Exclusive: Ateez Reflects On “bad” Success And Sets Their Sights On “up” At Comeback Press Conference

ATEEZ is gearing up for their return following their last successful comeback!

Ahead of their highly anticipated comeback, ATEEZ held a press conference to discuss their 15th mini album “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6” and title track “UP.”

Reflecting on the concept for their comeback with “UP,” leader Hongjoong shared, “We promised to make a good comeback. Despite the tight timeline, we resolved to work hard,” emphasizing how meaningful the comeback was in celebration of their eighth anniversary. Touching on the group’s powerful sounds and performance, he highlighted, “The message we wanted to show is that we’re still headed ‘UP’ although it’s been eight years.” ATEEZ further shared their resolve to showcase a performance only ATEEZ can showcase.

Mentioning points to anticipate in the music video, Yunho mentioned a scene where he is rowing the boat and being chased. He remarked, “There’s a sad and funny incident. There’s no chair [inside the boat], so I was just squatting and doing the invisible chair.”

Yeosang shared, “At the start of filming, Yunho and I had some free time, so we went to eat ganjang gejang (soy sauce marinated crab) nearby. It was too good for only us to know, so we told the members, and we all went to go eat together.” Yunho happily added, “We ate it for two days straight,” and Mingi remarked, “It was the ganjang gejang of a lifetime. They recognized us and made it even tastier for us.”

Hongjoong further highlighted the final scene of the music video where San breaks the wall and exits, remarking on its symbolism of going up. Meanwhile, Wooyoung mentioned Seonghwa’s dance break at the end as an important point to focus on. On the entire album, Jongho picked “Hollow Victory” as a B-side track to keep an eye on.

Regarding the pressure of taking the “killing part” with his dance break, Yeosang shared, “During ‘BAD,’ San did the killing part really well, so I would be lying if there wasn’t any pressure, but we worked really hard, so it would be great if you could look upon it fondly,” saying that regardless of being given the killing part or not, he worked hard just the same at practice. He continued, “If you watch the ‘UP’ performance, you’ll know everyone has a killing part. From the beginning to end, there is no point to miss.”

When asked about the novelty of seeing a comeback series reach its sixth part, Wooyoung remarked, “Through the ‘BAD’ comeback, a lot of people recognized us, so I’m really grateful.” He jokingly added, “But I personally also think it’d be okay to move on to the next part.” Hongjoong wrapped up, “It’s gone on a little long, but on the other hand, I don’t want it to end,” reflecting fondly on the success of the album series and simultaneously sharing how they will boldly end the series once there is a new message they want to convey.

Regarding the success of “BAD,” San commented, “I’m spending each day like a dream,” saying how they no longer have to explain the success of ATEEZ wherever they go as people immediately recognize them. He added, “We put our souls into this album.”

For upcoming goals, Seonghwa mentioned simply, “We want to showcase good performances,” adding, “There are a lot of big performances left such as awards shows. We made three comebacks [this year], so we have a lot of good songs,” expressing his hopes to show ATINY great performances. Yunho also touched upon how ATINY is the group’s driving force for how they successfully promoted for eight years.

Looking into the future, Hongjoong relayed excitement for their upcoming tour, expressing his hopes that more and more audiences who have yet to see ATEEZ will come to see them as it has been a longer break since their last tour.

Wrapping up, Wooyoung shared a few words of support for junior artists also from small to mid-sized companies. He shared, “Each group and their paces are different. The phrase I love the most is, ‘Don’t rush, and don’t give up.’ As long as they don’t give up, I think they can succeed no matter what.”

ATEEZ will make their comeback on November 13 at 2 p.m. KST. Check out teasers for the comeback here!

Watch the ATEEZ members in “Imitation” on Viki:

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Photo Credit: KQ Entertainment