Kevin Woo (U-KISS)

You better Believe Kevin Woo is on the pod!

Kevin is a Korean-American singer, songwriter and actor who joined the boy band U-KISS at only 15 years old.

U-KISS was one of the first bands to pioneer the evolution of K-Pop. Kevin reveals all and how this moment in time changed his life.

Plus, his mom AND sister are his managers… what’s it like working with family? His answer may shock you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is Frosted Tips with Lance Bass and iHeartRadio podcast. Hello,
my Little Peanuts, it's mere host Lance Bass. This is
Frosted Tips with me, Lance Bass, and my Lovely co
hosts Turkey Michael Turchin.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, hello Lovely other.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
I'm great. Yeah, I'm excited. We got Kevin Wu on today.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
I know.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah. If you know my old radio show, we've had
Kevin on and he's just lovely. I think it's our
first K popper. Yeah, yeah, our first K pop.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
There's so many we can go This show can go
on forever.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
I know, but they just need they I don't know
why they won't come on the show, or maybe we haven't.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Maybe I don't. Maybe this is the catalyst we need Kevin.
You gotta Wu everyone else.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
It's funny. Well, uh, you K pop fans will know
that he is from a U kiss. He was kind
of a pioneer in K pop. Yeah, he does everything.
He just had that Broadway show k Pop Starts In,
got lots of Tony nominations this year. He's just been
killing it, killing it. So I'm excited to have him
on the show and catch up and explain to you

(01:09):
what K pop's all about Yeah, because now you know
a lot of us, you know, on this show and
listening to show. You know, unfortunately we're middle aged. No, fortunately,
we're middle aged.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Fortunately. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
So we kind of missed that K pop resurgence, and
so we're gonna teach you all kinds of fun little work.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
You're never too ill to learn.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
That's right. You're gonna know what a bias member is.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Oh a bias member.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Oh yeah, because I'm your bias member.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
I have a bias against you.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
A little entertainment pop culture news. Snead O'Connor passed away.
I know, unfortunately this week. I don't know exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Said, but I'm assuming it was.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
It's in mental health. I mean, if you're having trouble
out there, you know, ask for help. There's tons of
places you can go to. You can call anonymously if
you're just having you know, some thoughts, you know, talk
to someone.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Yeah, there's always the Trevor Project, which we always.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
We love the Trevor Project. They will listen to anyone.
And again, anonymous, you don't have to say who you are,
just like talk it out. Therapy is good.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, that's great. Everybody's being in therapy. Did we ever
just did we ever discuss our trip?

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Who went on?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Did we with our listeners all year? I know we did.
We We finally had a little summer vacation, which was nice.
We we flew with the kids to Mississippi, spent a
little time with my family. Then we we let the
kids stay on a little summer vacation. Yeah, grandparents. So
we flew to San fran And I've always wanted to

(02:38):
drive the one oh one. So it's a freeway here
in California that hugs the Pacific Ocean the whole way,
all the way from Portland to San Diego. And there's
so many great, beautiful things to do, and I've a
you know, I love a road trip. So we went
to San France, spent a few days there. We went hiking,
and we ate so great food.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
We ate so much. You went hiking. It was like
the most pleasant, leisurely.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Trip I've ever been on in my life, non alcoholic,
non alcoholic trip. You would think we would do all
the kinds of wine because it's all the best flying country,
but no, we just kind of just enjoyed hiking and
being like healthy.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
Yeah, and just a lot of spas, a lot of spas, yeah,
and a lot of food.

Speaker 4 (03:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
It was Yeah. I gained a good five pounds on
this trip.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
It was an eight pray love trip.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
And what we eat we found ourselves.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
We did.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
We did bottom of a Fish and chip. I tell
you this one place. I mean, we stayed in some
really great places. So we you know, San France. We
stayed at night in Monterey. They have a really great aquarium.
We stayed in Carmel for a few nights at this
really great winery.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
Then we ended up in Santa Barbara, which is only
an hour away from here, so it's you know, it's yeah,
I could retire there easily. It is beautiful. Oprah Winfrey
knows what she's doing. Uh, just a gorgeous town right
on the ocean. And so we stayed at this place,
Oh my god, what was it called? Oh the Rosewood
mirramr Rosewood, Mira Mars, Miramar Beach that Rick Cruso owns.

(04:05):
He's the one that ran for mayor the billionaire. Oh
my gosh. Wow, I was not because we were going
to Santa Barbara for two days to hike again and
go to restaurants. We didn't leave the hotel.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
We did not leave the hotel once. We're like, no, no, no,
we just need.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
To I've never seen anything like.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
It was so chic.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Shake shake, shake, shake.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
And they we had a room like right on the beach.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
But it was it was We saw Brian Austin Green
and Benji Madden like this is like, I guess the
secret spot on Lance Bass.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
It was the Who's Who?

Speaker 1 (04:36):
How come no one has told me about this spot
until now? Obviously I was not in the cool the
cool group.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
You must have not got the invite. No, I definitely
didn't get the invite.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
No.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Uh but it was great. And you know, I love
my food and it has Crusoe is the restaurant there,
Miss Star restaurant, and then the Michelin chef does this
eight course meal and you know it's just like a
two byte on every meal. Wow, there was one dish was.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Like there was one.

Speaker 3 (05:03):
It was like it was even it was like an
unofficial dish of the eight so it was like the ninth.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
It was like a little sampler to started off with
and listen. Everything was amazing. It was so good, except
this one thing I think was maybe an accidentally got
onto the plate yeah, because it tasted like a cigar,
but it was like a tomato.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
Maybe you were supposed to smoke it and then you
give me a lighter Jakes, Oh my gosh. So yeah
that was that was nice. So I highly recommend going
to the Rosewood if you're in Santa Barbara, if you're
really going to be saved up for fifty years.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
That was our only time going.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Yeah, yeah, it was good. We had it. We had
a discounted room. Yeah, we're not all that cool, but yeah,
it was. It was nice. It was It was a
good way to end our chic trip. Yes, chee che
cheek chick. All right, guys, let's get into our interview.
Let's take a little break, we come back. We're gonna
have the one and only K pop superstar pioneer Kevin
Wooo and welcome back to Frost and Tips. All right.

(06:14):
Kevin Wu as an American singer, songwriter, television host based
in New York City. He is primarily known as a
former member of South Korean boy band You Kiss from
two thousand and eight until twenty seventeen, as well as
a host of various programs such as after school Club.
Born and raised in California. He was discovered by South
Korean entertainment agency Xing Entertainment at the age of fifteen

(06:35):
and subsequently moved to South Korea after a few months
of training. Wu debuted as a member of the boy
group Zing in two thousand and six. After leaving that
group two years later, he re debuted as a member
of U Kiss in two thousand and eight, and in
March twenty seventeen, he left U Kiss after his contract expired.
Following his departure from U Kiss, We pursued a solo

(06:55):
career in South Korea and Japan, and he debuted as
a soloist with his first single, ride Along, in October
twenty eighteen. Kevin, welcome to the show.

