Keeping Up With NCT 127, The Bold K-pop Group Always On The Move

Assembling all nine members of an internationally well known boy sort for an evening call is harder than it sounds, especially if that sort is NCT 127. They are, soon considering that, piece of a collective of talented individuals whose schedules are constantly packed with performances, press, dance practices, flights, vlogs, and the occasional solo engagement. That, and the amorphous structure of the larger NCT umbrella keeps them booked and busy.


For example: Youngest member Haechan is absent from our early August call because he’s also actively promoting with NCT’s teenage unit, NCT Dream. (“Boom” is a major bop, so he’s happily excused.) And in just another week, it will be reported that members Taeyong and Mark — both dynamic rappers with mesmerizing dance prowess — will join the stacked line-up of artists for SM Entertainment and Capitol Records’ K-pop supergroup SuperM.


naturally, the members of NCT 127 are constantly on the move. So it’s all about grabbing time with Taeyong, Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Mark, and Haechan once you could. NCT 127 are calling me from Seoul, the evening before their next flight to Tokyo — and Mark’s birthday. It’s habitually hard to get a sense of someone via phone, yet while in our conversation, a number of things stand out.


Charismatic Johnny place on Earth and raised in Chicago) is routinely first to volunteer a thought, no doubt leaning into his role as one of the group’s two appointed English speakers. Taeyong, the group’s leader, is far more playful than his striking appearance may permit you to think; halfway via interview he begins mimicking the way I mention “uh-huh” soon after every response. (It’s both endearing and mortifying.) Then there’s reliable Doyoung, habitually there to set the conversation back on track. And despite the memes etched into his internet legacy, 20-year-old Mark is so deeply earnest about his passion for music and performing.


And right now they’re finally seeing all of that hard work pay off.


within the past few years NCT 127 have steadily been working toward their objective of becoming the “biggest hit on the stage.” With members from all over the world — the U.S., Canada, Japan — along with a definitive performance-driven sound that goes heavy on the bass, the Seoul-based unit has habitually been poised to break big here in the States. Right now with a successful North American tour and an impressive Billboard 200 debut under their belts, it’s all about sustaining that momentum. Certainly, a historic VMA nomination for Best K-pop doesn’t hurt either.


Here’s what NCT 127 had to mention about their VMA nom, their latest single "Highway To Heaven," and the surprising ways they like to relax as soon as they're traveling the world.


MTV News: One thing that I like about NCT and NCT 127 is that you guys pull off any concept and you like to play around with the genres. So I wanted to know from your perspective like what makes a song like "Highway To Heaven" different than other NCT. 127 songs.


Johnny: It's an easier listening song I'd have to mention. You could just listen to anytime of day. The most crucial part is certainly the lyrics of the song "Highway To Heaven." It talks about how you got to create ensure you take your time off what the world is doing against you and just attempt to find your highway to heaven. And I feel like that was the complete concept of the song and the complete mood, so it's a positive vibe all around.


MTV News: Certainly it was recorded in Korean first for your album release, yet then you re-released it in English language. The lyrics are a little bit different in the English language version. It's a little bit sexier.


Johnny: Oh, you got the point.


Jaehyun: It's routinely fun to know the different vibe of each language as soon as we record, and as you know, the main meaning discussed about this idea of a highway to heaven, however it's a different fashion, [in English], an other way to sing "Highway To Heaven" that's really interesting.


MTV News: You filmed the music video not long right after wrapping up your U.S. Tour. What was that experience like? Do you have any preference moments? 


Taeyong: One of my preferred moments was any time Whenever I seen a lizard in the desert. Nevertheless we got to shoot the music video on an actual highway in the desert, plus a lot of us had never been a desert before, especially in the U.S. So that was certainly a new experience. We're really happy about how it turned out in terms of the beauty and everything. And although it was really hot while we were filming, we had a lot of fun because everything was so beautiful.


MTV News: If I saw you guys stay at the Prudential Center,  you showed a VCR tour video for "Highway To Heaven" as a nice surprise for fans, however somewhere along the tour you learned choreography. Were you learning the choreography whenever you were on tour?


Yuta: Yes, we did learn the choreography while we were on tour. Any time we had time between shows or soon after shows, we attempted to practice. Before shows, we attempted to brilliant it and just practice it so we may should make it look as good as possible.


MTV News: Speaking of, you guys are such dynamic performers and you're known for your performances. How do you feel any time you're performing on stage?


