“There’s this saying, it’s an underlying trade saying, that you have to make it within the first three years,” P1Harmony’s chief Keeho explains to The Hollywood Reporter. “No matter level you’re at in your third yr units the tone and lays out what the remainder of your years are going to seem like.”

Keeho and his fellow group members, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob, have gathered in a Los Angeles lodge room. Within the U.S. for Ok-Pop competition and conference KCON L.A., the six member group have spent the weekend performing on the competition and assembly followers from all over the world who traveled to town for the conference.

Lower than 24 hours after bringing KCON‘s M Countdown crowd at L.A.’s Crypto.com Enviornment to their toes, decked out in princely outfits, the members of P1Harmony are dressed casually however seemingly nonetheless buzzing off the thrill of their packed weekend.

The group, from Korean leisure firm FNC Leisure, made their debut in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020 and have spent the final practically 4 years steadily placing out music. They’ve gained a loyal fanbase, recognized collectively as P1ece, with a big worldwide presence (The group is represented by CAA within the U.S. as of final yr).

Forward of their four-year anniversary as a bunch, P1Harmony has launched their seventh EP Unhappy Music. The seven-track album, arguably their strongest to-date, options a number of standout tracks. The titular single, “Unhappy Music,” an upbeat monitor with Latin-inspired beats, is addictive and catchy. It’s featured twice on the album, with each Korean and English variations of the track.

Jongseob, the group’s youngest member at simply 18 years outdated, says the group actually likes “Unhappy Music,” noting its “simple to pay attention” to and completely different from their earlier stronger sounding singles.

Jongseob and Intak have a “unit track” collectively, “WASP,” which showcases their abilities as rappers within the group.

“I talked about many issues with my producer,” Jongseob says of creating the hip-hop monitor. “I’m a bit bit terrified of what our followers [will] assume, but it surely’s a really enjoyable course of to me.”

All members of P1Harmony contributed to the manufacturing of Unhappy Music in some type. Keeho, a Toronto native who acts as a translator for his fellow group members all through the dialog, says that he helped produce and high line “It’s Alright,” the album’s groovy second monitor. He provides that Jiung helped produce and high line “Final Name,” a catchy track that basically begs to be carried out to an enviornment of followers with confetti flowing by way of the air.

“That is probably the most concerned we’ve been sonically on an album, so like Jongseob mentioned, it’s very scary,” Keeho shares. “The extra concerned you might be, it turns into extra private and then you definately’re like, ‘Oh my god. What in the event that they don’t prefer it? What occurs?’”

Keeho explains that there’s a contact of imposter syndrome that comes together with being creatively concerned in an album. “You too can by no means be happy along with your work,” the 22-year-old says. “Once you write your personal stuff, everybody might be like, ‘It’s so nice.’ However then you definately’ll be like, ‘Is it although?’ Each time we work on one thing, you possibly can by no means be tremendous happy, so we simply hope that followers prefer it.”

Their followers, P1ece, will little question help the discharge as they’ve up to now, serving to the group earn their first Korean music present win whereas selling their first full-length album Killin’ It earlier this yr. Weekly music reveals are integral to the Ok-Pop ecosystem (assume MTV’s TRL, that includes performances pre-recorded in entrance of stay audiences and the top-charting track awarded stay on-air). Every music present crowns a winner for the week, marking a serious accomplishment for a lot of Korean acts.

“Clearly, having that first win isn’t all the things,” Jiung says, including that the win has plenty of meanings. “I really feel like, in Korea, it’s additionally the way in which individuals understand you turns into so much completely different too.”

The 22-year-old provides that the followers’ dedication to getting the group that first award makes the second much more particular. “Followers work so exhausting to get that first win, and that first win award is the literal physicalization of that work,” he says. “[It’s] the exhausting work that the artist put in, and likewise the followers put in collectively, to create that one consequence. Having that bodily there’s simply type of the proof of how a lot we’ve actually put into this album and this track, and the way all of us got here collectively to create this second.”

Killin’ It was a turning level of kinds for P1Harmony. Keeho likens it to all the things earlier than the album and all the things after it are “two completely different individuals.” He provides: “After we launched our first full size album, I feel sonically and likewise visually, we simply turned very distinct.”

“With Killin’ It, we actually type of sat in confidence of who we’re as a crew and what we wish to painting and what we’re good at,” Keeho says. “I really feel like all the things that’s going to return after Killin’ It goes to type of replicate off of that, and perhaps after two or three years it’d swap to one thing else once more. For now, I really feel like no matter Killin’ It is, it’s going to replicate the albums which can be going to return after it.”

P1Harmony has, and hopes to proceed, to discover completely different genres. Theo, the group’s eldest member, expresses that he hasn’t been capable of discover his private style in style by way of the group’s music but. He shares that he’d love to do band music and that he loves enjoying the guitar. Soul shares that he likes and wish to strive incorporating reggae sooner or later.

With Theo being simply 23 years outdated, the group has grown from youngsters to younger adults within the public eye. “[I] really feel like within the first few years, it was type of awkward after we carried out collectively. We seemed like little children,” Jongseob says. He provides that years of occurring tour and creating albums has given the group a way of confidence collectively and as people.

“After we come collectively, it creates this new synergy and that’s so evident within the performances and within the songs, and I don’t know if that’s aligned with age or with simply expertise,” the 18-year-old says. “We did mature and develop so much, and we’ve type of discovered ourselves and located confidence inside ourselves inside these 4 years.”

Keeho notes that the group was among the many youngest after they first debuted, however that there are “plenty of younger individuals now.” He provides: “I imply, it’s a loopy strategy to develop up.”