Speaker 4 (07:05):
That that was very impressive.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
It was everything that I said true?

Speaker 4 (07:10):
It was true?

Speaker 1 (07:11):
Okay, did I pronounce everything right? Because I made I
see Zing is X I G a sing sing? You
had something right?

Speaker 4 (07:19):
Crossing whatever.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Let's just start out just kidding, all right. So, Kevin,
you come from a musical background. Your family was all
into music. Your dad plays instruments, your uncle is an
opera singer. When did you when did you know that
you shared that musical talent with your family.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
It was, I guess when I was growing up and
during the holidays, we'd always just gather on the piano
sing songs. And I also sang at my school, yeah,
saying that was my middle school graduation too.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
What was school like for little Kevin Wood?

Speaker 4 (07:52):
Oh god, it's so long ago.

Speaker 1 (07:55):
She went to school here in California. I did where
where I grew up in the area?

Speaker 4 (07:58):
Okay, yes, North l And I was a very shy,
just very introverted kid. Honestly, I just didn't see myself
a lot in the media. I grew up in a
very like white dominant neighborhood, so I didn't have too
many like Asian friends around me to feel comfortable in

(08:18):
my own skin. So yeah, growing up with a lot
of you know, insecurities. But I feel like that's why
I geared towards K pop uh and a lot of
my you know, upbringings and my my uh childhood like
memories were like watching a lot of K dramas and
that led to k K pop and that this was
before YouTube dates, so we would like rent DVDs and

(08:43):
like the VHS tapes. Yeah, and I would have to
drive all the way to l a I would beg
my parents to drive to LA from San Francisco to
go to these Korean record shops, and that's that was
the only gateway to access like CA pop albums and stuff.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
Did you speak Korean as a kid? You learn it
for when your music?

Speaker 4 (09:01):
I could get by, Yeah, I I you know, I
asked my parents like if I could have something, if
I could eat, like I'm hungry, Like that's the the basic.
But I really learned to read and write when I
moved to Korea in two tho six.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Was that difficult for you?

Speaker 4 (09:18):
It really wasn't, no, because the basis Yeah yeah, yeah.
I gro up around speaking like, you know, Korean, and
all my relatives were like all Korean speakers, so I
was like right in the middle. Yeah yeah yeah.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
What was the holidays like holiday house? Like it does
the whole family come together, your cousins and uncles, Yes, yeah, yes.

Speaker 4 (09:37):
So it's very much like an American uh you know,
festive holiday, but with just Korean food, yeah, which is amazing.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, okay, so what is the dish for the holidays?
The Korean food special because you know, we always have
turkey and all that.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
So we did a little bit of both we had
our you know, traditional American turkey, but we also had
a bunch on, which is like side, and we'd have
something called kaibee chan which is like braize short ribs,
and that was like the main dish, and lots of
good like soup, like spicy soups.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
So, I mean you are a pioneer in K pop.
I mean you started you know.

Speaker 4 (10:15):
Yeah, I'm right in front of a pioneer.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Well you know, in different vice for sure. So how
did you How did you first hear about this k pop?
But when did when did k pop start kind of going?
Like when did that start?

Speaker 4 (10:28):
Yeah, that's an interesting question because it wasn't k pop.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Yeah, it was just yeah, what is the evolution of that?

Speaker 4 (10:33):
It was just Korean music to me, So I guess
the evolution really started. Well, yeah, I guess my group
was one of the pioneers. We had several like international members.
One member was from MCAW Hong Kong, one member was
also like me and Korean American. We spoke seven different

(10:56):
different languages I'll put together, so we were very much
international group, which U just kind of stands for. It's
called it's an acronym for ubiquitous Korean international Superstarquitous. I
have no idea how my boss came up.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
For that, Yeah, I have no idea.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
Yeah. So, yeah, we were meant for the international market.
But then starting with our era, which is like the
second generation of K pop, that's when we kind of
branched out to you know, outside of Korea, and that
was when, yeah, k pop kind of blew up as
as this global phenomenon, starting from like the early twenty tens,

(11:41):
I would say, But before that, it was just Korean music.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
What artists did you listen to? What inspired you growing up?

Speaker 4 (11:50):
For me, boy bands for sure. I mean it's cliche
to say this in front of you, but you have
to believe the en Sync was the group for me.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
What was What was it about in Sync that mad
made you.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
Want to do?

Speaker 4 (12:03):
It was the dance. It was performance, the performance.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah, and that's what I love because right now the
American boy bands they don't dance really, it's just it's different. Yeah,
But K pops come around, I'm like, now that's a performance.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
We kind of took what you guys did in the
early two thousands and we kind of just like evolved
it and kind of infused our own flavor and taste
into it. And sure it just kind of transitioned into
into k pop, but definitely influences, big influences from from
you guys for sure.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
So when you went over to South Korea to audition one,
how did you even know there was an audition to
be had?

Speaker 2 (12:45):
And what did your parents?

Speaker 4 (12:49):
I'm very blessed. My mom was an actress in Korea.
She was already in entertainment. Yeah, she had her feet
in the industry. So when I told her I wanted to,
you know, go to Korea. I wanted to sing, and
I wanted to be in a cape up group because
I you know, I loved the whole concept of boy
bands and how like we could all kind of really

(13:12):
compliment each other because there's so many different personalities in
one group and that makes it so special. Uh So
I asked my mom, like, do you know any agencies
or any people that I could meet? And luckily she
knew many. So it just took one flight to Korea,
and and also it took one audition to get into
the group that I did.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
Would your mom ever act again?

Speaker 4 (13:35):
She is a full time manager. Ever since I dedut,
she's always been by my side. Super supportive.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Do you have brothers and sisters?

Speaker 4 (13:43):
I have one sister, she's also my manager.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
I mean that can be difficult for some.

Speaker 4 (13:52):
I mean I didn't say it was easy, but we
make it work. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:58):
But most of the time, the families have your back
and sometimes the only people you can really trust. But
then you also have family members like Brittany's dad that
you're like, maybe you.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Should yeah, maybe a little too control.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, and you hear the horror stories. I think Michaulay
Hawkins's parents people that advantage of that.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Yeah, so again very blessed. Yeah that was nice.

Speaker 1 (14:19):
Uh so you did You did end up auditioning. Clearly
they loved you because.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
You I don't know why, what was it?

Speaker 1 (14:25):
I don't know, So talk about that audition, like how
how did that day go? And what were you think?

