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VERIVERY Talks Growth, Celebrating 8 Years & Being Their Most Authentic in ‘CONFETTI’
INTERVIEW
Eight years into their career, K-pop group VERIVERY still wants to continue experimenting musically. The five-piece, consisting of DONGHEON, GYEHYEON, YEONHO, YONGSEUNG, and KANGMIN, has released music across genres. Their five-track album, CONFETTI, is their most authentic yet, showing both their playful and relaxed sides. In the process, a new side also emerged: being unafraid and proud. “We’ve grown to a point where we can now create the kind of music that we want to make, or only we can make,” admits KANGMIN.
Coincidentally, CONFETTI is also their 8th mini-album,. It conveys the group’s maturity and confidence, as performers and as individuals. Their heavy involvement in the process also shaped the five-track release. Being creative has become synonymous with the group, and this is no different. Leave it to VERIVERY to find meaning in confetti and look beyond the obvious. Beyond big celebrations, the group zeroes in on ordinary moments worth memorializing.
Following their comeback and ahead of their upcoming tour, we caught up with VERIVERY as they reflect on their growth, confetti-worthy moments, and reaching the level that they are now.
All images are courtesy of Jellyfish Entertainment
K-pop group VERIVERY Discusses New Album “CONFETTI” and Finding Their Voice
CONFETTI marks the group’s 8th mini-album while you’re also eight years into your career. How have you grown, changed, or evolved both as musicians and as people throughout the years?
KANGMIN: CONFETTI shows how much we’ve grown musically and where we stand today. We focused on keeping up with the trends and styles our company planned for us early in our debut years. But as our understanding of music and our identity as VERIVERY deepened, we gradually became more involved in the process. For this album, we discussed everything from the overall direction to the mood of each track with our company. I think we’ve grown to a point where we can now create the kind of music that we want to make, or only we can make.
DONGHEON: Beyond music, I think all our members have grown as amazing individuals. When I was serving in the military, I watched the younger members continue to work hard while also trying to find their own paths in their respective roles. I was incredibly proud of them upon seeing that.
What would the current VERIVERY say to rookie VERIVERY, knowing what you know now and your experiences through the years?
YEONHO: I’d tell myself not to become too comfortable with where I was and to work even harder. Whenever I look back at my old performances, I think, “I could’ve done better back then,” or “I wish I had tried just a little harder.” So, if I could go back, I’d push myself to put in even more effort.
YONGSEUNG: I’d tell myself to do what I truly want. When I compare who I was back then — working within a set framework and doing what I was told — with who I am now, enjoying the process of making the music I actually want to make, I wish I had heard that advice and realized it sooner.
What makes this release different than your previous ones? What side of VERIVERY do we see?
DONGHEON: CONFETTI expresses our message and feelings most clearly. All of us were deeply involved from the very first stages of the album-making process, and we worked hard to make sure our ideas were reflected as much as possible in every track. I’d call this our most “VERIVERY-like” album yet.
KANGMIN: Another key point of this album is that we intentionally stepped away a little from things fans usually associate us with, like our synchronized choreography. Rather than just hearing that we look “cool,” we wanted fans to say, “That was fun.” So, we prepared music and performances that could bring out that side of us more clearly.
The word “confetti” refers to colourful pieces of paper that people throw during festive celebrations. How does the word represent this album?
GYEHYEON: Confetti is made up of so many tiny pieces of paper that come together and burst into the air. I feel like each of those little pieces can represent the “small joys in everyday life” that we emphasize throughout this album. We wanted our music to capture the idea of sharing those little moments of happiness, and how an ordinary day can turn into a celebration when they come together. That’s how the title CONFETTI came about.
What moments of your lives do you think are confetti-worthy?
KANGMIN: Right now! We put so much thought and effort into making this album, and we’re all incredibly happy with how it turned out. All that’s left now is to enjoy the music together with our VERRERs, so I’d love to throw some confetti and celebrate this happy moment with them.
What makes “Way to Zero” the best opener for this album?
YONGSEUNG: For “Way to Zero,” we felt that its upbeat beat and overall energy made it the perfect opening track. By starting CONFETTI with this song, we were able to immediately convey that this album is all about [being] fun and [giving] lightheartedness, and the idea that we came back to really have fun and enjoy ourselves.
“Don’t Panic!” is a song that many can relate to. Eight years into your careers, how do you deal with moments of panic and find joy in ordinary moments?
YEONHO: Each member probably has their own way to de-stress when alone, but we find joy when we’re together, sharing meals as a group. It starts with little things like deciding what to eat, but we’ll joke around and also have deeper conversations about whatever is on our minds. I think mealtimes have become a chance for us to catch our breath, reset, and recharge together.
YONGSEUNG: We also find a lot of joy through our fans, VERRER. Some fans come to our performances and enjoy the stage with us, while others send us encouraging messages through our communication platform or social media. When we see fans finding strength or happiness through our music and performances, it feels like that joy comes right back to us.
We wanted our music to capture the idea of sharing those little moments of happiness, and how an ordinary day can turn into a celebration when they come together — GYEHYEON
You all participated in the writing of “DRAMA.” Can you tell us about that process? What message do you have in mind?
DONGHEON: We all contributed to the lyrics of this song, so the writing process for “DRAMA” was even more meaningful. It really showed how much we’ve grown as a group and how much each member has developed as an artist. It was also really interesting to see and compare the different directions each of us imagined for this fan song.
KANGMIN: In the end, we came together with the idea of capturing the story between VERRER and us as one drama. We compared everything that our members and fans have experienced together, and everything ahead of us, to a drama. We wanted to convey our genuine feelings to our fans through that.
DONGHEON: “Eye Contact” was originally a song that GYEHYEON and I were preparing to release as a unit. We had been working to do unit promotions together. But after KANGMIN wrapped up his solo album promotions, it was decided that our next group activity would be this comeback, so the song naturally became part of this album.
YEONHO: We introduced unit tracks for the first time through CONFETTI because the members took a much more active role in making this album. It gave us room to try more experimental things. Whether it was different musical styles or genres, the process of creating this album was also a process of discovering what kind of music each of us genuinely wanted to make. The unit tracks were another new challenge that came out of that.
We hope to keep experimenting musically and show you even more diverse and exciting sides of VERIVERY in the future, so please look forward to what’s next!
What message do you want listeners to take away from CONFETTI?
GYEHYEON: It doesn’t have to be anything grand. I simply hope listeners take away the album’s main message: “Let’s find the little joys in life and share them with each other.” I hope that while listening to our songs, people can look at their everyday routines from a slightly different perspective, find something in them that makes them smile, and maybe even share that happiness with someone else.
Other than the mini-album, you’re also on tour. What else should we look forward to?
YONGSEUNG: We had this tour in mind to some extent while we were making the album. We really wanted to create songs we could enjoy with our fans on stage. So, I hope everyone looks forward to seeing how the new tracks from this album come to life when we perform them live!
YEONHO: It has been a long time since we’ve performed at our own concerts. We brought it back with this tour. We’ve prepared shows filled with performances we haven’t been able to show in a while, as well as songs that we know many fans have been wanting to see. So, we hope you’ll come see us!
Listen to VERIVERY's new mini-album, CONFETTI, on Spotify
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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