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Posted by Sofia-Sayson Wednesday, March 9, 2022

EXCLUSIVE
[INTERVIEW] Female Korean rock band Rolling Quartz talks about 'Fighting,' shares their inspiration, personal goals, and more!

AKP STAFF

The five-piece South Korean female rock band under Rolling Star EntertainmentRolling Quartz, kickstarted their career in 2020 with their single album, titled "Blaze." The band made their much-awaited return with a great pool of earworm-y rock music, with 'Fighting.' Rolling Quartz's first mini-album consists of "Blaze," "Delight," "Azalea," "Holler," which were all released before as demo songs, and the band's cover of Dreamcatcher's 2017 single "Good Night" serving as the album'stitle track. Released on February 8th, along with the music video for "Good Night," Rolling Quartz continues to create a buzz in the music industry and draw in potential listeners with their headbanging music and top-notch skills.

allkpop sat down with Rolling Quartz members, Arem, Hyunjung, Iree, Jayoung, and Youngeun to share everything about their recently released album, music-related and personal goals for this year, hoping to go on a world tour or at least an offline concert, messages for fans, and more. Keep reading to know more about Rolling Quartz!


allkpop: First and foremost, congratulations on the release of your new album, 'Fighting'! What was the process like? Is there any memorable, fun, or challenging part in making the album?


Iree: The recording process took a lot longer than expected because we wanted to get the best possible sound. Some things were needed to be recorded and remastered, and it took almost six months just for the six songs. Also, a very famous punk band, No Brain, lent a guitar amp, and that added a lot of amazing sounds, especially to the song "Good Night," so it has this really incredible guitar tone that we are appreciative of.


allkpop: It's been a while since your last release. 'Fighting' marked your very first comeback since your debut single "Blaze" in 2020. How does it feel that you have finally come back after almost two years?

Jayoung: It actually hasn't been two years; it's been one year and a little bit longer. It hasn't felt very interesting or exciting. And actually, for the past year, we've been doing a lot of collaborations with a bunch of different artists, so it's been amazing for the past year.

allkpop: What were your first impressions of each other?


Iree: When I first met the members, I felt like all of them were really beautiful, cool, strong, hip-rock girls. And when I met the other members, Jayoung, Youngeun, Hyunjung, I felt like they had sort of bright presence, bright and happy people that were not often seen in the scene.


Jayoung
: When I first met Iree, I actually thought she was younger, so when I found out that Iree is older, I was surprised. I've known Youngeun since we were in middle school, my first impression when I first met Youngeun is that she was really cute, like even cuter than she is now.

Hyunjung: When I first met Arem I had this overwhelming "wow" feeling because Arem is so pretty, very tall, and gorgeous. And when she's starting to speak the casual language, I am like, "ah... who is this person."


allkpop: Is there any hidden meaning behind the album or the tracks? What do you want to convey in your new album?


Iree: "Fighting" has been added to Oxford's new English dictionary as a Korean-based word that is also English, it doesn't mean fighting like having a fight, but it's a word of encouragement, energy, or as a cheer of support because of COVID-19, there's been a very severe sort of situation in Korea and around the world, not just for us but for everybody. So we chose this word as a way of encouraging, supporting, and being positive in this situation. Additionally, to those who purchased the album and listen to the music, they can get positive encouragement and a positive mindset from the songs. That would be our goal for this mini-album.

allkpop: If you had to pick one song from the album, which one would you pick and why?


Iree: My favorite songs are "Holler" and "Good Night." "Holler" has this sort of creepy, strange, and crazy feeling that I really enjoy. And the guitar tone of "Good Night" is my favorite.

Jayoung: I love "Holler" too!!! Because when I first started making the song, I wasn't really clear, and I wasn't sure where I was going to put my imagination in the direction. But by the end, it all came together very nicely, so I am very proud of that song.

Youngeun: My favorite song is also "Holler," when I am performing that song it has a lot of energy and a lot of passion, and it's really fun.

Arem: My favorite song is also "Holler." Out of all our songs, it has the darkest and heaviest feeling, and I really like that.

Hyunjung: My favorite song is "Delight" because it's the first song all of the members made together, so it has a very strong emotion and memory attached to it. The song is good, and it's the song I really like. 

allkpop: Rolling Quartz has five music videos and three virtual reality (VR) music videos to be released soon. How was it like filming the VR MVs? How different is it from filming a normal MV?


