EXO Stories

"EXO ① With 'Growl' Performances We Were Able to Be More at Ease"

We can only describe it as a surprising happening. The phenomenon that EXO recently showed was one that was unpredicted from a rookie who debuted just over one year ago. ‘Growl,’ which was released over a month ago is still in the top 5 on music charts and their first album <XOXO> and repackage album sales combined together surpassed way over 700 thousand albums. Debuting with ‘MAMA’ in April 2014, after having a hiatus of around one year, they passed ‘Wolf and Beauty’ and can now say they were a success by certainly stamping the name EXO with ‘Growl.’ And during the time of debut the 12 members that were split into EXO-K, Korean promotions team, and EXO-M, Chinese promotions team, have become one like their cheer, “WE ARE ONE” and showed a performance on the next level. In order to ask them how they were able to grow in such a fast time, <IZE> met EXO. Starting today, EXO interviews that will be revealed throughout four days, the first day is the story of how ‘Growl’ was prepared for and Xiumin, Luhan, Tao, and Sehun’s individual minor yet exciting stories.

'Wolf and Beauty' vs 'Growl'
You guys received a lot of popularity with ‘Growl,’ do you guys realize it.

Suho: I went to the dermatologist and a male student recognized me in the elevator. I realized it a little bit then.

Chen: Also when we went to the Han River to exercise, grandmothers asked us if we were EXO. (laughter)

Baekhyun: And people who ride bicycles turn their music on and go around, but hearing our music it’s amazing.

Kris: I felt it when we went on Idol Star Athletics. A lot of fans came and even though we filmed till 2AM in the morning, they stayed till the end.

Xiumin: They all had vigor. Really, not lying, starting from the beginning to end, they stayed in the same spot and cheered for us. Even from far away they would see if they could see us. Even if there were hundred something celebrities all wearing the same thing, if we did a bit of a movement, from the fans there was a huge cheering sound going “Wah~.” Thanks to them, I gathered a lot of strength.

Kai: I think it’s because of the hair color. (laughter) They cheered for us really loud. I also conducted the fans myself and when I clap, they would clap along as well, and when I scream, they would all scream together.

Not long after ‘Wolf and Beauty’ ended, you guys came back with ‘Growl,’ but how long did you guys practice.

Chanyeol: We prepared for ‘Wolf and Beauty’ and ‘Growl’ together. At around the same time we received both songs’ choreography so we started practicing. The song last November, choreography, starting from this year February until comeback, we practiced for about three months.

Aren’t both ‘Wolf and Beauty’ and ‘Growl’ songs that express a wolf’s image. How did you guys feel that the the wolf’s feeling from the two songs were different.

Lay: In my opinion, ‘Wolf and Beauty’ is a charismatic wolf and ‘Growl’ wolf is a slightly joking feeling? It seems like a cool wolf. (laughter)

Baekhyun: Should I say it’s a wolf that you dislike but can’t dislike.

Chanyeol: If ‘Wolf and Beauty’ is a wolf that has a harsh feeling like a beast, I think that ‘Growl’ is a bit gentle and sophisticated wolf.

D.O: I think that the latter is somewhat close to the Wolf Boy.

The two song choreographies are a totally different style, thanks to it it must have felt like you were fulfilling a quest while doing one after the other. 

Kai: Since my trainee period, I usually danced to urban style. That is why seeing the choreography for ‘Growl’ I felt rather than it being hard, that “we could do this while really enjoying ourselves on stage.” We also did it fun while practicing. In ‘MAMA’ or ‘Wolf and Beauty,’ the songs were not only very strong but on stage not only dancing, we needed expressions more. In ‘MAMA’ earnestness, in ‘Wolf and Beauty’ because they said we needed to really express ourselves as wolves, we listened to the song a lot. I think we either decided ‘at this time we should do this expression’ or just listen to it as it came out.

Baekhyun: If in ‘Wolf and Beauty’ the point was group dance, ‘Growl’ is a funky and a dance with groove. And also because the music video was taken in one take, isn’t the angle a bit different. I was really happy that we were able to show our own music video that can differentiate us from different teams. I thought ‘will we be able to do well this time around?’ but because really a lot of people loved us, thank you.