Speaker 4 (14:32):
Oh god, it was even till this day. It was
just so nerve wreckinged because they asked me to dance,
like freestyle dance, but I only sang at my school choir.
I sang at Christmas dinners, like I never had to
perform for anyone. But there were like ten people like
executives and cameras all around lighting and imagine a fifteen

(14:52):
year old kid just standing in front of all that.
I was just so nervous. I don't know how I
did the audition, but I think they found like potential
or some kind of star quality I guess I had
when I was younger.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
But yeah, so it's almost like an X Factor audition,
but not televised. Do you ever see this footage of
you audition? Did they ever use that?

Speaker 4 (15:16):
I've never seen it? Okay to find that, I have
no idea where that tape is.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Oh my gosh, I knowd your audition videos. Actually, I
would love the en Sync audition. Fun that was so funny.
I did this's a song?

Speaker 4 (15:33):
Okay, what did you do?

Speaker 1 (15:34):
Old Man River from South Pacific?

Speaker 2 (15:39):
I guess.

Speaker 4 (15:41):
Which the funniest song to sing for a boy bear.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Sixteen year old in looking like I did like a
little twink and sing an old Man River. I just
wanted to I just wanted to prove to them that
I'm a Basinger because they were looking for a Basinger.
I'm like, well, this is the basiest song I know
and the only song that I so Now looking back
at that, I'm like they must have been laughing their

(16:04):
asses behind my back, like did this kid really come in?
You're saying an old man river?

Speaker 4 (16:10):
But how old are you then?

Speaker 1 (16:12):
Sixteen sixteen?

Speaker 4 (16:13):
Oka? Yeah, so I was fifteen and I also did
a similar thing. I sing let it Be Yeah, Legendary
and Now and Forever by Richard Marx, So very like
old man Like, you know, I guess that was a
trend back.

Speaker 1 (16:30):
You can't go wrong with Richard Marx.

Speaker 4 (16:32):
No, you cannot, meaning that proves our era because there
was no one really to look up to or kind
of have an influence to be like, oh that's that's
who I aspire to be, or that's my that fits
my voice range. It was just like very much.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
Just I mean, it's so interesting because it does feel
like over in South Korea it is a factory, which
kind of is like what we went through in Orlando's.
It was a boot camp, you know, us some Backstreet
and all these other groups, and you know you had
to really like train. It was like you were training
for the Olympics.

Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, we're almost like Olympians.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, I mean it's a sport. It is a sport
to be able to sing and dance like that and
just the heart mate, it's there's so much that goes
in so much.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
What was the training like, did you go like immediately
into it or like after you so you got.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
Do we have the same similar path?

Speaker 4 (17:24):
Gus?

Speaker 1 (17:24):
I did not dance. I love performing. I was in
a show car, so like I would show choir dance
right like, but but I didn't. Yeah, but I didn't
know anything about hip hop, which is obviously the biggest
influence for dancing. And yeah, I remember the guys like, yeah,
let's do this. You're in the group, and then a
week later I'm in choreography lessons like what wait, we're dancing.

(17:45):
I thought we were just kind of like do up. Yeah,
you know, step touch step touch.

Speaker 4 (17:49):
Did you have any idea that the group that you
were going to be in was such a dance heavily.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
Like not at all. I mean I knew that Jason
and Justin dance on Mickey Mouse Club, you know, so
you know that's what. But I had no idea that
we were going to be a group that danced like that.
They didn't, they didn't sell it at all. We just
we literally just went to dance rehearsals like I had
known this.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
Man thought they were going to be like a Disney
group that does sings at Disney, like an acappella girl.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
I was hoping we would be a Disney group like that.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
That's what I was going to.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's as high as I thought it could get.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Singing in the park.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
Yes, like that acappella group that goes around. Chris was
in one at Universal Studios, the high Tones, and I'm like, well,
maybe we can do that for Disney. Yeah, you know,
just a cappella around the park. Like we'd be real famous,
could be like, oh, it's that that quintet Disney.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
Look, you're shooting for the stars.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
I know hip hop dance cluss Yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
It's like, yeah, turkey here. He was in hip hop
kids in Miami.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
I was in hip hop dance from dance ten to thirteen.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, and they had they had better clothes than in
Sync for sure. Might have been inspired by INSC, but
y'all took it to the next level. Yeah, a lot
of bags.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
That No, well you know, probably not me. You could
find others in It's best. Yeah, it's away with your
audition video somewhere.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
Why do you think Korean music has blown up so much?
Not just in America but all over the world. Yeah,
I mean stadiums being sold out by Black Pink and
all these arts and in the majority of the languages
in Korean, So like, how how did that work? Oh?

Speaker 4 (19:32):
Man? You know, I I saw the whole journey, the
whole arc, from when it when we were starting out
to like tour in the US at venues, not even
small venues like thousands of two thousand theaters like the
Microsoft Theater that was like one of the theaters that
we performed at. But like it definitely wasn't a small crowd.
There was a there was a following for sure, a

(19:54):
niche like you know, cult following. But I think the
reason why it got so big was I think there
was a lack of just like the dance element and
the performance element to these boy bands and girl groups
and even the lack of boy bands and boy and
girl groups in the US as well, because.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
We don't really have any going on right now.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
Yeah, after after the two thousands.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Like everyone got too cool after the two Oh that's
too cool? Yeah, like one direction, like we ain't dancing.
Jonas is like I'm not doing it. I'm not going
to do it.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
Yeah, So I think there was something that people were
missing and that and just really good pop music.

Speaker 1 (20:34):
Yeah, and that's you know. I grew up on watching
on television because I didn't get to the concerts Madonna,
Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, and it was always about Yeah,
the music was great, but I wanted to be entertained.
I wanted just my jaw to be on the floor,
like what was that? Which a lot of artists, there's
some artists are doing it right now. Beyonce obviously, that's

(20:56):
the show you want to see, Taylor Swift, people that
really care about the theatrics, that is what I want
to see. I don't want to go to a concert
see someone just stand behind a microphone all those unless
some people do it right. Harry Styles not a big choreographer,
but very entertain very entertainment. There's very few people that
can keep me entertained by just performing behind unless.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Your voice is like, unless you're like an adele, like
you're there, you're literally there for the voice. I get it.
But if you can't sing.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
Like that, you better put on the yeah, exactly flipping
around you.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
I want to be entertained.

