Notes on K-pop Interview: AMPERS&ONE

The best time to interview a K-pop group is just around their second anniversary, in my opinion. They’re no longer so new that they stick to all their media training, but can relax a bit and answer questions off the cuff, but aren’t so daunted by chasing constant hit making. They have drive and energy, not yet worn down by the churn. The also have the intensity of their potential, and what will happen to them if they do not achieve that potential.

They dance on the edge of a knife of success, with the road laid out before them but there's a heavy bridge to cross.

I met up with AMPERS&ONE ahead of their performance on one of the biggest stages of their career so far, literally: they opened for P1Harmony at the Prudential Center Arena on September 27, a sizable stage. But the day before, they were sitting atop of one another, literally, as we conducted this interview in a NYC hotel room.

Since the UN was in session, booking up a hotel room that could fit the group's seven members, their team, and an interviewer was a struggle. And so, we ended up in a small boutique hotel that was very nice but very tiny: the members' sat on a bed while I sat on a chair about a foot and a half from them. Some of them sat without their shoes on – because being on a bed with shoes on is disgusting – which was certainly a first for me as an interviewer.

Speaking with AMPERS&ONE's members – Kamden, Brian, Jiho, Siyun, Kyrell, Mackiah, and Seungmo – in such an inadvertently cozy, and almost comical, environment, led to a free flowing conversation where the group shared their thoughts on their career, dynamic, and K-pop. Opening acts in K-pop are fairly rare, since the industry favors one-act solo concerts, but occasionally we see acts touring together, like pre-debut era Xikers supporting Ateez on a 2022 tour. AMPERS&ONE have also recently just held their own tour across the US in March and February, so I was particularly curious to hear what the members had to say about getting to experience this.

A lot of this interview ended up being an introduction to the group, but if you're interested in talking more technically about their career, feel free to go to the question after Jiho says, "It's true, it's true."

This interview was conducted predominantly in English, and has been edited for clarity.

Tamar Herman: Thanks so much for making time today. I think this might be the first time I ever did an interview with multiple people on a bed.

Kamden: Our first time too.

It's New York, you think you're going to come and see some office buildings but here's a bedroom! Anyhow, thanks so much for making time today, I hope you're enjoying your trip.

Group: Of course!

Wow, I hope you weren't wearing these clothes outside. It's 80 degrees today, no time for fur.

Kyrell: We have, but we've gotten only compliments. So yeah, thank you, New York.

Mackiah: It doesn't feel so hot. We went to the Beam, Top of the Rock.

Kyrell: We flew in yesterday.

So still really jet lagged?

Kyrell: We slept pretty good on the flight.

Who gets over jet lag the fastest?

Kyrell: I'm really good.

Jiho: Me too.

Kamden: I'm really good at it because I went back and forth between America and Korea a lot.

Who is the worst?

Seungmo: I'm good. I finished already.

Kamden, pointing to Siyun: He doesn't really care about jetlag, he can just sleep anytime.

So do you sleep a lot, or not at all?

Kyrell: I think the latter. He doesn't sleep at all.

Mackiah: I think recently, our sleep patterns definitely just become really random. Some days, we don't sleep at all. Some days, we sleep a lot.

Kyrell: Yeah, even when we were in Korea, I felt like we were nocturnal.

Brian: We'd sleep at like 5am, wake up to like 10.

Is that days when you're working? Or days when you're not working?

Mackiah and Brian, simultaneously: Working.

Kamden: Preparing for something.

Kamden: Lessons and stuff, or recording.

What's the latest you guys have ever recorded until?

Brian: It was pretty recently. We started at like 11pm.

Kyrell: Ended at like 5am, 6am.

Did you guys need it to be pitch black?

Brian: It was actually morning.

Kyrell: We finished when the sun was rising.

That sounds...

Kyrell: There'll be memories later!

That is a really good perspective. There will definitely be memories later. I actually want to ask you about some more memories in a second, but before we get really started, I want to ask you to introduce yourselves.

Notes on K-pop is an industry-oriented newsletter, so some people may not know who you are. So if it's okay, I want you to introduce yourselves, but not yourselves: I want you to introduce the person next to you. You have to do two things. One is to say what emoji that member reminds you of. The other is to introduce them to the readers the way you would introduce them to a friend or relative you'd want to set them up with, either on a date or just a general introduction. [A/N: I often come up with icebreakers where I asked members to introduce one another, to get groups comfortable chatting with me amid their dynamic. Introducing them to someone is one of my go-to's.]

