ONF (On and Off) is WM Entertainment‘s newest boy group that gathered a lot of attention due to their authentic performances. Having been to two reality shows, the members have always been in the spotlight during the competitions and ended up in good rankings on Mixnine and Road to Kingdom (apart from the victories during the program).
Authenticity is also on the name of the group, whose context is to divide the members into two groups: ON – the singers (Hyojin, E-Tion, and MK), and OFF – the dancers (J-Us, Wyatt and U). The enhanced concept in which the singers bring more romantic and positive songs while the dancers bring sexiest and unique performances. Together, the members make ONF and mix both personalities to explore different styles and concepts.
After wrapping up the promotions of their latest single, Ugly Dance part of the repackage album City of ONF, the group gave an exclusive interview to KoreaIN and talked about plans, the next goals they want to achieve, and love from fans.
KoreaIN: You have just finished the promotions and performances of your latest single. What are the next plans now?
U: After finishing the promotions, each member gets the chance to rest and improve some personal abilities. We also work constantly in our music to have new songs for everyone.
KoreaIN: “Ugly Dance” was a huge success and made everybody dance! How do you feel about it?
J-Us: With our fans’ unwavering support, love, and energy of those who liked Ugly Dance, we were able to promote it at the best of our capacity. We hope our songs continue to give strength to many people.
KoreaIN: You have finally received your first win at music shows with Beautiful Beautiful, congratulations! Tell us a little about this unique moment.
Wyatt: Many thoughts and feelings have taken over us because it was our first win at music shows since our debut. We were delighted with happiness and this win will always be an unforgettable memory and experience for us. It was something we have always wish and dreamed of since we were trainees. Because of that, I feel that we got more sense of responsibility to work harder to show better songs and performances.
KoreaIN: After the first win, what else do you want to achieve? What is ONF’s dream?
MK: There are many things we want to achieve. But something that we want a lot is to be with our FUSE at a concert once the pandemic is over. Unfortunately, due to the current situation, it is impossible to share the happiness of the first win in person.
KoreaIN: After this promotion, is it time to rest or to think about a new project? Could you share with us some plans for the second half of 2021?
Hyojin: When promotions are over, we do have more time to rest or work on our performances and vocals. Unfortunately, we can’t disclose plans for our new projects but what we can share is that we’re constantly working on our music. We want to always show everyone our new music and present new sides to ONF.
KoreaIN: Your music videos have a cinematic vibe, in which it is possible to notice lots of theories, mystery, and connection stories behind them. Can you please talk a little bit about it?
E-Tion: Our storytelling and ONF’s unique universe has been incorporated into our music videos little by little for our albums. Our latest album sets in a futuristic era, a multi-universe story where humanoids and mankind coexist, taking us into a parallel universe through a time-warp.
Our Ugly Dance music video is very performance-centric compared to previous music video creatives that were more based upon ONF’s storytelling. If you take a closer look at our first full-album title track Beautiful Beautiful music video, then you’ll notice that there were hidden hints about Ugly Dance! You’ll be able to understand the connection between the messages behind Beautiful Beautiful leading up to Ugly Dance if you watch the scene.
KoreaIN: ONF won lots of fans after Road of Kingdom thanks to your unique stages and covers. Who was responsible for making such amazing arrangements? Can you tell us about the ONF’s creative process?
MK: Each and every stage were centered upon ONF’s ideas. We worked with the composer, performance director and other professionals who have brought our ideas to life. Multiple meetings were held to make sure the members’ ideas and thoughts were included throughout the process. We shared feedbacks and supported one another to polish ideas to ensure each of the members’ strengths were highlighted.
KoreaIN: Your singles explore a lot of different music styles. Which rhythm you haven’t tried yet, but would you like to try one day?
U: We would like to first thank all our fans in Brazil for loving ONF’s music. The fact that we could show a variety of style music to our fans is one of our joys in doing music. I personally would like to try performing music that’s refined but slow in tempo! We haven’t had the chance to attempt this style, but I trust that our members will definitely be able to pull it off.
KoreaIN: Do you like any artists or know something about our Brazilian songs? Can we expect some ONF’s music mixed with Latin style, especially Brazilian ones such as MPB or Funk?
Wyatt: When it comes to Brazilian music that I would say that ‘Bossa nova’ is the first thing that comes to my mind. It’s also a signature music genre that everyone knows! There are many cafes in Korea that plays Bossa nova music. And there’s a Brazilian musician that I would like mention; he’s a world-renowned Bossa nova musician so many will know. His name is Antonio Carlos Jobim and I had the chance to listen to his music on couple occasions. And of course, if we do have the chance, we would love to explore sounds that are inspired by Brazilian music genre.
Credits: WM Entertainment
KoreaIN: The Brazilian fanbase has a lot of love to give for you guys! Have you ever noticed a Brazilian message/interaction? What have you heard about Brazilians fans?
Hyojin: We’ve seen many comments from our Brazilian fans. I hope that we could hurry and visit Brazil so we could build memories together in Brazil.
E-Tion: Many of our Brazilian FUSE has sent us supportive messages over V LIVE and twitter. We’re extremely grateful for our Brazilian fans. I sincerely hope that we could perform for our Brazilian fans in person one day.
J-Us: We’ve met our Brazilian fans over V LIVE but it’s so surreal since it’s online. We really wish to meet them in person and have the opportunity to perform and interact with them in Brazil.
Wyatt: Yes, we do know that we have our Brazilian FUSE supporting us. We’ve received a lot of love and support over social media, so they’ve given us so much energy and strength.
MK: I’ve seen messages from our Brazilian fans. Whenever I see those messages, we really want to go to Brazil to perform for them. And we also think about how amazing it’ll be to actually meet them at our concert.
U: We’re well aware that our Brazilian FUSE are with us! We haven’t had the chance to visit Brazil yet so we’re hoping to visit Brazil so we could have a wonderful time together!
KoreaIN: Can you send a message to FUSEs who will read this interview?
Hyojin: To our Brazil FUSE: we hope that this difficult period passes so that we could show our performances in person. I hope that day comes sooner than later. And we will always have our Brazil FUSE on our minds as we work harder for our fans, so please continue to support us all the way! We love you!
E-Tion: We would like to thank our FUSE for always loving and cheering us on from a far. We hope that the pandemic ends so we could see you in front of us as we perform. Please wait a while longer for us! Thank you!
J-Us: I hope we could rush over to meet everyone. Thank you for supporting from a far and please teach us more about Brazilian culture! Please stay strong until we could have fun together at our concert!
Wyatt: It’s all because of your support and love that ONF is able to fully enjoy performing on stage. Thank you for being our reason and for loving us. We will work harder so that we could go see our Brazilian FUSE!
MK: Dear our Brazilian FUSE! Thank you so much for always supporting and loving us! We feel all the love that you send us from a far and it has driven us to stay strong throughout our promotions and activities. We want to meet everyone as soon as possible!
U: Brazil FUSE! How are you? Did you love our ‘Beautiful Beautiful’ and ‘Ugly Dance’! We didn’t have the opportunity to perform it live in Brazil but I hope you were able to feel our energy all the way from Korea! We will continue to show great performances and music so please look forward to it. Thank you so so so much for always supporting us from Brazil! We really want to meet you all!!!!
By Isabela Marques. English proofread by Greyce Oliveira.
Pictures: WM Entertainment
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