Speaker 1 (21:34):
I need some confetti. If you hit me with some confetti,
I'm gonna think it's the best concert ever.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
I mean it's not even joking.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
And that's the thing with KP we just kind of
served every everything. If you serve the performance, the visuals,
and also the visuals with the fashion and uh, whenever
like a group debuts, there's like a story behind them.
There's like a concept, whether it's from space, whether they're
like heroes or like you know, something that's like ethereal,

(22:06):
so that you know, people could like really fall into
that story and want to know more about them. So
there's just so many different aspects that come into play
when it comes to K pop. Yeah, and they just
mastered every single.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
Well, I'm glad you brought it up fashion because that's
something that we did not have back no one.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
You guys were kind of fashion for I mean they
were very very forward, very fast forward.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
But it's just you know, it's it didn't in the
nineties in early two thousands, especially being guys, you didn't
think about fashion really like you weren't trying to go
to the met Ball and you weren't getting big designers
just like no one cared. Now they do, and especially
with a lot of these K pop artists, fashion is
so forward, you know, and I love that.

Speaker 4 (22:54):
And there doesn't have to be a reason or a
statement behind it. It's just fashion and fashion and they
own up to it. Like guys like I feel like
crop tops like started to get popular through through the
K pop. Oh yeah, like nowadays America, like you know,
guys are wearing crop top and it's so cool. But
I think this was like even five six years ago,

(23:17):
boy bands were wearing crop tops and it wasn't like, oh,
why are they wearing crop tops? It was just it
was so cool and sexy, and then they owned that sexy.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
I don't know if I pull off crop top, Well,
it's not for everyone. That What was the most difficult
part of the training for you, besides like the dancing
that was so new to you with your journey, what
was the most difficult Did they work y'all so heavily
you couldn't sleep.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
I think the most of it part for me was
how like you mentioned, it is a factory. You know,
these these major labels are recruiting these trainees to create
you know, ultimately a product, you know, and and for me,
you know, that was very much my story as well.
But as I was getting into my more, you know, mature,

(24:09):
like definitive years. I feel like I lost that identity.
I fell too much into what the label wanted me
to be or what the fans expected me to be,
So I kind of lost myself there. And I feel
like a lot of K pop you know kids or
trainees or artists kind of had that similar, you know struggle,
because you know, they they're kind of torn between what

(24:31):
they want to portray or express as an artist versus
what the label wants. So for me, that was I
think the most difficult part.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, would you say, because you know, we obviously went
through horrible contracts, you know the Lou Pearlman era where
we were so taken advantage of as children and everyone's like, oh,
your kids, you'll recover, or.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
You guys signed up for it, this was what you wanted.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
This is just normal. What is that like in South Korea?

Speaker 4 (24:58):
Now?

Speaker 1 (24:58):
Are they are they going through a loop p Roman
moment right now where they are taking advantage of their
not getting the piece of the pie they should or
are they treated pretty fairly?

Speaker 4 (25:08):
It's getting better?

Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (25:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's progress.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
My bts has made moneys made money.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
Yeah, because it was like we don't got to worry
about that. Yeah, make money worrying about that. So I
just kidding, like I feel like it took a while,
but uh, yeah, there's a story that I want to share.
I was in a very long contract. I signed ten
years in my first contract, and uh, I believe that

(25:38):
wasn't fair. You know. I also was, you know, raised
in America, so I wanted to fight for my rights.
And I was like, ten years is way too long
for any any child or any for anything to do
for ten years, not even just singing and acting crazy,
anything for ten years. So I found the lawsuit when
I was seventeen. Uh, and I won that lawsuit, and

(26:00):
ever since then, every K pop label changed their contract. Yeah,
so it's shortened to seven years. So now every contract
is seven years. And yeah, I think also not only
just like contracts, but in the mental health space too. Uh.

(26:23):
In my days, you know, we just kind of had
to suck it up if we were feeling a little down,
or you know, even if not even if we weren't
just like ill physically, Like if there was a time
where we just wanted to rest, we couldn't really do
that because there was so much pressure and so much
money involved, and like as a kid, it's sad that,
you know, we had to think about all those different

(26:45):
you know, things that we shouldn't. We're just you know,
we should just be focusing on our.

Speaker 1 (26:50):
Yeah, and going through something like you did. I mean,
a lot of people aren't able to mentally handle that,
especially going through a boot camp like this and all
the pressure and then you know, the f and wanting
you to be something. And we do have a problem
these days with a lot of suicides happening all over
the world unfortunately.

Speaker 4 (27:07):
Yeah, K pop has lost a lot of very special hearts.

Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, and I mean it's it's just and I don't
I don't know if it's because they were worked too hard,
or they just couldn't deal with the fame, or if
it's COVID. I mean, I mean, I feel like since
COVID everyone kind of got separated for so long that
I've seen an uptick and a lot of suicides.

Speaker 4 (27:29):
Yeah, lately, I think it was lack of awareness. Where
in Korea, let let alone Asia, therapy is still seen
as like a weakness, and people don't want to be
seen as weak, so they don't seek out for for therapy.
But nowadays, I've seen capable idols who are going through
you know, a mental breakdown or they just want to rest.

(27:52):
Companies are allowing them to, you know, sit out on tours,
sit on promotions. So yeah, things are changing.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Yeah that's good. Yeah, that's really good. So after your training,
became a member of Singing in two thousand and six.
So how did it feel to finally be able to
use that training in a group.

Speaker 4 (28:09):
Well, I feel like when I debuted, I wasn't fully ready.
It was still you know, no, yeah, the view is
far from our complete form. Well I don't think we're
ever gonna you know, be our complete one because we're
always evolving and changing. But but it was it was nice.

(28:29):
It was really cool to see how all my insecurity
is growing up as a kid in America. And when
I moved to Korea, everything shifted. It just became the
opposite everything I thought I thought on myself, like as
a weakness was a strength. Like I guess I don't
know my fair skin or like my more I don't know.

(28:50):
Just yeah, everything that I thought was masculine in America,
everything was proceed as sexy and masculine, just the way
I was Korean so great.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Yeah, yeah, because being grown up in California, Yeah, and
you've always you know, you felt like an outsider, right,
and then going to South Korea, I would say I
would feel like you would find a little more of yourself,
but also feel like a little outsider because you're American. Yeah,
did you get treated differently because you did come from America?

Speaker 4 (29:17):
Well, they they do praise anyone who you know is
fluent in English.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
Oh so that was like it was a double.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
Yeah, you were double good.

Speaker 4 (29:28):
Yeah, I've got everything that they you know, like physically
or appearance wise. But they also liked that I was
from America. Yeah, but internally, yeah, there was a struggle
because no one really understood me or and I didn't
even understand myself at that age in my American and
my Korean. But I as I got older, I was
able to embrace both sides of me.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
Yeah. Well, after a few years, became a member of
You Kiss. So that is the group you'd be with
from two thousand and eight to twenty seventeen. Yes, I mean,
what an amazing experience that much? So how do you
describe that period of your life?