Kyrell: I'll go first. When I think of Kamden, the emoji I think of is a swimming emotion (🏊), because Kamden's a swimmer. He used to swim in high school. And if you're going to date this guy-

Kamden: Wait, I think it was two emojis.

Kyrell: Two?

Kamden: Yea, two.

Kyrell: Was it two?

It was one, but I won't say no to more.

Kyrell: Maybe the little poop emoji (💩). [Laughs] I'm just kidding. For the second emoji, I would say maybe a cat. But there's different cat faces. The kind of scrunched, playful cat emoji. [A/N: I don't know which one he means, so guessing that it is one of these three: 😼😽😸]

Kamden: Yea, I make some funny faces sometimes.

Kyrell: I feel like you joke around a lot. If you're gonna date him, I think you should know... One, sometimes you can have kind of an urgent personality. He kind of likes things to happen quick. But on dates, that's good because, you know, quick decisions like, 'hey, where should we go eat?'

Actually, that's one of Kamden's greatest strengths. He is really, really good at finding really, really good restaurants.

What's your favorite restaurant right now?

Kamden: Oh, my favorite restaurant is called Jangdokdae (장독대). It's a kimchi jiggae place. They sell a really good egg roll. [A/N: There are a few similarly named restaurants in Seoul, but presumably he means this one near FNC. ]

Jiho: It's like a cheese omelet.

Kamden: Yeah! And there's spam and sausage inside kimchi soup.

Comfort food?

Kamden: Yeah.

Mackiah: It's a spot we all used to go, as a group. Sometimes, if we finish late and wanna grab food, [Kamden] will be like, 'Want to go to Jangdokdae?'

Jiho: It's 24 hours.

Kyrell: It's like our comfort food.

Kamden: It's like our healing place.

Kyrell: A little more about him, he's really into fragrances, so he's always going to be smelling nice next to you.

What's your current favorite?

Kamden: Vanilla has been always my favorite. But I've been using this thing from Lush. It's called Milk... something milky [A/N: Super Milk], but it's just very sweet. It's like a hair spray, but it'll last long.

Kyrell: He also can drive.

Can nobody else drive?

Kyrell: I can drive. But I think that's sort of it? Brian... can drive? But he says he forgot.

Brian: I have the learner's license.

Kamden: My turn? Yea, okay. What I think of [Seungmo]? I think it's definitely a soccer emoji (⚽️). When he eats and when he chills, he always watches videos related to soccer, and he always play games related to soccer. He buys outfits related to soccer, jerseys.

Which clubs?

Seungmo: Every club.

Kamden: He has a favorite player in every each club, but never wears it, though. He just has it hanging, it decorates his room.

Mackiah: If you say a player's name, he'll probably know information about them.

Kamden: So yeah, soccer emoji. But also... [Points to Seungmo] This kind of face, straight lines. Kinda eh, he reminds me of those, like a chill guy (😑). And if I have to introduce him to my cousin, okay.

Brian, joking: He's like, 'I wouldn't'. [Everyone laughs]

Kamden: He would be really good at making jokes. My cousin would never get bored.

You don't have to think of cousins, or dates that hard. Just introducing him to someone who doesn't know him. How do you introduce your teammate to someone?

Kamden: Oh, okay! In my opinion, I think he really looks good with his long hair... [Pauses]

Seungmo: Finished?

Kamden, laughs: No! I mean that he has really good proportions, so when you walk with him, you just feel good. He's good at everything. He's good at every sport. Because he learned every sport when he was young.

What's your favorite sport to play?

Seungmo: Archery.

Mackiah: When was the last time you played archery?

Seungmo, laughing: Maybe when I was nine?

[Kamden and Seungmo shake hands before moving on.]

Seungmo: Okay, so Mackiah is my friend. First, the emoji, is the freezing emoji (🥶).

Mackiah: Because I'm cold.

