Rookie boy band Nowadays plans to build special memories with its fans — in fact, they hope to sky-dive together.

“If we hold hands with our fans and sky-dive as we look at each other’s eyes, I think that will be an unforgettable experience and a special memory that we can all cherish,” youngest member Siyun said during a press showcase Tuesday afternoon at Blue Square Mastercard Hall in Yongsan District, central Seoul, ahead of the 6 p.m. release of the band's debut single, also titled “Nowadays.”


Hundreds of K-pop bands debut every year, and while grasping the general public's attention with a splashy debut is one thing, maintaining a lasting fan base is another. Nowadays — Cube Entertainment's first boy band in eight years after its most recent male artists, Pentagon, debuted in 2016 — hopes to stand out by making personal connections. The five members, in keeping with their name, emphasized that they are curious about what their fans are doing “now” — and that they hope to create special memories by spending every “day” together.

“Nowadays plans to stay alongside our fans, comforting them, but also moving their hearts,” Hyeonbin explained.

Nowadays’ debut single includes three songs: “Now,” followed by the lead track “OoWee” — which mixes hip-hop elements with soulful melodies — and “Ticket.” Rappers Jinhyuk and Siyun contributed lyrics to the latter two numbers. All three fall into a genre of music that the band has coined “days-pop.”

“Days-pop is about not getting restricted to a single style; it’s about trying out new things musically, and we hope to showcase different types of music as we go on,” Yeonwoo explained.

The genre will build on the five members' chemistry. “We had a lot of time to understand each other,” Yeonwoo said, speaking of the quintet's training days. “It's like a chemistry you see from close classmates.”

That's true even though one of the artists, Hyeonbin, came in with extra experience and a somewhat complicated relationship to K-pop. He participated in Mnet's 2019 boy band audition program “Produce X 101,” but his 30th-place finish did not earn him a debut.

“I think I’ve improved both my skills and my mentality in that five years’ time,” Hyeonbin said. “The dream of debuting felt so far, but as I met our members and we started practicing, we told each other that we should make our debut together and be successful. That mindset helped me forget all the hardships I had through the years.”


And while sky-diving is one way to form special memories, the band's more immediate — and more commercially viable — path to meeting its fans is through upcoming concerts. While the band has not announced any yet, they certainly hope to perform live and embark on tours “like other cool senior artists,” Yeonwoo said.

“Whenever we thought about the things we want to do with our fans after we make our debut, we all said that we wanted to hold concerts.”

In the meantime, fans can enjoy the music.

“Powerful performances, melodic vocals and the unique musicality of the band,” Hyeonbin said. “We hope to show everything with our debut album.”

To find out more about Nowadays, visit Celeb Confirmed!

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