Speaker 4 (30:04):
So that was when like the group Ucus really blew up.
We got our international fame. We started, you know, topping charts,
international charts. So that was like that was like a
big move for me, and that really changed my lifestyle
because that's when I really couldn't really go out because
you know, there were there were too many eyes, and

(30:27):
that's when I felt like, oh this is That's when
I got my little first taste of fame.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah. Yeah, what was that like?

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Overwhelming?

Speaker 1 (30:36):
Was it more exciting or scared?

Speaker 4 (30:39):
At first? It was it was exciting, but then uh yeah,
at a certain point, you know, everything all good things
kind of become it's the novelty.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
At first, you're like, I'm recognizing. Yeah, after a while
becomes more of a burden.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
I'm s yeah. Do you have any crazy fans stories?

Speaker 4 (30:55):
Oh? Man, So in Korea there's a thing called like
sasang fans and this Hussang fans mean they are obsessed
with your private life and they follow you everywhere you go,
like they wait in front of your apartment or your house.
They write taxis around to follow where you go outside

(31:16):
of your work. They also like book the same flights
as you, like if we're writing like business or first
they would also book this next to us.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, we have those type of fans, but they were
mainly in Europe and you know like Germany, you know, England, Spain,
you'd have those type of fans. None ever booked flights
though with us, that's that's a level. Yeah, but we
really didn't see that much. We'd have the fans hanging
out with the hotels, but that's pretty much. But yeah,
the ones in Europe would follow you everywhere. You knew

(31:48):
them by name. Yeah, you almost become friends, like I
know you. I mean there's even u some Spanish fans
that we still keep in touch with them probably listen,
they listened to the show and it's just so fun
to see thirty years later, you know that that you
know we still know them exactly because it's a fun
ride we did together.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
Yeah, it's it's a special memory that you can never forget.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, all right, you brought up a Korean word for
the super fan, so I know there's different words for
K pop members. I know there's like icon, there's bias,
there's bias. You're biased in st member, I'm sure. Yeah,
of course it's your favorite.

Speaker 4 (32:26):
You should be contemplating your life.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, so give us the different terminologies for the different
members and fans, like what should we know?

Speaker 4 (32:35):
Yeah, so let's start off with Mangne. Mangne is like
the youngest member of the group.

Speaker 1 (32:40):
Yes, I remember that from the last time you were here.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
Yeah, like the Qutie Pie. But there's also Power Mangnes
for like, you know, they they think people think that
they're the cute ones, but then they're actually the ones
that are more you know, I guess I don't know,
they got like dominant vibes.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah, okay, that would be me. Sorry, I guess it
would not be me.

Speaker 4 (33:07):
Who was the youngest member is.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
I'll be justin Oh wow, he probably had a lot
of terms. Yeah, he was one of the lead singers.
He was the youngest.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
A lot of people's bias a.

Speaker 4 (33:20):
Lot of people so Chunk from BTS is the mang
He's the youngest, but he would be called like the
Power mang thet because like he's he's like one of
the more in the most popular members in the group.
Was the Power He's yeah, and he's out doing solo
music and he's just living his best life. Like you
hear do you hear the song seven with and the

(33:42):
explicit version.

Speaker 1 (33:43):
Oh I haven't heard the explicit there's an explicit version.

Speaker 4 (33:46):
And I was like, oh wait, so came in.

Speaker 1 (33:50):
So management's okay with that.

Speaker 4 (33:52):
Now. Well, I think when you're BTS, I think you
could do whatever you want, okay. Yeah. Yeah, And he's
just out there, yeah, like I said, being his best life.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Do people look down on group members going solo or
is it supported? Support it?

Speaker 5 (34:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (34:06):
Yeah, yeah, it's kind of like a newer concept. Though
it took longer for anyone in a you know, an
idol group to branch out to become a solo member.
But nowadays, yeah, even when they're promoting actively as a group,
they you know, they release solo music, and it's kind
of kind of getting similar to like the US to

(34:27):
like people want to see individual flavor and character.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, that's what's about it. Yeah, I really I just
hope there's gonna be a girl band right around the corner,
Like we need another Spice Girls, we need another Destined Child. Yeah,
it's just I just love a girl group.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
I love a girl I mean, my obsession was Fifth Harmony.

Speaker 1 (34:50):
But they were the last kind of American one to
really work.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
They were the last big American.

Speaker 4 (34:56):
And now okay pop is kind of dominating that story.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
To beat Black Pink Rat. They are just incredible headlining coach.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
Yeah, I was there. We're good friends, so like it's
also really interesting to kind of pick out her brain
to see what that level of fame is like.

Speaker 1 (35:16):
But what how is she handling it?

Speaker 4 (35:18):
She's still level headed and I'm still you know, I'm
still struck by it because like if I had a
hard back then, even now it should be even more
pressure because of social media and how much you have
to do to stay relevant.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
But have you ever gotten in trouble with something you've
said in an interview or social media?

Speaker 4 (35:39):
Not yet. Yeah, let's let's keep it. It makes them
headlines today today with the podcast.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
What's interesting is now you Kiss is still going on today.
But it's kind of like Menudo. They've recast the group.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Yeah, there was a new member. Even when I was
still in the group, we had a lot of member changes,
like four to five different.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Is that common in.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
It's not too common, but.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
The fans accept it.

Speaker 4 (36:09):
Uh, it was harder for them to accept it back then,
but nowadays, I mean they still want the original member obviously,
but there's a new group well, not new. They've been
around for a while called NCT and what they did
with this group there, they have a very cool concept.
They are like an ever changing group, so they have

(36:30):
like an infinite number of like members, or they have
a lot of members. Actually NCT they have like over
twenty members, but there's like four to five or even
more different sub units with an NCT that's always changing.
There's NCT, Dreams, T you S, T one two seven. Yeah,
so it's this whole.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Thing where spinoffs.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
Yeah, the labels kind of got ahead of them, like, oh,
let's not continuously change the members and you know, break
the fans' hearts. Let's just make it that.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
Is I thought of. Yeah, that's that's so forward thinking.

Speaker 4 (37:07):
Yeah, I love it. Hi.

Speaker 6 (37:15):
I'm Chris Harrison, host of the Most Dramatic Podcast Ever.
I'm just like you, always looking for something interesting, heartfelt
and entertaining to listen to. You know, look, maybe you
used to watch a show every Monday night and now
you have a lot of time on your hands and
you're looking for something new, someone who's here for the

(37:35):
right reasons. If you will, I've got you. Listen to
the Most Dramatic Podcast Ever on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 7 (37:46):
Hey guys, it's Jenn Ashwitz and Kevin McHale from and
That's what you really missed podcasts. We are going through
all six seasons of Glee and we are giving you
the behind the scenes stories of what it was really
like filming, the musical numbers and episodes.

