[INT] FTIsland, “We’ll be back soon after Budoukan concert”

To stand on their ‘dream stage’, “feeling stressed but honored”
CN Blue? We hope that everyone can think of us as two bands which do Korea proud…
The best acting mentor – not our members but the director

Popular idol band ‘FTIsland’ (Lee Hongki, Choi Jonghun, Lee Jaejin, Choi Minhwan, Song Seunghyun) is wrapping up their Korean mini album promotional activities, to prepare for their upcoming Japan concert tour.

It’s been almost a year since FTIsland had their previous comeback and they have also released their first Japanese regular album , which sold about 37,000 copies. It’s the first time after 40 years that an overseas artiste (group) ranked 1st position on the Oricon weekly chart with a debut album, and FTIsland made a success in Japan.

What’s more important to them is that, besides getting closer to their regular fanbase and increasing level of recognition, as a band rather than an idol star, FTIsland is about to stand on the dream stage “Budoukan” on 29th July.

“It’s very meaningful for a band to be able to stand on the Budoukan stage. Though we feel the stress, we’re honored at the same time. We will do our very best on stage, without having any regrets.” (Jaejin)

The more frequent the members are doing activities in Japan, the lesser their activities in Korea. Hongki expressed that, “We wanted to do activities for a follow up song too… (in Korea) We want to promote a new song but the scheduled Japan concert tour is also important to us. We can only return after completing our Japan performances.”

With regards to their sibling group as well as a friendly rival “CN Blue”, the members said that, “We hope that everyone can see us as two separate bands. Both CN Blue and us are still in search of our own unique style, we hope that everyone can think of us as two bands which do Korea proud and give us encouragement.”

Choi Jonghun is also being casted for the movie “You’re My Pet”, alongside with Jang Keunsuk and Kim Haneul. Though it’s not something like Jonghun’s character, he is required to act cute many times in this movie. His selca with co-actor, Jang Keunsuk, also created a hot topic on the internet when it was revealed earlier on.

“Keunsukkie-hyung was worried that his face would turn out big in the picture, so he stood behind me. (members laughed)” (Jonghun)

Lee Hongki, Choi Minhwan and Lee Jaejin, who had experiences in acting earlier on, gave Choi Jonghun their advice. However, Jonghun joked that, “Everything seemed to be different (from what they’ve said to me) when I arrived at the filming location. Our director helped me the most.”

After completing their Japan concert tour this summer, FTIsland has plans to release a new album and to hold a concert in Korea, to make up for their short promotional activities for “Hello Hello”.

Click here to watch their interview

Credit: The Star + ying1005@withtreasures (translation)