“Relax everyone, stop pretending to be normal / All of your smiles look weird / When the lock is released, we’re all the same” – South Korean powerhouse Stray Kids’ leader Bang Chan kicks off the flamboyant ‘MANIAC’ track, off their latest album ODDINARY, urging everyone to embrace the things that made you unique. Stray Kids— with members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, HAN, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N — are the new generation stars who are unapologetically themselves in their defiantly distinctive music.
Following a cut-throat survival show, Stray Kids was formed under JYP Entertainment and recently celebrated their fourth anniversary as members amidst the new album ODDINARY promotions. They are a self-produced group that stands tall against societal pressures. With the group’s producers 3RACHA [Bang Chan, Changbin, and HAN] who have taken the lead in creating the group’s eclectic music, all the other members, too, have writing credits on multiple songs making them a multi-faceted group. From the high-octane ‘Miroh’ to heart-throbbing ‘God’s Menu’ to pulsing ‘Thunderous’, one thing that compels you about the 4th generation K-pop superstars – they are very hands-on when it comes to their approach toward experimental music, and they know how to move forward. Their sheer dedication to their craft, absolute need to authentically tell their stories, and be honest with their fans is the reason behind the world-embracing Stray Kids’ flamboyant style.
ODDINARY is such a joyous tale in their discography – a blend of luscious harmony and thunderous creativity while being unabashedly themselves. This could be the reason behind becoming a million-seller group last year with NOEASY album followed by a triumphant entry on Billboard 200 as ODDINARY arrived at No. 1 following its release making it a first for the group. ODDINARY is primarily written and produced by 3RACHA and contains seven-track including two unit tracks -'VENOM', ‘MANIAC’, 'Charmer', ‘FREEZE’ and 'Lonely St.' and 'Waiting For Us' with the first unit featuring Bang Chan, Lee Know, Seungmin, I.N’s and 'Muddy Water' by second unit Changbin, Hyunjin, HAN, Felix. This marks Stray Kids' first release under Republic Records after signing an exclusive contract with the label in February 2022.
An amalgamation of the words ‘Odd’ and ‘Ordinary’ – ODDINARY implies being unusual is normal and one must embrace it. “Regular people like us all have something odd about ourselves. It captures the message ‘What’s odd will soon be normal,’” Bang Chan said during a press conference for the album on March 18. With several music videos shared from the album and storming through the city in the title track ‘MANIAC’, the album narrates a group oscillating between standards set by society and embracing their uniqueness. “Each and every song in the album ODDINARY blends into the main theme of the album,” says leader Bang Chan in the introduction video of the album. Even if at crossroads and not bowing to conformity, the urge to continue to power through and excel makes the group going. Stray Kids is here to ‘stay’ and, amidst the accolades and unlocking new milestones, they are yet to reach their peak.
Congratulations on the new album ODDINARY. With each comeback, STRAY KIDS strike a nerve each time. What does ODDINARY mean to you? What was the influence behind this album that led SKZ to come up with such a unique album title?
Bang Chan: ODDINARY to me, means a lot. I mean, I might seem normal most of the time but even without me knowing I’m pretty sure there’s a maniac deep down wanting to be free.
Hyunjin: We’ve been combining two or more meanings within our album titles, and this time was no exception. We were able to express our identity by combining the two words ‘odd’ and ‘ordinary’.
Felix: Making our first mini-album of the year, we have thoroughly prepared and have taken the step to change to show a much unique side of Stray Kids. As much as we look forward to this comeback, we are nervous yet excited to start the year with a huge comeback.
STRAY KIDS drop teasers of tracks through track unveil videos. ‘VENOM’ sounds hypnotic. The beats are absolute banger & the video is compelling. When tracklist artwork dropped, ‘VENOM’ had spider webs all across the screw image. The track begins with ‘Spider-Webs’ words also. In the video, the members are trapped and metaphorically ‘trapped’ as well just like the Marvel character. The beats reminded me of how Venom is afraid of high-level sonic sounds and interestingly, knowing how Stray Kids play ‘noisy’ sound – a play on words you had in your last album ‘NOEASY’, you embrace unique sounds that are your strength. Does this track come from your love for comic book characters? If so, what was the process of making ‘VENOM’?
Bang Chan: We gain inspiration from a lot of things. Comic books, movies, anime, the news, people around us, there’s lots. With ‘VENOM’, we decided on the whole concept after listening to the instrumental, and with that, we finished off the song with the message “your charms trapped me like a spider web”.
Changbin: I remember coming up with the word ‘spiderweb’ after watching a spiderweb hanging from the ceiling during our jacket filming.
HAN: First of all, the track itself sounds like a spiderweb breaking, which is what lead us to come up with the spider concept. We really worked hard on this track because we wanted to have the melody and rap give off a distinctive vibe.
Lee Know: The word ‘MANIAC’ means weird. Definitely not normal.
Changbin: ‘MANIAC’ contains the message that it’s ok to reveal whatever weird that has been hiding within you, and that everyone can show their MANIAC side.
