Translation of this.--
-First time meeting you. Bigbang finally debuting in Japan's mainstream music field, could you please introduce yourself? Starting with SOL, what does your name 'SOL' mean, that you are using during your Japanese activities?SOL: I'm SOL; I'm a vocal. My Korean stage name is Taeyang which means "Sun". In Spanish, the word "SOL" means "SUN".
D-LITE: I'm D-LITE. This name means 'always bright'.
T.O.P: I'm TOP; I'm a rapper. This is the name that Se7en who's a senior in our company, made for me. The name "T.O.P." can also mean 'the peak, the top"; there are many ways you can define this name and I brought the initials.
V.I: I'm a vocal. In Korea my stage name in 'Seungri' which means 'Victory'. So Victory- V.I.
G-DRAGON: I'm the leader who's in charge of song writing also. My Korean name's Jiyong, 'Yong' means 'dragon'. That's why it's G-Dragon.
-BIGBANG is a group full of musical talent. Could you point out the outstanding points of your members?V.I: First of all, SOL’s dancing on stage is just great. I'm a guy, but I admire him. I envy him too.
D-LITE: When SOL is recording, he sings in his own style; I learn a lot from him.
T.O.P: When he's on stage he's very polished up. And, he has a style that no other Korean singers have, so there are many people that copy him. His specialty is his sophisticated dances and his performance on stage. He always studies the little details. His voice in very deep; it’s full of 'soul' that no other Korean singer has. I think the level of our group went up thanks to SOL.
G-DRAGON: SOL has the 'Soul'. The other members mentioned a lot of stuff, but to add on to that, he has a groove and feeling that's superior to the others. The most significant thing is that he always has the mind to try his best. The result of his effort is him right now. He's magnificent. The amount of practice he does is outstanding. And on top of that he's always studying-, so I'm looking forward how he'll improve in the future.
-Your reaction's very cool.
SOL: I'm ashamed/shy(laugh).
-Then D-LITE?
SOL: The meaning is in his name too; he's bright in any situation. When the other members are sad, he's the one that gives us the strength. His voice tone's very heavy and has a wide vocal range. He's a vocalist that can sing a lot of parts. When he's singing sad songs, he can make the song seem even sadder. He has a vocal colour that can embrace all the sounds and voices.
-After I heard the songs, I thought of that too.T.O.P: Can I say some bad stuff?
-What!?
T.O.P: Just joking(laugh). It's quite awkward talking about our members in a place like this. D-LITE, musically adds the sentimental feeling to BIGBANG's music. He's very good at conveying the sad feeling to other people and has a lot of 'colors'. He's working hard and is receiving a lot of love and support from a lot of people. He has a lot of merits.
V.I: D-LITE's a very natural person. When we(staffs and members) look at D-LITE, he makes us happy. He’s like a hyung. (*hyung=older guy)
G-DRAGON: From a director's perspective, he can easily absorb the notes and the song. He can rapidly finish the recording. As SOL said, he has a voice that feels like it is embracing the sounds, and is a person with a lot of talent. He's even on variety shows on TV. For example, he's like "a tree with a lot of fruit". Also, he has a great personality; he's a person that I would like make my younger brother(laugh). He has a lot of merits and has a bright personality. When he sings a new note, he puts in the effort to reach it fast. We're looking forward to his future; Daesung will "succeed greatly". Daesung means "大成(succeed greatly)".
-Then T.O.P?SOL: He's the oldest but likes to joke around. However when he raps you can never see that side of him. He has a charismatic style.
D-LITE: Can I say "He has none"?
(All laughs)
T.O.P: It's okay. You can say anything, even the bad stuff(laugh).
D-LITE: Just kidding(laugh). Musically, T.O.P's starting to write songs. I like T.O.P as a composer too; he made a bossa nova music style song(*착한 사람). After hearing that song I became his fan. His rapping's very powerful. For example, when G-DRAGON comes into his rap, I think it's great how they collaborate together. And as a person he's....
T.O.P: Useless? (laugh)
D-LITE: No no (laugh). He's the oldest by age, but is very nice to us, who are younger.'
V.I: T.O.,P first of all is very cool! Very handsome too. He also writes lyrics for our songs. One of his masterpieces is listed in one of our albums. If T.O.P studied Japanese, I believe that he would make great songs in Japanese too.
