DAY6 Open Up About Insecurities, Inspiration, And Learning To Live Life In The Moment

"Five points in case you know where that's from," vocalist and guitarist Jae tells me over the phone from a conference room in Seoul. It's the sort of playful remark you'd expect from a 26-year-old raised on The world wide web. And spoiler alert: I didn't get the reference. (To be fair, our connection was a little bit spotty.) Nevertheless I don't need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of memes to understand DAY6, the Korean pop-rock quintet whose guitar riffs and dynamic melodies supply a piercing snapshot into young adulthood and all of its raw, earnest emotion.


Their most recent release, The Book of Us: Gravity, is a mix of genres, sounds, and sentimental lyrics from vocalist and bassist Young K (who's a credited lyricist on all six tracks). It's their brightest release today, tonally and melodically. Their energetic lead single "Time of Our Life" captures the exciting, heart-pounding feeling of a new romance — or, the begin of a pretty page of youth," sings honey-voiced keyboardist Wonpil. From the initial cymbals to the sweeping vocals to the wholesome melodies, the single is a prismatic manifestation of the clarity that comes with a little bit of adult perspective. The message itself is stimulating and welcoming.


And while Sungjin, Jae, Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon are beginning a fresh page of their story, The Book of Us proves that you can't forge ahead without reflecting on where you've been.


MTV News caught up with Jae and Young K after the release of the EP to talk about its bright, anthemic sound, their creative process, their insecurities, the book of their lives, and why their fans influenced the direction of the album.


MTV News: If there were a story of your life, what would the title of this chapter be? 


Jae: It could be called "Adjustment." I have been in Korea for seven years, and at first, I did have a lot of difficulty. I still don't know a lot of things, whether it's about the language or the culture, even the humor here. Those things confuse me a lot, yet I think I'm beginning to understand. I'm beginning have the ability to genuinely and honestly laugh with people if they crack a joke. So, "Adjustment."


Young K: My title is "Young K." I've Been Young K for about four years right now. And I think it's the excellent chapter of my life, however I honestly don't know how long it's going to go on for, and I'm still writing it down. So I guess this point of my life, the chapter could be called "Young K."


MTV News: Once do you feel most creative? 


Young K: At a place where it's not also quiet. Like as an example, [in] cafés with plenty of people. Or as soon as there's something going on in front of me.


MTV News: Do you often work out of coffee shops?


Young K: Yeah, I use coffee shops quite often. I attempt to get something from everyday life, so I tend to look around a lot — just any time I'm living [my] day-to-day life.


Jae: As soon as I'm in my creative zone, I'm typically — this is really weird — nevertheless I routinely have a sad song on and that just sort of gets the gears going. I don't know why, it just does.


MTV News: Is there like one sad song in particular you like or one that's recently inspired you?


Jae: Lately, as soon as I've had melody ideas or once I'm thinking of concepts or lines or lyrics or whichever, I've had on Post Malone's "Stay." I don't know why, it just works.


MTV News: From an outsider's perspective, the Every DAY6 piece of your career seemed equal parts creatively fulfilling and somewhat exhausting, releasing two songs each month for per year. Did you feel burnt out by it? And why did you power through any creative blocks? 


Jae: Oh, man. Young K's got stories for you.


Young K: I have? [Laughs] Once the agency confirmed that we were gonna do the Every DAY6 project, they mentioned they were going to use a lot of the songs that we already wrote. None of the title songs got confirmed, though. So we had to write it again and again and, and by the third month I felt like I was out of it because we already wrote, like, 20 songs before the project began. So I already felt burned out.


Jae: Lyrically, he's pretty much the main supporter of that whole Every DAY6 era. Melodically, I think the order overall — because we all top-line — we sort of came to a burn-out point around "Shoot Me" because we'd been writing on and off for about two-and-a-half, three years. We just ran out of juice. We began to be able to see a repetition of very similar melodies. That's where we came to a point where we were like, OK, we got to buckle down, we've got to study. We did that for a little, also it worked itself out.


