BigBangGD&TOP Interview With 10Asia - Part 1
Expressing yourself through music is not a thing that anyone could do. And to learn and grow from the process of creating music is not an easy thing either. GD&TOP are the kind of musicians who can do both of it. They both are so focused throughout the interview and they speak about their thoughts and their music a lot.
10. You’re spending Christmas doing activities together, how do you feel?TOP: We feel sorry for each other. (Smiled)
10. And on top of all you still have to do this interview, I’m sorry (Smiled). Your activity has started for a week now, how’s the response?GD: We have to admit we’ve been resting for a while now (Smiled). We got great response but seem like because we’re not doing the activity as the whole Bigbang the feeling is kind of different from what we used to get. So we’re thinking about what we should do to get people’s attention. If it’s necessary we’re going to gain attention through reality programs and we have to make people to see our stage.
TOP: I still don’t know until know. This album is just got out yesterday and because it’s been selling pretty well I feel great. But to feel the real response I think I should wait and see a little longer.
10. After a long time you finally got back to the stage, how do you feel? And also it’s your first time performing as two.GD: We got really nervous for the first stage, but after that the pressure has been lessening a lot and it’s a lot more fun now. We got tired from three or four consecutive filming before too, but in the end it’s always the nicest cuts that came out. Because it’s our first show so we came with preparation, but our planned part didn’t come out, but when we almost gave up and doing anything we want, that part came out really good in the end. So we’re maintaining that kind of condition and always make the mood goes up before we get out into the stage.
10. It’s exactly a ‘High High’ situation then. (Smiled)TOP: Yes. We also have some chit chat with the dance team, we want people to feel comfortable with our dancers, and we want our team to feel free and comfortable too.
GD: Because we’re an idol we have arranged dance moves and there’s a lot of situation where we have matching clothes too. But Bigbang have tried to make a more natural stage because we want public to think that ‘although they’re an idol but they can show their own color too’. Because rather than showing the same choreo all the times showing a different side of us is more fun.
10. But Bigbang have showed some well-made choreo, right? But you two really nailed the playful atmosphere.GD: Seems like Bigbang’s biggest strength point is the fact that we’re one team but we clearly have our own colors. I think that although we’re in one team but if we combine all of the members we can get a whole lot different synergy. We want to show you this combination. And when we’re on a show, rather than paying attention to the cameras we’re giving it all out to raise the mood on the stage because we want to interact with the viewers. I think to make people feel happy because they’ve come to the show or to make them feel bored and choose to leave the show, these things are up to the singer itself. So I want to make it as fun as possible so the viewers at home can jump along as well.
10. Seems like that happened on your first stage at MAMA. You have no preparation for that stage but you two have managed to put up a great show.GD: We really don’t have any preparations at that time (laughs). There were no special equipments and there were no fireworks.
TOP: But we still the members of Bigbang that have lasted for five years and we have our experiences from that times so half joking half serious I said, “Ya, this time let’s just use our experiences” (laughs)
10. Were that experiences really works? (laughs)GD: Because that show was held in Macao so we wanted to give a strong first impression to people who don’t know us. We have to move a lot in the stage, we have show that we’re different, we want to change that kind of manner. Although there were nothing and I stand alone in the stage I want to show my existence to the people out there. On a situation where we didn’t have any preparations at all I only said, “Let’s just kill them all,” (laughs). There is no way people couldn’t feel it. Even at that time our CEO also sent a lot of pressuring messages…
10. Pressure? (laughs)GD: “I will scold all of you if you can’t do well on the stage” that was he said. So we got no other choice but to do it right. (laughs)
10. The CEO really puts you in a corner (laughs). But although he pushed you, don’t you always have that thoughts everytime you performed?GD: I think it’s because of the sense of ownership. Just like in music shows, in one show with about one hour duration there were about 30 teams that will come out, and each team only have around 3 minutes of airtime. So when you get out to the stage you should think that the stage is yours. Because when it ends the owner of the stage will also changed. The owner can do anything he wants in his own house, can’t they? So no matter how much people out there is, because I’m the stage owner right now I can do everything comfortably, and seems like people is getting immersed into the owner’s pov too. I think that’s why I can do a performance with a lot of confidence.
10. Seems like that sense of ownership is showing off in your album too. It looks like the first six songs in this album have their own stories. You introduced yourself with ‘Intro’, then you performed ‘High High’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ excitingly on the stage, but then you said ‘Don’t Go Home’ to the females after you got down from the stage. (laughs)GD: We all are like that. The album’s flow is important for YG, especially Bigbang. Because an album is one unit of art there should be a natural flow in it. So we start off with exciting songs, then when it starts to get low we bring up the mood once again with ‘Knock Out’ and after that we’re showing our own solo songs’ color. We pay attention with this kind of parts a lot everytime.