Seungmo: Because he's cool when I hear his rap. He kills it every day. Icy. And to my cousin, you have to date with him because he is very funny and easy to talk with the first time [you meet him]. He can eat very well, he finishes it all. So you can diet easily. You can spend money easily. Your wallet is empty. [Other members laugh]

Mackiah: Thank you, thank you. That's it?

Seungmo: Yeah.

[They shake hands]

Mackiah: Okay, for Jiho, I think for him, they yellow cat emoji. Just the face. It's pretty cute. He has yellow hair, and he kind of acts like a cat. He really acts like a cat (🐱). I think you should date him because his personality is like a cat. He's very clingy, and I'd say touchy. He's very affectionate. If you like being affectionate with someone, he's the dude. He always like to be with someone, be next to someone. You can be watching a video, and he'll want to watch together. If you want to be with someone, if you like company, he's the guy.

Okay, so I know we're pretty far in, but I feel like I made a mistake with this question, because it feels like I'm asking you to star in a dating show when really I was just trying to introduce you to my readers. I'm sorry. We can change it up! [A/N: I realized halfway through I was starting to feel like a dating show producer and felt terrible since that wasn't my intent, but am grateful they all ran with it and seemed to enjoy. Sorry if it was awkward, AMPERS&ONE!]

Mackiah: I mean, he's just generally an affectionate person. He likes hugs. Being affectionate is a big part of Jiho in my opinion. He's a keeper. Sold!

Jiho: Okay, Siyun. I choose the ghost emoji (👻). The reason why is because he disappears a lot. Like, when we're all together and want to do something, we'll be ready to start and then look around like... Why are we six members? Siyun just disappears sometimes. He's always somewhere else. But he always comes right after we call him.

Mackiah: He likes his alone time.

Jiho: He needs his alone time.

Are you INTJ?

Siyun: ISTP.

Jiho: He's the most introverted person. To explain him... If you're with Siyun, you can eat and drink well, because he always gives you food and drinks. He's very good at cooking, so you'll never worry about eating with him.

Does he cook for you?

Jiho: Yea, like Korean barbecue, he's really good.

Mackiah: If we have Korean barbecue at our dorm, it's always Siyun who is cooking the meat. He'll bring it to the table. We're like, 'Bro, you can eat too' and he'll say he'll eat later but then there's nothing left.

What's your favorite thing to cook?

Siyun: Cheese scramble or kimchi jiggae.

Jiho: He's also really strong.

Kamden: He's really good at fixing thing.

Brian: He's not scared of anything.

Jiho: I'm really scared of bugs and he always catches for them me. Then goes, 'why can't you do that?" But then he just flushes them. I always have to be with him because I'm always afraid of bugs.

Be careful in the city then. Here in New York, there are bugs that the government wants us to kill. Siyun, keep an eye out.

Kamden: I wanna stomp on them.

Siyun: Okay, this is Brian. First emoji is rabbit. He looks like a rabbit, because his eyes are big and his front teeth. Brian is a rabbit (🐰). He's really good at singing. He has a really sweet voice, he'll serenade you all the time.

Mackiah: Brian loves singing. He's always singing at our dorm.

Siyun: He's a very hard worker, with his singing, his dancing. Everything he does, he has a lot of determination, he works hard, and he tries to achieve his goals.

Mackiah: That's true. If he wants to achieve something, you see him working really late, until he achieves it.

What goals are you working on right now?

Brian: Making new songs. I was writing lyrics on the plane. [To Jiho, who nods,] You saw that right?

Mackiah: A hard worker.

Brian, grabbing Kyrell's shoulder: His emoji is the smiling cowboy (🤠) It just looks like Kyrell. I feel like he smiles a lot, and he's very wild. He's adventurous, and tries new things all the time. Yeah! He's very cool, I guess.

What's something you've tried lately?

Kyrell: We had banana pudding today.

Oh, Magnolia.

Kyrell: And we went to a place called Dough, a doughnut shop. The guy there recommended the blueberry muffin one, it was pretty good.

You guys should go to PopUp Bagels too.

Kyrell: Okay, we gotta get to that!

Brian: Okay, if I had to introduce Kyrell to my cousin- [Laughs] I feel like he's very well organized, and he plans everything out very well. And also, he's very clean. When we are in the house, he's always cleaning.

Kyrell: Our dorm would be a jungle without me.

