Debuting in June 2020 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, Weeekly came onto the K-pop scene at a time when it was challenging to perform in front of crowds. Despite the empty venues due to the pandemic lockdown, each member kept their chin up and faced the world with bright smiles and infectious energy. With the goal of “bringing a new and special week every day,” Weeekly’s upbeat music and personalities were like a ray of sunshine even during the peak of the pandemic. Keeping this positive radiance, the group is back with a special single, “Stranger,” dedicated to their fans, Daileee. Just ahead of the song’s official release, Asia Blooming spoke with Weeekly about “Stranger,” previous title tracks, and their upcoming U.S. tour.
Weeekly debuted with the song “Tag Me,” off of their first mini album, We Are. The song is a refreshing and cute track about individualism and showing off their own charms, and while the group still exudes the same cute energy, they believe they’ve grown a lot since then. “When I debuted four years ago, I was very shy,” Jaehee started. “I used to think negatively sometimes, thinking that I can’t do it. But as time passed, I became more confident in myself. I’d say that my personality has changed a lot over the past four years.” Agreeing with her teammate, Zoa also believes the group has grown a lot musically, and they’ve also grown a lot closer. “We were friends [when we debuted], but now we’re like family,” Monday added.
As the group formed a strong and unique bond, Soeun revealed a surprising fact to emphasize their closeness. “From when we were trainees until now, we’ve actually never fought, not even once. If we ever have any conflicts or problems, we always try to talk it out and find solutions. We’ve never had any big emotional fights, and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons we became closer together.” Soojin added that their bond also stems from their time together as trainees. “We experienced a lot of hard times together, which helped us grow closer. We would hang out together and talk all night long in our dorm. Even recently, we went on a trip and that brought us closer as well,” she shared of the fond memories the members have made together.
Walking down memory lane, the group reflected on their discography and how it suits any day of the week. For a Friday night filled with excitement for the weekend, Monday recommended the self-explanatory song, “Weekend,” as the best choice. Meanwhile, Jihan suggested “Holiday Party.” She explained, “It has a really energetic and exciting vibe that matches well with a Friday night!” As for a Monday morning leading into a busy week of work or school, Soojin said, “We have a song called ‘월화수목금토일 (Weeekly),’ and it has a fun vibe that can help you get through thee week.” Given her name, Monday felt it was only natural to share her thoughts as well. “Well, I’m Monday,” she started with a giggle. “We actually have a lot of Monday blues, so I really want to recommend ‘Hello,’ as it can give listeners a lot of energy.”
Looking back on their music journey, a particular song stands out most. One of Weeekly’s greatest hits, “After School,” is paired with a sporty and youthful concept and music video. In fact, the group even trained on how to skateboard for the video. “We all love sports, but Jaehee and I learned how to skateboard from a professional,” Zoa began. “At the time, we learned how to do a lot of tricks. But, it’s been a while now, so we might have forgotten everything.” Although Soeun had fun skateboarding, she doesn’t believe she was very good at it. On the contrary, Soojin thinks Monday would be a great candidate to learn how to skateboard again, given her sports skill: “She’s actually really good at ball sports like volleyball and soccer!”
Ahead of the release of “Stranger,” the six members of Weeekly went on a small vacation together, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. “We went to Gapyeong. It was a beautiful snowy day. We swam, had barbecue, watched movies,” Soojin said. “And we ate a lot,” Monday jumped in with a laugh. “I didn’t really pack much, but Soojin packed so much it was like she was moving to another house,” Soeun chimed in with a giggle. To explain herself, Soojin shared her must-have items for traveling: “I have to pack my cosmetics, all types. And a swimsuit, because we went swimming. And more clothes, a camera, some snacks, the chargers,” she said before trailing off. Monday cut in to say with a smile, “Basically, her whole room!” The group laughed in agreement, as Soojin concluded, “It was a very good time.”
As trips often require planning, Zoa mentioned that according to the personality test MBTI, all the members are Js, which means they have a proclivity for planning. For Weeekly, they like to plan surprises for each other. One of the biggest surprises they planned was a hidden camera prank for Jaehee’s birthday. “We pretended to get in a fight over nothing. One of the members had makeup on their finger, so when we acted like we were hitting another member, we smeared it on her face like fake blood. It was really funny,” they reminisced with glee. For Jaehee, the hidden camera prank was quite nerve wracking. “I was so surprised and nervous because it felt so real. After I realized it was a prank, I was very relieved.”
With the release of “Stranger,” the group specially prepared an additional version of the song in English. For the single and upcoming U.S. tour, the members have been diligently studying English. “We really worked hard on the pronunciation, but also the emotional expression, since the English lyrics are different from the Korean. We focused on both these aspects while recording,” Soeun shared. “At first, ‘Stranger’ feels like a very cold winter, but the lyrics are very warm. The story of the lyrics are about how Weeekly and Daileee are each other’s light,” Soojin explained. “We wanted to give something to our Dailieee around the world, so that they can easily listen to our music in a language they can understand. Also, an interesting thing is that the lyrics of the English and Korean version have different meanings. It should be fun and interesting for fans to figure out the difference between both versions,” Soeun said.
With their U.S. tour set to happen this year, Weeekly is excited to see their fans and travel around the country. Soeun shared, “I’m looking forward to meeting Dailee in the U.S. I’m excited and nervous to perform in a very new country because I’ve never been to the U.S. before. I’m very happy to be visiting the States with the other members.” “We had a virtual fan signing, and we felt like Daileee in the U.S. have so much energy. I feel that when we see this passion during our live performances we’ll get a lot of energy as well,” Jaehee exclaimed. Soojin, who’s visited the U.S. before, is looking forward to showing the other members some local food: “I want to eat Chipotle. I tried Chipotle when I went to America when I was very young, and I’d love to introduce it to the members.” Jihan concluded, “I hope we’ll build a lot of good memories together for our first U.S. tour.”
While tour details have yet to be released, Soojin shared some final words about what’s to come: “We’re preparing really hard for this tour and we’re hoping to give our best performance, so that our fans won’t regret coming to the show. We’ll have a lot of different elements to the tour, so that we can show a lot of our different sides. Please come to our tour and wait for us! We’ll be there very soon!”