MTV News: What do you do any time you're staring at a blank page? 


Young K: Lyrically, I tried reading books, yet it didn't work for me because I'm not a book lover so much. I read a lot of lyrics, and I tend to observe a lot once I'm living — as an example, any time it rains or Once I look at the rain. How would this make someone feel? Or once I'm watching a couple talking in a loving way. I habitually attempt to look at a different point of view.


MTV News: On your latest album, The Book of Us: Gravity, each song is like a snapshot at a different stage of life or life experience. At what point immediately after Remember Us did you begin working on this next chapter? 


Jae: We're habitually writing, so I don't think the process ever aids in preventing for us.


Young K: And, to be straightforward, two of the tracks on this album were written a long time ago. "Wanna Go Back" was one of the songs that Jae and I were involved in a while ago. That was written for every taste. And "Cover" was written last year.


Jae: As soon as we begin writing, we don't necessarily begin from a point where we're just like, OK, we need to create a song that sounds like this also it needs to talk about this. We're curious guys, so wherever our curiosity leads just that day or that week, that's the song that comes out.


MTV News: So for this album, it's bright. It's optimistic. How did you determine on that tone? 


Jae: One of the main contributing factors was the fact that while in our world tour we were doing concerts and each person was having fun and each person was having a really good time, yet we felt like maybe we were in need of more concert music. So, like, break points where each person could just clap, where each person could begin jumping at the same time and scream out certain words. That's one of the main points in how our album became what it is today. In the event you listen to "Best Part" or perhaps our title song ["Time of Our Life"], it's made to be enjoyed at a concert.


From left to right: Dowoon, Jae, Young K, Wonpil, and Sungjin


MTV News: Speaking of "Best Part," that's a song that's all about living in the moment and the real sort of joy and happiness can feel in the event you do so. Nevertheless it's not habitually the simplistic thing to do, to forget your troubles. Are you, personally, someone who lives in the moment? Or are you more of a worrier?  


Young K: I am the person who lives the moment, who habitually wants to give my best. Even any time I'm on the stage, [or] as soon as I'm preparing for the stage or anything that doesn't have to do with the stage, like, spending time with my companions, I'd like to have the perfect time. All my life, my motto is carpe diem. So I guess I'm that kind of guy.


Jae: I mentioned that this point in my life was "Adjustment," right? And that's also one of the things that I'm adjusting to. My team is very positive. I think it also has to do with cultural contradictions. In the
U.S., Once you're 18 and you also go to college, you're sort of just thrown out there, so you begin figuring everything on your own. And then you begin worrying about life. I'm not saying that people don't worry in Korea, yet I think there's this understanding that things are going to work out. That's something that I visualize in my team, and it's something that I'm also adjusting to, because to be fully sincere, I'm pretty negative. I'm habitually thinking about the worst things that can take place in situations. However just living with my teammates, I have been learning to live life in the moment. If I think positively then positive things are gonna happen.


MTV News: I like that the album begins with "For Me" because in a lot of ways it's the most personalized song. It's a song to yourself, a song that acknowledges your shortcomings in a task to get to this place of self-love. Is there something that you used to be really insecure about that right now, with a little bit time and understanding, you really admire or love about yourself? 


Young K: Actually, my appearance. The way I look, like, my face.


Jae: What's wrong with your face?


Young K: Even any time While I was young, I got a lot of suggestions that I intimidate people. Some people might mention I don't look nice talk [or] As soon as I don't smile — that I habitually look upset. That's why I practice smiling in front of the reflect. Yet then I realized that it's actually a good thing because people tend to not take me conveniently. Also, at the same time, once we're doing a photoshoot, I can give out a very strong image. All I have to do is just not smile and look at the camera.


I noticed out that everybody has strengths and weaknesses. And in case if you've a weakness you could work your way to sort of cover it or have make that weakness be smaller.


A smoldering look from Young K


MTV News: Jae, were you intimidated by Young K any time once you first met him? Did you think he looked mean?


