The experiment was a outstanding success. In 2023, the Hybe Company and Geffen Information set out on a quest to create a massively well-liked world woman group. The next 12 months, their course of was documented on the Netflix sequence “Popstar Academy: Katseye.” That June, the sextet Katseye debuted.
However this was no bizarre pop act. Members of the multilingual, multinational group — Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung, every recognized by their first names — have backgrounds in South Korea, the Philippines, Cuba, India, the USA and past. Within the 12 months since their first music, “Debut,” dropped, they’ve reached big heights: acting at Lollapalooza; an EP, “Beautiful Chaos,” peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200; going tremendous viral for his or her new Hole marketing campaign and successful an MTV Video Music Award. In November, they will embark on their first tour. It is bought out.
“Things have happened very fast recently, but it’s an amazing feeling,” mentioned Lara just lately. “When things get wild, we have each other to lean on, which is awesome. And we’re very grateful for that.”
The group talked to The Related Press about their whirlwind 12 months, representing their residence international locations, their tremendous viral Hole advert and extra. This interview has been edited for size and readability.
AP: You debuted final summer season and quite a bit has occurred within the time since. Do you are feeling like veterans?
SOPHIA: We’re very fortunate to expertise a lot in such a brief period of time in our profession. It’s solely been a 12 months. And all the things is so fast-paced and shifting so shortly. However I really feel like we’re nonetheless very new to this and we’re so very recent and studying a lot. Nonetheless have a variety of room to study various things.
AP: Your Hole advert went tremendous viral — it is throughout my TikTok “For You” web page. It feels extra like a music video than an commercial.
MANON: That’s what I cherished a lot in regards to the Hole campaigns. … Even manner again within the days, they used to have these dancing commercials. And I used to be so excited when our group instructed us we might do it, as a result of I used to be like, “Oh this is about to hit.”
SOPHIA: The Hole marketing campaign really is one thing that us, as Katseye, really align with. It’s all in regards to the confidence and inclusivity and expression. And to see its impression, and to see our pure intentions as a gaggle and what we stand for and what we wish to give out to the world, like actually occur, it’s actually stunning to see.
AP: Within the first three days, 400 million whole views, 8 billion whole impressions (in response to Hole) …
MEGAN: Is not there solely 7 billion individuals on the earth?
SOPHIA: Aliens are watching our Hole marketing campaign, everyone! Animals, or pets … my canine watched it.
AP: When one thing like that occurs, does it change the best way you consider your subsequent steps?
SOPHIA: It motivates us extra to proceed to do what we wish to do, as a result of it’s the proof of our impression, you already know what I imply? It’s proof that we are able to make one thing out of what we like to do, and what our objective is as musicians and as artists with an affect.
MANON: Folks wish to see variety. Folks need see themselves represented on the TV, on billboards. And I actually hope that folks excessive up see that and see that it really works, and implement that.
LARA: We’ve all, rising up, needed to inform ourselves, “OK, if we’re not going to see that, if other people aren’t going to do it for us, and represent us, we have to be the ones to do it.”
SOPHIA: Our objective is to really break boundaries for many who appear like us, those that have the identical character, the identical upbringing.
AP: Are there inherent pressures in doing that?
LARA: Completely. 100%. I really feel prefer it’s an honor greater than the rest: “Wow, I get to be the one.”
AP: I wish to speak about “Gnarly.” You have to’ve recognized that music was going to polarize.
MANON: The very first day it dropped, I’m not even going to lie, I used to be texting the group chat and I used to be like, “Is it over? Are we over?” As a result of nobody preferred it. However then every week later…
DANIELA: A pair days later! Actually like two days…
AP: It modified and everybody cherished it. And you then hit them with “Gabriela” and “Gameboy.” One thing utterly totally different.
MANON: We wish to maintain doing that. We don’t wish to give our followers the identical music we think about time and again.
AP: What’s your relationship with “Popstar Academy” like, now that it has been over a 12 months?
SOPHIA: Watching it, I felt I transported to that second and relived the moments, but in addition noticed it in a special perspective, so it form of introduced totally different emotions to the floor. And it was a really attention-grabbing expertise. It was our expertise curated in a manner that wasn’t managed by us. … It took time for us to simply accept that that’s what’s introduced into the world.
LARA: There may be a variety of magnificence to the documentary. … Each time I see that I’m like, wow, here is this model of myself earlier than our lives blew up. … That’s stunning and likewise actually unhappy and intense to have a look at, like, it’s only a very nuanced, very gray-area feeling surrounding that documentary.
MANON: What I’m grateful for is that it toughened us up a bit and gave us thick pores and skin.
AP: So, what’s subsequent for Katseye? What are you hungry for?
LARA: I am hungry for a world tour in our international locations. Like significantly, I wish to carry out in India so, so dangerous. … I actually wish to take the women to the place my household’s from in India. I’m hungry for that. And clearly headlining Coachella.
MEGAN: I am hungry for awards.
LARA: what else I’m hungry for is a imaginative and prescient, some type of inventive path the place we are able to get like actually bizarre and ugly in a manner. … As girls, we at all times must be so fairly. … I actually need us to get ugly, nitty-gritty.
DANIELA, SOPHIA, LARA, MANON (in unison): Uncooked.
LARA: My favourite artists are like so uncooked on the digital camera … I see their true feelings.
SOPHIA: Rage.
LARA: I see their rage, and like, once they’re not so achieved up. I actually need us to indicate that, and I believe we’ll present that when the time is true.
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AP Music Author Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.
