Infiniti
Vogue Girl: Are there still people calling you ‘Infiniti’?
Sunggyu: There are a lot. The name ‘Infinite’ means that we have infinite potential and there’s no limit; that we can develop infinitely—-. (Omit) Our CEO gave us the team’s name, and I think of it as a good thing.
Sungyeol: I feel like adults can think of us when they think of the car.
(V.G: Were all the candidates like, ‘The Big Dipper, G7, Blackberry’, ideas from the company?)
Woohyun: Yes, although we’re ‘2nd album singers [T/N: released their second album]’, our opinions still don’t really get used. Even what we want to eat—-.
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Epik High
V.G: At the time of your debut, Epik High, who is in the same company, said they were going to produce the album and it became a hot topic. Who do you like better between Tablo and Mithra Jin?
(All) Sseura [T/N: Mithra] hyung!
Woohyun: He takes care of us a lot. He buys us a lot of tasty foods, and took us to his house and fed us. But this is like saying ‘between my mom and dad, I like my mom more’. Tablo hyung, I respect you (Laughter). (V.G: Is there anyone who gets favored more?) They act better towards the rappers. To me, they gave ‘no interest’.
Hoya: Because we were backdancers when our seniors were promoting ‘Run’ and since we also had lessons from them.
Dongwoo: I got scolded at first, because my pronunciation was like ‘ooh-ung-ooh-ung’. But they complimented me later, saying that I follow the rhythm uniquely. They gave advice like, ‘to write lyrics well, you need to read a lot of books’, and ‘you need to keep practicing things that remind you of words’.
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89’er Leader
V.G: Does Sunggyu hyung still have the 1-on-1 talks?
Woohyun: Although his 1-on-1 talks were popular during the 1st album, it seemed to disappear during the 2nd album (Laughter).
L: It’s pressured silently
(V.G: Between the 89’er leader and the 90’s dongsaengs, are there any ‘generation differences’ that you feel?)
Sunggyu: I started Twitter later than the others. It hasn’t been a long time since I bought my smartphone.
Woohyun: We can feel a large difference with fitness.
Sunggyu: I get tired quicker than the other members. At first, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do the ‘scorpion dance’ in ‘BTD’. I ended up learning it the fastest.
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Theory of Looking Better in Person
V.G: Fans say that Infinite looks much better in person.
Woohyun: After seeing us in person, which member looks the most different on screen? (V.G: Sungjong-sshi looks more manlier than I thought. And his hands are large.)
Sungjong: Many people told me I look really different. Would you like to hold my hand once? (Due to this, I was able to shake hands with him.) (V.G: Oh. It’s really a man’s hand. Is there anyone that feels sad about how they look on the screen?)
Dongwoo: What I feel sad about is, I think I have my eyes opened wide and bright but in pictures, I have bleary eyes.
Woohyun: I think my eyes come out too small.
Sungyeol: My cheeks aren’t that chubby but when I see the broadcast, I look like a bulldog.
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Doppelganger
V.G: Shall we clean up Infinite’s ‘problem’ doppelganger list?
Sungyeol: Heo Kyunghwan senior, Park Haejin senior, Se7en senior, and I really don’t think I look similar to Yoo Ahin senior.
Sungjong: I don’t think I look similar to Song Haegyo senior anymore. Michael Jackson? Since I sort of have a square jawline.
Sungyeol: He looks similar to Jang Jaein senior also.
Hoya: In the netizens’ comments, there was Jo Moongeun too.
Sungjong: There was only one like that!
Sunggyu: I can’t say mine. I was hurt too much from it.
Hoya: A couple of fans said that I look like Joo Geolryoon.
L: They said I looked like Kim Bum senior before my debut. Nowadays they say I look like the Japanese actor (Hongo Kanata), who was in a drama with Hero Jaejoong senior.
Dongwoo: I don’t have any person that I look similar to, it’s more around the animal area like: dinosaurs, donkeys, horses.
Woohyun: You hear that you look like Jim Carrey a lot lately. I’ve heard that I look like Daesung senior, Baek Sunghyun senior, and Yoon Siyoon senior—-. (V.G: Why did you take out Hyunbin-sshi?) Ah, there were about 1,400 comments on the doppelganger article, but 1,390 of them were ‘Where do they look alike?’.
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‘Look’ Ranking
V.G: Is there anyone that disagrees with L’s looks?
Sunggyu: When we were trainees, the company said that the ‘center’ spot would always be for L. The others didn’t have a spot picked.
Hoya: Protecting only the good-looking one (Laughter).
(V.G: Which member is after L?)
Woohyun: I think Sungyeol is good looking.
Sunggyu: Woohyun is getting more popular day by day.
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Past Hair
V.G: I think Woohyun’s predebut ‘long hair’ was a problem (Laughter)?
Woohyun: I kept saying that short hair suited me the best, but in the end, the company made me get that hair.
Sunggyu: He grew it out for 2 years, so it was longer than mine. And he had this tacky orange color too—-.
Hoya: But they experimented with hairstyles on me more. Since I was in charge of the rapping and choreography, they told me to get dreadlocks. And along with having the dreads, they told me I had to wear a hairband. So I looked like So Jisub senior when he was in, ‘I’m Sorry, I Love You’. To save money, I did it at a cheap place and my scalp ended up hurting so much, that I couldn’t even lay down. I couldn’t sleep well for two months.
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Exposure Problem
V.G: Do any of you plan to expose yourselves [T/N: body-wise] for the image change?
Sunggyu: (Pointing to Sungjong) We can’t do it because of him.
Sungjong: Why, why? Only I don’t have to take off my clothes then.
Sunggyu: Truthfully, Sungjong is too skinny. And Sungyeol’s stomach fat was slightly exposed awhile ago, and it became a hot topic as ‘baby stomach fat’. (Laughter)
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Plain Clothes’ Standards
V.G: Is there an item that you want to throw out from the members’ clothes?
Sungyeol: I heard something our fans said. “I want to rip those clothes.”
Woohyun: Sungyeol is the sunflower type [T/N: Only looks at one thing]. He only cherishes one of his clothes.
L: If I’m stuck on one thing, I only buy that. So I have a lot of shirts.
Hoya: He has over ten checkered shirts. The problem is that, he buys them and doesn’t wear them. (Laughter)
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Humor
V.G: Is there a humor ranking between the members?
Woohyun: It depends on the condition. I just say a bunch of comments. (V.G: Do you only have MC Mong, Ha Donggyun, and Ahn Sungki impressions as your special talent?) Ah, I recently created one. Heo Kyungyoung ahjusshi! Shall I try it? ‘Stare into my eyes and you become taller. Stare into my eyes and you become prettier, (stands up and even holds up one of his legs) It’s floating, it’s floating!’
Sunggyu: Dongwoo, for instance, is normally really fun, but he becomes serious when we go onto shows.
Woohyun: Hoya is the nation’s representative for things that aren’t put on broadcast.
Hoya: It’s a gag that seems like it’ll fit Kim Gura senior if he does it.
(V.G: L doesn’t usually talk a lot, but when he says something, the impact is really strong.)
L: Since all the members answer the questions well, I can just stay silent—-.
Hoya: Because he’s good looking!
L: If I stay silent, it helps our team. (V.G: It seems like you’re a really unexpected character/image.)
Woohyun: When we get interviewed by reporters, they sometimes get mad because of him.
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Already the 2nd Album
V.G: Which parts do you think you ‘evolved’ from the 1st mini album, ‘First Invasion’, to the 2nd mini album, ‘Evolution’?
Sunggyu: To start it off, our vocals became more mature. Since the two rappers wrote their own raps, I think the lyrics are more familiar. If our 1st album had a cheerful and light mood, the 2nd album has a dark and masculine mood.
Dongwoo: When I was writing the lyrics, the lyricist hyung told me the overall feeling was a manly, but soft and not rough feeling. I wrote lyrics of, ‘Stars and the night are coming, only covered by other stars. The moon always stay there I’ll always be here for you, want you’, for Can U Smile. It’s to show the frustration I have towards the girl who told me I changed, even though I stayed in the same place and didn’t change at all. Although I wrote it, I think it’s really good.
Woohyun: We definitely became more used to lives than during our 1st album. BTD is the acronym for ‘Before The Dawn’. ‘To catch you before the sun disappears’, so we have to act more manlier (Laughter).
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Popularity in Foreign Countries
V.G: Looks like you have your first foreign showcase in Japan. Which member do you think will have more popularity in foreign countries than in Korea?
Sungjong: I think Sunggyu hyung and Hoya hyung will have a lot of popularity in Japan. Dongwoo hyung too.
Woohyun: Sungyeol. Since Japanese people like tall people. And since L is just normally good looking. Only I don’t have! I can’t find a banner with my name on it!
magazine scans; murisu
trans. cr: hyejin @ infinite updates ; take out with full credits ♥
Voice of INFINITE ♥ 