Jae: Straight up. In case you don't know him, then you don't know that on the indoor he's smiling. You gotta understand he's always smiling on the indoors. It's just on the outdoor it's a plain expression. His features are so sharp that they look like they're glaring at you, although they're not. It's a misunderstanding. He's totally innocent.


MTV News: Jae, what's something that you were used to being insecure about however right now you're like, "You know what? I love that piece of me." 


Jae: Visualize that's where I go back to "Adjustment." Because I'm still attempting to tweak to that positivity part. I don't think I've matured enough to understand that my flaws are actually my strengths. There really is the fact that I'm not good at Korean, and that some days any time Whenever I get asked hard questions I can just act like I don't know what they're talking about.


MTV News: I saw you tweeted a number of months prior that you wanted to be better with live vocals. Has your voice ever been an insecurity of yours? 


Jae: I don't think an artist's ever satisfied, leaving a stage thinking, oh, that was a top performance. They're not thinking about how good it was. They're thinking, I messed this part up, I messed this part up, that part wasn't good. So I'm just not there although. I think I require some work. I'll get there.


MTV News: I love that you gave Dowoon a fan-favorite vocal part in "Wanna Go Back." Was that habitually segment of the song?


Young K: It was just that part was supposed to be an octave lower. It's very low. So who has a low voice on our team? Dowoon. So Dowoon was called.


Jae: Young K routinely has a master plan. So any time he's writing lyrics, he'll attempt to write the lyrics to tweak to how we sing.That's also something he's really good at — our vocabulary, the way we pronounce things, what we're good at. I think we're habitually attempting to include Dowoon.


Young K: Low voice equals Dowoon.


MTV News: That song had originally been written for Every DAY6. What was it like to revive it for this album?


Young K: It fit the vibe of the complete album, which is very bright. It's got a upbeat tempo. And the message it's giving out about how you hope to go back to the simple days [of youth] although since can't, I will just miss it. We wanted to write about human relationships, and sort in attempt to begin a very healthy relationship, we felt like we need to know ourselves better. And "Wanna Go Back" could be the song that looks back on your life.


MTV News: What was something you wanted to be whenever you were a kid? Did you routinely aspire to be rock stars or did you have other dreams?


Young K: Singer wasn't one of it.


Jae: Certainly not.


Young K: Not for us. Wonpil certainly wanted to be a singer.


Jae: Yeah, Wonpil knew. He knew from his youth.


Young K: I think that at one point, for a very short period period of time, I wanted to be a KBL [Korean Basketball League] player, yet realized that cannot happen. And then I wanted to be working in stock management. I thought that was a really cool job. Yet here I am.


Jae: I went back and forth. Singing was never really a thing that I thought was a serious profession. I don't think it ever is for anybody. All of the artists that we've spoken to or that I know sort of just one day closed their eyes and opened them and they're just here. That's sort of what occurs. I feel like we're really fortunate. Nevertheless for me, I was going to college, and before I came to Korea, I really wanted to be in the UN. So I'm sort of a dreamer, right? I either wanted to be in the UN or I wanted to lobby for somebody because I like arguing. So that was my thing. I began interning at a MPO, attempting to network, [and] then I opened my eyes, and I was in Korea.


MTV News: September will mark your four-year anniversary as DAY6. What is the hugest change that you've seen in the categorize since you've made your debut?


Jae: I think our teamwork.


Young K: The team has to be thought as a whole. The team includes five individuals, although at the same time it's thought reviewed as one. Dowoon came in only several months before our debut. Having that one [new] person in the order totally changes a lot. Even musically. So our teamwork on the stage and off stage, we know each other better now.


Jae: As soon as writing songs in the starting — because everyone's fresh, we're young, we're ambitious — parts play a big role. Although then right after writing songs with each other for this long, you come to the realization at some point that your part doesn't matter and that whoever sounds best on that part is the perfect result. Competition in the team doesn't really matter at all. Right after our second album each person stopped caring about parts and we just saw the song as something that needs to be good.