[TRANS] 2013.06.24 eNEWS Interview: ‘Massive Storm’ EXO, The wolves cry “We have a long way to go”.

12 wolves are causing a ruckus on stage. Like roaring wolves, these boys are grabbing the public’s attention with their fierce image and wild charisma. It is the idol group that is split into 2 groups of 6 with one promoting in Korea and the other in China, rising stars EXO.

Last year, SM Entertainment took a risky challenge and released EXO, their first boy group in 4 years, into the music industry. At present, they are promoting their first full-length album title track ‘Wolf’ as one with all 12 members. Promoting as a group after being apart as sub-units, triggered big results only after a year of their debut. They overturned the album sales chart with their 300,000 pre-ordered albums, and won first place on the main musical broadcast shows earning the Triple Crown title. And that’s not all, due to the fans’ overwhelming love and support, their appearance on KBS 2FM ‘Super Junior’s Kiss the Radio’, listeners had explosive responses and massive reactions that even the server went down.

What can EXO’s charm be? eNEWS personally met with the boys and found out that they had a mysterious side to them that we couldn’t help but fall for. Not like typical idols who give out modeled answers, they are wolves who are free-spirited and at the same time have surprising sides to them.

At first glance, they grabbed attention with their amazingly good looks. Adding up to their image is their uncanny ability to keep the conversation flowing with their witty conversation skills, further revealing their charm in the short time we had. At times they seem like playful teenagers full of life and ambition, but they were able also show that they are men who are full of passion in what they do. From their innocent response, “We were able to eat as much meat as we wanted, thanks to our first place win.” to a more serious side “We have a long way to go”, they showed eNEWS the different sides of them.

Winning first place only a year after their debut, it looks like EXO’s future has taken a good turn. Your acceptance speech probably was different from all others. Transparent tears were shed, creating massive discussions, and not long after, a top trending topic.

Suho: Up until the release of the album, the practice time was long and hard but we were rewarded for our hard work and got nominated for the first spot. I was nervous and the other members were in doubt if we could actually win, but when they eventually called up ‘EXO’ for first place, all the events that happened before that moment flashed back. It was like a kaleidoscope in front of my eyes. At that time, I looked at my members and I became teary-eyed. I was so nervous that I didn’t even get to say what I needed to say. I kept saying thanking our parents, President Lee SooMan and my members, over and over again (laughs). I was overwhelmed and it was a very emotional moment that I almost cried, but since I had to deliver the acceptance speech, I tried really hard to hold back the tears (laughs). That probably led the fans to call it transparent tears and it eventually became a huge topic.

What did you do afterwards? We suspect that something special happened after the emotional moment.

Baekhyun: We had practice the next day so we ended up taking pictures, congratulated each other and hung out.

Chanyeol: We ate some really good jjajangmyun (T/N: black bean noodles) and beef (laughs). Our leader Suho hyung pulled out his card saying that he would pay, but because there were about 30 people celebrating with us, our manager hyung paid. Suho hyung ended up buying the drinks though (laughs). I think for our next win, hyung will be the one to treat us.

After winning first place, did President Lee SooMan say anything?

Chen: He sent us his sincere congratulations, and also told us to always be humble even after winning first place.

This year seems to be the year of EXO. Your first full-length album seems to have set a lot of records already.

Suho: We are very thankful that you see it that way. I think that luck is on our side. Our hiatus may be a bit long, but we used that time to work hard on our album. And I think that because of that, we were able to set numerous records.

Lay: We got really attached to the songs and performances in our album, and it seems that the fans showed much love and attention resulting in good results. As soon as news of our comeback was released, great responses came out. And I am really thankful for that.

Xiumin: A week after the release, we held the record for 118,000 albums sold on the Hanteo’s Chart. The listener’s board had over 10,000 posts and the server went down on KBS 2FM ‘Super Junior’s Kiss The Radio’. When we see and hear things like this, we think that the response towards us is indeed warm (laughs).

Kai: Like the hyungs said earlier, we had good luck not only with the Korean fans but also with International fans. There were also a lot of love and response from the Chinese fans, and I think very good results came because of this.

You promoted as sub-units before but all 12 of you have come together to promote your new release. There are probably a lot of advantages but is there any disadvantage whatsoever?

Baekhyun: One advantage is the showmanship that we were able put up together on stage. When we promoted as groups of 6, it was great. But with all 12 members, we are able to show a very tight performance. If I were to pick a drawback, it’s probably when we shower (laughs). There are 5 rooms and only 2 bathrooms, so when we prepare, 2 to 3 people use the bathroom at the same time. This is probably the disadvantage. But even in times like these, we are happy (laughs).

