| Cho Min-gyu, leader of the Korean crossover male quartet Forestella, speaks during a press event held at KT Square in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Wednesday. From left are Forestella members Ko Woo-rim, Kang Hyung-ho, Cho, and Bae Doo-hoon. / Courtesy of Universal Music |
By Yun Suh-young
Male quartet Forestella, winner of the crossover audition program "Phantom Singer Season 2" on cable channel JTBC last year, released their first album, "Evolution," Wednesday.
At a press conference held to celebrate the release, the quartet shared their excitement about their career and global ambitions to land on the Billboard charts.
"My wish to enter Billboard is still valid. I think this is just our first step toward Billboard," said tenor and group leader, Cho Min-gyu at the press conference. In an immediate interview with the press following their victory in the program last November, Cho had said they were aiming for the Billboard charts.
The quartet consists of two professional opera singers (Cho and bass Ko Woo-rim), one musical singer (Bae Doo-hoon) and one amateur singer, former chemist (Kang Hyung-ho) who used to work at a research lab.
Their latest album consists of remixes of songs that were performed during the audition show as well as new songs specially composed for the group. The song "You Are My Star" is composed by renowned production team ZigZag Note which has worked with big-name K-pop acts such as BTS, B1A4, TWICE, BoA and Apink.
Hard-core crossover fans, however, may be disappointed at their selection because half of the tracks from the 13-track album are closer to K-pop than crossover music.
"Instead of offering a continuum of the type of songs we performed at Phantom Singer, we wanted to try new things. We thought it would be worthwhile just to challenge ourselves and enjoy the process," said Bae, when asked about the K-pop style songs on the album they introduced during the press event.
"It wasn't our initial plan to go in the direction of K-pop. We just wanted to sing songs in our style. In the process, we leaned toward popular tastes so that more people can enjoy our music."
Cho said the group mulled over their style a lot.
"This album tends to be more of a K-pop style but I think it's because it's our first album. That's why it's called Evolution. We were struggling between artistry and mass appeal. Despite the confusion, we wanted to have everything on the album. So we thought why not? Because it's meant to be crossover," he said.
"Every song is different but there's one single thread -- that's guitar. Every song has the guitar and it's what holds the album together in a continuum."
Kang added that trying new things is precisely what Forestella is about.
"If we did something that was the same as what we did before, that wouldn't be Forestella. So the concept became K-pop this time, which means it's very likely that our next album will be far from K-pop. The fact that our two opera singers are trying K-pop style is in itself an innovation," he said.
The team is inevitably compared with their predecessor and crossover group Forte di Quattro which won in the first season of Phantom Singer and gained enormous popularity. Their nationwide tours were sold out rapidly and they released a single quickly following their album last year. They are also eyeing overseas markets, with a concert scheduled in Japan for April 13.
Forestella members said they are still trying to define the “color” of their group.
"We want to do what we can do best. If Forte di Quattro is more manly and refined like a gentleman, we are more bubbly and active and energetic. We are adventurous and full of hopes and dreams," said Bae.
Cho added, "Forte di Quattro has magnificent harmony and takes a consistently classical approach. It's like the difference between a luxury brand and a designer brand. If Forte di Quattro is a luxury brand, we are more like a local designer brand. In our group's harmony, each individual voice stands out more. It's hard to say which is better, but if there's one difference between the two groups I would say it's in the vocal characteristics."
Forestella is holding a nationwide tour starting today at the Universal Arts Center in Seoul with concerts scheduled until March 20. The group will then hold 12 concerts in nine cities including Busan, Daejeon and Ulsan until May 12. In the concerts, they will be introducing gugak (traditional music) crossovers in addition to their album repertoire.