Speaker 8 (38:01):
It's been so special to revisit the show that changed
our lives with some of our closest friends and to
share some of the most authentic and real experiences we
had together, completely raw and unfiltered. Plus we chat with
our co stars like Jane Lynch, Chris Kolfer, Heather Morris
and Berilelly, Harry Shamp, Junior court over Street, Josh Susman,
Max Adler, Rome Rosemont, John Stamos, Alex Null and Dot

(38:22):
Marie Jones on the pod, and so many more to come.
We have some exciting guests coming.

Speaker 7 (38:26):
Up, and we can't forget the behind the scenes crew
who made it all happen, our dear friends and literally
the hardest working crew in Hollywood. From creators Ryan Murphy
and Ian Brennan, too, directors, camera operators, musical directors. We
are sharing all of our experiences on Glee.

Speaker 8 (38:42):
So meet us in the choir room at McKinley High
and join us weekly on And that's what you really
missed available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (38:56):
So after you kiss, you started the solo career. That
was twenty seventeen. How nerve wracking was that?

Speaker 4 (39:01):
To go out on your own nerve wracking because going
solo within a group and within that label is one thing,
but to leave all that behind to start your own,
you know, story, your own adventure into the unknown is
also something else.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
Who did you Who did you depend on during that moment?
Who is your like sounding board besides your family? Obviously?

Speaker 4 (39:26):
Yeah there there really weren't any really because in K pop,
you know, the K pop idols usually stay in the
label for a while, or they stay in Korea because
you know, that's where you know, they're comfortable. But I
have a unique story, you know, because I'm Koreating American

(39:47):
and I've lived here, but I've also done the whole
k pop you know journey, and for me it was
just coming back. It was like a homecoming for me
to rebrand myself and also also to rediscover.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
My Yeah, do you as a group, did y'all have
rivals or were all very supported? Did y'all have a
backstreet versus in sinc type situation? And who would have
been your rival?

Speaker 4 (40:10):
Like?

Speaker 1 (40:10):
What was the group? You're like, we got to stay
on top.

Speaker 4 (40:12):
Oh man, so within the group or other groups, other groups,
other groups. So we debuted in an era where there
weren't too many like groups debuting in the year. Nowadays
you've got like four or five different groups debuting in
like a month. Yea, in my air in the second gen,

(40:32):
how do you stand out? I don't know, I really
don't know. It's hard to keep up. But in my
days there were only like three groups that debuted in
a year. So in our year it was a group
called Shiny and another group called two pm SO, which
which was so ridiculous because they were so different from us,

(40:53):
and every group had their very distinct, you know, qualities.
But because you were the only boy groups of the year,
the media would kind of put us together in like
this rivalry. But I was friends with all of them,
so it was weird to like see that happening online
and with the fans when we were all just cool
with each other.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
What made Jaws group stand out? More like what was
the difference between for us?

Speaker 4 (41:19):
We so we kind of had like for our group,
it took time for us to define our groups, like
like are we Yeah, it's it's likeok a while, but
at the end it was like just good pop music, uh,
and and really good performances. Our performances stood out, yeah,

(41:42):
thank you, thank you. And and the fact that we
could speak to seven different languages that made us international.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
Did you pick up any other languages while you were
doing this? Japanese?

Speaker 4 (41:53):
So yeah, I'm fluent in Japanese because it's also huge
in Latin America. So we did three America tours. Yeah,
visited Mexico, Peru, Colombia. So I mean, I'm glad I
took Spanish when I was a little kid, a little
bit of that.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
I'm learning that now just because with the kids are
learning Spanish sol and I'm learning Mandarin.

Speaker 4 (42:16):
Mandarin. Oh, how has that been going?

Speaker 1 (42:19):
It's hard, but I just keep playing it for the
kids over and over. So I'm kind of it's I
know a lot of words now, but I'm just hoping
it just kind of gets in their brain and it's
easier for them to learn when they're a little older.
So that's my gift to them, is to give them
Mandarin in Spanish. That's what I want. Speaking of Japan,
our friend Shin just recently we're breaking news like a

(42:42):
few hours ago. I know, so excited that he has
come out publicly, which is very hard for a Japanese
artist to zoo. So what would you say to Shin
right now?

Speaker 4 (42:55):
I am beyond proud. Proud is an understatement to you
know how I feel about his whole journey because we've
been best friends for over a decade. Because he was
in a group called Triple A, one of the biggest
idol groups in Japan, and you Kiss and Triple A
were in the same under the same label AVEX. So

(43:17):
that's how I met him. But yeah, he he came
out to me like a few years ago, just like
only maybe two years ago, and uh and at that
time he was still you know, going through it, you know,
telling his close friends family.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
So this is he told me, he told you, I'm
always like to go to like, hey, let me run
this by you.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
Like the gatekeeper.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
I'm the gate keeper. Day is coming out the gate
keep the gate keep the gate. That's that's huge for
Japan because this is the first out musician.

Speaker 4 (43:51):
Yes, yes, it's huge. He is a pioneer, a trailblazer
of that's going to change so much, so much.

Speaker 1 (43:59):
And i mean it's only been a few hours, but
taking it.

Speaker 4 (44:02):
So supportive everyone in the because he had the courage
to come out in front of his fans in person.

Speaker 1 (44:10):
He did during the content, I just got children.

Speaker 4 (44:13):
I got child too, because you know, these things, these
things are very personal and it's hard to even just
say it in front of a camera, but in a live,
in person venue with his members there to support him
and everyone. He was crying obviously because you know, he
was telling a story and everyone was just so supportive.

(44:34):
Fans were crying, they said, we still love you. His
comments on Instagram are just blowing up right now.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
I'm just thinking of the amount of kids.

Speaker 4 (44:45):
There and we'll see themselves.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
Exactly and actually save people's lives, like someone some kid
out there is not taking their life today because of
that story. I mean, that's just it's it's great.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
And it was. It's a great time. I mean too,
because there were a lot of you know, just political
and issues revolving the LGBTQ community in Japan, and it
could have had been a better time.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, I mean, I'm seeing that all over the world
right now. You know, it's the lgbt Q plus community
is being attacked in many countries, just politically attacked because
pep were you know, the Alt rights really trying to
get elected and so they always pick on the lgbt
community when that happens. I mean, America is getting real
dangerous here. This is the first time I think and

(45:32):
decades that now the HRC is saying there's certain states
and there's a lot of states that they're saying don't
travel there. They're saying it's not safe for lgbt to
travel to states. Oh, I could never imagine that's the
world we're living in.

Speaker 4 (45:47):
And as much as we think we're you know, but
you know, and.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
I'm hoping that, you know, this is a tipping point,
because you know, the pendulum definitely swings far one way
and then it comes back, so hopefully, I don't know,
but it does. It does feel dangerous. This is the
first time I've actually been kind of scared to kind
of to walk around certain places, you know, And it's
sad that I just finally got over not being afraid
to hold his hand in public, you know, because you're

(46:13):
so instilled in those things at a young age.