Brian: He's a very hard worker too. He's always practicing by himself. What else?

Jiho: He works out all the time.

Brian: Oh, yeah. He works out like every day. And he encourages other people to work out with them. Sometimes he asks me to go run with him. He's very athletic.

Kyrell: I'm so touched. I did not expect that much, thank you.

Do you guys think your perceptions of yourselves match what everybody else has said?

Mackiah and Kamden: Pretty much.

Jiho: It's true, it's true.

Okay, so now that we all have updated dating profiles, a bit more seriously... You guys just came on tour a few months, and now you're an opener for P1Harmony. Opening acts in K-pop are pretty rare, so I really wanted to talk to you about that. How are you thinking about this tour, having changed from being the primary performers on your own tour, to now being supporting openers?

Mackiah: I think when we first came to the US for the tour, it was our opening experience to the US, to the US crowd. I think we definitely learned a lot about how to perform on stage, because that was the first time where we performed so many songs and so many shows in a row. But then this time, because we're doing our opening shows for P1Harmony, it's a much bigger scale compared to our tour that we did before. I think because it's so much bigger, we're going to be able to learn and experience so much more than what we did before, as in the crowd's going to be bigger. The stage is bigger. So we can use the bigger stage to our advantage. How we're going to interact with the fans. I think it's going to be a big learning opportunity for us, so we're very grateful for this opportunity to perform.

What did you learn on the last tour?

Mackiah: Last tour, we definitely learned how to... You know when suddenly things happen? Things happen, and you don't know how to overcome them. But because we had so many shows, so much time to feel the real show... Things happened, and then we overcame them, and we were like, 'Good job. That was pretty good.'

And we had feedback at the end of the show. 'Oh, we saw this happen, but you did this, I think that was pretty good.' Or the other way around, 'We saw this happen, maybe you should have done it this way.' And then, because of that feedback as we went on – because we had like a month to perform – as we went on, our teamwork gradually became better and better, and our feedback towards each other became more... I think in the beginning, we were king of cautious to comment on each other's performances.

Brian: You don't want to hurt their feelings.

Mackiah: But in the end, we're performers. We have to create the best stage possible. So during the show, we learned to give positive criticism. I think that really helped improve our stages as well. So using that knowledge, we can definitely put on a better show this time on the big stage.

Jiho: It also helped our comeback.

Kyrell: Going back to being an opener, it's an opportunity that we're very grateful for. Because when we go on our tours, it's usually we're performing for people who are already our fans. But then being an opener, it gives us an opportunity. One, to perform for a larger audience, and also for a large audience of people who may not know us yet. And so I think it's a good opportunity to get our name out there to new people. And so I think we focused a lot on preparing our performance to be the best that it can be, so that we can just show, the best, just show... Hold on, I'm thinking in Korean now.

You can explain in Korean.

Kyrell, first in Korean then in English: To show the best performance that we can. And just get our name out there. We're really grateful for the opportunity.

What thought do you want people to have when they see you go on stage?

Jiho: 'Why didn't I notice them before?'

Mackiah: 'Oh, I want to tell my friends about.' For me, personally, if I find something I really like, I like to tell people about it. Like to share, right? 'Oh, dude, I ate at this restaurant. It was so good', and then I would tell people about it. But let's say we start stage and like, 'Yo. I saw these guys. I didn't expect to see them, but I saw them. They were great. I think you should check them out.' I think that's how word spreads.

How did you guys react when you found out you were going to be coming back to the US on tour with P1Harmony?

Brian: Well, I was definitely excited when I first heard the news. I thought it was a big opportunity for us to just learn a lot from P1Harmony. And also, just hoped to experience a lot of new experiences on the big stage, because our scale is a lot smaller [on solo tour]. So being on a bigger stage is also about the mannerism a stage. Mannerism is different, so we'll be able to learn a lot.

Do you guys do any do you guys prefer bigger stages or more intimate stages, individually? Obviously as a group, I assume bigger stages are more exciting.

Brian: That's a hard question.

Kyrell: I think every stage is really important. I think that smaller stages, or more intimate ones, definitely leave more of a personal memory, I'd say. And I think for the fans, it's definitely a more personal experience, because while we're performing and while we're just talking, we're able to make eye contact for everyone and just see everyone who's here. After the show too, we have photo events and it's like, 'Oh, I saw you earlier doing this'... So we can have a lot more interaction with them. And then on these bigger stages, I think it's just you're getting more more feedback from everybody. You get higher energy.

