The Boyz Next Door

By Taylor Glasby


the opening time I met the 12 members of The Boyz — Sangyeon, Sunwoo, Juyeon, Kevin, Hwall, Jacob, Q, New, Eric, Haknyeon, Younghoon, and Hyunjae — it was a number of days immediately following the release of their second EP Start Up and its exuberant single "Giddy Up." It was merely an off-the-cuff hangout in Seoul last April, yet the group’s English speakers residents of Canada Jacob and Kevin, and Angeleno Eric) made themselves comfortable. We spoken about tattoos and horses, and Kevin grinned, “This is the initial English conversation we’ve had in months!”


Fifteen months later, The Boyz are gazing down from a skyscraper at bustling New York streets. It's the Monday immediately after their electrifying KCON NY set — which included a performance of Billie Eilish's newly minted Billboard No. 1, "Bad Guy" — and over the upcoming days they'll be shooting the photography along with a teleportation-meets-Alice in Wonderland music video for their new album DreamLike and its lead single "D.D.D."


Since our first chat, the categorize has taken residence nine rookie trophies at Asian music awards, completed their first tour, and scored their first win on The Show (one of South Korea’s weekly televised chart shows) with the ardent, sparkling “Bloom Bloom.” A number of members lose tears, including 21-year-old vocalist Kevin, who called it “a very special moment.” Younghoon, 22, grins sheepishly while recalling how much he wept: “It still feels unreal. All of the effort we put in and the end result was this win. All of the memories until that point began going through my head and the tears wouldn’t stop.”


The material contradictions a little bit over each year makes are with little effort spotted: the colored hair and more angular cheeks and jaws. Although that which is intangible feels just as present; the closesly wound energy so several rookies possess — their drive to impress and be memorable — has eased into a more organic confidence that fills the room. “Last year we were lucky enough to have won a lot of different awards, and although we’re still a new order, we’re past just being a new group,” says 19-year-old rapper Sunwoo, who is fearlessly although casually direct. “Something that makes us different is we’ve been keeping a very steady pace, one that works well for us, and because of this I feel like we don’t have limitations.”


The Boyz have been called “monster rookies” on residence turf, although internationally, the group’s path has been more of a slow burn, albeit one stamped with earworm releases and breathing space for their personalities to, well, bloom of their own accord. There’s no rush to be biggest, just the pursuit of being the perfect they can be. Here in this air-conditioned boardroom, Eric (a rapper and the youngest at 18) doesn’t know that in a month he’ll go viral in the K-pop community for chasing, then being chased by, a remote-controlled camera at an event in front of over 200 of his peers. Now, in his permanently husky voice, he’s relaying how far he’s come since their December 2017 debut.


“I’d be lying if I mentioned being an idol is filled with joy 100 percent. There’s tough times as well as a lot of stress,” Eric explains. “But being able to do something you love and knowing that you’re loved, that’s what’s fantastic about being an idol. Daily I have to be a higher class of person, to give my energy to my fans and if I would be their happiness — and I’m sure I am just a little — however if I may continue that… .” Twenty-one-year old vocalist Juyeon concurs: “I’ve never had much passion about anything although for me to find something that I am so enthusiastic about, to like it and have fun with it, that’s what’s grown me as a person.”


The Boyz’s concept is simple and singular: boy. However that encapsulates his energy and youthfulness and all that comes with it, from his first crush to his first heartbreak. “I like to think that [each record] grounds us back to ‘boy,’” elaborates 22-year-old vocalist Jacob. “Just like how there’s different kinds of men around the world — beautiful, handsome, charming — we also like to do different styles of music while keeping that image.”


They weren’t a unknown entity whenever they debuted, and a number of members gained earlier exposure through talent survival shows: Sunwoo on High School Rapper; Kevin on K-pop Star 6; and rapper Haknyeon, 20, on Produce 101. Eric points at Sunwoo being the most performance-ready of these as soon as the time came to debut. “He’s one of the members that didn’t practice for long as a trainee although he’s so good at rapping, singing, and dancing, and talking, also. He’s a place on Earth entertainer.”


Other members faced rockier journeys, like 20-year-old vocalist Q, who shakes his candy pink hair as he remembers realizing “becoming an idol was much harder than I thought. I felt like I needed to be better with everything. Although I was able to defeat that with having a really positive mindset, it helped a lot While I need to be better with dancing or singing.”


“One of the reasons we can defeat these obstacles is as the sort will come with each other as one to help each other,” offers Juyeon. Eric nods: “Since the day we became trainees, we had to stay away from our families and, for some of us, they live overseas so we couldn’t visualize them as much as other members saw theirs. However there was a strength that helped us — like, any time While I couldn’t visualize my family member, Juyeon took me to his on a day off and that was really nice.”


Having grown up in Canada, it took Kevin “quite a while” to modify to South Korea’s culture and feel comfortable using the language. Yet take one look at his pre-debut videos on YouTube — song covers with companions or school musical group, and thus needless to say in love with performing — and it’s not hard to be able to see how or why he’s standing on a global stage as a K-pop idol. He laughs. “The whole experience has taught me to be cool with stuff and not take everything also seriously.”


At the other end of the spectrum is the soft-spoken Jacob, whose life could have been very different than it is currently. “When I first came to [training], I didn’t know how to dance. I was probably the worst,” he admits. “If I wasn’t good at something, I would just give up, and right after two months I had a decision to keep going or not. I was really leaning towards going back to Canada ‘cause I was like, ‘This isn’t for me.’ Back then I never opened up to people so the only person who knew was my mother. She gave me the push to keep going. I determined to give it another go and, with the members’ encouragement, I overcame myself and I’m grateful to them.”


It’s not atypical for K-pop groups to adopt one lane for their singles while genre-hopping on the deep cuts. A preponderance of fancy EDM layers connects The Boyz’s entire discography, nevertheless their modus operandi for lead singles has been not to have one; they spiral through sugary lashings of pop with “Giddy Up,” skip across to electro-funk for “Right Here,” and plunge into murky trop on “No Air.”


“We’ve been exploring quite a bit,” Kevin acknowledges. “D.D.D” is somewhere in the middle. It has the moombahton bass which gives it a wild energy. The concept is that we’re maturing and starting our eyes to the new world, and learning to adore every moment because we’re never going to get them back.”


Those moments are, quite clearly, precious to All the Boyz, and so they attempt to stash them safely. Sunwoo uploads things he’s “felt and seen” to their fancafe, and 21-year-old vocalist Hyunjae admits he was never the type “to take photographs or write nevertheless at one point I was like, ‘Maybe I should memorize everything’. Certainly, I wasn’t able to do that,” he smiles. “These days I’m taking photographs and writing down what’s going on indoors me because I want to remember more of my life.”


“We’re lucky enough to have a job where every monumental event in our lives is all on camera,” Kevin says, nodding towards their employees, “so as soon as we have children we can show them and mention, ‘This is your dad!’” That job comprises most of them of their waking hours, nevertheless there's another creative life that encircles it.


Nineteen-year-old rapper, Hwall (who will sit out of promoting DreamLike due to his health) says in English language that The Boyz have “so several dreams. We’re interested in style, music, acting, all different things... Any time you’re an idol, it’s [about being] multi-talented, and also it might come with each other with another job.” For Kevin, a prolific and often surreal illustrator, it’s a steady path. For Hwall, yet, who’s spending time “studying about fashion,” things aren’t quite as clear cut. “I aspire to really find Hwall,” he says haltingly. “I haven’t noticed him however, I don’t know what my real identity is.”


It’s in times like these, once things get a little bit shadowy around the edges, that they rely on each other. They refer to themselves — in cheery unison — as "12 brothers," and they've been through triumphs and tragedies, including the passing of Hwall and Haknyeon's fathers in 2019 and 2016, respectively. “I feel like being the opening ones there, although there’s not much to mention, that just being next to them is a big strength for them,” says Jacob, often called the “mom” of the categorize. “I know that once things are hard, each person has different ways of coping. Some members like to be left alone. Some need comfort and words. However no matter what, we’re routinely beside them.”


With that several eye catching personalities in motion around frantic schedules, moods tighten and even some days threaten to snap. To counteract the pressure, The Boyz have what Kevin calls a “weather check” while Juyeon announces it as “the five-minute talk.”


“When the day is over, we meet and talk about it,” explains Kevin. “If there’s something we can perfect on, we tell each other. We call it a 'five-minute talk' however it might be like, a hour. Some days we can’t address problems on the spot, so having that time gives us a good possibility to vent.”


The man in charge of keeping this energy and emotion at a healthy bubbling point is the eldest, Sangyeon. The 22-year-old vocalist is commanding however with a gentle side, one that laughs at the idea of the leader's job being akin to herding kittens, and whose humor and impressions are frequent highlights throughout TV interviews. “Some members are good on their own and then some members require a bit of help,” Sangyeon smiles. “The way I approach each of these is very different. If someone has something on their mind then I listen and guide them in the correct direction, however most members tend to take the correct path on their own. These five-minute talks we have permit the members to guide each other, and I can visualize that they’ve changed and the team’s relationship has stayed intact.”


And with this they stride forward in synchronicity, sixth album in hand, their next set of objectives in sight. “I want us have the ability to grow more and receive more love from our international fans. And be healthy and try our best in promoting,” says Juyeon diligently. “Another [music show] win,” says Eric, his eyes on the prize.


Jacob wishes for a American tour (“Vancouver!” Adds Kevin), however the main consensus is “charting on Billboard.” At what number? There’s a cacophony of shouted rankings, most of which seem to be above 100. Hyunjae is indignant: “You’re meant to dream big!” The Boyz glance around and there’s a moment’s silence. “Number one, number one,” they grumble comically, and with, needless to say, brilliant timing.