POW embrace their underdog status: “We didn’t have the most explosive start, but people are cheering us on”

Back when the cheerleader chants of Avril Lavigne’s ‘Girlfriend’ rang out virtually everywhere in 2007, the members of K-pop boy group POW were barely out of their diapers. Yet, to many Gen Zers just like them, the song is iconic of that era. “It represents the 2000s,” leader Jungbin tells NME over a video call with the group. “It was so prevalent in teenage series and pop music, we couldn’t avoid this song, basically.”

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That said, when the rookie quintet – completed by Yorch, Dongyeon, Hyunbin and Hong – learned that their next single would be a gender-swapped remake of Lavigne’s classic, they couldn’t have been more surprised. “We wondered how we could add POW’s style and freshness into it, and also what it would be like if it had a choreography or a performance behind it,” says Dongyeon.

POW’s sophomore mini-album, ‘Boyfriend’, arrived on October 21. As for the title track, they kept ‘Girlfriend’ largely the same, retaining its unforgettable chorus and hook-filled structure, but weaving in verses and raps of their own. “I want to change things between us,” Yorch shares in one. “Let me be your new boyfriend.”

According to Jungbin, the remake marks a “turning point” in their discography. “So far, we’ve been expressing love in a cute and innocent way, but now we’re trying to express it more dynamically. We’ll be showing more mature and sexy sides,” he continues, crediting Justin Bieber’s music video for ‘Baby’ as an inspirations.

“The world is full of underdogs, and their spirit is to keep on going, not giving up” – Dongyeon

For Dongyeon, the 2018 rom-com The Kissing Booth influenced him the most. “From a movie, you can really feel the mood, the atmosphere, the stories of the characters,” he says. “The Kissing Booth has a very high-teen vibe overall and is quite direct in [expressing] love. So, when recording ‘Boyfriend’, I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is the love that I’m trying to portray’.”

“For me, the rap part was a challenge,” says Yorch, who’s also known in his native Thailand as an actor. “I used to listen to rap a lot, but I don’t think I ever really rapped, so it was a new experience. Our vocal teacher said, ‘Hey, you have to be a bad boy, but you sound too nice’,” he laughs.

‘Boyfriend’ is also the first time Avril Lavigne formally approved an Asian artist remaking one of her songs. POW, who had been avid listeners of the Canadian singer as trainees, were so thankful that they handwrote her letters to express their gratitude. “We were so happy that she actually checked [out our music]. Now that our album [is] out, we would like to send her another letter,” says Dongyeon.

The mini-album comes with three more tracks that expand POW’s soundscape. There’s the whimsical lightness of ‘I’, the chill R&B vibes of ‘Bae’, and the sentimental ‘Sunset’, which was co-composed by Yorch and written by the band.

The idea for ‘Sunset’ came when Yorch was watching the 2013 film Her, where a lonely man falls in love with an AI virtual assistant. “It made me feel different things because it had been a while since our last promo period,” he adds. POW’s debut mini-album, ‘Favorite’, came out over a year ago. “I really missed the fans, and I was talking to the members: ‘Hey, I want to express this’. Turns out they were feeling the same thing, so we started writing the lyrics down.”

“A great song is one that can move your heart,” says Hyunbin. “For example, when you’re tired or having a hard time, does this song fill your heart or not? It’s the type of music that makes you get back up.” That was the mentality behind ‘Sunset’ – and largely all of POW’s tracks, which they collectively choose alongside their team at GRID Entertainment.

POW are the first group to debut under the newfound company – a position that entails some pressure. “We are underdogs,” says Jungbin. “We didn’t have the most explosive start, but people are cheering us on, and we want to give back to them. We prepared for this album as if it were our last, and we spent sleepless nights on this, us and the company.”

“We’ve been expressing love in a cute and innocent way, but now we’re trying to express it more dynamically” – Jungbin

But being part of such a tightly knit team also has its perks. Jungbin, for example, says he never really dreamt of becoming a K-pop idol until becoming a trainee at GRID. “When I posted a cover on social media, [the staff] reached out to me,” he says. “During [my training], I met a lot of people and made diverse friendships. That experience made me nurture this dream [of becoming an idol].”

Youngest member Hong, who stays quiet for most of the conversation, also didn’t have great aspirations to become an idol. He says that he was frequently scouted on the streets during middle school and simply decided to give it a try. “I always liked dancing, so my parents suggested I should go to a dance academy. That’s when I passed my audition to join GRID,” he shares. “There were some hardships along the way, but I met these great members who took care of me and guided me.”

Yorch, on the other hand, was tired of trying to become an idol. He had spent a few years in Korea as a part of pre-debut group Trainee A, which fell through in 2022. “I didn’t really have the courage to start my life once again because the trainees in Korea have to give even more than their all.” But GRID kept contacting him, and after meeting the members and the staff in person, he changed his mind. “I thought, if it’s with these members, it’s worth giving it one more try.”

Dongyeon holds a similar story. He had auditioned many times and failed just as much. In 2021, GRID approached him after he posted a dance cover on social media. However, he was already involved in SBS’s 2021 reality survival show LOUD, which aimed to debut two boy groups in collaboration with JYP Entertainment and P NATION.

“We agreed to reconnect after [the show ended] if it was meant to be,” Dongyeon says. “When I didn’t debut, I reached out to [GRID’s] casting manager and eventually joined the company. I think it was destined that, after twists and turns, I debuted with the current members in POW.”

There’s an element of destiny in Hyunbin’s journey as well. He says he almost didn’t apply to an audition that his former training academy was having. “At first, I thought, ‘There’s no way I can make it’,” he says. “I decided to go for it only because my teacher said it would be a great experience, but almost as if by fate, I was accepted.”

The five-piece are still adapting to their new life as idols. Hong, who lived in Jeonju and used to take a three-hour bus ride to Seoul every weekend, had to adjust to the “big city life” of the capital and even left high school to focus on the group. Hyunbin realised that being an idol is less about “looking cool” and more about conveying “genuine emotions” that can fuel other people’s dreams. Yorch learned how to think about his family and fans in Thailand to gain strength during tough times. And lastly, Jungbin learned what artists truly feel for their fans.

“We were so happy that Avril Lavigne actually checked out our music” – Dongyeon

“Maybe it was just me, but I used to think, ‘Do these stars really love their fans?’” he says. “It was so hard for me to love and like someone, but after becoming an idol, I realised that my fans are everything. [Every] single word from them has been such a big motivation in my life. Now, I can’t even lie to them; I learned to be honest with my emotions. And I realised that this is why idols say they love their fans.”

Powered by their teamwork, their families, and their fans, POW take one step at a time, steadily building their own path and aiming to get better and better. “The world is full of underdogs, and their spirit is to keep on going, not giving up, and having a concrete plan,” says Dongyeon. “Underdogs give [others] hope”.

Hence, Jungbin wants the group to be known as 믿듣돌 (믿고 들을 수 있는 아이돌) – a Korean compound phrase meaning “idols you can trust and rely on”. “There’s a reason why most of our music is easy listening”, he says. “We want POW to melt within people’s lives”.

POW’s ‘Boyfriend’ is out now via GRID Entertainment

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