Speaker 4 (46:16):
Like I so integrated in our brains. Yeah, but no
super partisan. So happy for him that he could finally
live his authentic life, just unapologetically himself. And it'll create
conversations and it'll just yeah, it'll it'll.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
Start going encourage because obviously there's more gay people and
musicians out there that just aren't out yet. So maybe
this will encourage them to be themselves.

Speaker 4 (46:42):
Hey, when he comes back, let's let's yeah, let's go
to Yeah, we.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
Got to do that. Now we have a really good excuse,
all right. So I mean there's nothing that you can't
do basically, I mean you music, TV hosting, acting. So
what are you going to focus on next?

Speaker 4 (47:01):
So right now I am in development for a few
film projects. Just took my first feature film. It's with
Margaret Cho and James Hong. I played a gay character
and I fall in love with my love interest, who
is David Burka Love David. Yeah, what an amazing time

(47:26):
and what an honor because you know, it's my first
feature film in America. So I think after my k
Pop Broadway run because that was last year it ended.
So having Broadway on my credit is also great.

Speaker 5 (47:39):
To a career Broadway debut, that's amazing and so okay
because I know what it's like to launch a musical.

Speaker 1 (47:51):
It is very difficult. It's difficult many many years. So
congrats for it getting.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
Because k Pop took a decade to transition over to Broadway,
because k Pop started on off Broadway. Yeah yeah, and
it was a long journey, a long time in the making,
but we made it on Broadway. We made history, as
you know, the first Korean story to be told on Broadway.
First all Asian casts, yeah, first Asian woman composer, Yeah,

(48:22):
on Broadway. So yeah, so many monumental you're.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Just breaking the glass ceiling all over the place.

Speaker 4 (48:29):
That whole journey was amazing. So yeah, you know, I've
only I've only been back in the States for like
a little over a year and a half now, so
it's really interesting to see how, you know, my career
will shift back home, and I just feel so comfortable
and liberated here literally the disguise the limits.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
And you seem so happy, You're still so young, like
you've done so much this You've had such a long
career already. When you when you look back at everything
that you've accomplished so far, or what are you the
most proud of right now?

Speaker 4 (49:03):
Just my self growth. I'm very proud of myself to
see how far I've come. And you know, it's weird
because I think CAPA made me think I'm old because
I started at such a young age. But yeah, I'm
only thirty, I know, and I just got here.

Speaker 3 (49:22):
I know, normal people don't start like their the profession
at fifteen.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
But so true, and especially in the pop world. I remember, God,
I was maybe twenty six or twenty seven when I
first realized, like, wait, you'll think I'm old, like because
people someone like nineteen twenty is like, oh, they're like
they're old, they're ancient. I'm like, I'm twenty six years old. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
what are you talking about? Children?

Speaker 4 (49:44):
But I love how I get to just redefine my
I guess my my future career with the new passion
as well, and also a fresh mindset. Yeah, there's just
so much to look forward to.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
That's great. I love it.

Speaker 4 (49:59):
And I'm also doing Cakeon, so you guys should definitely
Cakon is August eighteenth through twentieth. So I'm performing. She said,
you're not here, It'll be at the You're in Orlando.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
Yeah, we're in Orlando.

Speaker 4 (50:15):
Yeah, it's held annually at the Crypto dot Com Arena.
I'm performing. I have my own panel. Oh yeah, I
wish you guys could make it.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yes, we'll be in Orlando. We're with mister Joey Fatone.
He does his Joey Platon and Friends at Epcot every year,
so I'm going to be one of the friends to
pop up and sing with him.

Speaker 4 (50:33):
Awesome, Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
I'm going to do Yeah. I'm going to open up
with old Man River.

Speaker 4 (50:38):
Send my regards because my first podcast was with Joey.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Did you do it with him and the other Joe?

Speaker 4 (50:44):
Was it?

Speaker 1 (50:44):
Cup of two Joe?

Speaker 4 (50:45):
Yes, two Joe's. This is during the pandemic, my first
ever podcast appearance, and then we partied together at at Roccos.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
Yes, yes, I remember, definitely.

Speaker 4 (50:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
All right, we need a frosted tip here for you.
The fans want to know. What are some tips you
have and overcoming your fears of doing something you find intimidating.
I would I would like dance. You don't know how
to dance. So it's like, what was that fear? Like,
how do you get over I.

Speaker 4 (51:15):
Know, how do I get over that? How did I
get over that?

Speaker 8 (51:17):
God?

Speaker 1 (51:18):
You can't probably think about it.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
You just gotta do it.

Speaker 4 (51:20):
My best advice just do it. Yeah, just do it.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
It's crazy what you can get yourself to do, especially
when you're focused on something you're interested. It's you can
you can force yourself to do anything.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
It's true, but it's also at the same time, like
your mind will also force you to like not do
so many things.

Speaker 2 (51:37):
For no real good reason, just like because fear.

Speaker 3 (51:40):
Yeah, you know, it's just a feeling, but it'll stop
you from doing something that you could very easily do.

Speaker 4 (51:45):
Yeah. You know, for me, it took a while for
me to really just embrace my like fears and insecurities.
It took time, but you know, anyone in their teens,
I would just say, you know, what, life is short,
go for it, you know. And like I used to
think and like care about what other people thought so much,
But to be honest and from experience, guys, it really

(52:09):
doesn't matter.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
And as much as I tell myself that over and over,
it's still catch myself caring too much. YEA was like,
oh God, like why do I care? It doesn't matter.

Speaker 4 (52:19):
And the people that and the people who do say
stuff that's just their insecurities, Yeah, that they're putting it
on themselves.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Yeah. And I think I still have that like PTSD
type brain where you do in the nineties early two thousands,
like you were so you had to be this person, right,
and I keep catching myself being that person for someone else.

Speaker 4 (52:38):
I'm still in that era too.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
But it's yeah, like like you can have like a
hundred like amazing comments, but someone will write one bad
comment about you and that everyone, and then that one
is the only one you will focus.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
On because you've got to win them over.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
They think, I'm like, well then what about the hundred
other people that's that other one?

Speaker 2 (52:58):
Why are you even looking at that?

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Because you're just as a people pleaser. Yeah, And and
and being within sync and then having the competition with
battery boys. You know, if you had a hater, like
especially the guys, right, of course, you're not going to
win many guys over, but you so desperately wanted to. Yeah,
you're like, why do you hate me? I need you to,
like to myself I do and focus on that more
than the actual people that care about.

Speaker 2 (53:20):
You, exactly.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
It's ridiculous. All right, here's some fan questions. Uh the
man do Lorian.