Kamden: And you get to show different kinds of performances. Bigger stage, more space.

Kyrell: Yeah, we have seven members so the bigger the stage the better.

Jiho: And the speakers are going to be better. [Everyone laughs]

Kamden: One thing with the bigger stages, when I go to concert – I mean, I didn't go to, like, a lot of concerts when I was young, but the recent one was P1's. But one thing that lasted long in my head was the bass. I can feel it from my chest. So, that's what I mostly like think about. Our songs have really good bass, for example, "Broken Heart" or "Whip It". That's why I kind of want to form a bigger stage to show our songs.

You just got such a big smile on your face when you mentioned "Whip It".

Kyrell: Oh, "WhipIt" It?" "Whip It" is one of our favorite songs.

Kamden: [Our fandom] ANDEAR also like "Whip It".

Learning to give and receive feedback is such an important skill, so it's really impressive to hear you guys talk about that. Did anyone have any feedback has stuck with you, or that you felt really surprised by?

Kamden: I think, for me, I haven't spoken English in a while. When I was in high school, of course I spoke with my friends, right? But then when I started training in Korea, I spoke Korean with my trainee friends so I was speaking Korean mostly. So I started losing the English...

Kyrell: Fluency?

Kamden: Yeah. So I wasn't really used to speaking English in front of a lot of people. I was really not confident with speaking English. So I was kind of scared to go on our first US tour, and be in front of US ANDEARs for the first time, right? I was kind of scared to speak, or just try to communicate with it. Then as time went on, I tried to work on my English. And the members started complimenting my smooth my ment was, and that's when I started getting my confidence back for speaking English.

So you guys won't speak English amongst yourselves ever?

Kyrell: We do, but we speak a mix.

Kamden: We speak too much and things get stuck in my head.

Does anyone else have anything you feel like you've learned or are excited about when going from smaller to bigger stages?

Mackiah: Ad libs and hyping up the crowd is a really big part of performing. I think it's a way of communicating and connecting with the crowd. Especially in the US, everyone really likes to enjoy every moment. And I think once you get the crowd going, then you accelerate with their energy. And it's just like an infinite momentum of energy, going back and forth. I think that makes me feel so good. That makes everyone feel so good.

When we first came to the US, we were like, 'Well, how should we hype up the crowd?' 'How should we interact with them? 'And then as we went on, we've learned, 'Oh, this was pretty good last night, but I don't know about this.' And then through that, we got rid of unnecessary ad libs or anything like that. And then we we stayed with the good ones, and we improve them. And by the last stops, I think we were getting a lot of positive energy from the crowds. I mean, since the beginning, we were getting so much energy, but we learned how to like control that energy, to maximize it.

And I think that was crazy, because in the middle of a song, let's say you we like, 'Let's go!!!!' And then they start screaming... That adrenaline rush you get is crazy.

Brian: You're looking tired, but then once the screams come, you're like, 'Okay, I'm back up!' It's like an energy boost.

Kamden: I think P1 is really good at that, making the crowds go up. So when we watch their concert together as a group, I think we learn a lot about how to hype up the crowd.

Did you guys get – I don't know how to phrase this... There's a trend among K-pop fans nowadays to bark?

All, as Kamden mimics the barking: Ohhh, yeah!

Mackiah: We were very surprised.

Brian: We were like, what is happening?

Kamden: At first, I was like, 'Are they trying to make fun of us...?' But it's not.

The way you're talking right now, it sounds like the tour you just had was very impactful.

Mackiah: Yeah, I think, it definitely takes time for a team to become one. I'm not saying like we had issues, but in the beginning, we were strangers, right?

Kyrell: That's true.

Mackiah: In the end, we came together to be AMPERS&ONE. I think we needed time to start to know each other, and we definitely grew closer day by day. I think performing together is a great way to become closer. You have this connection on stage with each other. Sometimes you are dancing and you lock eyes with a member and you know that you're both enjoying it. It's like, 'Oh yeah, this person loves to perform. I love to perform. We have the same dream.' And so this way we would become one. And the last tour, was a big moment, as in, we knew that we enjoyed the same stuff. We knew we had the same goal. So I think that's when we completely clicked on stage.

