There’s something about NMIXX’s music and presence that has its own power.
Like a magnetic field, you can’t help but be drawn in and carried away by the irresistible allure of the six-member girl group. It’s the kind of energy the girls promise to make listeners “break the walls” with the release of their second EP, Fe304: INTERRUPTIONsays Lily.
“Magnetic — that’s kind of the key word,” the 21-year-old Australian native tells PEOPLE as her fellow members — Haewon, 20, Sullyoon, 19, Bae, 19, Jiwoo, 18, and Kyujin, 17 — nod their heads up and down in agreement.
Clad in warm hoodies in the middle of a winter evening in Seoul, the girls still maintain their sunny composure as they talk about their new seven-song mini-album. In fact, even deep into the night, the girls still cheerfully shout “Good morning!” the moment they appear on the Zoom screen, sitting in two rows of three. The warm energy they exude can make anyone forget about the cold, low temperatures outside.
NMIXX.
JYP party
Their music probably does the same, with every song full of fresh, bubbly and sparkling goodness brought by their personal presence. Just walk down the street with the first song, “DASH,” playing in your ears, and its champagne-like instrumental will feel like a breath of summer air.
But as soon as “Soñar (Breaker)” starts blaring in your ears, you might start to feel a different zest. Against the backdrop of Latin style hip-hop and British garage rhythm, chaotic swirls of vocals and rap transform the atmosphere into a roller coaster ride of unpredictability.
It’s this delicious clash of contrasting genres that defines the group’s trademark, or what’s known to their fans as “Mixxpop.” In the K-pop landscape, the girls wipe the table with the standard formula and wield mid-song changes as their superpower — and like magnets, they prove that opposites really do attract.
For some, the cacophony of turbulent sounds and genres might be an acquired taste, stretching back to NMIXX’s debut in early 2022 with the track “OO”. But once the infectious beats and lyrics penetrate your ears, the taste becomes full-on addictive. Enjoy the discord that people love between sweet and sour or the salty numbing of spicy food and you will have a better idea of the unique taste that NMIXX prepares.
The music video “Soñar (Breaker)” serves as a complementary contribution, contrasting in colors and setting the sudden cry “Change!” Amidst all the moving parts, there’s one new element that viewers might not catch right away.
Without hesitation, Jiwoo raised his hand in the air and shouted loudly, “Jewel Teeth!” unbridled enthusiasm.
“It was the first time in my life that I had jewels in my teeth,” she explains of the jewels that both she and Kyujin wore. “It was so amazing, and it felt like I was getting braces.”
Trying new things seems to agree with their group name, where the “N” in NMIXX stands for “now”, “new”, “next” and the unknown “n”. Mix it all up and you’ve got the group’s “best combo for the new era”.
Yet while laser-focused on the future, the girls also take time to slow down and reflect nostalgically on their shared past.
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NMIXX.
JYP party
For Jiwoo, their song “Home” brings back sweet memories as she recalls singing along with fans, dubbed NSWERs, at a recent fan concert. When the oldest, Lily, wants to feel good, she turns to the group’s Christmas song, “Funky Little Christmas.”
“Every Christmas I feel like that’s going to be the song I go back to and remember all the fun times,” she says. “I just love Christmas songs, so I’m glad we did one.”
Of course, it’s no coincidence that Christmas is Bae’s favorite holiday. With a twinkle in his eye, he details his love for the chill in the air, walking the streets past department store decorations and seeing “people with excitement on their faces.”
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Perhaps the end of the year is what makes the holiday season even more special, and NMIXX is certainly no exception to that sentiment. 2023 marked many new milestones for the girls, such as the completion of their first ever tour, “Nice to MIXX You” across North America and Asia.
Sullyoon thinks of Seattle with particular fondness, as it was the first city to kick off the US leg of the tour and paved the way for many fan-centric memories. As Bae sums it up, “it was heartwarming, touching, and made me happy.”
The little moments in between proved to be just as memorable for the girls. Instead of staying within the confines of their hotels, members battled jet lag to make the most of their days off and explore as much as they could.
“I remember seeing a musical in LA on one of our days off and it was a lot of fun,” Lily recalls. “I saw Hair spray and unfortunately I had to go alone because the members thought it would be difficult to understand English.” “I really love musicals, so it was really fun to watch the musical during the tour,” she continues. “It really invigorated me and made me want to perform even more .”
Interactions with fans weren’t limited to the stages either, Haewon and Lily explain.
“Lily and I went to this market in Seattle and someone who recognized us, [says] ‘Are you NMIXX?’” Haewon tells PEOPLE. “We were very surprised at that moment because I didn’t expect someone like that [would] recognize me in Seattle.”