G-DRAGON: If you had to explain T.O.P it would be that he has a "free soul". From his personality, to his actions and music, he has his own unique "T.O.P style". Musically, he doesn't look awkward at all when he makes new challenges. He has a lot of talent. About his voice color, his voice has a great impact. When people hear his rap, people will like him; that's his style. And his personality, if you ask which side then he's manly and you can see that from his actions. That's T.O.P. Therefore T.O.P will become "TOP".
-How about V.I?SOL: He's always confident. He takes the initiative and sets an example for us. He has a lot of motivation for his own color; in Korea he's in dramas, musicals and is even an MC.
D-LITE: Usually when people start new thing, they hesitate and don't step forward. V.I is always willing to challenge himself. He's full of confidence and is able to show his results. He's the youngest in our group, but there's a lot to learn from him. For example, in your working field there are a lot of people that are above you. There probably would be some things that are hard to do, but he always works with a bright attitude. I'm thankful for that point.
T.O.P: His voice tone in BIGBANG's music, gives a feeling of Western music. Also, his fan services are outstanding. For example, when a fan turns their back, he makes them come back with his fan services. His ability to absorb everything, he has a charm that attracts people. He has a lot of desire in many areas- I don't know what he's thinking about... That was a joke(laugh). His passion towards dancing is outstanding too. He's studying, listening to music. He's a person that works very hard. Also when we release a new album the fans always say, "V.I always improves"(laugh). He makes us feel something, and makes us think that we should work harder.
G-DRAGON: We talk about this a lot amongst ourselves a lot, he has the concentration and tenacity that we even think he would survive in a deserted island. He's also really good at working with other people. Has great desires. Since he's still young, there are parts where we say 'since he's still young-', so we're looking forward to his future. Also, he's lived by himself for a long time. You might think that many unfortunate things would happen working as a group, but he always deeply things about everything. However because not everyone knows that, some people that meet him for the first time think he's a little arrogant and has boundaries. However when they get to know him, they'll notice how charming he is. So within this group, he's the cute youngest brother. When he hears, "this isn't it" from someone, he's the cute youngest brother that tries to fix that part. Musically, he has the strong sensibility of a boy. His voice colour enriches BIGBANG's music. He's always passionate toward dancing and is a person that always works hard. He'll make more progression in the future. He'll make "Victory" in BIGBANG.
-Lastly, could you talk about your leader G-DRAGON.
SOL: I've grown up with him for the past 9 years. He has a lot of talent. He can write lyrics, compose, rap, sing and even dance. He's an all ground player. He has a contrasting personality to mine, so G-DRAGON and I we tried to fill up the space; I learned a lot from him. As BIGBANG’s leader he's very calm and cool-headed. He's a perfectionist.
D-LITE: As a leader he guides us through the path we need to go and is a leader that leads us well. You might think that there would be a lot of clashes within the group, but because of our great leader BIGBANG all the way to this spot without fighting. I'm thinking G-DRAGON will become a 'dragon'(laugh).
T.O.P: He writes songs; I think he's a person that makes addictive melodies. When you listen to his songs, you fall into them; he has a wide range of support from Korea. BIGBANG has a wide fandom because of the music he makes; it is because of G-DRAGON. Also, within the group he always looks after the members. He looks after the younger members. These days we have busy schedules so there are some times that he can't look after us at much, but he always checks on us. He likes to be fancy on stages and he's good at pulling it off. Lastly, I also think G-DRAGON will become a 'dragon' (laugh).
V.I: G-DRAGON is BIGBANG's leader, but is also a producer. There are a lot of BIGBANG hit songs that of his from and has a lot of talent. I'm looking forward to the songs he'll write in the future. He's a great hyung.
-Thank you. I heard that you guys are living in Japan right now. Are there any hard parts about this?
V.I: The language of course. There are no problems when we're shopping, but it’s hard when we're on air.
-How about the housework while you're living here?SOL: That's also a problem while we're in Korea too(laugh).
-Who's the member that's best at cleaning?
SOL: G-DRAGON of course. He's good at cleaning and organizing.
G-DRAGON: I can't work when my surroundings are dirty.
-Interesting. Then who's the person that messes up everything?T.O.P: That person's me(laugh).
However, when you live with each other you become like one another. I also clean these days.
-Now, I would like to ask about your debut single "MY HEAVEN". The melody and the lyrics, the song really touches you.SOL: This is a song made from the collaboration of G-DRAGON and Daishi Dance. This is a love song that expresses the sadness that everyone's been through before.