Chanyeol: There are 12 of us in the group, and at times it’s hard for me to choose who to follow (laughs). We even split into two cars and it is an uncomfortable way of living, but while on stage together with all 12 members, we are full of energy and it’s more fun. We always look forward on the next time we’ll stand on stage.

Kai: Because there are 12 members, it’s hard to get through our personal schedules. And when we come together, our lifestyle is bit hard to follow. But thankfully, there a lot more good points upon release of our first album and all 12 members got along a lot better.

We wonder how 16 people share rooms. There are 12 of you plus the 4 managers, how do you manage?

Chanyeol: The manager hyungs determine the rooms. Baekhyun, Tao, Xiumin and myself, the four of us use the biggest room while Luhan, D.O, Sehun use one room. Kai, Chen, and Suho, the three of them share a room. Kris hyung and manager, and Lay hyung and manager share rooms. There are a total of 5 rooms and 2 bathrooms, and like we said earlier when we shower, we shower in groups of 2 to 3 people.

In the title track ‘Wolf’, what kind of charm can we expect from EXO?

Chanyeol: Because it is a wolf concept, our style for this promotion is to act like a wolf. Showing off a strong appearance on stage, but showing a puppy-like side of us off stage is our charm.

Suho: From the moment we first heard our title track, we thought ‘This is the song!”. We first debuted with the song MAMA and grabbed a lot of attention with our magnificent and strong performance. Having our comeback after a year, we were wondering how our next song could show a strong performance only EXO can deliver and we then settled for ‘Wolf’. The song itself is very fresh and it is a song that is performance oriented, so we thought that we could show our own personality through this song.

D.O.: The song is very fresh and the choreography fits very well with it. The song’s genre is something that not a lot of people have done before; we thought that through this, we could show our own personality. And true enough, when we went on stage, the response was great.

Chen: When we sing, our parts are restricted because there are 12 of us. But there are no restrictions in the choreography and through this; we were able to show every member’s fierceness. While watching EXO’s unique choreography, you will be able to see all 12 member’s colors.

What does EXO usually do? Do you have any particular hobbies?

Xiumin: The place we live is very close to the Han River, so we often go for a ride in our bikes or go play basketball. We also like to play soccer and badminton and we also go shopping together at night.

Chen: We like health fitness and exercise but there are times where we just ride bikes and spend fun times. We’re happy whenever we get to spend time together.

Kris: On weekends or when we don’t have tight schedules, we often cook. But lately, we go out to eat or opt for delivery because all 12 members live together.

What are your ideal types?

Chen: I like a person who has beautiful eyes. My ideal type is someone who has clear and very pretty eyes.

Sehun: I like Miranda Kerr. She came to Korea but it was a shame that I wasn’t able to meet her (laughs).

Baekhyun: I like someone who is cute and round, and not too skinny.

Chanyeol: I like someone who shares the same preferences with me. Someone who has the same taste in music, similar ideas of fun and someone I can talk to. Lately, I haven’t been able to talk to a woman so it’s hard to pick out exactly who. But among foreign actresses, Scarlett Johansson is my ideal type.

Kris: My ideal woman is someone who is as beautiful as an angel (laughs).

Xiumin: I believe that love at first sight is not true; I like someone who can understand me.

Suho: I like a girl with long straight hair who loves Literature, someone who has a pure image but has a totally different personality (laughs).

Lay: First, that person should someone nice. Second, a small and pretty face would be good (laughs).

Luhan: For the outside appearance, I like someone who has a long hair, white clear skin and is quiet, but I think that someone I can connect with is the most important.

D.O.: I like a woman who smiles and laughs a lot, someone who is beautiful when she laughs. Among the foreign actresses, Amanda Seyfreid is close to my ideal type.

What are your goals this year?

Kris: This year, receiving a major award would be good (laughs).

Suho: Since we received the rookie award last year, we were able to come up with a better goal. This year, we want recognition bigger than the rookie award, next year a solo concert, and maybe the year after, we want to do an Asian tour. When we see seniors who do world tours it’s amazing, but for now these are the goals we hold.

Chanyeol: And our final goal is to become the icons of Korea and China. We want to work hard so that the expression ‘there is no end’ will fit well with EXO.

Kai: After finishing our promotions with our single ‘MAMA’ we had a long awaited comeback and we missed the stage dearly. Right now we are very happy because the 12 of us are formally promoting as one for the very first time, and it can only get better.

Chen: We want to be acknowledged for working harder than our rookie days, rather than us being recognized for just having a comeback.

(Credits: eNEWS, seoulbeats, Owners of the photos)

Translated by Daniela Lee @ EXOdicted.net

Shared and Edited by Tina 슈퍼 @ EXOdicted.net

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