It's EXO time now

Together as one, 12 members let their music out

By Kim Ji-soo

Suho

Kris

Kai

Luhan

Sehun

Tao

Baekhyun

Chen

D.O.

Lay

Chanyeol

Xiumin

In jeans and caps, boys in their late teens and early 20s straggled in, one by one, to the 10th floor of the Shinyeong Building in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, with some waving in response to a greeting, Tuesday. One was practicing the national anthem while others were making last-minute adjustments as they waited for all 12 to congregate. When they did, they were the K-pop group EXO as a complete entity, dressed down and casual.

Just over a year after debut, EXO is wowing fans with bold choreography of scale akin to that of TVXQ. Seen a set of boys form a "tree," and one jump out to start a song recently? Or heard the lyrics mixed with "O-hoo" or "Eureureong, Eureureong"? It's EXO with the hit songs "Wolf" and "Growl."

The song is the title track from the group's album "XOXO" (Kiss&Hug). After its release on June 3, EXO topped the music charts of three main network programs in mid-June. The members are following it up with "Growl," which is from the repackaged version of the "XOXO" released Aug. 5.

"We're doing music programs, holding fan signing events. We don't have much personal time to really know about our popularity but people tell us," said Suho, leader of the one of the largest K-pop groups currently active.

"People call us the ‘it' group. It's an overwhelming praise," said Chanyeol.

"I think it means that we showed the fans that we worked really hard," said D.O.

"It's great to be on the stage, singing and dancing together with the fans," said Kai, a former ballerino hopeful-turned dancer and rapper.

"It's good," said Kris, another Chinese member of the group from Guangzhou.

Good is probably the best word to describe where Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Sehun, Kai, Tao, Kris, Baekhyun, Luhan, Chen, Xiumin and Lay stand in the K-pop landscape.

They first debuted in spring 2012 with the songs "What Is Love" and "History." They followed up with the mini-album "MAMA." Then, they prepared and worked on the "XOXO" album for a year.

"We didn't really expect it. The songs seemed good, but we wondered whether the fans would connect with the song through a new group," said Sehun, the youngest in the group.

The past year must have been one of freshmen thirst for the members, which was palpable in the way they spoke forcefully and passionately about the stage and music. Distinctive about EXO is that it sub-splits into EXO-K and EXO-M, with the former singing in Korean and the latter in Chinese. EXO-M members include all the four Chinese members and Xiumin and Chen. The EXO-M members who worked mostly in China where there isn't yet weekly music programs, appearing weekly on music programs is like a feast to the hungry.

"The schedule is busy, but I feel like I am living to the full every day, without wasting time,"Kris said.

"I am just happy to be together as all 12 members, doing music programs," said Tao, a member who hails from Qingdao, China.

"It's great to be with all the members, where I can learn a lot from EXO-K members and improve on my weak points," said Lay, who is from Hunan Province, China.

"Now my parents know about EXO and our popularity, and that makes me happy," said Xiumin, a Korean member that is part of EXO-M.

The members grew up as fans of H.O.T and TVXQ.

"I was a fan of H.O.T. I came to Korea because I liked K-pop," said Luhan, who is from Beijing. "I was not one of those die-hard fans," he added, as the other members nodded.

The rising popularity of EXO means that they will produce fans, some who hope to watch the members every move; but they didn't seem too bothered.

"We grew up adoring TVXQ," said Baekhyun.

They are proud to be part of SM, having worked with choreographer Tony Testa for "Wolf," and Nick Bass for "Growl." Testa also created the moves for fellow agency group SHINEE for "Sherlock." Bass is responsible for Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry" choreography.

The group has spent much of their teen life as trainees at SM Entertainment. Now as a group, the members live, perform and practice together.

The years they spent together has given them easy but solid camaraderie. They spoke on behalf of others, unhesitant to speak out in who may be the best in terms of dance in the group: they say it's Kai and Lay. Chanyeol self-claimed himself as "most affable," a point that other members readily agreed to. Korean members at times "interpreted" comments made by Chinese teammates, although all four spoke quite good working Korean. Up close, they were just your average star youth, although the group's name means exoplanet and each member is supposed to have supernatural powers, conceptually.

The duration of the training varies by member. The group's leader Suho trained for seven years before his debut with EXO, while members Baekhyun and Chen for about a year. The group's four Chinese members— Tao, Kris, Luhan and Lay — miss family but make sure to call them often.

"We believe in our company. That it will soon send us to see our family," Lay jokingly quipped in.

Initially, it was hard for us to live and train in Korea," Tao said. "Everything was different. The food, the way of life and the language. At first, we couldn't eat ‘kimchi jjigae' because it was very sour."

"But now we eat it and we learn a lot from the Korean members," said Tao. Kris is a fan of "jokbal" (pork hocks) and "samgyetang" (traditional chicken soup) as well.

"It was the same with us at first. The spices in Chinese food were too strong in the beginning, but there is a certain charm to the cuisine that makes us want to continue eating dish after dish," said Kai, the main dancer and rapper said. SM Entertainment is known for its systematic management of artists, and the 12, having spent several years under its system has picked up on it.

"When we were trainees, we were evaluated regularly. That was really the scary part," Lay said.

"Yeah. But I think that is what has prepared us for the stage today," said Baekhyun. "Or we would have been really scared."

"The stage is still frightening," D.O. said, shyly. There are numerous stages waiting them. On Wednesday, the members performed during the friendly between South Korea and Peru.

The members hope to follow in the footsteps of H.O.T, TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee and other SM artists. The first step to this dream is to become icons in both China and Korea, and then possibly look forward to other regions. Did they have plans to perform for fans in regions other than Korea and China?

To possible fans say in South American or other regions, Chen said, "I would say, thank you and please wait for us. We will be there."

In terms of music, the members said they are still exploring and will continue to delve into and experiment with different genres.

Did they think that K-pop and C-pop were much different?

"I don't think there is a right answer to music," said Lay. "Music is about making people happy and touching them emotionally. We hope to make people happy."

There are so many other questions to ask, but the interview was limited to an hour with 12 members. They had yet another full schedule that day. The other questions are probably on your mind as well: do they have girlfriends? What type of girls are their ideal types? What do you do in your free time? Any personal habits?