In a new interview with W Korea, Korean rock act FTISLAND reflected on 15 years as an act and the way going forward.
15 years as an act is a big deal anywhere in the world, but spending 15 years together in the world of K-pop – fleeting and dominated by trends as it is – is an achievement warranting a special mention.
Often considered one of the first idol bands in the industry, FTISLAND’s run of a decade and a half has by no means been smooth. Band member Choi Jong-hoon left the act and retired from the industry in 2019 due to his involvement in the Burning Sun Scandal, while member Song Seung-hyun left the same year to focus on his acting career.
Despite the changes, the band restructured as a trio and returned anew, releasing their eighth mini-album at the tail end of 2021.
Touching on their career in an interview with W Korea, vocalist Lee Hong-ki said: “This was the one thing that I asked the members when we were renewing our contracts with the company recently: ‘Will you be doing FTISLAND till the end, will you protect it till the end?’ For me I will ‘protect FTISLAND’ no matter what and the members think the same way too.”
Lee also touched on why he did not like doing solo releases. His only Korean solo album FM302 was released in 2015.
“It was so boring. I have no intentions of doing it now too. When an idea comes to mind, I want to incorporate it with FTISLAND, and I don’t think I want to express it as a solo album,” he said, before adding: “I have never once thought about leaving and going out to do something alone in my 15 years of being in a band.”
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Talking about their ups and downs in the 15 years together, member Jae-jin added that there was never any “competition” between the members.
“We each have our own role to play in the band. We were really free and got close with each other so it went in a very good direction every time there was a crisis,” he said, “Because there was something (unspoken) between us that said ‘I can’t live without you and you can’t live without me’.
You can read more about this topic over at the Asia Pop Observer.
Check out ‘Unthinkable’ by FTISLAND:
