EVNNE is ready to show the unseen side of the boy band as they strive to be the ugly duckling of K-pop.

“The seven members that form EVVNE joined ‘Boys Planet,’ but none of us made it into the final nine contestants [for ZeroBaseOne]. Our second EP contains our not-so-smooth story, the pain we had, how we grew stronger and how we grew up,” member Ji Yun-seo said during a group interview held in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, ahead of the release of EVVNE’s second EP, “Un: SEEN.”

Boy band EVNNE consists of Keita, Park Han-bin, Lee Jeong-hyeon, Yoo Seung-eon, Ji Yun-seo, Mun Jung-hyun and Park Ji-hoo — who each joined Mnet’s boy band survival show “Boys Planet” last year. But none of the members made it to the finals, with Park Han-bin finishing in 11th place, Keita in 12th, Lee in 15th, Yoo at 16th and other members getting eliminated from the show earlier.

The seven members debuted as boy band EVNNE last September with their first EP, “Target: ME.”

“I saw a sign that read ‘ugly duckling’ when we shot our MV — and I think that depicts the story of EVNNE […] just like how the ugly duckling was ridiculed but turned to be a swan, I hope EVNNE also stays strong and improves itself to be a shining idol, artist and role model for someone,” Ji said.

“Un: SEEN,” EVNNE’s second EP set to release on Monday, comes four months after the band’s debut EP, showing both the "rascal" side of the band as in its debut EP and its new "vulnerable" side.

“The album is divided into two concepts: We have the ‘rascal’ side, which is the strong and rough side of the band, and the ‘vulnerable’ side of the band, which shows the inner side of us. […] We went for the contrasting concept to show what we are capable of,” Park Han-bin said.

The lead track of the EP, “Ugly,” which combines the tech house genre with strong beats alongside groovy R&B styles, leans more toward the ‘rascal’ side of the boy band, according to the members.

“The lead track expresses the nature of freewheeling rascals in a colorful and dynamic way,” Yoo said.

“While the title ‘Ugly’ may sound negative, it’s a song that shows EVVNE’s unique colors as we are here to shamelessly and pleasantly accept that even our hidden side is still a part of ourselves.”

The EP also includes four b-side tracks: “Syrup,” “K.O. (Keep On),” “Chase” and “Fiesta.”

Keita, Ji and Lee took part in the lyric writing of “Syrup,” while Yoo and Keita contributed to the lyrics of “Chase.” Keita also took part in the lyric writing and the songwriting of “Fiesta.”

“All our members are very much interested in lyrics and songwriting, and we’ve been doing it for quite a while,” Yu said.

“It was always a dream for me to participate in album production, so I’m very glad that I was able to write songs for both our debut EP and our second EP,” Ji said.

But the unseen side of the EP lies in the effort and the continued journey the members went through behind the scenes.

“I would write a song every day and send them to Keita for evaluation,” Yu said. “He would always go through my work and give me some feedback […] I am learning a lot from him as we work together in song productions.”

“We even had a moment where we decided to do an all-nighter, the day before the band’s official schedule to finish a song. I think we both were able to learn a lot from each other, sharing the different musical styles we both have.”

“Seungeon has his strength in easy-listening, melodious ballad types of songs, while I, being a rapper myself, write more [rap tracks],” Keita said. “We all share our works with each other, and we are all learning from each other.”

“I would love to challenge myself to producing our own lead track in the future, too,” he added.

The band members also spent time looking back at their “Boys Planet” videos to further improve themselves.

“I looked through all my videos as I celebrated the new year,” Ji said. “I think I was able to see all the small details that I didn’t notice back then. […] Comparing it with my recent videos, I could see my own improvements and am certain that hard work pays off.”

“Looking back at my ‘The Real’ practice videos really made me feel emotional — I could see myself trying my best, and it made me realize I should never forget my trainee days and always try my best,” Park Han-bin said.

The boy band also hopes that 2024 will be a better, busier year than 2023.

“If last year was the year where we announced our beginnings, I hope to show our fans that we are improving [as time goes by],” Lee said.

“We weren’t able to secure ourselves a first-place trophy in weekly music shows last time, so we would very much like to achieve that this time. Also, dreaming big, I hope to have our songs land on Billboard’s Hot 100.”

“We hope to go meet and perform in front of all our overseas fans,” Park Ji-hoo said.

To find out more about EVNNE, visit Celeb Confirmed!


BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]