As soon as Keeho from the Korean band P1Harmony hears I’m from London, he imitates my accent. “I knew you were going to do the London accent,” I tell him, considering his documented love for it. “Yeah, we love London,” he says with a smile. Keeho and the rest of the group – Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob – had ample opportunity to try out their British accents when they were recently in the city as part of their world tour, which they wrapped in Oberhausen, Germany on Jan 14th.

At their packed-out concert in London’s Troxy, P1Harmony revealed that they would finally be dropping their first full-length album; a deafening level of screams ensued. Fast forward to February 5th and, after a slow-build of highlight medleys, teaser photos and charming live streams, Killin’ It has finally been unveiled in all its glory.

A ten-track collection composed and recorded by the band, Killin’ It heralds a new era in P1Harmony’s journey since shooting to stardom with a stream of six mini-albums; STAND OUT, BREAK OUT and FIND OUT make up the DISHARMONY series, whereas the HARMONY series comes together via the ZERO IN, SET IN and ALL IN chapters.

Making a grand statement on their debut album, Killin’ It treats us to a mastered version of everything that makes P1Harmony great. As the members are credited as writers and composers across all tracks, it’s easy to hear their naturally spirited personalities running through the album’s DNA. Energetic pop-rap hybrid creations like the title track and album opener “Killin’ It,” “Street Star,” “Emergency,” and “Let Me Love You” play seamlessly next to smoother moments like “I See U” and “Love Story” while Killin’ It’s poppier efforts in the sultry “2Nite” and bouncy “Countdown To Love” and “Everybody Clap” round out the sonic experience.

In classic P1Harmony style, the Killin’ It artwork is loud and thought-provoking in its design. Depicting the group squeezed up into a silver SUV, it feels like an apt representation of Killin’ It’s wider purpose of driving P1Harmony forward into this exciting new era, and bringing us along on their wild ride in the process.

With P1Harmony naturally soaring to the top, we caught up with the band via Zoom to celebrate Killin’ It and their processes with creating the record, their experiences on their world tour, as well as future goals, including a dream of a stadium tour and a fun, stress-free experience for their fans.

Listen to the new album…

Read the full interview…

So, the first thing that stood out to me is that “Killin’ It” is the title track, it’s the opening song, and it’s also the album name, so it feels like a really important song for this album. So how did you settle on “Killin’ It” to be the title track? And what significance does it hold for the overall theme of the album?
Keeho: I definitely think with “Killin’ It”, when it came to the song selection for the main title song for our album, it changed, like, three times, and it changed so often, and not necessarily because we wanted to change it, but I’m glad it ended up being the way it is because the songs before, I felt, like, weren’t as impactful. So, I’m glad that we chose “Killin’ It” but I feel like the company in itself was just super [pauses] God, what is that word? I’m sorry. They were just super trying to perfect it, I guess, and what they wanted to portray for this album, and that’s why there were so many different songs that came in before “Killin’ It.” But I’m so glad we stuck with “Killin’ It” because I feel like it was just a good mix of everything that P1Harmony is good at. Sonically, visually, conceptually; the raps sound great. I think the vocals sound great on the song as well, too, and I think the visuals as well, too. We kind of just put everything that we’ve experienced from previous albums that we thought looked good and we kind of all put it into this one album, and I think “Killin’ It” was just such a good representation of that, and that’s why we made it the album title and also the title track and everything and, yeah, I hope – because it’s such an important track in the album – a lot of people will resonate with it even more.

And I noticed the theme revolves around being a superstar and standing out from the crowd. So, I was wondering, can you share your expectations of when you were growing up, what you felt it meant to be a superstar and if those expectations have been met by the reality of what you do now?
Jiung: I thought it’s going to be like a fancy life. But we’re all the same, the same human beings. So, yeah, I thought it’s going to change a lot. But of course, it did, in stage-wise, music-wise, we changed a lot. I did a lot of beautiful experiences but, you know, it’s the same. It’s the same.

