[INTERVIEW] Self-producing Just B marching to its own beat

Just B is one step closer to being self-producing with their latest EP "÷(Nanugi)." which features three self-produced tracks, showcasing the band's musical style and goals.

Just B dropped its fourth EP ″÷(Nanugi)″ on Monday, making it the boy band's first EP release in almost a year. [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

Just B is marching one step closer to its goal of being a self-producing boy band with its newest EP “÷(Nanugi).”

“In a not-so-distant future, we plan on producing and directing an entire album with all of our members involved in the album production, which is one of the more specific goals we have,” Bain said during a group interview with the local press held ahead of the album’s release.

“÷(Nanugi),” Just B’s fourth EP, which releases Monday, comes almost a full year after the band’s last release “= (Neun).” The album contains three tracks produced by members, plus an additional English version for one of the trio of self-produced songs. Out of a total of six tracks, “Youth” and “Camelia” were both written and composed by DY, followed by Korean and English versions of “Coming Home,” a song written and produced by DY, Bain, Geonu and Sangwoo alongside producer Samuel Carter.

“The three self-produced tracks featured in the album show Just B’s musical colors. I think it allows us to tell people what kind of music we want to pursue,” Bain said.

“I think the sense of being able to sympathize [with the listeners] is crucial when I produce my music,” DY said. “I value the idea of sharing the same feeling together, which coincides with the title of the album, “Nanugi.”

Just B dropped its fourth EP ″÷(Nanugi)″ on Monday, making it the boy band's first EP release in almost a year. [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

Nanugi, while referring to the Korean word for division, can also refer to the action of sharing, a concept that is prevalent throughout the album.

“Following our previous album ‘= (Neun),’ we are back with a familiar mathematical notation, and we’ve tried to incorporate positive ideas in our album by using familiar signs, and ‘division’ fitted right in: it can be about dividing [sharing] things with others, sharing feelings and so on,” DY explained.

“With ‘Nanugi,’ we hope people achieve happiness through sharing [and caring for others] instead of just trying to pursue happiness through luck,” Bain said.

Boy band Just B [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

Using the topic of sharing, Just B also touched on a more serious subject of taking care of our environment.

“We are facing a lot of environmental issues in the 21st century that we live in,” Geonu, the eldest member of the band, said.

“We wanted to talk about the issue and convey a positive message in a not-so-serious way,” he said. Members added that while the teaser video started with a strong line, “Really, all the things which humans take for granted are, in truth, precious gifts,” and showed a dystopian world where people suffer due to the lack of natural resources, the album is not all dark and hopeless.

“Our teaser is very serious and contains deep messages to draw people into the album,” Geonu said with a laugh. “Our music video won’t be as serious.”

Boy band Just B [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

The lead track of the album “Medusa,” is a simple yet catchy punk-rock score, a new genre of music for the band. The lyrics were written by Ryan Jhun, a renowned K-pop producer known for countless hits such as EXO’s “Love Me Right” (2015), “Dumb Dumb” (2015) by Red Velvet, “I AM” (2023) by IVE and many more.

“Medusa used to be a charming person but was cursed to turn into a monster that turns everything into stone,” Bain explained. “We’ve adopted that story to our concept of ‘saving the environment’ and we are calling people to revert the world to its original, beautiful state, as it used to be. The unique title of our lead track is something that sparks different questions to the listeners.”

Just B members also said that they didn’t just decide to go with “Medusa” because it was produced by a hitmaker producer in Jhun.

“We did a blind test when we decided on our lead track and ‘Medusa’ was the track that constantly landed in first place, we seriously didn’t know it was done by producer Ryan Jhun!” said Bain and Lim Jimin.

“So while we were glad to be working with producer Ryan Jhun, we also felt very pressured,” said Lim Jimin. “We worried we wouldn’t be able to fully utilize his great work. Ryan Jhun actually sent us constructive feedback as we produced our album, telling us not to get discouraged and to get confident when recording our songs.”

Just B dropped its fourth EP ″÷(Nanugi)″ on Monday, making it the boy band's first EP release in almost a year. [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

While “Nanugi” is an album released by the boy band after an 11-month long ‘hiatus,’ it’s not like Just B was taking a break, instead they have been going around the world, with its Latin America Tour that kicked off in January and through many overseas appearances, such as participating in KCON festivals in Japan and Los Angeles, the Toronto K-pop Festival in Canada and also appearing on channel CP24’s breakfast news show “CP24 Breakfast,” making Just B the first K-pop band to appear on the show.

“Spending 11 months without a comeback was not easy for us, and we really felt that long gap. We too were upset and felt unwell at that,” DY said. “But as we spent more time together overseas, it allowed us to — while were always strong as one team — be even stronger, as it was a time where we could concentrate our scattered passion and we were able to set a more solid goal [to be a band capable of self-producing its albums].”

“Meeting and communicating with our fans abroad was also a very valuable experience,” Geonu said.

Boy band Just B [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

The B-side track “Coming Home” was also a byproduct of the band’s worldwide activities.

“While the physical distance to our overseas fans may be far, they have been treating us as if we were good friends even when it was our first time visiting the city,” Bain said. “This gave me the idea that home is wherever our fans reside, and that’s how the track ‘Coming Home’ came to be. I hope fans get the message that we are always by their side as one.”

The album also features an “Acoustic English” version of “Coming Home,” while the English lyrics were mainly written by producer Samuel Carter, members of the band, including Bain, took part in the production as well.

“When I write my songs, I would always write the demo lyrics in English, in words that actually make sense,” Bain, the composer of “Coming Home,” said.

“And ‘Coming Home,’ too, had its lyrics written in English and I very much liked its demo lyrics. So we decided to release our first English track. I actually think our members managed to sing the English version even better.”

Just B members added that they have even considered releasing an album filled only with songs in English, as they are so used to listening to demo tracks with English lyrics.

Just B debuted as a six-member boy band in June 2021 with its first EP, "Just Burn." Five out of the six members — apart from the band's youngest member Sangwoo — took part in audition programs prior to their debut. Geonu and JM joined Mnet's audition program "I-LAND" (2020), with Geonu landing No. 11 at the show's final episode. Jimin participated in SBS's music audition program "The Fan" (2018-19), while Bain and DY joined "Under Nineteen." DY took first place on the show and debuted first as a member of project boy band 1THE9, which lasted for about a year from 2019.

Boy band Just B [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

Alongside aiming for an album fully produced by all of the members of Just B, the boy band also aims to finally win a No. 1 trophy on weekly music shows.

“One of the many things that we’ve discussed overseas was that we should really try hard and put all the efforts we can into our album, so we can actually tear up when we do eventually win first place on weekly music shows,” DY said.

“While we’ve been diligent since our debut, I don’t think we would’ve truly teared up even when we managed to win a first-place trophy. To make it more worthwhile, we would have to shed more sweat, try our very best, so that we can cry our eyes out when we reach No. 1,” he added.

“We are a team that strives to be acknowledged through our musical capabilities and with our latest album, I think we’ll be able to tear up with it.”

Just B dropped its fourth EP ″÷(Nanugi)″ on Monday, making it the boy band's first EP release in almost a year. [BLUEDOT ENTERTAINMENT]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]