TOP: For our solo songs case, those have been recorded since a long time ago. We decided to put those songs inside this album later, after we received this album project. For my solo songs case, It’s one of the songs I have been doing since I were filming <IRIS> and <Into The Gunfire>.
10. You have to create consistent mood flow from those solo songs and the ones you two made together. How did you decide which way this album will go?TOP: It’s instinctual. What should we do this time, isn’t it supposed to be like this, while discussing we stay up all night writing lyrics and record it also. Before GD did his part while I did mine then we put it up together to be edited but this time we give each other advice about what’s better and we also got some help from the other musicians too. If you look at it, isn’t this an instinctual product of YG? (laughs)
GD: Actually it happened because of our own mix up. Before we make this album we’ve been doing on Bigbang’s album, since it’s a comeback after a long hiatus we want to try everything. Me and TOP tried our own combination, Taeyang Daesung and Seungri also have theirs, me and Daesung have it too. Seungri and Taeyang also have theirs.
10. The other combinations sounds interesting too.GD: But the rest of the members were so busy. (smiled) They’ve been doing solo activities or reality show. But two of us got more spare time so the songs we composed together were slightly more than the others. (laughs) But at this moment, since there are many songs that left undone, our CEO suggested that we should try various things for Bigbang musically, and instead of showing combinations like that we should release an album that showing the whole five members’ harmony. Seungri’s solo song that will be released was initially made to be putted in to Bigbang’s album but then it released for his solo, and so our songs were made into this album too.
10. So if it’s a ‘coincidental’ result, how do you make those music then? Looking at the melodies and sounds just like ‘Baby Good Night’ I think both of you have different interpretation.GD: I made that song when I was in Kush’s house, now he changed his name into E.knock. I was there thoughtlessly and suddenly he said “do you want to try making this kind of song?” and he let me hear one of his arranging. Right after I hear it I make the song right there on the spot (laughs). I hummed the melody while hearing the sound but only up to the “baby good night” part, from that part TOP make his own part and I continue with the song, and that’s why we have this kind of song in our album.
TOP: That song was the first song that get done in this album. GD was also doing Bigbang’s album at that time, after I finished with <Into The Gunfire> filming we start to compose things together and we started with that song. And because the result is satisfying we start to work together more after that. And we also have ‘Don’t Go Home’ done after that. That’s why we think isn’t ‘Baby Good Night’ is a perfect song to start this album with.
GD: We decided the song’s theme first. If we have a lover what kind of song that we will sing for her. We wrote the lyrics and composing the song while imagining we’re looking at our sleeping lovers and caressing their heads. And we also wanted to make a song that is really sexy. We wanted people to use our song when they want to build up the mood with their lover. (laughs)
10. Then is that also the reason for putting in French narration into ‘Baby Good Night’?GD: We also have many narrations in Bigbang’s album. Fans might like it if I do the narration but I think it’ll be boring. (laughs) And also I want to give a more movie-ish feeling through this male and female dialogue. We also wanted to use a language that fits nicely with the sound.
10. You mean the pronunciation that fits with the sound? Seems like rather than clear pronunciation GD prefers something that mixed well with the sound’s ‘personality’?GD: I’ve been receiving many critics towards things like pronunciation whatsoever but apart from that, rather than fixing it I think of several ways. I do think that there’s a point that people will be anxious about, but there are times where you can’t translate that ‘special’ feel from foreign language into Korean because it’ll feel weird. It’s different from dubbing a film. I wanted to have something that is different from hangeul’s intonation. For example like rolling the pronunciation of ‘binggeul binggeul’ longer in ‘Knock Out’. We think of our voices as the main instrument. So that’s why I pay attention much on giving big effect in every word.
10. So that’s why I felt like GD’s voice showing its own effects in this album.GD: Yes I’m the type that using this kind of things a lot. It gives you a feel like it’s an instrument, and it took a lot of effort to produce the instrumental-like sounds through the mouth.
10. And from all the songs you’ve been released until now, seems like TOP’s pronunciation in this album is the most clearer. It’s really different from GD.TOP: I didn’t do it on purpose, I just saying it according to the feel, but I changed the vocalization. Because people listen to Bigbang’s songs a lot, so I did that to make every word sounded clear and heard as if we really talking in their ears.
Cr: BigBangVIP
