Cover Story: IVE's Gaeul Shows Off A Fresh New Side

In just 16 months since their debut, Gaeul and five of her fellow members of K-pop girl group IVE have managed the impressive feat of placing all their single albums — Eleven, Love Dive, and After Like — at the top of the music charts in South Korea. Since scoring hundreds of millions of views on their music videos, having their infectious singles being certified multi-platinum, and taking home countless awards (including Favourite New Artist and Song of the Year at the MAMA Awards 2022), IVE have sealed their status as one of the biggest fourth generation K-pop girl groups. This month, the girls are back and raring to release their first full-length album, I’ve IVE, and make their US debut.

The group’s rapper, dancer and eldest member, known to fans as “Gaeul Sunbae” (the Korean word translates to “senior”), speaks to L’OFFICIEL SINGAPORE exclusively about the upcoming release and how she has assimilated all of the group’s incredible success so far.

IVE is a contraction for “I have”. Could you complete this sentence: In the past 16 months, and on this incredible journey with IVE, I have...

... developed my passion.

Your first three singles, “Eleven”, “Love Dive”, and “After Like” were big hits in South Korea and around the world. Can you remember your first reactions when “Love Dive” and “After Like” hit number one in South Korea?

Firstly, I was ecstatic about receiving so much love from so many listeners, and initially, I didn’t expect to receive this amount of love and support. In those moments, my first reaction was gratitude to our DIVE fans for pushing us through to reach our successes. I’m so honoured and humbled by the success of the singles, and even though making a good song is important, our fans are ultimately the backbone of the love and support received by our singles.

IVE is making a comeback this month with a full-length album, I’ve IVE. What was the preparation process like in these eight months after the last music release, and what can we expect?

Since the last release, there were a lot of award ceremony performances and there was our first fan concert. At the same time, we started to prepare our official album, which is a really important project. It’d be a lie to say it wasn’t a tough process, and it was definitely something necessary for us. With the busy workload and practising every day with the members, we were able to sync our teamwork and get to know each other better. As its name, I’ve IVE, shows, this album illuminates IVE’s identity, and you can expect to hear the contrast between a solidified IVE sound and new and different aspects. We look forward to showing it off to all of you!

Would you say that the upcoming release is different sonically from the previous releases?

With 11 songs on the tracklist, you’ll be able to experience different genres and emotions. And for our title track “IAM” especially, the explosive vocals are what sets it apart from previous tracks, so there’s a lot to look forward to for our fans.

IVE is having an Asia tour in June with stops in Taipei, Bangkok and Singapore. When it comes to the tour, what are you most excited about?

I’m already so excited about the Asia tour. I’ll be visiting a lot of countries for the very first time, so even the opportunity to meet the fans is going to be so exciting. I can’t wait! And for the DIVE fans, I’d like to confidently say that all of our performances are going to be beyond superb. Our stages will be so dazzling and entertaining that you might lose track of time! We’ll be preparing extra hard until that day, so please wait just a little longer. See you soon!

When you have a moment to yourself to relax, what are some of your favourite things to do?

Outside of my busy schedule, I like to relax when I have spare time. Reading books in quiet spaces, drinking tea, going on walks — that sort of thing. I also love reading letters from our fans, which makes me feel loved and happy.

What are your personal goals this year?

Dipping my toes in events and activities abroad has given me the desire to communicate effectively in different languages. So my goal this year is to study international languages so that I can communicate with as many international DIVE fans as possible. The process might take a bit of time, but I’m going to do my best.

Finally, what can fans of IVE and Gaeul expect next?

I think that I will always try to improve and set goals for myself. I’m planning more activities abroad, and I’ll always do my best to give the best stage experience to the fans. Since I have so many things I want to do and achieve, I want to ask DIVE fans to continue with me on my journey. I want to learn more about songwriting and someday showcase a song I made. Please cheer me on as I keep growing and evolving on my journey!