PHOTO CREDIT - Dave Hogan/Hogan Media 

The Korean rock band reflects on playing BST Hyde Park, preparing for their new album, and working with Suga from BTS

The sky is cloudy, the air is warm and the atmosphere is bright when The Rose takes to the stage at British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park on Sunday (July 2). The band may be looking at the crowd emersed in pink, after all, BLACKPINK is the headlining act for the night, but their fans certainly make their presence known. The Rose is as charismatic as they are talented, being personable with the crowd and even taking technical difficulties in their stride - it’s all part and parcel of performing live at a festival. Belting out their hits “RED”, “She’s in the Rain” and “Sour”, one thing is for sure, if you weren’t Black Rose (their fandom name) before they performed at BST Hyde Park, you are now. The quartet even debuted their new song “Back to Me” and had the foresight to put the lyrics on the screen so that the crowd of 65,000 could scream the lyrics back to them.

The Korean indie-rock band made up of Woosung (lead vocals and electric guitar), Dojoon, (keyboard, and acoustic guitar), Hajoon (drums), and Jaehyeong (bass) have always been ones to watch. Having debuted in August 2017 with the track “Sorry” the quartet landed a spot on Billboard’s breakout K-pop artist to watch in 2018. In February 2020, The Rose decided to take charge of their future when they filed a lawsuit to emancipate themselves from their former label. Forging a new path for themselves, the band completed their mandatory military enlistment and upon their return, released their album “Heal” under their own company, Windfall, and entered a partnership with Transparent Arts (the entertainment agency founded by hitmakers Far East Movement). The Rose has also sold out a 40-city world tour, performed at Coachella, and will be performing at Lollapalooza in August.

Rolling Stone Korea caught up with The Rose backstage at BST Hyde Park to talk about their new music, working with Suga from BTS, and why fans shouldn’t throw things on stage.

What did you guys think of the London festival crowd?

Woosung: Beautiful. There were a lot of people today. How many [people] do you think there was [turning to the rest of the band]?

Jaehyeong: A lot!

Woosung: They had good energy.

What song were you surprised that the crowd enjoyed?

Jaehyeong: Whenever we play the outro of "Sour", the crowd waves their hands every time. But today, a lot of the fans [in the crowd], they are not our fans. But all of them gathered were waving their hands. It was very emotional. I loved it.

What song were you really looking forward to performing?

Dojoon: Obviously, the new song. It's called "Back to Me". As we played the song intro, I think everyone was like "Ooh." And then throughout the first verse, they were actually following along with the lyrics. It's not out yet, but they knew the lyrics. Maybe the lyrics are easy? It was great to see them singing along and vibing.

You have been to France, Lollapalooza Stockholm and now you’re in the UK. Have you noticed a difference in the crowd when you tour different countries?

Woosung: Honestly, there are little differences. In Japan, people like to wait until everything is done and then cheer. South Korea is kind of like that, but not really these days. In Brazil, they just cheer all the way through. As for European fans and American fans, I think that it's half and half. Half of them cheer from the beginning, and then there's half of them who are just feeling the vibes closing their eyes and listen to the music. It's just beautiful all around honestly. For us, we're very thankful for every crowd.

Dojoon: Wherever we go to, we set our individual mode to that place. For instance, when we go to Brazil, we set ourselves into Brazil mode. And then whenever we go to Japan, we set ourselves to Japan mode.

You guys have been on tour for a long time? How do you physically and mentally prepare for the road?

Woosung:  Physically we try but it's so hard, right? We're getting old.

How old are you now?

Woosung:  I'm 30 now.

I am 32.

Woosung: Do you feel old?

I mean, only my knees [laughing]

The Rose: [The whole group] EXACTLY! RIGHT!

Woosung: My knees, my back!

Dojoon: At least one part? Right?

I can't do the Megan Thee Stallion things anymore [the group laughs].

Have you noticed that there appears to be a near craze where fans seem to be throwing things on stage when artists are performing? It happened to be Bebe Rexha, P!NK, and now Dahyun from TWICE. What do you think's going on?

Woosung: I think it's horrible because if you hit somebody it hurts.

Dojoon: Yeah. Right.

Woosung: I think they're just so excited. They don't even realise it. They throw it [the phone] wanting a picture and then it hits the artist. And it's like, "Uh oh." I think they just get too excited to see them [the artist] which is a beautiful thing, but I think "be careful." I think our fans have been very respectful at least, we haven't really gotten hit with anything right?

Dojoon: Not yet. [joking]

You guys just announced that you're having a comeback, what can you tell your fans about it? Can you give us the secrets?

Woosung: Secrets to Rolling Stone Korea only [laughing]? Well, we've been working on our new album. "Back to Me" is definitely one of the tracks that are going to be released very soon. And we have many other tracks.

How many?

Woosung: There's going to be a total of 11 tracks.

What comes first when you’re making music? Is it the lyrics? Is it a medley? How do you go into the studio and prepare?

Woosung: It's very different every time. We wouldn't even need to go into the studio, we have our rooms and houses, and we’re together every day. So Jaehyeong, Hajoon, Leo (Dojoon), or myself, we will have an idea to start with. It might be lyrics. Sometimes it's melody, sometimes it's just a guitar line. And we talked about it and then we go our separate ways, do our thing, think about it, come back together, and then build it.

Who is inspiring you guys right now?

Woosung: We actually went to Coachella this year together and we saw a lot of cool artists perform. There’s one that kind of stuck with all of us - we had the most fun watching Fred Again, Skrillex, and Four Tet. We love how they sound. We love the tone of their electric instruments.

Dojoon: We don't know how it's going to affect us, but it definitely has had a big impact on us. We loved it so much.

Woosung: That's the best performance I've seen at a festival setup.

Woosung CREDIT - Dave Hogan/Hogan Media

I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about working with Suga from BTS. What was it like working on "Snooze"?

Woosung: I think I said this somewhere else too but we've been friends for five years, I believe. I first got introduced to him because he actually saw my solo "Face". I think he was interested in what kind of musician I was. We always wanted to do something together, and I think this time was perfect. He sent me the song and the hook was empty. So, I just put some of The Rose tastes in it, sang it, and sent it back to him.

Is there anything else you guys would like to tell your fans before we wrap up?

Woosung: We rose you.

Dojoon: Every time, we rose you.