[Exclusive]ATEEZ never stops.."Even the Grammy and Super Bowl performance, JUNG JOON" [★FULL Interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

• "AAA 2025" ATEEZ interview with 5 winners.

"The arm that stands up indefinitely does not change. Our steps, not mine, are still there."

Flowers that have finally bloomed after a difficult time reveal a clearer presence. Group ATEEZ (Hong Joong, Seong Hwa, Yun Ho, Yeo Sang, San, Min Gi, Woo Young and Jong Ho) are examples. The infinitely erected 8 remains unchanged, and their gaze, which ran without a background, is still facing forward.

ATEEZ, who debuted in October 2018, first entered Billboard's main album chart Billboard 200 in the U.S. with their seventh mini album "ZERO: FEVER PART.3" in 2021. Since then, it has reached the top of the same chart with its second full-length album "The World Episode Final: Will" (THE WORLD EP FIN: WILL) in 2023, marking another milestone.

It then topped the Billboard 200 for the second time with its 11th mini album "Golden Hour: Part 2" (GOLDEN HOUR: Part. 2) released in November 2024. On top of that, ATEEZ's move soon remains a record as it takes the stage of "Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival," the K-pop boy group's first largest music festival in the United States.

At the "10th Anniversary Asian Artist Awards 2025" hosted by Star News at Kaohsiung National Stadium on December 6 last year, it won five trophies, including Best Artist, Best K-pop Records, New Wave (Yun-ho Yoon) and Best Choice (Hong Joong), the highest honor award.

-At the '10th Anniversary AAA 2025', he held as many as five trophies in his arms. How do you feel about attending.

▶Sung Hwa = We did a lot of year-end performances this time, and it was a highly satisfactory award ceremony because it seemed that you captured our performance well at the '10th Anniversary AAA 2025'. I think ATEEZ members and ATINY (the name of ATEEZ's fandom) all ended the year happily because they gave us so many awards. It was also a ceremony where consideration stood out. Thank you for allowing the artist to focus on the stage and for considering the needs of the fans.

▶Woo Young = Half joking, half joking, but he gave the artist such a good hotel because maintaining his condition is important. (laughs)

▶Hong Joong ='10th Anniversary AAA 2025' was the 10th anniversary, and ATEEZ was the first to attend. In the future, I thought I should continue to work hard to become an artist who can attend these awards ceremonies and receive many awards.

-Is there anything you couldn't say at the time.

▶Yun-ho = I received the New Wave Award (actor category), and I was so surprised that I couldn't even remember how I felt about it. Last year, I tried and challenged new things, and I was able to have fun and confidence thanks to the support and fans of the members. But at the time, I was so nervous that I couldn't say thank you.

-Is there any other artist's performance that you remember the most from "10th Anniversary AAA 2025"?

▶Woo Young = Personally, I admired Cortis' stage. The stage composition is also fresh, and I thought I was really good when I saw the stage filled with a relatively small number of members.

▶San = Former NEXZ is also memorable. I thought they set up a great stage, so I thought that although they are juniors, there is something to see and learn. After watching the performance on 'AAA', I also searched more about the team.

▶Hong Joong =I received a lot of questions about the year-end stage when I came back this time, and the common thing was that "I was motivated a lot by watching other artists' performances." And the biggest trigger was '10th Anniversary AAA 2025'. We prepared something, but while watching other artists' performances, we talked about 'it would have been nice to use the stage like that' and 'it would be nice to try something like that'.

ATEEZ (Hong Joong, Seong Hwa, Yun Ho, Yeo Sang, San, Min Gi, Woo Young, and Jong Ho) released their 13th mini album 'Golden Hour: Part 4' on the 6th. It is an album that follows the "Golden Hour" series that depicts their most dazzling moments, capturing ATEEZ's willingness to hold on to their beliefs and move forward even in the middle of the storm. The new song includes a variety of genres, including the title song "Adrenaline", "Ghost", "NASA", "On the Road", and "Choose".

-"Golden Hour: Part 4" seems to have a special meaning for ATEEZ. What message did you want to convey through this album. I wonder what kind of mindset you prepared.

▶Sung Hwa = (rather than message) I think I'm ahead of my concerns musically. It was the same for the previous album, and I have a lot of worries about what to show in each album. In Lee Bum's album, the members thought about what ATEEZ started and what the fans' needs would be. Also, the result of thinking about what our 'belief' will be is 'adrenaline'. I've always had a lot of worries, but this album is a song that especially shows our unshakable beliefs.

▶Hong Joong = There were also concerns about the timing of the release of this song, and in particular, the "Golden Hour" series is an album prepared after deep musically consideration. The title song "Adrenaline" is somewhat different from the genre we used to do in the past. The fans remembered the energetic and explosive stage, and we also had a thirst for such a stage. I thought let's capture not only new things to show in the future, but also our own iconic moments.

-The 'Adrenaline' stage literally showed off its explosive energy. I'm also curious about the choreography process.

▶Sung Hwa = From the time we ordered the dance, we want to show it this time. It doesn't matter if it's hard,' he said. In addition, San directly participated in the choreography production and contemplated the direction.

▶Woo Young = When I first received the draft, I thought it was a little weaker than I thought. It went through several revisions, and after that, the current choreography came out. Since San is a player's position on the stage together, he seems to have made the team better understand the point they want and complete it.

