TRI.BE Give Advice to Their Younger Selves, Send Love to Fans, and More!
TRI.BE recall their experiences recording a theme song, explain why they love using bright colors in their videos, and share much more about their past and future!
Please introduce yourselves and share what special skills or traits each member adds to the group!
SongSun: Hi! This is TRI.BE’s leader, SongSun! I’m the main vocalist and lead dancer of our team. I am usually giving our group a lot of energy and support as the leader.
Kelly: Hello, this is Kelly, and I’m the lead vocalist of TRI.BE. I’m a good listener, so I like listening to what our members have in mind.
HyunBin: Hi, this is HyunBin of TRI.BE! I’m the main dancer and rapper of the group. I usually make choreography and help our members learn it.
Jia: Hi, I’m Jia, sub-vocalist of TRI.BE! I contribute with my cuteness!
SoEun: Hello everybody! My name is SoEun, and I’m also a sub-vocalist of TRI.BE! I’m in charge of having the deepest voice.
MiRe: Hi! I’m MiRe, and I’m the maknae and main dancer of the group. As the youngest, I take care of our older sisters!
For those who have never heard your music before, how would you describe it to them? How would you finish the sentence “TRI.BE is ___” or “TRI.BE’s music is ___”?
SongSun: TRI.BE’s music is a never-ending motivation source! Our music is all about giving confidence to ourselves by telling [us] that [we] can do better and [we are] doing great. I hope our music can uplift everyone!
Kelly: TRI.BE is a rainbow, because we’re a group of seven, and we are all very unique in our own ways.
HyunBin: TRI.BE’s music is yourself! The message we want to give is to always be confident in yourself.
Jia: TRI.BE is TRI.BE! We wish to be perfect as we are and hope for our music to be so as well.
SoEun: TRI.BE’s music is a sign of hope! Our music always holds the message “Love yourself instead of being jealous of others,” and we want to give people the courage to love themselves if they find themselves being jealous of other people!
MiRe: TRI.BE is a performance powerhouse! Take a look at one of our stage performances and you’ll understand what that means!
Please describe your new single, “In The Air (777),” and compare and contrast it to the other song on LEVIOSA, “KISS.”
All: “In The Air (777)” signifies that TRI.BE is a seven-member group and will stay together no matter what. Since the number seven also represents luck, it holds significant meaning for [us]. Compared to “KISS,” it’s a much more refreshing track, so we think it adds a great contrast to our album and helps us show what we are capable of doing. “KISS” showcases how powerful we can be, while “In The Air (777)” gives us room to show off our happy charms!
Can you share a “TMI” story from filming the “KISS” and/or “In The Air (777)” music videos?
SongSun: When we were shooting for our “KISS” music video, it was during the monsoon season, so it was raining very heavily. We had to stop shooting multiple times, because the rain would leak from the roof and flood the set! The production team had to rebuild the sets multiple times, but they still managed to make the music video look amazing! For the “In The Air (777)” performance video, we legitimately had a lot of fun, so we actually captured scenes and used them as our phone backgrounds, because it reminded us of how fun the shoot was.
Kelly: I still remember how hard it was raining the day we were shooting “KISS.” My fondest memory is the games we played during the little breaks we had. We didn’t need to take a nap or anything!
HyunBin: A TMI for “KISS” is that I thought the rain leaking from the roof was part of the visual concept, so I asked the director [what] he thought of that, and he replied, “Is the roof leaking?!”
Jia: Did you know that at the end of our “KISS” music video, when SongSun was singing her ad-libs, MiRe and I were playing Rock, Paper, Scissors in the back? That was spontaneous!
SoEun: When we were shooting “KISS,” my curled hair started to straighten, because of the humidity from the heavy rain! And rain was also leaking into my waiting room!
MiRe: We were playing games during our break time, and honestly speaking, we spent more energy playing those games than when we were actually shooting the “KISS” music video.
Your music videos are often very colorful! Are bright colors a key trait in your outfits and music video concepts, or will future TRI.BE music videos focus on darker colors more?
