*NOTE: This interview was held before they joined YG.
TenAsia met with Akdong Musician who were about to get on a plane to Mongolia for a brief break following the talent show’s four month-long run.
10ASIA: How have you been since winning “K-pop Star 2”?
Chanhyuk: I’m writing a song that I haven’t finished yet. I’m trying to include what Soohyun and I are going through right now into the tune.
10ASIA: What made you cry a river when the winner was announced?
Chanhyuk: I didn’t know that we’re going to win because we had not aimed to win the contest. Even now, it’s only when someone asks me “Did you win the contest?” that I finally wonder, “Oh, how did we do it?” It’s after we won the contest that I’ve actually come to have real dreams about singing.
Soohyun: I had close friends in Mongolia but none to share my feelings with. I’d become very close with the other contestants since we lived together so I felt sad every time somebody got eliminated.
10ASIA: What’s the biggest difference after being part of “K-pop Star 2”?
Chanhyuk: That I wear glasses now?
Soohyun: It’s so good that people give us discounts at restaurants.
10ASIA: Soohyun, you said you want to buy shoes with your prize money.
Soohyun: I actually haven’t received the prize money yet. I don’t know what I would do with it because I didn’t expect to receive such a huge amount. The show’s chief producer Nam Seung-yong gave me shoes so I’m considering doing something else. I want to buy some clothes. (laugh)
10ASIA: So you go back to Mongolia in a few days.
Chanhyuk: We’re not going to stay there for long, it’s only to take some rest. I’m going to write some songs and recharge myself to show a better me when I’m back in Korea.
10ASIA: Which song do you feel most attached among the songs you’ve introduced till now?
Chanhyuk: It’s “Don’t Cross Your Legs.” Although the song brought us where we are now, we didn’t expect people to like it because I made it just for fun.
10ASIA: When was the most critical moment for you during the contest?
Chanhyuk: It’s when we sang our self-written tunes “Optical Illusion” [translated title] and G-Dragon’s “One Of A Kind.” We were both flustered by the harsh reviews.
Soohyun: I was surprised that Bang Yedam did much better than I thought he would with Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”
10ASIA: What is the most memorable comment from the judging panel?
Chanhyuk: I remember when judge Yang Hyunsuk, the C.E.O of YG Entertainment, compared our song to ‘a picture painted by children who raise sweet potatoes in countryside.’
Soohyun: I didn’t get it. (laugh)
10ASIA: Who acted as your mentors during the contest?
Chanhyuk: Our fellow contestants in the final top 10. We could relate to each other so much and we have so many memories of laughing and crying together. We once said that this experience may be tough now but that it would be a precious and blessed memory later, and I really don’t remember the tough parts anymore. It hasn’t been a long while but I miss those times already.
Soohyun: My roommate Choi Yegeun. I cried in front of her in our room when I had a hard time on the show.
Source & Translated by: 10ASIA