We have time for two more questions, so I'm going to ask them together because one is easier and one is harder, so I want you to think a bit about that one, which is a bit meta.

So first, what do you guys want the end of 2025 and your future to look like?

Second, and please think about this a bit, is what do you think K-pop is? How do you define it? This is for a newsletter called Notes on K-pop, but nobody really has the same definition, so I'd love to hear your thoughts about what all this means, how you define it, how you think of it, and what your impressions are.

Jiho: Generally, at the end of the year there's a lot of awards, like [music festival] Gayo's and MAMA. So I hope we can be good, prepare for more, bigger stages in the future, every year.

Kyrell: Hopefully go to award shows.

Jiho: Yeah, that's our goals.

Brian: One of my goals is just... P1Harmony this time had arena concerts for this whole tour. I wish for us in the future we can also have our own big dome concert tours.

Kamden: Also, why not release an album full of English, like what P1 just did? Because we have a lot of English speakers. We do want to make our own music, we want to participate in like...

Songwriting on the plain? [Brian laughs]

Kyrell: One thing we're working on for the end of the year is preparing for our first fan concert, that's going to be in November. And then we always have something called FNC kingdom, which is, like our family concert with everyone under our company. So those things we're always looking forward to. And then I think, my goal personally is to always be improving. So I hope that every year I can just see the improvement. Sometimes I feel like it's hard to feel that, but then fans will come and tell me, 'Hey, you improved a lot this year.' So hopefully I get a lot of that kind of feedback.

It's hard to see it in yourself.

Kyrell: Yeah, I think so, because it happens so gradually.

Kamden: When you asked the question, the K-pop question, I just thought of buffet. Yeah, I think K-pop is a different genre of music. You get to pick or choose what kind of flavor you want?

What's your flavor?

Kamden: What's our flavor?

Brian: Barbecue. [Laughs] Maybe pink lemonade or something like that.

Why?

Brian: Because we're super fresh and sweet.

Kamden: Oh, no. Blue lemonade. We started off with, "On and On." That could be blue. But you know how lemonade is kind of sour, right? We're turning into sour. We're changing. We started sweet into sour, and we have a song called "Sweet and Sour." I think we're like changing, music-wise and style-wise. We're definitely changing into a cool side.

Jiho: I really liked K-pop since I was young. I lived in Boston for one year when I was like 10. I never imagined hearing K-pop songs in the US or somewhere else outside of Korea. But now we can hear K-pop in US and other countries. I think K-pop is one of the most proud things in Korea. People say there's generation, like first generation to like this fifth generation. They all have similar music styles, but there are some differences and it keeps developing. I don't know how to explain, but I can't tell what K-pop is specifically but it became representative of Korea so I'm really proud of our job and I really want to be a part of K-pop.

Kamden: If you think about K-pop, it has to be about AMPER&ONE. That's our goal.

Mackiah: K-pop is really interesting, because it's classified as a music genre, right? But at the same time, in K-pop, music [genre] is not everything, since there's stages, performances. There's singing, there's rapping, there's dancing, there's specific tages where the performance is more important than the music. And I think that goes over like the theme of a music genre, right?

I think it's more like... Somewhat... I call it a dream, because through K-pop, so many people get inspired. I've seen so many people get inspired to dance because of K-pop, to sing because of K-pop, to rap because of K-pop. And I think so many people make friends through K-pop. So it's like a lifestyle that you can adapt to, because there's no limit in K-pop. K-pop doesn't stop at music. It's so big, it's like a giant web.

I didn't really know about K-pop until pretty late. And when I discovered it, I discovered that it's so many people that are interlocked with different interests, right? Just because you like K-pop, that doesn't mean you don't like, well, let's say sports, right? People that like sports and K-pop, they may like a specific genre of K-pop. And then people that like, let's say art and K-pop, they may also like a specific genre of K-pop. I found it so interesting how they can do that. Like, there's so many different styles of K-pop, because every group has a different color. All these sunbaenims.

I like to call music pretty sometimes. There's a lot of pretty music, there's a lot of scary music, and it's all K-pop.