Keeho: Obviously, when we’re touring and we’re performing and we see thousands and thousands of people just constantly show love and support, it’s still something we still can’t get used to because I think that’s also another aspect of the superstar life that, like Jiung said, we expected it to be so extravagant. But really, we’re just some normal dudes. We’re just very normal people and the fact that we’re getting love for that, it just seems so surreal. So, I feel like there is that little difference because, you know, when people see celebrities – I guess I don’t even know if we should call ourselves that – but people who get a lot of attention, they have a lot of spotlight, I feel like it’s so glamorous and so cool and you just see these paparazzi pictures and everything. You’re like, ‘whoa, their lives look so crazy.’ But really, it’s seriously not that serious [laughs]. But that’s also the reason why we constantly, I feel like we try to be humble and it keeps us humble because we’re so thankful that these people would even listen to us, to listen to just some normal dudes. So, yeah, we’re very thankful.

I feel like some of this comes through in the music video. It’s very larger than life and I feel like you’ve got these fun personas in it, too. So, I’m wondering, how do you feel that energy and the personas in the video communicate that story of what you’ve just told me about the song and the meaning behind it?
Keeho: I think for this music video, the concept of the music video itself was we have this huge storyline that starts from when we first debuted up until now and pretty much for this concept, it’s about being hidden superheroes and we saved the world, but the people don’t know that we saved the world. So, we’re like, ‘hey, guys, we’re the ones that did it. What’s going on?’ And if we kind of relate that back into our own personal lives like you said, I feel like, obviously we didn’t save the world, but I think we’re constantly, always trying to show people who we are and what we are as artists. And in a sense that, there’s still a lot of people that don’t know who P1Harmony is and what kind of music we make and what kind of performances we do and what we’re good at and what we’re not good at. I feel like [in] the music video, especially with this full-length album, we really want to show a lot of different people and a lot of people all over the world that P1Harmony is a good group, and we have good music and we do our best. We work hard, we put our best efforts into our music, and we hope that through this album, a lot of people recognize that.

Branching off of that, you guys are always standing out from the crowd with what you do, in my opinion. What do you feel like you’ve done differently this time to stand out from the crowd?
Jiung: I think being different is the same with being myself, because we’re all one and only.

Keeho: Ooh! That was good.

Jiung: So, knowing myself better – could be a different person, could be a special person. So, we try to show and express our own things that only we can do that are personal. We always talked about ourselves, what we can do or what we can sing, what we can say, what we can show. Yeah, I think this is the result.

Keeho: Branching off from what he said as well, and I think the rappers also, I feel like they – I want them to say something, because I feel like one of the reasons why we stand out so differently is because the rappers really take their time in crafting their work and their lyrics and their verses, and that kind of really elevates the song to a completely different level. So, they are super good at making our music sound so different sonically. I also feel like branching off what Jiung said, being truthfully you and being truthfully us and doing what we find is cool and great, makes us stand out I feel like. It isn’t about what this person is going to like, what that person’s going to like, and who’s going to like this and not going to like this. It’s more like, okay, what are we going to do with this album and this song, and how are we going to express that visually, conceptually, and sonically, and how are we going to enjoy it? I feel like the [truer] it is to us, the more genuine and more real it comes across to the viewers. So, I feel like with this album, we did a lot of contributions to the outfits, to the hair, to the makeup, to the concepts, to the sets, to the overall colour scheme of things. Just everything, really. So, I think because it was so much more intimate to us and genuine to us, it might feel that way for other people as well.

