ELLE Japon Interview

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The era of NEW BANG

Welcome back after 4 years!


The coming of a new BIGBANG

After a very long 4 years, BIGBANG has released the album Japan has been yearning for - the “MADE SERIES” album.

ELLE was able to arrange a special seating with them while they were in Japan on a tour of magnificent proportions.

We look at how they’ve evolved since their solo activities, their present state, and talk about their passionate feelings about the new album.

G-DRAGON

A showy charisma at concerts and in fashion

G-Dragon moves freely in front of the camera, while still perfectly controlling the way he shows himself.

“BIGBANG has been active for so long that I don’t really feel there’s gap between my daily life and performances. I’m just naturally enjoying everything.”

SOL

His appealing personality is both serious and unrestrained

The figures of SOL catching the wind in his satin jacket, and also of him standing up straight are both beautifully picturesque.

“I used to be a sore loser, and think only of myself, but recently I think I’ve matured and broadened my horizons.”

It is perhaps within this perspective that his seriousness and carefree attitude can coexist.

V.I

The dependable, Japanese-speaking maknae

V.I has the best Japanese skills out of all the members. During the photo-shoot, he actively communicated with our staff.

“At concerts, I feel really happy when I can see everyone getting excited. I sing and dance and it’s like we’re always at a party!”

D-LITE

Overflowing with a healing aura, and an angelic smile

D-Lite enters the studio with his trademark healing aura and angelic smile. But when the camera started flashing he suddenly shows us a cool expression.

“Even if we are really busy, if I think about our fans’ faces I feel okay. They are a huge source of energy to me.”

T.O.P

The deep-voiced rapper is also a thriving actor.

As expected of a successful actor, TOP produced a wealth of facial expressions during the photo shoot.

“I think if an actor can’t produce at least 10 faces at any given time, he won’t be able to entertain anyone.”

He says this as, while playing with sunglasses in hand, he changes his facial expression for every single shot.

MOVING FORWARD

Reaching maturation, and moving forward
What promise did these 5 men exchange?

Revelling in the title of the Pride of Asia, monster group BIGBANG are thriving globally. While obviously evolving through every performance, in recent years they have brought attention to themselves as innovative influencers of fashion. Now at their climax, what do they see for themselves going forward?

Since their major Japanese debut in 2009, BIGBANG have exploded, gathering addicts and racking up huge numbers of records with “first foreign artist to -“ attached to the name. This year, the monster group representing Asia continues their forward march. As part of their world tour, they carried out the “BIGBANG WORLD TOUR 2015-2016 [MADE IN JAPAN]” tour, which not only was a record for them as the first foreign artist to complete 3 consecutive dome tours, but which also drew a record 910,000 fans. Their new Japanese album, titled “MADE SERIES”, released to coincide with the tour, is now sweeping the charts.

5 men who have no limits precisely because they have no plan for the future

“We have matured both as individuals and as a group, through our ages and life experience, and this album expresses all of that. We used to sing about more personal stuff, but this time we used sentences that were easy to understand, and aimed for lyrics that were easier for more people to sympathise with. I think this time we didn’t just use pretty words, but we sincerely used them to portray reality.” - G-Dragon

“It’s the first time in a long time that Japanese versions of the songs are also included. We are so touched by fans quickly learning the Korean lyrics as soon as a new song comes out, but I feel really happy when we can all get excited and sing together in Japanese at concerts.” - V.I

The oldest, TOP, says “Our appeal is that all five members have very different personalities. We’re all over the place (laughs). When we write new songs or talk about our concert plans, we have really broad-minded people, and very detail-oriented people, so I think there’s a good balance.” When he speaks, one can see how, when these five stars join hands, an unimaginable chemical reaction can occur.

“All our personalities are very different, but when we’re on stage our chemistry is unrivalled. When our fans see that, I think they want to support us.” - SOL

With the release of their new album, they once again have a new beginning. What is the picture of the future reflected in their eyes?

“I’m sure we’ve said it on stage before, but once this is no longer fun, we’ll quit. That’s the promise the 5 of us have always made to each other. In the future, the genre of music we like may change, but as long as we’re still enjoying it, it’s okay. Besides that, we haven’t decided anything about the future. But precisely because we haven’t decided anything, we have no limits. That’s what BIGBANG is all about.” - D-LITE


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