[INTERVIEW] Jieun and the Wolves - Part 2

Shin Dong-hoon [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10:... And when is it that you decided to form your band?
Oh Ji-eun: We naturally agreed to it after releasing the preview album for "Jieun and the Wolves." To compare it to dating, it would be something like "We've kissed so we're going out now," even if you haven't been asked out.

10: The first half of this album is actually the core to this album. The title track "Burning Heart" does well in describing the subtle emotions a woman feels while dating someone, as shown in the lyrics, "I'm curious whether you really miss me or are just bored." Where did you get the idea for this?
Oh Ji-eun:I sing about others this time, unlike in my solo albums where I sung about myself. I imagined scenarios, as if I was a writer, about a woman who has a hard time when on dates, a magnanimous girl who someday hopes to become important to a man, a woman who thinks of even the pitiful sides to her boyfriend is cute. "Sorry Mister" is actually about my friend who has a crush on a man who is much older than her.

10: But your album starts giving off a lonely and dark vibe as it gets closer to the latter half as seen in songs such as "Well, Frankly" and "Better Without," closer to your style Oh Ji-eun from your solo albums but it's interesting to see that it's not you but your band members that actually made those songs.
Oh Ji-eun: I bet everyone thought 'I guess Oh Ji-eun couldn't take it anymore.' (laugh) But I made the fun songs and these guys made the gloomy ones. Isn't that funny?

Jeong Jung-yeop [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: You had to work with others for this album after having made every decision yourself for your solo album. What was most difficult about it?
Oh Ji-eun: Well you can fire members of your session if you don't like what they do. (laugh) But we had already gotten on the same boat. Having to ask everything to all four of these guys before setting the direction was difficult. I had actually thought I'd have less to do once I started working in a bad but was I wrong!
Park Soon-chul: We needed to make an album in a short time to Jieun tried to split everything five ways but she actually ended up doing more.

10: How did you work on the songs?
Oh Ji-eun: I wrote the lyrics first for the songs in my solo album but there were many more cases where the song would be made first. So depending on the mood of the song, I'd come up with the lyrics while trying to imagine how the girl feels.
Park Soon-chul: Everyone has strong personalities so we'd add our thoughts on after Oh Ji-eun comes up with the big picture. Our album might have ended up coming out next year if we didn't do this. (laugh)

10: So you're saying Oh Ji-eun comes up with the overall outline for the songs but how will she present the guidelines to you then?
Oh Ji-eun: These days I'll say something like, "This is a sad song" and give them the beat for it while before, I gave them an image to associate with the song. For example, I'd say, "You have to produce a tone that makes it seem as if you're inside a deep sea."
Jeong Jung-yeop: Shin Dong-hoon had a really hard time because of that.
Shin Dong-hoon: I learned music extremely competitively at school so I had a lot of different opinions from Oh Ji-eun. It took me a year to adapt to her.
Oh Ji-eun: Well I wasn't a [music] major. Shin Dong-hoon kept asking me the rhythm and tempo of the songs but I kept of providing him with images.
Jeong Jung-yeop: I did a lot of interpreting in between. For example, when Oh Ji-eun says something like, "This song is supposed to seem as if you're somehow floating on clouds," I'd come up with a rhythm for it and tell it to Shin Dong-hoon.
Oh Ji-eun:I kept talking about images only because I wanted to leave space for Shin Dong-hoon to think of the vibe for the song. I also wanted to see how he interprets it. So I purposely...
Shin Dong-hoon: Yeah right!
Oh Ji-eun: No really! You'd be a member of my session if I gave you all the chords.

Park Soon-chul [Chae Ki-won/10Asia]

10: People will start evaluating your album now. Do you think you'll get hurt again if anyone criticizes you sharply?
Oh Ji-eun: I think I'd accept it in a completely different way. My solo album is my diary and this is a novel. I think I'd aceept it in a cool manner since they're evaluating the summary of the novel.

10: Jeong Jung-yeop, what kind of person would you say Oh Ji-eun is, since you've been the longest member here.
Jeong Jung-yeop: She is very easy-going. That's why I sometimes forget that she's a girl... (laugh) We've known each other for four years now that we actually don't have much to say when we meet. Even at cafes, we'll do our own things on each of our own laptops, eat, go drink coffee. And then we'll end it with, "We're done with our coffees... Shall we go?" We're comfortable, as if a couple who has been dating for a long time. We also like to listen to what the other person has to say and are thoughtful counselors who are good at giving advice.

10: She must be good at taking everyone in your band then.
Park Soon-chul: She's like our mom.
Jeong Jung-yeop: But there's no dad. We're all just her kids.
Oh Ji-eun: He may have passed away. (laugh) It's amazing how everyone has so much they all want to do.
Park Soon-chul: We actually aren't sensitive when it comes to hierarchy from age. Oh Ji-eun and Shin Dong-hoon sometimes seem older than me.
Jeong Jung-yeop: No, he's definitely older. (laugh)

Reporter : Lee Ga-on
Photographer : Chae ki-won ten@
Editor : Lee Ji-Hye seven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@