Mark: Whenever it comes to dancing and performing for us right now it's piece of our lifestyle and it's like second nature for us, and thus, dancing is one of the main things you habitually practice and sort of the main thing we give attention to. I would have to mention that dancing is piece of our identity as well. In the event you think of it, as soon as it comes to NCT, you could never take away dance. That's how crucial it is to us, plus it pretty much brought us all with each other. I feel like as much as it's critical to us, we love it as much and we love it that much. I feel like we're one with dancing and performing now.


Johnny: As soon as we perform we habitually perform as a team, and I feel like as soon as we as a team become one and we look like a whole, all of the people who are watching the efficiency also feel our energy as well as are very excited to just to feel the aura that we sort of express.


MTV News: Any time do you feel you're most creative? Do you feel you're most creative once you're dancing? As soon as you're in the studio? Any time you're by yourself in your room? 


Taeyong: For me, personally, it's once I'm coming up with choreography and attempting to sort of make something that goes and also the lyrics of the song. I feed off any creative energy from watching movies or, you know, even prominent quotes can sort of inspire or spark some sort of creativity for me. Especially from this world tour, traveling while in all these different countries and cities and experiencing all these cultures has helped me to get more energy from fans. And that also fuels that sort of creativity.


Mark: I feel like I get a lot of my inspiration from people. You could learn and absorb a lot of things just by the people that you're with, especially our members. And not only just the people you're physically with, you could also visualize a lot of people through your phone and through social media and stuff. I feel like, to me, you could earn so much and learn so much from people the most rather than any other thing so I get a lot of creativity from other people.


MTV News: You've been touring since January. Is there something that you learned about yourself through that experience, and do you feel any different as a performer since you kicked off tour?


Doyoung: Definitely. All of the members grew a lot and matured in terms of their career and personally. I wouldn't mention that also much has changed from the starting of the tour, although just by meeting so several fans all over the world our affection for our fans has grown. I feel like our appreciation and gratefulness for them has grown.


MTV News: You guys have been going nonstop for the last few months. It's been really impressive to watch with the tour and the album releases. Yet how do unwind soon after a really long, intense day?


Jaehyun: Of course, I'd like to get as much sleep as possible soon after a long day. Although on top of that I also do a lot to make for whichever is next. So that would be, you know, looking at my performances from that day or previous performances and attempting to be able to see what I can perfect before going to bed. Or, you know, whichever nation we're going to next, I may attempt to make and practice whichever local language I wish to speak and attempt to connect with those fans over there.


Taeil: I take a half-body bath with really hot water. That's a really good way to relax for me.


Yuta: I've been playing a lot of video games these days. I'm on my PlayStation several hours a day.


MTV News: NCT 127 has a lot of enthusiastic fans, yet what is something, or someone, you are just as enthusiastic about? 


Mark: I'm a large fan — I was and still am an enormous fan — of Justin Bieber. Maybe we can collaborate one day. So shout-out to him. I also aspire to add, you mentioned how our fans are very enthusiastic for us, however we are also fans of our own fans. It's a give and take. So as much as they get strength from us, we get strength from them as well, and I feel that's an equal relationship as soon as it comes to giving each other good vibes.


MTV News: You were recently nominated for a VMA. Congratulations! What was your reaction as soon as you noticed out?


Doyoung: We were all sort of in disbelief at first, although right after letting it sink in it was sort of cool. We're really thankful for our fans for making it happen.


MTV News: This is the initial year that the VMAs are introducing a Best K-pop category. From your perspective as Korean artists, how does it make you feel knowing that Korean music is being acknowledged and really appreciated on such a world scale?


Johnny: We just feel very thankful. We're also very excited as the fact that right now a lot of folks are getting to know K-pop really sort of opens up a lot of doors for us, a lot of possibilities have the ability to share our fashion of music. And to be able to connect with fans all around the world really is something that we are blessed to have, and we're just excited to show what we can do as a team in the future as well.


MTV News: What do you suggest it is about you guys, about NCT and your music and your vibe, that has resonated with fans all over the world that has made such an impact?


Mark: We're still on the road to that. Yet as much as we are a diverse team ourselves, you got to have an objective that has diversity. And thus we routinely attempt to reach our global fans, nevertheless I also felt through this world tour that we recently just ended, I feel like the fans get to connect with us even more, as the music is performed directly in front of these on stage, without any barriers or anything. We routinely feel like we get to create a connection with them while we perform in front of these live, and I feel like that's most important because we get to show them how enthusiastic we are. It just comes with our hearts.


MTV News: What is something that makes you happy, that you do just for you?


Taeil: These days cats make me really happy. So I've been watching a lot of videos of cats.


Doyoung: I have been working out these days. And that's been supplying some sort of happiness.