▶Hong Joong = We received a compilation of San's choreography, and I remember asking for 'I wish this part could be saved more'. It accurately figured out the direction we were pursuing.

▶San=Compliments from others are good, but I feel really good whenever the members acknowledge it. There are many movements that were inspired by the members while making this choreography. I think adrenaline, which is secreted in extreme situations, is a force to go one step further. At the end of the concert, there is a scene where the members continue the stage by hitting their legs, and I wanted to incorporate such images to capture them more intuitively. Thanks to this, I think ATEEZ's unique color became clearer, and I want to say thank you to the members.

-Hong Joong and Min Gi participated in writing the entire song. Is there a standard that you think you want to keep when you make a song?

▶ Min Gi = In this album, he tried to break the existing framework. It was my first album since the renewal of the contract, and I wanted to show a new side of myself, so I wrote the style and mood of the whole song differently. I'm in the process of trying, so I'm looking forward to how the fans will like it. Personally, I think it's an album where adrenaline came out while challenging myself.

▶Hong Joong =There was one solo song each during the tour last year. In the process, each person solved the concept they wanted to do, and when working on a song that represents the team's mind like "On the Road" while preparing for the album, we talked a lot with the members. Among the things we talked about, we came to include expressions that we thought would be fun to write in lyrics. I feel that we are at the point of more intuitively interpreting our words into the lyrics. Other tracks were also inspired by such a process.

-Did the members have any opinions on this album?

▶Woo Young = gave a lot of performance opinions. Since there was a production team in charge of music, it seems that the choreography gestures and the number of dancers appealed a lot. While contemplating the direction of music broadcasting activities, he expressed his opinion, "I hope many dancers will be together."

▶Hong Joong =All eight members are greedy for music or stage. First of all, after sufficient meetings among members, they have a lot of conversations with the production team and the music team based on their opinions. The process of coordinating the thoughts of eight people takes time, and even if it is stressful, I always try not to lean into one person's opinion.

-What was the biggest moment of achievement that the members felt in common during this activity?

▶Yun-ho = 'Adrenaline' stage performance is so intense that I thought, 'I should really prepare for this activity.' However, the more I do music shows, the more I feel, "I'm glad I prepared like this (even if it's hard)." I'm even more proud that the fans also liked the intense performance.

▶Hong Joong = I feel a sense of accomplishment as I see the fans' reactions on the music show. What I felt during the fan signing event was that people who had previously encountered us with songs of different genres seem to enjoy intense performances, and those who originally like them seem to be satisfied.

-It's a little early, but what's the plan for joining the military.

▶Hong Joong = After the press conference for this album, fans are accepting this album as if it is the last activity before joining the military.(laughs) When called by the state, the duty of national defense must be fulfilled. However, the timing that the members are planning is not right now. Before that, I'm going to show you a lot of things that 8 ATEEZ members can show. Even after joining the army, the team plans to continue its activities without significantly changing its name and scope of activities. Even after being discharged from the military, we will continue to work in our own way with many seniors as role models. We are planning activities this year and next year to make ATEEZ well so that ATINY won't be disappointed.

▶Seonghwa = I think it's natural to join the military. I've been active for seven years without any regrets, and most importantly, I've renewed my contract, so I don't think it'll be a big problem after I'm discharged from the military. However, in the meantime, I think it's our responsibility to make the fans not disappointed.

-I've been working hard so far. Is there anything you want to say to me in the beginning of my debut?

▶ Yunho = I think we are now because we were there. Just do the best you can and work hard. I want to tell you that one day there will be good results'. The memory of the debut is the reason why the members don't lose their original intentions. It seems that the sense of accomplishment is also greater because there were difficulties.

▶San = Even for us at that time, people around us said a lot, "You'll be fine." I just want to keep an eye on you without saying anything. Even if we go back, we'll work just as hard as crazy. We are also curious about our ending, and if it's a boy cartoon, we don't want to teach the main character the ending. I want to tell you to go as you like.

▶Hong Joong = If our success had been guaranteed, we would not have been so desperate since we were trainees. Not only the company, but we love the moment because we have been on stage earnestly every time we know the reality well. I think the fans and the public love that point.

-I can say "ATEEZ succeeded" enough, but I think ATEEZ will have bigger dreams. Is there a dream stage that you haven't tried yet.

▶Jongho = The world of music seems to be endless. When I do music, there are many people who are better than me, so there are places that are higher even if you go to a certain position. I felt like I knew music, but when I opened it, there was an endless world. We are running for the world. I want to try more things and try more things to play ATEEZ's music to many people.

▶Hong Joong =I want to be on the stage at the Grammy Awards and the Super Bowl halftime show. When I was asked to write a dream in the early days of my debut, I tried to write "entering the Billboard Chart," but I hesitated, "Can I write it down?" However, it was also listed on the Billboard chart, and I am looking forward to being able to perform at the Grammy Awards or the Super Bowl halftime show in the near future.

I think I can tell you now, but you think we got paid a lot when we were on the Coachella stage. But I invested more than that in setting up the stage.

▶ Min Gi = Bad Bunny performed a performance in Spanish most of the time at the Super Bowl. I know this is the first time, but I hope there will be a stage that resonates in Korean someday. ▶San = I don't want to set our end and run, I want to be an artist who is looking forward to tomorrow more.

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*This content was translated by AI.