Group members include HANBIN, HYEONGSEOP, HYUK, LEW, HWARANG, EUNCHAN, and TAERAE. Together, they debuted on March 2, 2022 with the EP “It’s Me, It’s We.” Although it has been a very short while since the group has debuted, their impact is obviously tremendous as they won the Male Idol Rookie of the Year award at the 2022 Brand of the Year Awards.Having just recently released their newest EP, “SHINING UP” this past August, the group is continuing to prove that they are bringing it their all. Their visually appealing music video for their title song ‘Can’t Stop Shining’ has garnered an impressive 14 million views, only proving the success of TEMPEST can not be stopped.Kpopmap had the delight of catching up with TEMPEST and each of the members were excited to share their thoughts on their newest album as well as how appreciative they were of their iE. Kpopmap sent our fan interviews (including fan letters) and translated some snippets from them so that TEMPEST could get a good idea of how much their fans adore them. In particular, we took some parts of the interviews we had with Camely from France, Maymay from the Philippines, and many othersTEMPEST’s response to these letters as well as their fans are in this interview, so keep reading. You can also click here to see some of the letters that we shared with them.To begin, would you mind introducing yourselves individually and sharing with us one food you can not live without?Hello, I’m TEMPEST’s sunflower, the lead vocals and lead dancer, HANBIN. The food I can not live without is meat. HANBIN Hello. I’m the team member who overflows with passion and innocence, HYEONGSEOP. My soul food is meat and cheese. HYEONGSEOP Hello, I’m TEMPEST’ main vocalist, HYUK. I can not live without ramyun. Ramyun is my favourite food!! HYUK Hello, I’m in charge of showing off my physique and sub-vocals, EUNCHAN. The food that I can not live without is cooked rice. EUNCHAN Hello, I’m TEMPEST’s reliable leader, LEW. The food that I can not live without is meat. I have to eat pork belly, pork ribs, and chicken regularly. LEW Hello, I’m TEMPEST’s free-spirited main rapper and main dancer, HWARANG! The food I can’t live without is curry. In high school, my nickname was Curry King, that is how much I love it! HWARANG Hello, I’m TEMPEST’s charismatic cutie and maknae, TAERAE. I can’t live without meat! I especially love marinated short ribs. TAERAEYou just released your 2nd mini album titled “SHINING UP”. What can you tell us about the meaning of this title?In this 2nd mini album, the theme of “SHINING UP” is light. It is music that will make you smile when listening to it. Please enjoy this album to the fullest! HANBIN In our 2nd mini album “SHINING UP,” the keywords are ‘light, flower, time.’ The most important keyword is ‘time.’ Shine brightly, in this beautiful blossoming moment, in this time we are all forever shining, is the meaning of this album. HYEONGSEOP In the 2nd mini album, the theme of ‘never-changing light,’ the album shows the theme and emotions of sparkling youth that is everlasting. Just like the title, the meaning is we are shining and our time is shining. HYUK The meaning contains the theme of light that is connected to our future, and it shows how hopeful we are when running towards it. HWARANG “SHINING UP” means that our youth is at this moment and we are shining brighter than ever. LEW It is a song that is full of energy, innocence and young boys who are full of energy, and are now stepping into life. EUNCHAN Just like the title, it’s “shining,” [Light, time, flower] Just remember these three words and that is all you need. TAERAEWhat is the overall message that you want your listeners to get from the songs from your mini album?I want to tell everyone to smile, live happily and stay positive while listening to our songs. HANBIN I hope everyone will understand the message which is that we are, at this moment, all living in our youth and shining brightly! HYEONGSEOP I want to tell everyone that TEMPEST can do all genres and we have different charms. HYUK When times are difficult and tiring, I hope that you listen to this song and feel better. Also, I hope that a positive message will be delivered to everyone! EUNCHAN “Your most brilliant and shining moment is right now” is what I would like to say. LEW There are a total of 4 songs in our 2nd mini album “SHINING UP.” All 4 songs have different vibes and different genres, which shows our versatility. I am confident to say that we make songs with our unique color. HWARANG If you listen to our songs, you can feel TEMPEST’s different charms. TEMPEST is going to continue to grow and we want to tell our iE that we will continue to be with them. TAERAEAre there any specific artists or songs that you listen to when you want to relax?I listen to Lana Del Rey. When I listen to her songs, I feel comfortable and calm. HANBIN To get relaxed, I listen to R&B and jazz. HYEONGSEOP I often listen to classical piano songs. HYUK I listen to Bolbbalgan4 sunbaenim’s song, ‘To My Youth. It gives me strength, so I listen to it often. EUNCHAN When times are difficult, I listen to IU sunbaenim’s songs. A lot of her songs help make me feel better. LEW It’s AJR. They have a lot of songs that have messages of hope, so I listen to this group. A song that I listen to a lot is ‘Way Less Sad.’ HWARANG I listen to MiNo (Song MinHo) sunbaenim’s song ‘Alarm’ often. Maybe it’s because I listened to it since I was a trainee. The track makes me relaxed. TAERAEYour group is fairly new, having only debuted in 2022. What are some of your short-term aspirations and goals as a group?I think we all have the same goal, which is to receive the Rookie of the Year Artist Award! HANBIN It’s to receive the Rookie of the Year Artist Award. For the remainder of the year, I want to work even harder and become a group that many people will recognize. HYEONGSEOP The goal is the Rookie of the Year Artist Award that shines 2022. I want to receive this award and shine just as bright! HYUK It is to convey the expressions of the songs while showing our individual charms. EUNCHAN My short-term ambition is to win 1st place on a music show. We will make sure to do this! LEW Just like all rookie idols, we are looking toward the Rookie of the Year Artist Award. We are trying our best each moment, and we hope to receive it! HWARANG For now, it is to receive the Rookie of the Year Artist Award, but in the long run I want to become an artist that we can be proud of. TAERAEIn your most recent music video ‘Can’t Stop Shining,’ it is so colorful and aesthetically satisfying. Was there a memorable moment from the filming of this music video that you can share?Personally, I liked the scene where we filmed on the beach. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I loved feeling the ocean breeze and hearing the waves. The sunset was so pretty and it was fun filming with the members. HANBIN The moment we danced on the beach. It was my first time dancing on sand and it was a bit awkward, but all the members got used to it. With the beautiful background, it was even more memorable. HYEONGSEOP It has to be the scene when we filmed by the sea. It was the first time we all went to the sea together, and we all got to dip our feet in the water. We all played around and had fun. HYUK There was a scene where we danced while paper flowers fell from the sky. I remember the flowers going into my mouth very well. EUNCHAN I think the most memorable moment was when we were filming the music video by the sea. Because it was the first time, it felt like I was on a vacation. On the day we filmed, the weather was really nice and we had a lot of fun while filming and monitoring. LEW When we were filming the dance in the studio, there were so many paper flowers stuck to my head. When I was dancing the flowers fell all over the place and it was a lot of fun. I remember I danced around while trying to kick away the flowers to make sure that it didn’t block the camera’s view. HWARANG There is a scene in the music video where there is a flower road and one of us appears at the time. This was most memorable because we filmed really quickly and it was really late. TAERAEThere is a lot of excitement surrounding your group and how TEMPEST is going to hit it big in the industry. Who inspires each of you to keep going when times get difficult?When times get tough, we often encourage each other. We encourage and support and lean on each other to gain strength and keep moving forward. HANBIN It’s our iE. TEMPEST exists because of the inspiration and energy we get from our iE. HYEONGSEOP We have group meetings where we talk to each other and motivate each other. We will continue this in order to become greatly successful! HYUK People from our company and family who give us feedback come to mind. But the biggest support is our fellow members and iE. EUNCHAN Of course, it is our iE. Whenever we think of our iE who cheer us and love us, we gain strength and have the courage to face challenges. LEW It is our iE. When we don’t have the energy after a tough schedule, I gain energy when I hear and see cheers from iE as if I am being revived ! I feel like working harder and spending my days thinking about how to be better! HWARANG We get inspiration from a lot of sunbaenims, BTS sunbaenims especially are a big inspiration. TAERAEIf you could pick a particular line in one of your songs that you relate to most or feel the most, what would the line be?In the song ‘Young & Wild,’ there is the line, “We were small, now a huge wind, new wave.” When I think of these lyrics, I get a lot of strength. HANBIN In the title song ‘Can’t Stop Shining,’ there is the part “Turn it up, outrun the wind, swirl around each other like a storm.” When you’re with a strong colleague, nothing scares you, and it’s like you’re the main character of a youth movie. The lyrics make your heart flutter. HYEONGSEOP In the ‘Start Up’ chorus, there is the line “Even if you don’t shine right now it’s okay.” These lyrics are very touching and comforting to me. HYUK “Hold my hand.” The reason is that I like the idea of holding hands and going far together. EUNCHAN The lyrics that I relate the most with are in the song ‘Can’t Stop Shining.’ “I meet you at this moment I feel so alive” are the lyrics. In reality, whenever I meet iE on stage or at a fan sign event, I get very excited and feel so alive! LEW In the song ‘Only One Day,’ it is about a guy who is confessing his feelings. There are lyrics in particular that I wrote - “At the end of a busy day, take out the lyrics that are about you.” I pictured myself writing these lyrics thinking about iE after a busy day. I think these lyrics resonate with me the most. HWARANG The lyrics “Fly up and go a little farther, until you touch the universe” relate to me the most which is from ‘Can’t Stop Shining.’ It is very dream-like and thinking about flying away endlessly made me feel overwhelmingly touched. TAERAEFor the newer fans or people who do not know TEMPEST, what would you like to tell them about your group that you think is important?Hello, we are TEMPEST. There are 7 members in our group and we all have different charms. If you get to know us, your lives will become happier and more fun! HANBIN When it comes to teamwork, TEMPEST is amazing. Everyone is so unique, it will be fun to see and learn about what each member has to offer! HYEONGSEOP All 7 of us have different charms! When all 7 of us are together, like a rainbow, we give off a beautiful, strong, and shining light! That is what I want to tell you! HYUK We are not what you would expect. Every album we have a different image to take in, and we can show you different sides of us every time. EUNCHAN TEMPEST’s strength is diversity and teamwork! TEMPEST really has different colors to show as well as such amazing teamwork! Please look forward to it! LEW All 7 of us have different personalities so we can capture your eyes and ears. If you are curious about the harmony of us then make sure to look us up! HWARANG TEMPEST continues to evolve, so please keep an eye out for us! TAERAEAnd lastly, do you have anything to say to the fans that wrote these heartfelt letters and share the word about TEMPEST on Kpopmap? And to all the iE around the world who support you?Our iE~ Thank you so much. We get so much love from our iE so we are so happy. iE is a huge driving force for us to continue working hard. I hope that we can spend a lot of happy times together so that we can have beautiful memories! I love you! HANBINHello iE. This is your youth, HYEONGSEOP. Receiving so much love like this is surprising and touching. Because of iE’s love, I am the happiest person in the world. The love I have received from iE, I will now return. We will become your vitamin as we continue to grow. I love you iE! Stay healthy and let’s see each other soon! HYEONGSEOPThank you to our iE’s who wrote us such lovely letters. Each word gave me strength and motivation! I will take the support and become a cool, shining artist! Our iE from all over the world! Thank you for cheering us on even from afar! Each and every one of you are so important to TEMPEST and it is our driving force. We always love you and thank you, our iE~❤️ HYUKThank you iE for continuing to be by our sides! We will continue to grow and be a charming TEMPEST. To our iE all over the world! I love you so so much! EUNCHANTo our iE from all over the world who support TEMPEST, I thank you sincerely! Thanks to your love and support, we are able to continue to grow and develop! iE, you are always number one in my heart and I will make sure to be an idol that iE will be proud of! I love you so so much! LEWTo the iE who always supports us! We promise to always be on each other’s side and even though you are far, our hearts are close! Our iE who are always strong, I love you! HWARANGThank you for the letters that iE sent, TEMPEST can gain strength and be better! Thank you to our iE who give us so much love! We will give you positive energy, so let’s run towards a bright future together! TAERAEThank you again, TEMPEST for taking the time to answer these questions for your iE and Kpopmap readers! We hope that we can meet you on a tour sometime soon. We hope you stay happy and healthy! The Best Of TEMPEST HyeongSeop’s Boyfriend Material Pictures KPOP STORIES|Jul 8, 2022 Bias Duality: TEMPEST’s HanBin Or ