After wrapping up their UTOP1A Tour, P1Harmony caught up with Billboard to share their experience during the tour and their excitement about attending KCON LA. The group talked about what it was like to attend the ACM Awards, perform at the Governor’s Ball, what fans can expect with their new music and more!
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00:00When is this coming out? Do we know?
00:01Oh, this interview.
00:02This interview.
00:02Okay, I don't even know if I'm allowed to say anything.
00:06You want to get in trouble?
00:07Our people are like,
00:08Whoa, no!
00:10Hey, it's Tetris with Billboard News,
00:12hanging out with the fellas of P1 Harmony.
00:14How's it going, guys?
00:16Yep.
00:16And I gotta start by saying congratulations
00:18because you just wrapped up the Utopia Tour.
00:20Yes, we did.
00:21It's all done. You came here,
00:23and now you get to relax and hang out with me.
00:24So how are you feeling now that the tour is over?
00:27I think it's, I feel like very, like,
00:29touring was going very fast.
00:31Like, we done our concert like 10 times.
00:35It's kind of long.
00:36It's a month and a half,
00:38but it's, I feel like very short.
00:41But it was very fun.
00:42And I mean, you say very short,
00:43but you also hit a lot of cities
00:45in a very small amount of time.
00:46I mean, you guys started in Seoul
00:47and all over the United States.
00:49So let's talk about what you guys kind of do in cities
00:51when you're hanging out.
00:52So how's it been in Los Angeles so far?
00:53I know you need to do some shopping.
00:54Right, exactly.
00:56I think just as you said,
00:58you know, whenever we do have off days,
01:00for me personally, I love to go out.
01:02I love to be really immersed in the city I'm in.
01:05And I like to, you know, try out food
01:07and, you know, go shopping and see sights.
01:09In Miami, I remember going out by myself
01:12and going to Miami Beach and seeing the beach
01:14and having dinner by myself.
01:16And yeah, it's just-
01:17You left all of them back at the hotel?
01:19Well, I had asked.
01:20I was like, does anyone want to go out with me?
01:23And no one replied.
01:24And that usually happens all the time.
01:25So I'm like the adventurer.
01:27So I like to go out and I like to adventure on my own.
01:30I know Theo also likes to go out,
01:31but he never tells anyone he's going out.
01:33Oh, okay, he's stealthy.
01:34Yeah, he just disappears for a couple hours
01:36and then he just comes back and he's like,
01:38yeah, I went on a speedboat and it was super fun.
01:40You should go try it out one day.
01:41I'm like, why didn't you go with me?
01:43I would have liked to jump on a speedboat.
01:45Yeah, no, yeah.
01:46Is it easy for you to do that as an idol
01:47and being, you know,
01:49do you go places that you know
01:50maybe people won't be as busy?
01:52No, not really because I feel like
01:54we kind of just don't expect anyone really
01:56noticing us out in public.
01:57But when we do, it's always the nicest people ever.
02:00Like our fans are so nice and respectful.
02:02So they just come by and they say hi,
02:04like we love you.
02:04Like can we get your signature?
02:05And we're so down to get signatures out.
02:07So yeah, we love seeing our fans out in the wild.
02:09I remember Integra and I in Nashville,
02:11we went shopping at a shopping mall
02:13and we saw like five, six different people
02:17at the mall that knew who we were
02:18and they were wearing like our merch and everything
02:20and it was like so sweet to see.
02:23And yeah, like they're all super nice and respectful.
02:26So, you know, we don't purposely try to hide, right?
02:30We try to enjoy while we're there.
02:31And then how was being in Toronto?
02:33Because Kiho, you're from Toronto.
02:34Right.
02:34Hey Toronto, I want to feel your heartbeat tonight.
02:36Did everybody go out there?
02:37Did you get to show them some special things?
02:39Because I left Toronto at such a young age,
02:41for me as well, Toronto is very new.
02:43So there's still a lot of stuff
02:45that I haven't got to explore.
02:46With the members, I remember we went to
02:49the Toronto Islands.
02:50So there's islands in Toronto.
02:52I don't think I even knew that.
02:53Yeah, you have to take a ferry out into the islands.
02:55Wow.
02:56Yeah, I didn't know either.
02:57Well, now I got to do that when I go to town.
02:59So we went out and then we saw like the islands
03:01and it was kind of spooky because it was at night
03:03and there was no lights at all.
03:04So it's pitch dark and we're like exploring
03:06this island together.
03:07Yeah, it was really fun.
03:08You know, I got to see my friends and family
03:10and it's always like a cool full circle moment
03:12when I come back to Toronto.
03:13It's like, wow, like this is where I grew up in
03:15and now I'm able to come back
03:17as a completely new and different person
03:18and being able to perform there in front of my friends
03:21and family, it's such a humbling experience.
03:23Now that it's all done, you said it was really quick,
03:26but you got to be a little tired maybe.
03:27So what are you looking forward to once you get back to Seoul?
03:30I think you said your flight's tomorrow.
03:31Right, it is.
03:32So when you get back to Seoul,
03:33what are you most looking forward to?
03:35We have a lot of festivals.
03:37Yeah.
03:37And we're always preparing the new album
03:41or new songs, new performances
03:43or we can make a content for our fans
03:46like a variety show
03:49or whatever like fans want.
03:53So yeah, we should prepare some things like...
03:57Yeah.
03:58We're definitely going to be talking about music and content.
04:00We'll get to that.
04:00But you actually talked about festivals
04:02which is something I want to touch on,
04:03Gov Ball.
04:04I mean, you guys killed it at Gov Ball.
04:06Thank you.
04:06But what was also really cool
04:07was you watched everybody else too.
04:09You guys spent time going to the festival.
04:11So how was it to attend a music festival
04:13and see all the different talents?
04:14I just want to say so honoured
04:18because it's not easy to experience
04:22and see new artists all the time.
04:24But it was such an honour to be able to
04:27see and experience new artists
04:30as we perform as artists.
04:33It's not an opportunity that we get all the time
04:35to be able to see artists that we love
04:37and we enjoy listening to on a daily basis
04:39and be able to see them live
04:40has been such a moment of inspiration
04:44and also just a moment to really appreciate music altogether.
04:47Because like you said, you know,
04:48performing there is one thing
04:49but also being a part of the audience
04:50and being able to really go back to your roots
04:52and really appreciate music in itself.
04:55Not as a performer,
04:55but as just someone who loves music
04:57is something that was really honourable for E-Town.
04:59Yeah, and what would you say was one of the sets
05:01that you felt inspired by?
05:03Definitely, I like Don't Tolerate.
05:05Oh, yeah.
05:05And SZA's stage was so good too.
05:09There's a lot of sets in there.
05:17I was so surprised.
05:18They're...
05:30Literally, the actual set in itself was also super cool.
05:33Like Don Tolerate had two huge floaties on his set
05:37and like motorcycles
05:38and SZA had a whole boat on set with the screens
05:41and he said it was just so much more than he expected.
05:43So it was really fun for him to see.
05:45So you guys are going to be at KCON again.
05:46Yeah, right.
05:47How exciting is that?
05:48It's one of my favourite festivals ever.
05:49Really?
05:50It's so much fun.
05:51So how is it going to be to do it?
05:52Is this your second or third time?
05:53I think second.
05:54Yeah, maybe yeah.
05:55So KCON, there's like a whole bunch all around the world.
05:57Like there's Japan and like there's LA
06:00and like whole bunch of places.
06:01For LA, I think this is our second time
06:04and you know, they do it at the Crypto Arena
06:06and the way they set the stage up is like 360 audience
06:09and then the stage is like in the middle
06:11and it's always so cool to perform
06:13because like you can see everyone everywhere
06:15and I remember the first time we went in,
06:17we had a lot of fun.
06:18So we're really looking forward to coming again
06:21and also just coming back as even more refined
06:25and better artists than before
06:27and being able to show the audience,
06:28you know, how much we improved
06:29and also, you know, we sold out the Kia Forum
06:31a couple nights ago
06:33and being able to, you know, come back to LA
06:35with more confidence that we have.
06:38Our fans are going to be there to see us once again.
06:41We're super, super excited to put on an amazing show
06:43and hopefully a lot of people come.
06:44So much you've been up to.
06:45Let's talk about Chicago.
06:46Yes.
06:47And going to the game, throwing the first pitch.
06:48You sang.
06:49I did.
06:50It was the most randomest thing ever,
06:52but I was very nervous.
06:54I was very honored
06:56and I'm sure he was nervous too.
06:57I remember before we even got there,
06:59Theo was like,
06:59I've never threw a baseball in my entire life.
07:03You've never thrown a baseball.
07:04Yeah, so he's never threw a baseball ever
07:07and it's like he just is a huge baseball fan.
07:10Like he's hit a baseball.
07:11He hasn't thrown one.
07:12So he was really nervous.
07:13He's like, what am I supposed to do?
07:15And he told me,
07:22So he was on YouTube searching up
07:24how to like throw a baseball.
07:25Making sure.
07:26Right, and I remember telling him like,
07:28it's either throw it really, really bad,
07:30so it's funny
07:32or throw it really, really good.
07:33Like let's not do an in-between, right?
07:35Like if you're going to mess up, mess up.
07:36If you're going to do well, do well.
07:37But he did actually a really good job, so.
07:39Good job.
07:40And then did you know the baseball song?
07:42Because I don't even know why it's stuck in my head.
07:44I don't know baseball, but I know the song.
07:45Like I, yeah, I know the melody.
07:47Like take me out to the ball game.
07:49Like I know the melody,
07:50but I didn't know there was that many lyrics.
07:53I was, I was shocked.
07:53So I remember the night before I was listening to it on loop
07:58and I like to listen to music while,
07:59I like to listen to music while I shower,
08:01when I'm doing anything really,
08:02but I remember having the 7th inning stress song
08:05just on repeat for like two days straight
08:07just in case I messed up.
08:09Yeah, I had it down.
08:10Oh man, that's great.
08:11And also I got to talk about the ACMs.
08:13Like how did you guys end up there?
08:15You guys, first of all, looked amazing.
08:16The cowboy hats, the fits were perfect.
08:18Thank you.
08:19So how did you guys end up at the ACMs
08:20and how much fun was that?
08:43So Jongseob has definitely, you know,
08:55while we've been touring and, you know,
08:57been in states multiple times,
09:00there wasn't a lot of opportunities
09:01where we could really get in touch with country
09:03and country music and the country artists that are out here.
09:07And so being able to get the opportunity
09:08to really see them in person
09:10and see them perform and be in that culture for that night
09:13was so awesome.
09:14And, you know, I feel like the thing with K-pop
09:16is it's just so fun to try different genres
09:18and make genres.
09:19So it was really cool to be inspired and have fun.
09:21And also we're huge fans of Post Malone
09:23and Jongseob as well.
09:24And we got the privilege to be able to see him
09:27after the show and we got to take pictures
09:29and have a little chat with him too.
09:30So it was really fun.
09:32And for me personally, I'm a huge Chris Stapleton fan now.
09:34I listen to him a lot now.
09:36He's such an amazing artist
09:38and like seeing him perform was so crazy.
09:40You know, we were just enjoying the show
09:42and Dua Lipa showed up.
09:43Yeah, I know.
09:44Isn't that so crazy?
09:46No, like we did not...
09:46And she sang with Chris, which was also random.
09:48Like we didn't expect it at all.
09:50And I remember I was just sitting there
09:51and I was kind of like not paying attention
09:53to like who was on stage.
09:54I was just hearing the music and I was like,
09:55this is nice.
09:56And then Intak next to me was like,
09:57Dua Lipa?
09:59Dua Lipa!
09:59And I'm like, what are you talking about?
10:01Dua Lipa's not here.
10:01And I saw him and it was Dua Lipa.
10:03Yeah.
10:03That was so wild.
10:04Yeah, it was a really fun night.
10:05And I feel like you guys also,
10:07you toured a lot with Jelly Roll.
10:09Yes.
10:09IHeartRadio stuff.
10:10You guys got to reunite with him there.
10:11So I feel like maybe that's where you need to go.
10:13Maybe a country collab because he's great.
10:15Yeah, and Jelly Roll was so sweet.
10:17I remember seeing at IHeartRadio
10:19and Jingle Ball and just meeting with him
10:21and having so much fun.
10:22He has so much nice things to say.
10:24Oh, he's amazing.
10:24Yeah, and seeing him get wins at the ACM Awards.
10:27Like, you know, it was so nice to see
10:29and I see him grow and like become the artist
10:32that he is.
10:32It's so honoring to see.
10:33Well, I'm putting it into the universe.
10:35I need the P1 Harmony country song,
10:37Jelly Roll, work with these guys.
10:38I need the track.
10:40You guys also work with a lot of other K-pop artists
10:43and you were talking about making content.
10:44So you guys do a lot of that with Tomorrow X Together
10:47and Zero Base One and stuff on TikTok.
10:49So how is it to like get involved in these challenges
10:51and do content with the other K-pop artists?
10:56I think it's fun.
10:57It's fun.
10:57Yeah, it's really nerve-wracking though
10:59because like our dances are hard
11:01but their dances are just as hard.
11:03So like having to learn each other's dances,
11:05but you know, it's all fun
11:06and you know, we're all in the industry together.
11:09So it's really cool to see each other support each other
11:12and you know, when a release comes out,
11:14just contacting each other and be like,
11:15hey, you want to do my challenge?
11:16Let's do a challenge.
11:17Let's link up and do challenges.
11:19And it's really thankful that they support our music
11:20and we support theirs as well.
11:22So yeah, it's always a fun little thing, content thing.
11:24And it's like really easy to do too.
11:26Well, you say it was easy,
11:28but then you were saying, you know, the choreography
11:29because I know when you're doing your own choreography,
11:31you're like in rehearsals like for hours.
11:33But then when you show up to do like someone else's,
11:36like do you just have like an hour to learn this thing?
11:38Because I'm telling you, me and our editor Frankie,
11:40she's right there.
11:41We do TikToks all the time
11:42and like I take hours to learn the dance.
11:45No, no.
11:45Like I'm like how, what is this move?
11:47So like how long do you have to learn it?
11:49Legit 10 minutes.
11:5010 minutes?
11:51Yeah.
11:52Five or 10 minutes.
11:52Oh no.
11:53Because everyone's on like a really tight schedule.
11:55So it's like here's the thing, like I'll teach you.
11:58Let's do it.
11:58And then you have to learn.
11:59See, that's why I don't film a lot.
12:02I can't, I can't do it in 10 minutes.
12:03I don't want to look stupid too.
12:04This is intense choreography.
12:05Yeah, it is, it is.
12:06Even when sometimes I'll see they'll be like,
12:08oh, let's do this challenge.
12:09And I'm like guys, you do realize you're idols.
12:11I can't do this challenge.
12:12It's too much choreo.
12:13Right.
12:13And then you also guys are really hilarious on TikTok.
12:16I know sometimes you guys take a time to use humor there.
12:19So is that another outlet that you enjoy?
12:21And why do you like talking to fans that way?
12:22I feel like it's not really something we do strategically,
12:26but something that's just fun for us to do.
12:29And I feel like it shows a little bit of our personalities
12:32as well and how we like to take things sometimes not so seriously.
12:36I feel like, you know, music and performance and everything
12:39can be taken so seriously.
12:40But you know, it's an outlet where we can just really have
12:43fun and communicate with our fans in more of a, you know,
12:46relatable way.
12:47So yeah, I mean, we just have fun with it and I'm on TikTok
12:50all the time and I love seeing funny stuff.
12:52And if something's funny, I'm just gonna be like, hey guys,
12:54you want to try it?
12:55Let's do something fun.
12:56And so and the fans like it.
12:57So yeah, it's just something we do for fun and show our
13:00personality a little bit.
13:02Let's talk about music a little bit.
13:03You guys put out your first full-length album, Killing It,
13:05back in February.
13:10And I love that you guys had a lot of writing involved in it.
13:12Right.
13:13So tell me how it was to kind of like and how you go through
13:15the process of writing the album.
13:17First of all, it was very hectic schedule.
13:19Like we were on tour.
13:21Yeah.
13:21Yeah, we're on tour.
13:23Like we wrote our lyrics and like there's a 10 songs in
13:28the full-length album.
13:28It's very hectic, but it was fun.
13:30It's just I try to do my best.
13:33Like it's a full-length album.
13:35And very important for me, for us, for me personally.
13:40I work like making another version, like make like four
13:47three, which is five, six version.
13:50So his process is like, it's a really, some people might
13:53think it's a really hard process because he makes five,
13:58six versions of the same song.
14:01So he's like making like so many different versions of the
14:03same thing and then he sends it to our group chat and he
14:07sends it like five, six files.
14:08And he's like guys listen to it.
14:09Tell me what you guys like and then we have to sit there
14:12and like listen to it and give him feedback.
14:14But like, you know, he's such a hard-working guy.
14:16You don't, I've never seen him outside of his studio.
14:19Like he's always at the studio and he's always working
14:21on stuff.
14:22So he's always sending us multiple versions.
14:24And like you said during the creation process of killing
14:27it, majority of the creation process was when we were out
14:31on the road.
14:31So we were like in Europe.
14:33We were in Latin America.
14:35We were in like a whole bunch of different places.
14:36I know Chiyoung even brought like his laptop and microphone
14:39and headphones and he was making music on the road and like
14:43they were writing stuff on the airplane and it was like, it
14:46was not an easy process because it's 10 songs, right?
14:50But I think it was really worth it.
14:51And you know, having that extra repertoire was so useful for
14:54our Utopia tour as well too because we were able to perform
14:57so much new stuff for our fans.
15:00And yeah, it was just really fun to bring all of it to life.
15:03And you talked about how it was, you know, a full-length
15:05project. That's something I wanted to ask you guys about
15:08because me as I've become a K-pop fan, I know it's always
15:11like this is a mini-album, this is an EP and you guys had
15:14six EPs before the full-length album.
15:15So how do you kind of separate the two and approach it
15:18differently with versus a mini-album versus a full-length album?
15:31So definitely, you know, with our mini-albums, I think not
16:00really the process-wise but content-wise, I feel like the
16:04content-based for our mini-albums, there's a very connecting
16:07story within our mini-albums starting from our debut up
16:10into the sixth mini-album.
16:11It was just a whole story that we wanted to portray with
16:15our Disharmony Trilogy, with the Harmony Trilogy.
16:17And so with our full-length album, it was kind of different
16:20in the sense that it was time to really organize what we've
16:24already explained beforehand, but also give something new
16:27and completely different conceptually and also
16:30sonically. So, you know, it was really important to Jongseob
16:33as well to really focus on the main leading single to really
16:36just portray something completely new and kind of step away
16:39from the storytelling to something more unique and different,
16:43something different from whatever we put out before.
16:45Nice.
16:46And lastly, you said you guys going to get back and get back
16:49to work.
16:49So what can you tease?
16:51I know you can't say much, but what do you guys want for
16:53the future when you think about your next music project?
16:56Why are we laughing?
16:59Smile got so big, too.
17:01I think it's really hard to get balanced, like, between a music
17:07that's good to perform or good to listen to.
17:12So it's really hard to get balanced.
17:15So I think we should try to make it like really great, balanced.
17:21It's hard.
17:22I don't know, but I love, I know exactly what you're saying.
17:25I think we should make music that's good to listen to, that we can all enjoy
17:28when we're on stage.
17:29Yeah, he was just trying to say it's really difficult to make music
17:35that's like performable and like really energetic and high-tension
17:39on stage, but also music that is fun to listen to and just easy
17:42to listen to just in your day-to-day.
17:44And so keeping that balance is something we're always looking
17:46forward to doing.
17:48And hopefully with our next song that will be coming out, it'll
17:51have that, you know, cohesive balance of, you know, really energetic
17:54and fun, also fun to perform on stage, but also a song that you
17:58can just really listen to comfortably whenever you want, whenever
18:00you're feeling down.
18:01And when is this coming out?
18:03Do we know?
18:03Oh, this interview.
18:04Okay.
18:05I don't even know if I'm allowed to say anything.
18:14The fact that I'm even allowed to say that right now is that, you
18:17know, we're always, that means there is something, right?
18:20We're always preparing something.
18:21So keep an eye out.
18:22We can't tell you obviously dates or anything or how it's going
18:25to roll out.
18:26But, you know, the thing with K-pop is it's such a fast-moving
18:30industry where like there's stuff coming out, coming out, coming
18:32on.
18:33And so P1Harmony is also on that wave.
18:35So, you know, there's no time to rest, guys.
18:37You guys got to be ready.
18:39You got to keep up with us.
18:40You got to keep up with us.
18:41You know, we'll be here sooner or later.
18:43Well, we can't wait to hear the new stuff.
18:45And thank you guys for taking the time to stop by.
18:46You just finished touring.
18:47So thank you.
18:48No, thank you for having us.
18:49We really appreciate it.
18:52Thank you.