And I think, as well, you guys obviously have your own individual styles and preferences and music tastes in particular. So how do you feel like these individual elements were brought together to create that cohesive theme that we hear in the record?
Keeho: I feel like that was one of the points I really wanted to portray in our concept pictures, actually. So, for the first concept, which is the “Killin’ It” concept, when I was thinking about how I wanted to be dressed and how I wanted the members to be dressed, I really wanted each outfit to be very unique to their personal taste and to their own personal style. But I also really wanted one thing that kind of put everything together and so, when I thought of Theo, he always looks good in just, like, a straight fit suit. So, I was like, we need to put him in a suit. And I feel like Intak, he has a very- this is going to sound really weird to say, but he has a very pretty body frame, like, a sweater that kind of fits him nicely in the top. And then all these members, they have their stuff that suits them and for the first concept, I really wanted to have that shown differently within each member. But one way I kept all of the things together was a necklace. So, we created, like, this custom necklace that we put on our pants or as a brooch or as a necklace, and that all had the same symbol, and I felt like that kind of brought all of us together harmoniously. So, I think it’s really important to respect and understand what each member does best and looks best in in this case, but also find that one point that makes P1Harmony come together. And so that was just, like, visually an example. But I feel like, like you said, when it comes to music tastes and when it comes to dancing styles and anything, really, I feel like it’s so important to celebrate our differences but also come together as a team.

Speaking of the concept photos, the fashion, to me, felt very Y2K themed. So, I was just curious, how do you feel the fashion and I guess the styling of the aesthetic connects to the music and themes of the record?
[Jongseob answers in Korean]

Keeho: So Jongseob says that definitely throughout the years of all these mini albums that we released beforehand, we were able to kind of reflect on that and kind of look back and see what really suits us and what doesn’t. And for this new album, he definitely feels like we put everything that we possibly think that we’re good at into one album, and that kind of followed up with the outfits and the fashion as well, too, and we just kind of put together stuff that we knew that looked good on us, that we knew that if we wore this, we would look cool in. And I felt like that was a big part in choosing what kind of outfits we wanted to wear and what kind of things we want to do with our outfits as well.

This question is for the rap line of the group. I’m curious to know from your perspective, how do you feel rap, especially on the album, contributes to the overall vibes of the songs? And what do you hope listeners take away when they listen to the rap segments of the songs in particular?
Jongseob: It’s our first full-length album, so I hope they like it and [we were] so hard working on [this on] tour. Like during the tour, I wrote these lyrics on the airplane or in the hotel room. The work process was very hard, so I hope they like it. And I think our rap verse is like an exact colour in our song. If you listen to our song, when our verse is coming out, it’s like, this is the concept of this song. That’s the- [speaks to Keeho in Korean]

Keeho: So definitely when it comes to his verse in the song, it’s his goal to make sure that people can understand his verse in the same sense that they understand the song in general and that it suits it and that’s kind of his goal. Because it’s him writing it, it makes it so much more personal to him and that kind of just gives that extra personal vibe to the song and just kind of elevates the song in a sense that it’s really, truly coming from us.

I want to talk about the tour, because you’ve just wrapped your world tour, which is such a big achievement, so well done. I wanted to ask, what ways do you feel this tour has helped you grow as musicians and performers?

Intak: Yeah, I think the tour is always very hard physically. [explains in Korean]

Keeho: So Intak says, definitely, like you said, physically it’s very difficult to be on tour for that long. But he also feels like because of that physical practice that he goes through, it kind of really pushes him past his limits and during those times where it is really difficult to put on a show, he feels that he needs to concentrate that much more on how he can make this certain facial expression or this certain dance move this way and just concentrate even more harder and he feels like that kind of trained him to become an even better performer. Just overall, just looking back, it was a very good experience for him to overcome that.

And I know you went to loads of different countries. All over Europe; America; Australia and Asia. So, I was just curious, did you notice any differences or similarities between the audiences when you were performing?
Jiung: Because every countries have different cultures, it’s really different. I don’t wanna- [speaks to Keeho in Korean]

Keeho: He doesn’t want to stereotype it and generalise it.

Jiung: But in our experience, and I thought when we went to Japan or like Manila, Osaka, Tokyo, like Jakarta, they were quite like- [speaks to Keeho in Korean]

Keeho: He said that they were a lot more quieter, but not in the sense that they weren’t giving us energy, but in the sense that it seemed like they were really focused, they’re concentrating on the performance in itself.

