Rookie Interview: How is he? ① T1419 "Beyond the Korean-Japanese language barrier...The secret to teamwork is family meetings"

Released March 9, 2021 9:55AM

Reporter Hee-yeon Jung

★ Not just stars that I know, but stars that I liked first! Donga.com's ambitious "How about this one?" is an interview that digs into the charms of new artists and introduces them. If you don't recognize their names and faces, of course you do~! But it's good to get to know them in advance, because they will grow into huge stars in the future.★

**◆ Star self-introduction ◆**

1. Group name: T1419 (T-ILSILGU)

2. Debut date: 2021.01.11

3. Members: Noa (leader), Sian, Kevin, Gunwoo, Leo, ON, Zero, Kairi, Kio

4. Agency : MLD Entertainment

5. Album : 1st Single [BEFORE SUNRISE Part. 1]

6. Ipduk Point

Noa: A versatile all-rounder who can be a leader, main rapper, and lyricist

Sian: A charming voice that melts hearts

Kevin: Sweet voice and small face

Leo: The brain of T1419 who has conquered three languages, English, Japanese, and Korean

Gunwoo: Powerful rapping that contradicts his cute appearance

ON: The self-proclaimed representative visual of T1419

Zero: A shy, reverse charmer with a cold exterior

Kairi: A killer smile that disarms you

Kio: The cutest youngest member who always wants to be a gentleman

**Q. Congratulations on your debut. It's been about a month and a half since your debut (as of the date of this interview). I heard that this is your first interview, so let's hear from all nine members.**

ON: I still feel fresh and unbelievable, and I feel like I've gotten more stimulation in the time since our debut than I did in the years I was a trainee, and I've been able to grow a lot in terms of skill compared to that time. I feel like, 'I need to keep working hard.

Kio: I still can't believe it when I watch your YouTube videos.

Sian: I think I'm just getting used to it now. I'm proud of how much I've improved, and I want to do better. I want to be a singer that my fans can be proud of, so even if it's just a 'video call' fan signing, I'm happy to see them and feel like a real idol.

Kairi: It still doesn't feel real that I came to Korea and made my debut and became an entertainer, but I fulfilled my dreams since I was a little girl, so I do it every day. I want to improve my skills a lot, so I will continue to work hard.

Gunwoo: When I was a trainee, I watched my seniors' performances and thought, "I want to be an idol like that." When I did it myself, it was harder than I thought, but I adapted to it little by little and was happy to see that the fans liked it. As Xian said, it's great to be able to communicate with the fans, like at the 'Youngtong' fansigning, and it made me want to do better and show more of who I am.

Kevin: It seems like just yesterday that we did the showcase, but it's already been so long. I think I'm still adjusting to it, it doesn't feel real.

Noa: I feel like I'm getting a lot of attention and love even though I'm a rookie, so it's a new experience every time. I'm learning every day. I'm like, "I'm glad I chose this path." I'm having fun, and I want to stay active.

Leo: I feel like time is going by really fast, it's weird, and it's fun to interact with fans even though it's not face-to-face.

Zero: I still can't believe it. In the first week of our debut, it was difficult and hard because there were many things I didn't know about broadcasting music, but the more I did it, the more I learned and improved my skills. It was a good experience, and I'm happy to spend time interacting with fans.

**Q. You must have been excited to debut, but also worried because you debuted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and you had to communicate with your fans non-face-to-face.**

Noa: We communicate with our fans through 'Youngtong', but at first it was a bit overwhelming. I think we got used to it the more we did it.

Sian: You have to talk to them in the shortest amount of time possible, but the environment is inferior to face-to-face. I'm very grateful for the encouraging words and good words from our fans, and I've gotten used to their faces.

**Q. I remember your debut stage, what was it like?**

Gunwoo: I wasn't nervous until right before I went on stage, but the moment I started, I felt nervous. It didn't flow like I practiced, and I think I was 'over-tense'. So I was very disappointed when I came down from the first stage. I thought, 'I want to show more', so I kept thinking and studying every stage.

Leo: I was also so nervous that I went up on stage shaking, and I don't think I had any thoughts when I came down. Even when I came back to the waiting room, I was so nervous that I thought, 'Did I just perform?

Sian: I'm naturally nervous, and I'm still nervous during interviews, but I think I was even more nervous before our debut stage. I felt even more pressure and nervous while watching the pre-recordings of our seniors' stages, and when I saw the set that was prepared for us, I thought a lot about 'we have to make a stage that lives up to it'.

Kevin: I was very curious about how we looked in the mirror in the practice room and how we would look on stage. When we finally went on stage, I was out of breath and frazzled, but when I came down, my hair was even whiter. I thought it was a good thing that we didn't have any major accidents because we prepared so hard.

ON: I wasn't nervous, it was a big stage, a debut stage, but I think I did what I was used to doing, what I had practiced, and I finished the stage well without making any major mistakes. When it was over, I felt a sense of pride that I had finished well, and a sense of excitement that it was just the beginning. It was a scary and strange feeling in many ways.

**Q. You're a multinational group of five Koreans (Noa, Sian, Kevin, Gunwoo, and ON) and four Japanese (Leo, Zero, Kairi, and Kio). I'm sure there were challenges with the language barrier in the beginning.**

Noa: At first, we didn't speak each other's language, so we used a lot of body language, but now that we've been taking Japanese and Korean lessons and learning the language, we're able to communicate well. Of the Koreans, ON is the best at Japanese, and of the Japanese members, Leo is the best at Korean. Leo is like a Korean with Japanese as his specialty.

Leo: I've been learning Korean for about a year, and I think I'm learning it fast because I have to communicate somehow, and I have to live, so I think I'm learning it fast. Haha. It was very frustrating when I couldn't, and the most frustrating time was when we were talking and there was a misunderstanding, and we couldn't solve it and moved on.

Noa: We talk to each other a lot. Since we were trainees, we had family meetings once a week to discuss each other's complaints, improvements, and cleaning assignments. Nowadays, we don't do it regularly because of our schedules, but we always do it when we have time or when a friend asks for it. I think it's necessary.

Continue to Interview #2