Brown Eyed Girls sing their true identity with new album 'BASIC'

From left, JeA, Narsha, Gain and Miryo of Brown Eyed Girls / Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Veteran girl band Brown Eyed Girls proved Wednesday they have become mature enough to cook up a concept as difficult and philosophical as “a true meaning of human life,” mix it with their re-discovered identity as a girl band, and translate it into their sixth album titled “BASIC.”

“It has been ten years since we debuted in the K-pop industry,” said Narsha, one of the band’s four members, at a press conference held in the small-scale music concert hall Understage in Itaewon, Seoul. “And we think we have professionally grown to the point where we can work out such a hard concept that no other K-pop bands have attempted to before with their albums. Believe me. We all had to scratch our heads as we first tried to understand the concept.”

Members of the band – JeA, Narsha, Gain and Miryo – have accumulated enough numbers of years in their career to be referred to as “older sisters” among K-pop musicians. But they are not shy about their comparatively “old age.” They think their seasoned career has given them “the edge” that allows them to be more proactive and comfortable with their selves. And that’s what made them choose the concept.

“I know we have the nickname feisty older sisters because of our ages and the image that we have been portraying throughout our past songs and music videos,” said JeA, the band’s leader. “But I don’t agree with that. We are more like a cooler, more down-to-earth type of sister.”

The band worries that many K-pop musicians these days only sustain a few days of public attention when they come back with new albums -- even though the albums boast high-quality -- and that they may taste the same bitter outcome. So what are their initiatives to survive this harsh world of K-pop?

“Since we debuted, vocal skill and performance have been our key feats that define us and differentiate us from other bands,” Gain said. “We can see that many musicians fear their short-life even after they release a new album. Nonetheless, we think that what sustains a singer the best is good music. If we keep cranking out good songs for our fans, I think we will be fine.”

The band’s management company, Mystic Entertainment, is considering introducing the band overseas as a hallyu star in the future since the members confessed they were surprised to find that they were well-received in South American countries, along with hip-hop girl band 2NE1.

“People down there seemed to like Korean girl bands with a feisty image,” Narsha said.

And it is likely that TV viewers can check out the band’s rapper, Miryo, on TV rap survival show “Unpretty Rapstar” on Mnet sometime in the future.

“I wouldn’t mind participating in that show,” Miryo said, smiling.