Day6's Young K: "Pretending to Be Strong, I Was Breaking Inside... After 11 Years, I Finally Faced 'Kang Younghyun the Person'"

Interview with Young K

Second Full Album "YOUNGEST" Released on July 27
Participated in Writing and Composing All 15 Tracks
Collaborations with Bamju, Sunwoojunga, Pop Time, and More
"When I Close My Heart, I Finally Hear My Own Voice"

Singer Young K is posing during an interview held on the 22nd at a hotel in Seoul ahead of the release of his second solo studio album, 'YOUNGEST.' Photo by JYP Entertainment

"I tried to look strong on the outside, but inside, I was actually falling apart."

Young K (real name: Kang Younghyun, 32), bassist and lyricist of the band DAY6, described his past 11 years with a single word: "survival." In his efforts to maintain the persona of "Young K" on stage, he neglected his true, vulnerable self, Kang Younghyun. His second solo studio album, "YOUNGEST," which will be released on July 27, is a chronicle of looking into that gap for the first time. With this album, which comes two years and ten months after his first solo studio album "Letters with Notes," he wrote, composed, and produced all 15 tracks.

During an interview at a hotel in Dongdaemun, Seoul, on the 22nd, Young K said, "If Young K is the refined and polished version of myself, Kang Younghyun is someone easily hurt and inexperienced," and candidly admitted, "While making this album, I finally faced the inner self I've long ignored."

While preparing the album, he repeatedly asked himself, "Who am I as a person?" He tried to rediscover himself by reflecting on what he likes and dislikes and why he feels anxious and easily hurt. "It was difficult to accept that I am a lacking person, but after admitting it, the creative process became much more natural," he recalled.

The 15 songs are the result of those questions and answers. The first track, "Marionette," is about living tied down not by others but by strings of his own making. "I’ve always fulfilled my role within DAY6, but this was my first time questioning whether I was making the music I truly wanted to make," he said, confessing, "Simply acknowledging that I longed for freedom was the most painful part."

He picked "Cheering Song" as the track he feels most attached to, a song he wanted to hear for himself. Like the lyric, "Just as a flower leaves behind its scent and water leaves behind its path," it’s a song meant to affirm that the time passed was not in vain. He introduced it as "a song that captures, most poetically, the feeling that 'the light inside me will quietly bloom and illuminate this path.'"

The title track, "Shut The Door," is a synth-pop song that expresses closing the door not as isolation, but as liberation. "Sometimes, closing the door of your heart is a way to protect yourself," he explained, adding, "The idea is to check on your own state before worrying about others."

Singer Young K is posing during an interview held at a hotel in Seoul on the 22nd ahead of the release of his second solo full-length album, "YOUNGEST." Provided by JYP Entertainment

Singer Young K is posing during an interview held on the 22nd at a hotel in Seoul, ahead of the release of his second solo full-length album 'YOUNGEST'. Provided by JYP Entertainment

He also made changes to his creative process. In addition to longtime collaborators Hong Jisang and Lee Woomin (collapsedone), he worked with a variety of other creators such as Poptime, Beomju, GroovyRoom, and Sunwoo JungA. He met Beomju by chance at Poptime's studio, and together they created "100 Reasons for Us to Break Up," while Sunwoo JungA participated as a featured artist on "Coffee in the Studio." These were choices made to break out of established routines.

He also proactively took on the role of producer outside of music. He attended marketing meetings to discuss promotions and short-form content, and personally planned the stage production, LED direction, and band arrangement for his solo tour to be held next month at Inspire Arena in Incheon. He laughed and said, "Before I produce for other people, I wanted to properly produce for Young K first."

Debuting with DAY6 in 2015, he wrote many hit songs, including "You Were Beautiful," "Congratulations," "Zombie," and more. "At first, I started writing and composing just to survive," he said. "Playing bass taught me to listen to rhythm and melody together, and it allowed me to express a different perspective on the world through my lyrics," he reflected.

He also distinguished his goals for group and solo activities. "As a solo artist, I want to stand on the stage of large-scale festivals like Justin Bieber," he said, "but with DAY6, my biggest goal is to make music together with my bandmates for as long as possible."

After the album promotion ends, he plans to go on his first vacation unrelated to work. He said, "Now, I want to take care of both Young K and Kang Younghyun's life," and shared his hope, "When things are hard, I want to become someone who can acknowledge I'm not okay and find a way out of it."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.