EXO Chanyeol: “Music perfection is important until I‘m convinced... NO compromise” [Photoshoot]

EXO Chanyeol has released a new pictorial through Arena Homme Plus.

Chanyeol released his first solo album ‘Black Out’ last August and has been performing diversely both domestically and internationally since September with his live tour ‘Cityscape’. He chose ‘playing the guitar’ as one of the elements he prepared most specially for this tour. Chanyeol said, “I’ve been playing the guitar since I was young, so I really wanted to perform with the guitar on stage. I was so happy. When I monitored myself, I saw an expression on my face that I had never imagined. I realized, ‘I‘m a person who is this happy when I play the guitar’.”

During this concert, Chanyeol covered famous songs in each region, receiving an even greater response from fans. He chose Yonezu Kenshi’s ‘Lemon’, which he sang in Japan, as the most memorable song, saying, “It‘s a song I’ve liked and enjoyed listening to for a long time.” He continued, “‘See Tình’, which he sang in Vietnam, was also special. You know ‘Ding Ding Tang Tang’, right? It‘s a very famous song from Shorts and Reels. I arranged it in my own way and it was really fun to sing it. ‘如果可以(여과가이)’, which he sang on his Hong Kong and Kaohsiung tour, was also fun. The original song is so good. More than anything, it’s memorable because the fans liked it,” he added.

What is the ‘most important part when making music’ to Chanyeol, who is always hardworking behind the scenes? He said, “It‘s important to achieve a level of perfection that I’m satisfied with myself. Even I can hear the shortcomings right now, but I think that if I compromise with myself, I‘ll be making false music. The thought, ”This will be okay,“ eventually leads to the thought, ”I should’ve tried a little more then.“ That‘s why I try not to forget the thought that I should make music that can convince myself before trying to convince others,” he confessed.

Chanyeol, who has been debuting with EXO for 13 years, answered, “When I meet my fans,” when asked about the moment when he thinks, “I did well becoming a singer.” He said, “For the past few years, I’ve been meeting my fans at a concert hall on my birthday. Around 1,000 people show up every time. This concert also happened to coincide with my birthday, so I received congratulations from so many people. Isn‘t that really amazing? There are people who come to see me, and I think, ‘I’m so blessed’ because I can always have a good time with them,” he said, expressing his gratitude.

Chanyeol concluded the interview by saying, “I want to remain as a person who truly loves music” and “a musician who can put on a good show.” The interview and pictorial containing Chanyeol’s honest side can be found in the February issue of Arena.

Jung Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.