Speaker 4 (53:30):
That's like dumpling, Like.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
What was your trainee experience, Like we can about that.

Speaker 4 (53:38):
Yeah, very rigorous training process, but it was really fun.
I was I was young. I had a lot of
energy that I wish that I would still have something
like and I still wish I could have.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
Did they ever did you ever get to the point
where you threw up?

Speaker 4 (53:59):
No?

Speaker 1 (54:00):
I did that the first time I was with the
guys maybe for a week or two. They're like, we're
going to go to the gym, which is another thing
I've never done. Like, okay, so we're dancing and we're
gonna work out great good So, you know, work out
for the first time, and I'm like, wow, I'm like
lifting heavy than I ever thought, Like, this is why
have I not been doing this? Right?

Speaker 4 (54:18):
Maybe you push yourself.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
The next week, I could not get off the futon
I lived on in Chris kah Patrick's room. Could not move.
I was so sore and I was throwing up from
the pain. It was. It was bad.

Speaker 4 (54:31):
Actually, I almost threw up doing a first CrossFit experience.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, but that's different from my training.

Speaker 2 (54:37):
I can't. I won't even drive.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
My body can't take that. I'm at an age now
where I know what I can do and I cannot
do that.

Speaker 4 (54:45):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
What was your first exposure to pop music that made
you want to pursue K pop? By Maddie one DP.

Speaker 4 (54:51):
I think we discussed.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
That maybe we just start with fan questions, so we
just edit everything, so we answered everyone just one about
twenty minutes. Yeah, all right, this is from Nam Juni
for pres. Do you feel like, uh oh, do you
feel like thanks to K pop nineties mail groups are
making a comeback? Oh yeah, I think so.

Speaker 4 (55:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
I agree with that because.

Speaker 4 (55:15):
There's so much demand in boy bands.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Yeah yeah, I think K pop, you know, with you
guys and BTS and Black Pink, people are interested in that.
Those groups yeah again and so yeah. And I think
Backstreet Boys blew up again because of that.

Speaker 4 (55:30):
Well I wouldn't yeah, wouldn't say just because of K pop,
but definitely influences.

Speaker 2 (55:34):
It helps.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
Yeah, it definitely does.

Speaker 4 (55:36):
And also within like the K pop realm too, K
pop because it's so big now. It kind of made
people nostalgic of the older K pop groups like ten
to fifteen years ago. So they're making comebacks.

Speaker 1 (55:48):
Yeah, Like my group just.

Speaker 4 (55:50):
Made a comeback as well. Yeah, it's our fifteenth year anniversary.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
So what are y'all doing for that?

Speaker 4 (55:55):
So I was unfortunately, I was busy with the Broadway
musical and I was also shooting movies.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
So I couldn't like being too VISI.

Speaker 4 (56:01):
Yeah, I wanted to be with them, uh of course,
like over here. No, it was a bummer that I
couldn't really you know, you know, be in the comeback album.
But they're doing a concert, they're on tour right now. Nice.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
And do you just keep in touch with those guys?

Speaker 4 (56:21):
Yeah? And I sent them my video messages for them
to show at the concert, you know, my fans, and
they're like our fans would be like.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
Oh, yeah, that's great. Is your family still up in
the Bay Area?

Speaker 4 (56:33):
No, so my whole family moved to create when I.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Was they're all in Korea.

Speaker 4 (56:36):
But then I'm slowly moving them one by Yeah. I'm
with my dad right now in l A.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
Oh good, so you want them in l A.

Speaker 4 (56:43):
Yeah cool. My sister and my mom will joined soon.

Speaker 1 (56:46):
That's nice. It's I mean nothing like having family around you.
I mean, you can create your own family, but having
your real family around it's so Yeah. The drill we're
thinking now because you know, we have the kids and
you know it's so nice and families over here, but
we're so far away from them California, So eventually we
would like to get a little closer. So we're looking

(57:07):
at places like Austin or Dallas or Nashville that's closer
to our families. And that would just be so nice
to be able to have my family move to whatever
town we moved to. I love that to have Grandma
next door. You know, any time we need, I would
actually get some sleep and a vacation. Kevin is always

(57:30):
great to catch up. Please tell your fans what you
need to tell them right now. And how can everyone
stay in touch with you?

Speaker 4 (57:37):
Oh yeah? Follow me on my socials. I'm on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube,
and my upcoming projects. Like I mentioned, I'm doing Cacon
so you can see me there in August. Other than that,
look forward to my upcoming films and I'm also working
on a short film that's going to be really soon.
So yeah, there's a lot of things to look forward to.

(57:58):
And I hope I get to meet you guys on
tour soon because I'm running new music as well.

Speaker 1 (58:02):
All right, I love that. Well, it's always great to
see you. And well we can't wait ty you back
to kind of follow up on all the things that
all the five hundred things that you're doing.

Speaker 4 (58:12):
Once everything gets back to some we have we have time.

Speaker 1 (58:17):
Well, thank you for having me, Thanks for being everybody.
Thank you mister Kevin.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
Everyone we say it all the time, but he is
such a nice guy.

Speaker 1 (58:39):
Such I mean, I might have to say the nicest
we've ever had.

Speaker 2 (58:42):
I think you might be the nicest human beings ever.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Is just such a good guy. You know, we've I've
known him for a few years ago on our last show,
and you know, we've kept in touch here in Los Angeles.
And he introduced me his best friend Shinn, who we
talked about, who just came out Japan, and that's such
a big deal, Like Shin is huge in Japan. It's
like a BTS member coming out. It's just changes.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
At I know, and in a like a country, but
that's not all it's.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
Yeah, it's like America in the eighties. It's like it's
no bueno. You can't be gay or you're just considered
an outcast. So yeah, So congratulations to him, and congratulations
Kevin Kick.

Speaker 2 (59:23):
You know, I can't wait to see all of his projects.

Speaker 1 (59:26):
Kind he is. He's a brilliant man, super talented, and
we're going to see a lot from this young man
in the future. All Right, guys, that is all the
show I have for you. What a good day, great day.
It's a hot day.

Speaker 2 (59:38):
It's a good day.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
That's a great hot day, a great hot day. But
it's a great day to have a great day.

Speaker 4 (59:43):
Great.

Speaker 2 (59:43):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
I love it. That's how we start every morning. It is.
It is a great day to have a great day.
All right, guys, be good to each other out there,
don't drink and drive, take care of those animals. We'll
see you next time. But don't forget stay for asted.
You missed it literally again, I literally forgot what it was,
And don't forget stay frosted. Hey, thanks for listening. Follow

(01:00:08):
us on Instagram at Frosted Tips with Lance and Michael
Turchinard and at Lance Bass for all your pop culture needs.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
And make sure to write a review and leave us
five stars. Six if you can see you next time,