But that was not the only time the girls were recognized on the streets, adds Lily.
“It was really funny, because there was one other person who recognized us,” she says. “They actually ended up buying a ticket that day and coming to us the next day as soon as they saw us. I don’t know that we were on tour and they saw us and then decided to come — so it was really good.”
To perform at their best, the girls spend plenty of time warming up, stretching and drinking water for their 90-minute set. Upon Lily’s request for a demonstration during the interview, Jiwoo immediately begins a series of trills, her lips buzzing with a sonorous sound. To stretch her back, Kyujin stands up and performs a twist of the trunk into a squat, bending her upper body as much as she can.
Practicing English for their interactions with fans is also part of their training routine, and they each have their favorite English words.
For Haewon, the first day of the week is a word that pops up.
“I love the word ‘Monday,'” she says plainly, before raising her index finger. “That’s the first word I’ve learned in my entire life.”
A collective “ooh” echoes from her fellow members before Kyujin utters her favorite: “Goosebumps.” At the mere mention, Jiwoo humorously begins to tremble.
“When I learned this word in English class, I thought it was very cute,” the youngest member of the group fondly recalls.
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“Symbol” is the first thing that comes to Bae’s mind in her vocabulary arsenal, and part of the reason for that is thanks to Lily, she says. With a smile, Lily assumes her role as the de facto interpreter of Bae’s explanation.
“One time I was trying to translate Korean into English and I couldn’t remember the word ‘symbol,'” Lily says of Bae sitting to her left. “She was right next to me and said, ‘That’s a symbol.’ And I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s right. How did you know that?’ And she said that she remembers that moment very proudly and that she can’t forget that word anymore, because of that moment.”
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And, fittingly, symbols are a natural part of their music and concepts, like the magnetic power they embody with the EP. Defining what they mean is another story, but the girls prove that metaphorizing is an introspective process they take seriously.
For example, when the girls ask what title they would give to the year 2023 if it were a chapter in their book, they don’t immediately give an answer. Instead, they take some time to meditate on the question.
“Give us a second, we’ll think about it,” Lily prefaces as the members ponder around her. “I have to think about this, it’s going to be creative. So much happens in a year that it’s hard to pin it down to one phrase.”
After thinking for a moment, Haewon breaks the silence with his title: “다신” (pronounced hak-sheen).
“It’s a Korean word and it means you’re completely sure where you are in the world,” Lily interpreted on Haewon’s behalf. “The reason she chose that word is because she thinks she’s absolutely sure of her commitment to NMIXX this year — it’s going to be NMIXX or nothing.”
“Before, she might have been insecure and a bit worried about things, but this year she’s completely come into her own with NMIXX and completely confident about it,” he continues.
Haewon’s explanation elicits a tender reaction from Jiwoo, who then turns to slap her playfully.
Their sisterly bond carries them strong into 2024, with February marking their second anniversary as a group. And even though they’re more seasoned as idols now, seeing younger groups still reminds them of when they first shocked the K-pop world with their first single album, Ad Mare.
“It really reminds me of when we first debuted and we didn’t know anything,” reflects Lily. “There’s a lot of ‘learn as you go’ aspects of the K-pop life, and I feel like we’ve grown a lot since then and I’m very proud of us and I know we’ll learn even more as time goes on.”
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For those who may be struggling with self-doubt, as all girls have faced along the way, Lily offers a few words of advice on gaining confidence.
“Confidence doesn’t just come from yourself,” she begins. “You have to have a good support system around you. If you have such good friends in your life, like my members, I think confidence will come a lot easier because they will be people who lift you up everywhere.”
“Confidence also comes from loving yourself, so I think one of the most important things about being confident is loving everything about yourself,” she says.
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The girls’ New Year’s resolutions are simply aligned with their spirit of teamwork and self-love rather than extraordinary, larger-than-life goals. General theme? Health and happiness to yourself and your fans.
“Yeah, that’s the most important thing,” Haewon says with another index finger raised.
Lily also wants to read more fantasy books this year and not “slack” on the genre like before. The decision, which she calls “random,” only further underscores why NMIXX will continue to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
“We’re a lot of different colors and personalities and skill sets in one group and it’s kind of like Mixxpop in that way, in that we can all be different and have our own strengths, but when we get into one song, we can show people something beautiful,” Lily says. . “[It’s] just like Mixxpop, where you can have different genres but in the end it comes together nicely into one song. I think it’s the same as us.”
Fe304: INTERRUPTION is now available for streaming.
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Source: HIS Education