‘K-Pop Will Be A Cultural Movement'

The South Korean group discuss the intricacies of leading a new Hallyu wave and the decision to directly involve fans in their album release process

- Riddhi Chakraborty

It’s a rainy night in Seoul when I meet ATEEZ for the second time. The first time we met in person was in April, backstage at their brother group Block B Bastarz’ show, and way too rushed for all of our tastes. We’d mostly just ended up staring at each other in excited disbelief for five minutes before they had to leave. “I’m so sorry we didn’t get a picture the last time,” the group’s leader Hongjoong tells me when they arrive. “We’ll definitely take one today!” And we do.

They’ve had a long day of broadcast shows and interviews but they set aside time for me at 9:30 pm. Despite it all, they’re happy to see me and are happy that we have a lot more time to catch up. In the space since we’ve last seen each other, Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Mingi, Yeosang, Wooyoung, San, Yunho and Jongho have finished two successful tours through the U.S. and Europe and dropped their third EP Treasure EP.3: One to All which they’re currently in the middle of promoting. I tell them I saw them perform live at music broadcast program M Countdown a few days ago and Hongjoong’s eyes go wide. “I knew I saw you in front!” he recalls, stunned. “You were cheering for us!” Indeed I was. (A few days after I leave Korea, they’ll go on to secure their first music program broadcast award at M Countdown, and a second one at The Show right after. But of course none of us knew that just yet.)

Hanging out with ATEEZ always means a lot of laughter, clapping and loud exclamations. They very kindly volunteer to teach me how to hit ‘The Woah’ and then have several questions about India (“Are there really a lot of ATINY there?”).