let's get to know each of you a bit better. Who are you and where are you from? All: Hello, we are the Asia Pop Dance Group, f(x)! Amber: Hello, I’m the f(x)’s leader Amber! I’m Chinese, but i was born in America. Umm…what can I say ? *laughs* Taehyun: Hello, I’m Taehyun. I’m from South Korea. Yeonhae: Hello, I’m the Korean elastic girl, Yeonhae *laughs* Taylor: Hello, I’m Taylor, I’m Korean but I was born in America. I wanted to be a entertainer since I’m young. Sulli: Hello, I’m the tallest and prettiest 17 years old Maknae girl from Busan, Sulli! *laughs* When I was young till now, I was a massive fan of BoA, and then I wanted to be a singer.
Explain the name f(x) for me. How did you come up with it? Is there any meaning behind it? Taylor: F(x) is a mathematical symbol, and when you input a different "x", you can get different outcomes. So as f(x), we want to be the kind of group that can change and adapt to many situations. Sulli: Our manager chose the name because when we were chosen to be the Asia Pop Dance Group, he saw the potential we had, and our different personalities, and he loved the fact that some of us are from different countries than South Korea.
How did f(x) come about? How did you all meet? Is this another one of those things where your record label held auditions and then put you through "KPOP Band Camp" to teach you to sing and dance? Taehyun: Each of us auditioned separately, except Yeonhae and I, who have been spotted in Korean TV shows, or in dance schools. Yeonhae: We’ve been trained for 2-5 years. During training, we take intensive dance classes every day for a full afternoon.
Amber: Taylor and I are American, so we took Korean lessons, so our schedules were very busy. It was difficult for me because I am Chinese-American so I didn't speak Korean, but Taylor has expertise in this language because she is Korean-American. Sulli helped me too because she’s from Korea but their parents are Korean American. Sulli: Initially, I was trained with Crystal and Victoria from GDay, because we are in the same company, but when they've debuted, the manager told me that I would be in the new Asia Pop Dance Group, f(x), then we met each other.
Coming from different parts of the world and having different backgrounds, what do each of you bring to f(x) that is unique? How does it all come together and work? Amber: Umm‌My boyish style? *laughs* Taylor: What brings originality to the group, except our nationalities, is that we have different personalities. Yeonhae: We are united and welded, and we have weaknesses. So when someone is sad, hurt or has something wrong, we are always there to cheer him up. That what makes us unique. Sulli: *sniffs* Amber: *laughs*
There are 5 KPOP bands in the Battle of the Bands this spring. That is the most bands from any one genre. Why do you think KPOP is so popular right now? Taehyun: You know, there are many things that attracts people to listen to KPOP, there is the catchy music, choreographies are very hectic and hard to reproduce, the fashion, visuals, KPOP companies are very picky about the look. Amber: There's also the fact that the fans know by where we've been through with our long intensive training, the hard work we provide, the weakness and pain that we felt during these hard times, fans also respect us for that.
What made each of you decide to get involved in music and particularly KPOP? Taehyun: Maybe because most of us are Korean! *laughs* Taylor: Since our very young age, we love music, dance, entertainment, show our passion to people, so we wanted to do this as a thing that we can do every day.
What would you be doing if you weren't making music? Sulli: If I wasn’t making music...um...I would be an actress, I love acting, playing in dramas or movies. Yeonhae: I would be a gymnast in China! Taylor: Oh my God, I really don’t know, I can’t even imagine! Taehyun: I would be a fashion designer...or an actress, I don’t know. Amber: What a question! *laughs* I don’t know! I will be in my room, rapping on my own...
What is your schedule like? Some of the other KPOP bands talk about rigorous training schedules to perfect their singing and dancing. Do you girls do the same thing or do you just have a normal band practice thing? Yeonhae: Of course, every KPOP bands have the same way to practice and the have same schedule.
Taylor: The schedule of a trainee is very busy. You get up at 7am in the morning; you have to go to school if you have not finished your schooling up to 2pm. Then, intensive workouts begin up until 10pm. Sulli: It's like that every day. But when you're in a pre-debut group as we, schedules are more loaded, you have to get up earlier, and work hard. Taehyun: Every day, in my pocket, I have a packet of throat candies *laughs* That’s because sometimes I have a sore throat because of intensive singing lessons. What brought you to the Battle of the Bands? With four other KPOP bands do you think it will be difficult to stand out? Taehyun: Indeed, we are a pre-debut group, it means that we haven't debuted yet .So, our company including our manager we entered the Battle of the Bands to promote the group. It's a strategy for promoting the group a lot. Sulli: We are pleased to participate in this contest, even if we are in competition with our fellow KPOP group. Yeonhae: We admire other KPOP groups who compete, they are really talented, we are really good friends of them, because some of them are in the same company as us but we must give the best of ourselves, and let the madness begin! *laughs*
Apart from band exposure, what do you want to accomplish from the Battle of the Bands? Taylor: We want to show our potential to fans and also what we love to do. This is our first time, so we hope to win, and then do a lot of projects together with the group.
I also have some random questions from the fans for you. If you could be any animal what would it be and why? Sulli: Um...If I could be an animal, I would like to be…a puppy, because puppies are cute, and I’m cute! *bboing bboing* *laughs* Amber: I would be an alpaca, because when I was at the mall with Taylor, some fan girls told me that I look like an alpaca *laughs*. Don’t worry, I take it as a compliment because I love alpacas!
Yeonhae: I would be a cat, because I’m flexible. Taylor: I would be a dog, because the dog is the man's best friend. Taehyun: I’m a tiger, because in our dorm when I sing, I roar so loud.
Psy or DRM? Sulli: Um...Let’s say PSY!
Favorite book? Amber: When I'm bored, I read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", I have a bunch of copies in my room, but sometimes I read this book before go to sleep, or when I have free-time. Taehyun: These times, I watch the American TV series “Pretty Little Liars”, and I love this series, so I read the books “Pretty Little Liars” too. Yeonhae: I read Twilight, I really love this story about this impossible love between a human and a vampire. Taylor: I really like U.S gossip, so I read the book “Gossip Girl”. Sulli: I read Desperate Housewives.
Favorite anime? Sulli: We don’t watch anime, but we watch Korean dramas. My favorite drama is “To the Beautiful you”. Taylor: Me too! But I like “Dream High” too. Amber: My favorite drama is “I Can Hear Your Voice”, so cool! Yeonhae: Seriously? *laughs* Taehyun: I really like “Marry Him If You Dare”! Yeonhae: “Dating the Prime Minister” is so nice. But when I get nostalgic, I watch “Pororo” *laughs*
Can you name three differences between N'Sync and The Backstreet Boys? Yeonhae: Umm…who are they? *laughs* Sulli: Isn’t it an American disbanded boy group? Amber: My sister was a big fan of N’Sync when she was young, so she would have said that N’Sync is sexier, more talented and famous than The Backstreet Boys.