Out of all of the girl group debuts this year, Leader’S is probably one of the few that managed to catch positive interest for their interesting musical style.
Comprised of Serin, Chae Yool, Yeon Shil, Seol Ji, Yesol, Cindy, and leader Dahae, the girls debuted back in March with a two track single titled “Please“, and hoped to become trend-setting leaders of the Korean music industry.
Chae Yool revealed, “I was captivated by BoA’s ‘No. 1‘ when I was in fourth grade. It inspired me to learn dance; I promoted in my dance club in junior high before moving onto an arts high school. I can still picture every scene of BoA’s music video in my head, so it feels like a dream that I’ve finally become a singer myself.”
Leader Dahae, who’s also the oldest (1986), began learning Korean traditional dance when she was seven years old and eventually went on to major in it at the Korea National University of Arts.
Since Dahae lived her life thinking only of dance, her friend once asked her, “Do you have any interest in acting?”. Her suggestion caused Dahae to take an interest in the entertainment industry, which led her to eventually meet her current agency and thus debut as a leader of Leader’S.
She explained, “I trained for two years and began meeting each of the members one by one. Seeing the shape of the group slowly take form only solidified my dream to become a singer.”
Maknae Yesol (1994) accomplished her dream of becoming a singer against the wishes of her parents. Growing up in Busan, she attending acting academies to foster her celebrity dreams. Unfortunately, her father wasn’t supportive. Still, she was determined to make it, and so she blindly headed off to Seoul to attend auditions for agencies.
When she signed with one, she reported the good news back home, but her father had reported her as missing and threatened her to return immediately. Yesol had no choice but to take the next taxi home all the way back to Busan.
Yesol revealed, “These days, my father’s my biggest supporter. The taxi ride cost $450 USD at the time, and he still jokes around by asking me to succeed and pay him back that money (laughter).”
Overcoming their personal hardships was only half the battle though, as they’re now facing one of the most competitive eras for girl groups yet.
Serin stated, “I think that the other girl groups have such a standardized concept with overly impressive sounds. Our music is easy to follow along with and has a comfortable charm that simultaneously brings out the charms of all seven members.”
Member Seol Ji majored as a make-up artist, so she’s also the style counselor for the team. “The seven of us may look simple together, but there’s a team color that really helps us stand out. We don’t want to just be that cute, young girl group. We want to use the broad range in our ages to present a variety of different charms. Our dream is to become a girl group that’s like your next door unni or nuna.”
source) http://www.allkpop.com/2011/04/leaders-discusses-their-debut-process-and-image