Youngeun:
The VR camera was really interesting because the VR camera is really different. When watching the video, it has the live performance and you'll get the feeling like you are in the video, and so you want to keep watching and viewing the video.


allkpop: Rolling Quartz has been releasing song covers, including BTS's "Dynamite." What song would you want to cover next?


Hyunjung:
We're thinking about the songs we'll cover gradually because recently, we've been focusing on the original Rolling Quartz songs. We'll be considering the next cover songs that we'll do.

allkpop: Dreamcatcher members have noticed your cover of "Good Night"! How does it feel that you're gaining a lot of attention lately?


Youngeun: I have been a fan of Dreamcatcher for a really long time, so to have them react and respond to our cover on SNS has been really amazing. And I can't actually believe that we were interacting for a while. I am really happy with Dreamcatcher's appreciation and interaction regarding the cover video.

allkpop: Is there any idol group or fellow K-band you would like to collaborate with in the future?


Hyunjung: This is the question that we get a lot. It's a difficult question because we have different styles and preferences, so it takes some time for us to talk, organize, and choose who we would collaborate with.



allkpop: Who or what is your source of inspiration? Who do you look up to the most in the industry?


Arem: All of us have really attractive qualities and points, so we learn a lot from each other. Regarding other artists and other bands, everybody has a different taste, so we really just learn from each other.

allkpop: What's something you've always wanted to accomplish but haven't yet had the chance? Would you still want to do that now, if you had the chance?


Iree: I want to start my own country.


Jayoung: I want to sing an anime OST.

Youngeun
: I want to start my own YouTube channel either as a beauty YouTuber or a mukbang YouTuber (food YouTube channel). I really like vlogging.

Arem: I would like to have my own YouTube channel, but these days I have been completely focused on Rolling Quartz.

Hyunjung: I would really want to continue learning and practicing instruments. I want to exercise regularly, do streaming, and make a lot of money.


allkpop: What has been the most memorable experience or favorite moment of your career thus far?

Jayoung:
For me, the most memorable experience recently was once the mini-album was released, we noticed that it was appearing on different charts like iTunes charts in various countries. Looking at the charts with these famous artists and then seeing Rolling Quartz, I cried a lot.

Youngeun
: My strongest memory is the time when all of us met and actually first formed. I am so glad that it happened, and I can't imagine any stronger memory than that.


allkpop: Is there a song you've been playing on loop these days, or a song that is in your playlist that you would want to recommend to us?

Iree:
I have been listening to the original soundtrack of "The Greatest Showman."

Jayoung
: I have been listening to a lot of epic and orchestral songs, originals, and arrangements.

Arem
: I have been listening to our song "Holler" a lot.


allkpop: Rolling Quartz's "Good Night" music video has racked up over 200,000 views. And 'Fighting' debuted at No. 23 on the worldwide iTunes album chart. Congratulations on that! Are there any goals, music-related or personal, that you would want to accomplish this year?


Iree:
I would like to start my own personal YouTube channel.

Jayoung: I would like to write and create orchestral songs and arrangements.

Youngeun
: I want to meet our fans, Diadem, in person! I hope to personally meet different fans. Hopefully, to do a world tour or at least an offline concert this year!

Arem
: I want everyone to listen to Rolling Quartz's new songs!

allkpop: Do you have any messages for your fans? Please share some words.

Iree:
Thank you for the unimaginable fantasies that you have given us.

Jayoung: I love you!

Iree: I like you!

Jayoung: Wow!!!

Arem: Without Diadem, I'm useless.

Youngeun: Thank you to all of the Diadem fans that have been supporting us. In the future, there will be hard times, sad times, good times, things to enjoy, and things that will be difficult. And if we can give each other strength, that would be what I want for everyone.

Hyunjung: Thank you so much to everyone who waited for such a long time for this album. There are hard times, and there are sad times. If we can stick together and stay together for a long time, then that would be great. I hope we can stay together for a long time.

  1. misc.
4 9,763 Share 88% Upvoted
 
ThePhantomThief
ThePhantomThief2,526 pts Wednesday, March 9, 2022 0
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Thank you for giving Rolling Quartz some promotion! I love them so much so great to see them here

Also



Iree: I want to start my own country.

I'd live there....

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Kirsty_Louise
Kirsty_Louise40,699 pts Wednesday, March 9, 2022 0
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

I recently just discovered Rolling Quartz on YouTube and have completely fallen in love with them. Their cover of Good Night is so damn good, I have listened to it so many times!


Thank you so much for this interview!

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