Jiung: And when we were like in Chicago or LA or [pauses] there were so many, like Puerto Rico – they were really energetic, passionate. They were dancing with us, singing with us.

Keeho: It’s really funny though because I feel, like he said, when we’re talking about when we were touring Asia, I feel a lot of Asian countries, obviously we’re not going to generalize but I feel like they’re very coordinated within each other and so they learn these fan chants and they do the fan chants perfectly. Whereas we’ll go to Europe or America, and it wouldn’t really be coordinated in a sense that they’ll be doing the same fan chants. There obviously will be some people that do, but it’ll just be constant screaming and energy and energy and energy, so I feel like it’s a different wave of energy levels. But you can tell no matter where we are that these people really wanted to come see us. So that’s always a heart-warming feeling. And, you know, London [in a British accent] London’s a little crazy.

What are your ultimate goals for being in the group?
Jiung: Actually, when we were preparing our full-length album, this Killin’ It album, we talked about the goals. He said [pointing at Keeho] he said, we got to make a goal.

Keeho: Right. I gathered everyone up and I said that I think it’s really important to kind of all think of a certain goal that we want to achieve. So, we had that conversation.

Jiung: I remember that everybody said that we gotta go on a stadium tour.

Keeho: Not arena – stadium! [points to me] And you will be there.

I will definitely be there. I’ll be at the front row.
Keeho: We’ll be at the Wembley Stadium.

Jiung: VVIP!

I noticed on Weverse lives that you guys have loads of people tuning in. The numbers are really high. So, I was just curious, what do you feel is, like, the different pressures of being in front of a virtual audience and a physical audience?
Keeho: Online and in real life is different. What the difference is, is in real life you can see all of their facial expressions and you can hear them and you can see them and even if they don’t say anything, you kind of understand how they’re feeling, and you can kind of guess how they’re feeling. But when it’s online, you just kind of see just numbers and just letters and stuff. So, I feel like there’s that difference and so that’s why we love touring and seeing different people and seeing our friends all over the place.

And when you’re touring, what do you want people that come to the shows to take away from seeing you guys on stage?
[Jongseob answers in Korean]

Keeho: Jongseob says definitely just to have fun, just take away and just release stress and just really have fun. Even in the next morning when you wake up, we hope that the people that come to see our show think, ‘oh, I really want to go see them again’ and so that’s kind of the biggest thing we wish our fans would take away.

I feel like a lot of people in the crowd are probably not fluent in Korean. So, I’m just curious, from your perspective, like, being on stage, how do you feel seeing people connecting with the music, even when they can’t understand the language?
[Theo answers in Korean]

Keeho: So, Theo says he’s just very shocked and surprised that they can sing along and have fun. But then it also reminds him of when he was younger. Even though he’s not very good at English, when he listened to pop songs and English songs, because he listened to it so much, he can just kind of follow the vowels and just the words slightly. So, he just kind of thinks back and wonders how many times our fans listen to our songs to the point where they could sing along even though they’re not fluent. So, he’s very thankful, and he’s just always shocked at how well they can sing along to our songs.

And there’s English versions of some of the songs, too, so we have that.
Keeho: And also “Fall in Love Again.” London P1eces sang the hell out of “Fall in Love Again.” It was insane.

Jiung: It was crazy.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I feel like it’s such a good song, though. That’s why.
Keeho: Oh, thank you. We appreciate it.

Of course. Well, I think we have to wrap here, so, thank you so much for talking with me today. It’s been so much fun hearing all your thoughts on everything.
Jiung: Thank you.

I’m so excited for the album to come out. I cannot wait for everyone to hear it. Congrats again. And also extend congrats to Soul. I know he couldn’t be here.
Keeho: Thank you so much. We’ll tell Soul what you just said, too.

Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Keeho: Thank you so much.

Of course. No worries. Thank you, guys.
[All members waving and say goodbye smiling]

Jiung: Have a nice one, see you again.

Intak: Have a nice day.