All: We like to use various colors, because that represents how diverse and colorful we are! We usually refer to ourselves as a rainbow, because we have so many things we want to show our fans and how bright we are, so that could be why we include a lot of bright colors in our music videos. Darker colors could be used depending on what concept we come back with, so you will have to wait and look forward to our future releases!
Your dance routines look so fun and impressive! What do you think is the key to pulling off challenging choreography, and has it gotten easier to memorize dance routines over time?
SongSun: Learning any type of new choreography requires a lot of hard work and dedication, so I think it’s still difficult to learn new dance routines. But I’m not afraid of new challenges, so every time it’s very exciting! Memorizing dance routines is a little easier than before, probably because we’re used to learning very difficult and powerful choreography. It still amazes me how fast everybody gets in-sync together!
Kelly: I think the most important thing when learning new choreography is practice. I don’t think the process has gotten any easier, because I feel that the moment I think it’s easy, I will start to slack. Successfully finishing choreography after hard practice is always very rewarding!
HyunBin: I personally think teamwork is key when learning a new dance routine. It takes everybody’s efforts to complete challenging choreography, and thankfully, we synchronize very well. Personally, I’ve never felt that memorizing dance routines has gotten easier, because our choreography seems to be getting harder and harder!
Jia: I think the only way you can quickly learn difficult choreography is through continuous practice. I think it’s gotten a little easier to learn dance routines, but our choreography is quite difficult, so it takes time before I can fully learn it.
SoEun: As a matter of fact, our choreography is getting harder and harder! It’s never easy learning a new dance routine, but all of our TRI.BE members enjoy trying new things, and I think that helps everybody to learn quicker together. I don’t think I would have been able to learn our choreography alone!
MiRe: Thank you for enjoying our choreography! I think the most important thing when learning a new set of dance moves is making it your own by adding your unique style. Everyone has gotten better at learning new routines, but I still think it’s difficult, because our choreography is usually very difficult.
What was your experience like recording the theme song for We Baby Bears? Did you approach recording a theme song any differently from recording other songs?
SongSun: It was a very different experience, in a cute way. We’d always done powerful concepts until then, and it was the first time doing something so cute, so I had to “study” how I could express the right feeling. We’re very thankful that everybody enjoyed cute TRI.BE!
Kelly: It was surely an extremely different experience for TRI.BE. I was a little worried, because we had never tried a cute concept before, but I think it suited us very well, more than I had expected!
HyunBin: “The Bha Bha Song” was the first time we recorded with a very bright tone. I remember how we were discussing how to sing the track and what kind of expressions we should do during the music video shoot.
Jia: I am a fan of the original series, so I was very happy when I heard that we would be singing the theme song for We Baby Bears! I’ve always wanted to try doing a cute song, and this was the perfect opportunity. I focused on sounding as cute as possible!
SoEun: We were quite worried, because we don’t usually do cute concepts for our music, but we made sure to prepare how we would sing each of our parts. We also coached each other for the different-language versions!
MiRe: I [have] really liked the original series since I was young, and I couldn’t believe it when I first heard we would be doing the theme song of the new We Baby Bears series! I’m happy that we could show our cute side as well, and it was also a fun experience recording in four different languages. We sat down with each other to teach how to pronounce certain words correctly and helped direct the recording, too.
Will there ever be another season of “Let’s Try! Be”? If not, what other YouTube content can fans expect from you in the future?
All: We had a lot of fun preparing “Let’s Try! Be,” and we will try to make similar content if we can! [We are] grateful how much our fans love to see our lives outside the practice rooms and stages, so we really want to continue sharing our behind-the-scenes and daily lives. We’ll try to make as much fun and entertaining content as we can!
What are some major strengths you have developed since your debut, and what are some weaknesses that you are still hoping to improve on?
SongSun: I think my improved strength is my stage manners. I used to be so nervous on stage that I only focused on performing my parts correctly, not being able to show different expressions and do various gestures to make my performance more colorful. But now, I feel much more comfortable on stage and can interact with audiences better, even during our performances! I still think I need more experience performing in front of an actual audience, since this is our first time being able to do so after our debut.