Hyunjin: I think ‘MANIAC’ is a word that describes Stray Kids best. ‘MANIAC’ contains the meaning that we will continue to follow our own path despite being in a world that divides the normal and abnormal.
Felix: The title ‘MANIAC’ resonates with our unique and newly introduced title song. Connecting with the ODDINARY album, it gives us the confidence to show that we are all different in many ways and that we are not afraid to embrace our own “oddinary” selves.
In terms of sonic maturity, how impressed are you with how ODDINARY turned out? What was the learning curve in creating this particular album considering all of you participated in it?
Changbin: I always find myself being the most content with our latest albums. I think we were able to show a more musically mature side of Stray Kids this time.
Seungmin: I am 100% content with our concept and activities this time!! I like how it is something new and completely out of the ordinary, coming off as unique. During the process, I learned many different ways on how to sing according to our group’s colours! I feel like it’s a never-ending learning process... haha.
I.N: I think this is going to become my favourite album because it contains many tracks that fit quite well with the album title. I was able to listen to a lot of our members’ charming voices during the creation process.
3RACHA – You three are songwriters and producers who have evolved so much since pre-debut as musicians. With each album, there’s a new side of you guys witnessed. In this album, you have credits in everything. How do you find a balance in creating music for comebacks, following your artistic expression, and not being extremely overwhelmed with the immense pressure that comes with it?
Bang Chan: That’s a really big question but the best answer is, we just have fun. Like seriously, the fact that we have each other itself puts down a lot of the pressure that we have to deal with and because the other two are naturally born comedians, I have nothing to worry about.
Changbin: It would be a lie if I say there isn’t any pressure. However, we do think that this pressure is the reason why we are able to create even better results. I think we’re able to lessen the pressure by blending our work into our everyday lives so that we always end up working like we’re working on a hobby.
HAN: Although the pressure has definitely grown compared to the beginning, we believe that we are able to give back to our supporting fans who love us by breaking our limits and showing something new. This is why we always put our everything into producing.
HAN: I think our strongest feature is that although each of our members has different unique colours, once we come together, we end up creating an entirely new colour. We want to continue to create songs that show our distinctive colors and hope that Stray Kids will become a group unparalleled by any other.
Felix: Our debut song ‘District 9’ has been set out as an example of being different, to people around us. Expressing that this is our district, there are people like us who are unique and colourful in their own ways. As to comparing ODDINARY and the, I am series, they are somewhat connected in some way.
Seungmin: I think many, both enjoy and believe, our strongest point is to be the fact that we have been communicating with STAY through ways and methods that come off as familiar, yet are unique. We hope to never lose our distinctive color, and continue to walk along this road while singing and performing with STAY.
STRAY KIDS, in 2021, became a million-seller group – one of the biggest milestones in your career. It also shows how much your music is being appreciated. Is it validating to see this kind of response for all the hard work you have been putting in all these years?
Bang Chan: Oof… I honestly still can’t believe it. I still have a hard time trying to accept that we’ve come this far. But one thing for sure is that all this was possible because of my beautiful members and our precious STAYs. And without thinking about specific goals we just focus on our own pace because as long as we do our best with what we’re doing right now beautiful results are bound to come naturally in the future.
Seungmin: It feels like more than validation; we feel extremely happy. We believe these opportunities have come to us only because STAY has been supporting and rooting for us as much as we have been working hard, so we will never forget how thankful we are for STAY. We believe that these processes and outcomes are what drives us to work even harder.
I.N: It feels like an honour, and I feel so proud and happy whenever we receive such praises, even though we’re still lacking in many parts. These positive words and thoughts influence us in a beneficial way, also leading us to work even harder.
With the world tour announcement, Stray Kids are finally going to be in person with the fans after a long hiatus due to the pandemic. What kind of performances one can expect on these tours?
Lee Know: I’m already so excited about it, and I think it’ll be a lot of fun. We are planning on doing performances where we all have fun together.
Hyunjin: We’re preparing songs that you won’t even be able to imagine. Everybody will be able to experience two different charms.
Felix: There will be performances which will be included for the first time. As to performing since2 years ago, we are also looking forward to seeing our STAYs everywhere all around the world
Talking about the world tour, India has a huge audience awaiting Stray Kids to perform here someday when the situation gets better. Do you have a message for STAY?
Lee Know: STAY, thank you so much for supporting us and watching over us from afar!! We hope the day we can meet comes quickly!!
Seungmin: STAY from India!! Even though we’ve never physically been there, thank you so much for supporting us with all your heart from far away. We will also work harder so that our sincerity reaches you, so please continue to look forward to us and we hope we can see each other in person!! Thank you!!
I.N: We promise that we will sing and show you many performances when the opportunity comes, so in the meantime please wait for us and show us a lot of love! Thank you so, so much!
ALSO READ: Stray Kids debut on Billboard 200 with ‘ODDINARY’ as No. 1 album; become third Korean artist to top the chart
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