-In your "NUMBER 1" album you sung this in Korean; was the feeling different singing it in Korean and in Japanese?SOL: The feeling of the song "MY HEAVEN" didn't really change even after singing it in Japanese.
D-LITE: The pronunciation was hard. Before singing it I listened to the meaning of the lyrics and sung it while thinking of the meaning.
-The content of the Japanese lyrics is a little different from the Korean lyrics.
SOL: Yes. The Korean lyrics convey a "I'm in a loving relationship" message but in the Japanese version it’s the opposite.
-The song's sadder because it's thinking back about the past. T.O.P you're in charge of the rap, but I though it would even be hard for a Japanese person to rap the rap part in 'MY HEAVEN'.
T.O.P: About the rap, in the past I did it all in English. But because we were debuting in the major field, I wanted to let more of the Japanese people to listen to my rap, so I decided to rap in Japanese. I had my mind on my pronunciation, but I also thought of the feeling that you can only feel while rapping in Japanese. I tried to make it sound more vibrant; I also concentrated on my tone and many other rapping techniques.
-Is there a key to rapping?T.O.P: The more you listen and come in contact with rap, the more you improve.
-So it's important to constantly come in contact.
T.O.P: Yes. When you come in contact, please listen to BIGBANG's music(laugh). We're planning to do bring more vibrant music in Japan, so please listen to our music.
-About the PV, the former masterpieces of BIGBANG were more dazzling; but this time I got the feeling you held it in a little bit.
G-DRAGON: I wanted to convey a new feeling to the Japanese people. For example, we watched the mood and the tones. We watched a lot of Japanese PVs and movies and reflected on that.
-Is there a piece that you specifically were impacted on?
G-DRAGON: We watched a lot, so I can't pick out just one piece. We studied the color and specific points for our piece. While watching a lot of Japanese videos, I received a lot of the sentimental feeling.
-Sentimental?G-DRAGON: For example the mood, houses or building, and streets were very organized, so there was a detailed and beautiful feeling to it. I sensed a cool feeling while receiving a warm feeling. I thought it was sentimental that way. Somewhat a "weak and vague feeling".
-After 'MY HEAVEN', you're releasing your second single album in July.SOL: We're releasing it on July 8, which is in the summer. I thought it would be great if we would be able to enjoy it all together in the summer. 'Gara Gara GO!!' is a single album that looked more into BIGBANG's colour.
-Adding on to that, is there anything that you guys would like to do in the Summer in Japan?SOL: I want to go to the beach with our members.
V.I: I want to go to the beach too. We've been to Okainawa before but we didn't have time to hang out there.
-That's sad. How about festivals?SOL: I heard that festivals are big here in Japan, but we've never been to one yet. If we have the chance I would like to go.
D-LITE: We've passed by a "Cherry blossom festival" while driving.
-I heard that SOL and T.O.P really like eating good food. What was the best in Japan?SOL: Fried meat. Everything in Japan tastes good so it's hard to pick.
T.O.P: Dishes with tuna such as mero fry. Or the tuna belly.
-Is the food that you guys like very different from each other?
V.I: We usually like eating the same stuff. Such as sashimi(*raw fish), or crab. We like the basic food like rice with beef, ramen in Japan.
SOL: Are you saying those are "basic foods"....(laugh)?
T.O.P: All of our members like eating good food so we discuss before choosing our menus.
-Lastly, a message to the people that are looking forward to BIGBANG's activities?
SOL: BIGBANG has debuted in the major field and we're planning to perform in many places starting from 'MY HEAVEN'. I think we'll be able to meet you more often. Please support us.
D-LITE: We'll always work hard!
T.O.P: I really want to work hard to raise your hopes for us. We're doing promotions in Japan for a long period of time, I want to show you all the charms and sides of BIGBANG.
-You also have an event to celebrate you major debut on the day of the release of your second single album on July 8.
SOL: Yes. We want to show you an extraordinary stage, so I hope you come.
V.I: I'm very nervous and excited because we debuted in the major music field. We'll work hard so please give us the support.
G-DRAGON: Everyone said a lot of positive things; if you listen to our second single album you'll be album to notice a different side of us. I want to make something that will emphasize BIGBANG's charms and color. We'll work hard and study to not make us seem like overseas artist; please look forward to us.
Magazine scan: mican*
Translations to Korean: 그놈 @ bbvipz
Translations to English: Beau @ bbvipz
Minor Edits: Lucy Miao @ BBVIP
Post Taken From: bigbangvip