Kelly: I’ve definitely gotten better at feeling more relaxed on stage. That has helped me find cameras better and make eye contact with more of our fans! But I still need to work on taking care of my condition, because the busier you are, the more important it is to manage your own health and keep yourself in good shape.
HyunBin: I’m confident that we have gotten better at dealing with unexpected situations on stage! You never know what can happen during a performance, and I think our members have gotten so much better at making quick decisions on the spot, even without talking to each other. A weakness I have is that I still get surprised by the special stage effects. I still get scared when I hear fireworks!
Jia: My stage skills have definitely gotten better. I used to panic when my accessories fell off during our choreography, but now I know how to smoothly deal with those kinds of situations. I feel much more like a professional, but of course, I still have room for improvement.
SoEun: I’m more relaxed on stage now, and I think that’s a big improvement for me. Finding the right camera during a performance is very important, and that is one of my biggest strengths now. However, I feel I can do even better, so I’m going to improve myself as much as I can!
MiRe: I think I’ve improved [at staying] calm on stage at all times. I remember how much I used to panic in situations like my hair getting stuck on the mic, my accessories falling off, [and] slipping on stage. Also, I feel all of our members have improved in making more diverse facial expressions on stage, so our overall performance stats have gotten better. We still have a long way to go, though!
If you could go back in time and talk to predebut TRI.BE, what would you say to them?
SongSun: Don’t rush yourself and keep steady. Stay confident and have fun on stage! Don’t just focus on debuting, and keep yourself open to new challenges and opportunities. You’ve got this!
Kelly: Trust your members no matter what, since they will always be there for you at your side. And don’t forget to keep practicing!
HyunBin: Make sure to take care of your condition, since you need to stay healthy! Cherish your everyday moments, and make sure to have fun on stage!
Jia: You’re doing great, so keep believing in yourself. You know you are doing well and you know you will continue to do great, so don’t give up! Have faith!
SoEun: Keep it up! That’s all you need to do!
MiRe: It will be hard and difficult at times, but you’ll be able to endure and overcome everything! And try to study English if you can. You can do it!
What are your short-term and long-term goals for the group?
All: Our short-term goal [is] to get first place on one of the music stages in Korea! A big long-term goal is to go on a world tour, so we can meet our fans all over the world. One day, we wish to be able to greet all of our international fans in person and be able to perform for them on stage!
Lastly, do you have a message for your fans or anything else you want to say about your music?
SongSun: Hey TRUE! It’s so nice to greet you, and we’re always grateful for the support and energy you give us, no matter where you are and how far apart we are! We [hope] our music can make you feel happy and energize you! Make sure to always stay confident and to keep loving yourselves. We can’t wait to see you soon, so hold on just a bit more until we can go and meet you! Love you. ❤️
Kelly: Thank you so much for your love and support, TRUE. We wouldn’t be here without you, and please know that we love you as much as you love us. We can’t wait to get back to you with more music, so stay tuned, and I hope we get to meet you in the near future!
HyunBin: Thank you to all of our TRUE all over the world! We’ve just started doing performances for our fans in person here in Korea, and I really want to be able to meet our international TRUE too. Please enjoy TRI.BE’s music, and I hope our music can give you [a] confidence boost in your daily lives. Let’s meet soon!
Jia: Our lovely TRUE! You’re the best for always supporting us and loving us! I wish I could say this to you in person, but for now, I hope you enjoy our music and performances. We’ll make sure to perform for you in person one day, so stay tuned! Love you!
SoEun: Hi TRUE! Thank you for tuning into this interview, and I also want to say that your love and support are always appreciated by all of us. I can’t wait to see you all, and when we do, let’s get some photos together! I hope you continue to enjoy our music, and we’ll be back soon! Bye!
MiRe: Thank you for your everlasting love, everybody! We’ll try our best and continue to improve so we can show you even better performances and give you better music. We’ll be back very soon, so don’t go anywhere and stay with us forever! Love you all and see you soon. ❤️
Check out LEVIOSA here!
Answers have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Photos courtesy of Universal Music Korea.