Ever since coming onto the scene in 2020, K-Pop group P1Harmony has been on a one-way trip straight to the top with sold-out tours in both Korea and the United States, a handful of albums under their belt such as Disharmony: Stand Out and Disharmony: Break Out, and the monumental full-length movie which began their entire journey, P1H: The Beginning of a New World. And if that’s not impressive enough, the fact that the age range of the group’s members is only between 17-21 years old just goes to show the pure and unwavering talent P1Harmony has to share with the world.
2022 has easily been their busiest year yet, with the final chapter of Disharmony closing with the release of Disharmony: Find Out in January, finishing up their US tour in May, and the new album era coming to fruition with Harmony: Zero In. This new album era promises plenty of excitement with themes of fully embracing one’s own uniqueness as expressed in the latest music video for the single “Doom Du Doom.” The music video captures the group playing various Olympic-style sports with a modern twist such as choreographed boxing and playing baseball with guitar, channeling their own “rhythm.”
Hopping off the stage of KCON 2022 in Los Angeles, P1Harmony members Keeho, Theo, Juing, Soul, Intak, and Jongseob sat down at The Exchange Restaurant in Downtown LA to talk about their new album, Harmony: Zero In, the challenges they faced while filming the “Doom Du Doom” music video, and the places around the world they hope to perform in the future.
In the video, from left to right, the members are Theo, Jongseob, Jiung, Soul, Keeho, and Intak.
mxdwn: First off, how are y’all doing and where are you currently in the world?
Keeho: We’re doing good. Last time we talked we were in Korea, but now we are in LA.
mxdwn: How was performing at KCON and being able to play the new songs from Harmony: Zero In?
Jiung: It was awesome. It’s the biggest stage that we performed. And we are so excited. They were shouting. Everything was great!
mxdwn: Speaking of KCON, what do you think is the significance of a convention dedicated to K-pop music in an entirely different country? What is the difference between performing in the US and Korea?
Keeho asking the group, Theo responding in Korean.
Keeho: Theo said, “In Korea, a lot of our fans remember the fan chants.” These fan chants are for our fans to sing along and copy, and do while we perform. But in America, everyone’s just dancing and screaming. It’s not really organized where everyone is chanting the same thing. Everyone’s going crazy and having fun. That’s the difference in energy. But it’s great both ways.
mxdwn: Now that the new album, Harmony: Zero In has been out for a few weeks now, how has the reception of the new songs been amongst fans with this new direction and sound you’ve been embracing?
Keeho asking the group, Jongseob responding.
Keeho: Jongseob said, “The song itself is a little more friendly with the general public, sonically. It’s a lot catchier.” Fans can just listen to it and be like, “Hey! Doom du Doom.” They got it quickly. The general public is showing a lot of love and showing a lot of interest in it. Good success on the album.
mxdwn: The new Harmony album era encourages freedom of expression, and embracing one’s individuality. How do you each embrace your own individuality, and how have you been seeing fans embrace this message as well?
Keeho asking the group, Intak responding.
Keeho: Intak says, personally, the way that he expresses his individuality is through his lyrics. And he feels like he expresses himself and talks about what he wants to in his lyrics. And he hopes that the fans that are listening as well can find a way to express themselves however they want to express themselves. For Intak it’s through his lyrics. For anyone else, just be able to put yourself out there and be able to say what you want to say. It doesn’t matter if it’s physically, or words, or art, or anything. Just be able to express yourself in any sort of form.
mxdwn: The music video for “Doom Du Doom” was filmed out in LA and captures a handful of Olympic sports with a unique twist. What were some of the challenges you faced while working on the music video? Were there any scenes that were difficult to shoot?
Keeho asking the group, Theo responding.
Keeho: Theo said that the sun was so bright when we were shooting. And there’s a scene where we’re on a rooftop where Jiung does like (imitates golfing swing) the golfing with the grenade ball. That day was so sunny that none of us were able to keep our eyes open on that rooftop. Like we were all squinting and they were like, “we have to go into shoot.” And everyone’s just pulling it together trying to keep our eyes open but we can’t keep our eyes open. That was very difficult. I think we can all relate to that. It was just not a good time. We could not open our eyes.
And for me personally, it also has to do with the sun. We put on sunscreen everywhere like when we’re wearing t-shirts and stuff like that. But we all got so sunburnt by the third day. We shot for three days in total. And the last day, literally Theo’s arms, you know how when you get a sunburn your hand mark stays on your arm? That red. We were all very sunburnt and just scorched from the sun. But I feel like it was very fun to shoot because when the sun’s out, the weather looks beautiful.
mxdwn: Would you say that’s the main difference between shooting a music video in LA and Korea?
Keeho asking the group.
Jiung: I think the details. Like little ingredients. Little cups. [Things] we can use in our life. Details make big difference.
Keeho: Yeah, I definitely think because culturally it’s so different. So like Jiung said that the cups that are used in America, or the tables, the walls, the paintings, things you can’t see in Korea. Or you can, but it’s not as often as you can see. So the small differences go a long way. And I feel like when we’re in LA, shooting out in America, we usually don’t use sets. We just shoot outside or like in this natural environment. But in Korea we shoot in indoor sets or we make all our setups. So I think that’s very different as well.
mxdwn: Is there anything you’re doing out in LA that is more relaxing and fun, or are you guys just out there to work?
Keeho asking the group.
Jiung: Busy life. (Laughs)
Keeho: Yeah, we’re working. They’re working us crazy. Write that down. (Looks around the room) They’re working us crazy! (Laughs)
mxdwn: It’s been a lot of fun seeing you guys do all the music videos and performances. It’s definitely a lot for us, so we very much enjoy it.
Keeho: Yeah, we’re having fun. We love LA. It’s very comfortable and just chill for us being here. Even just being here is kind of a vacation.
mxdwn: The last time we talked, you hinted that the new Harmony era may also be a trilogy like the Disharmony albums. Is this still happening, and what can we expect to hear from the second part?
Keeho asking the group, Jongseob responding.
Keeho: So Jongseob said, “Like the Disharmony series, definitely the Harmony series is going to continue.” And in Harmony: Zero In, we talked about just doing whatever you want, saying the things you want to say. And just creating this world for ourselves. The second album is going to be a little more explicit on how we’re going to make this new Harmony. That’s how we’re going to go about it. What type of variable, what aspect, what’s more personable with people? And what type of music? And just how we’re going to create this new Harmony. I feel like it’s going to be a little more in detail and a little bit more explicit in the upcoming albums. So our fans can look forward to that.
mxdwn: The future of P1Harmony obviously holds plenty more success as your reach continues to grow all around the world, and you mentioned that you hope to play bigger venues and more places. Do you have any bucket list venues and cities you wish to perform? And what other artistic ventures do you hope to pursue in the future?
Keeho asking the group.
Jiung: I want to go to New Zealand and Nashville. Nashville hot chicken.
Keeho: I feel like Madison Square Garden is, once you perform Madison Square Garden, it’s like, “Oh, you’ve made it.”
Jongseob: I want Dome Tour.
Keeho: Dome Tour would be insane.
Intak responding in Korean.
Keeho: He [Intak] wants to perform huge stadiums. Like you know where they do soccer games and World Cup. Huge stadium would be cool too.
To keep up to date with everything P1Harmony, you can follow their Instagram @p1h_offical and Twitter @p1h_official, and make sure to check out their latest music video for “Doom Du Doom” from their album Harmony: Zero In, streaming now.
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