aespa look to the future: ‘It’s going to be a whole new sound’
The K-pop band sit down with Rolling Stone UK in London to discuss their new single ‘Dirty Work’, their next steps and why you should “trust no-one”
K-pop fans in London celebrated a historic night last month with some of the genre’s biggest acts taking to the stage at The O2. Acts including aespa, WayV and Hearts2Hearts all came together to celebrate 30 years of SM Entertainment.
Having already played a headline show at Wembley Arena back in March, aespa – made up of GISELLE, KARINA, WINTERand NINGNING – returned to the UK for the SMTOWN event, performing ‘Whiplash,’ ‘Next Level’ and ‘Supernova.’
“London has very enthusiastic fans and the energy from the crowds are always blowing up. That’s what I love about performing in London,” said WINTER, speaking to Rolling Stone UK backstage ahead of the performance.
“This time, since we are collaborating with our fellow artists at SM Town, it’ll be different from our solo concerts. You can expect a lot of variety in the performances and energy from all the different fans coming together.”
Having held concerts in Seoul, Mexico City, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, SMTown arrived to celebrate three decades of SM Entertainment – one of the leading entertainment companies in Asia that helped introduce K-pop to a global audience. Performing on the stage were some of the most influential K-pop artists in history, including members of EXO, Girls’ Generation, TVXQ and SHINee.
“These legendary artists in our company were actually a huge inspiration for me as a young kid when I was dreaming of becoming an artist,” said KARINA. “The energies of the stages and the range coming from their dancing and vocals and how they put on their stages had an impact on us as growing artists. I’m happy to be here tonight with them as well.”
Alongside touring and performing, aespa continued their hot streak with their latest single, ‘Dirty Work’, which presented a new challenge for the group as artists, as GISELLE explained. “With the music we had before, it was always very loud and had a lot of instrumentals as well. But, with this one, we went a little bit more minimal with the sound and focused on the way we portray our voices as well.”
If you know anything about aespa, then you’ll know that they take huge pride in their visuals as they strive to bring their unique concepts to life. Their latest release was no different as they filmed a big production video for ‘Dirty Work’ against the industrial backdrop of a Hyundai Steel plant.
“The exciting part of this music video was that we had to put dirt on our bodies and roll around the ground, this was a fresh experience for us. But, it was difficult to wash off because the dirt solidified and we had to continue the scenes afterwards. [For] those parts, we had to struggle but at the same time it was very fun,” said KARINA.
The single, which surpassed 1.01 million pre-orders, also includes an English version, an instrumental, and a remix featuring American rapper Flo Milli. “Flo Milli really brings a fresh and cool vibe to the song,” said NINGNING. “I was really excited to hear the news that we were going to collab and we were excited to see how it’ll turn out because I thought she’d bring a new colour to the song. As you can see, the result turned out great.”
The K-pop group will also celebrate five years since their debut single, ‘Black Mamba’, in November. When aespa entered the industry five years ago, it was a whole new world and experience for the young artists to navigate. The group vividly remember advice they received from people within the industry that helped them on this journey to stardom.
“Word spreads fast – that was insider advice from the industry,” GISELLE remembers. “But, externally, we got a lot of advice. Not everything is going to turn out the way that you expect so don’t be too bummed out by certain results and to always try your hardest.
“Also, being in the industry as human beings, it’s like this society that we are in and the four of us can agree that word spreads fast. That’s one thing that we were like, ‘Ok?’ at the start, but as we were thriving in the industry, we started to realise that over time.”
“And trust no one,” interjected WINTER.
It’s been quite the surreal journey in those five years, with the record-breaking group selling millions of albums, touring arenas across America, Asia and Europe and gaining millions of fans across the globe.
It’s hard therefore to pinpoint one moment that they are most proud of so far in their careers but for Winter, the first thing that comes to mind was their debut live show.
“In that moment, I felt this [sense of] accomplishment that we really did it and that we felt proud of ourselves,” said WINTER. “Also, the love from the fans. It was the moment that made us realise their love and support.”
The girl group are also setting their sights away from music in the future, whether it’s through music, modelling or acting.
“Within the five years, you wouldn’t believe it, but we have never actually done anything creative or personal from scratch together. This is something that we want to try,” said GISELLE. “As a group, it’s going to be a whole new sound, and I’m curious to see that.”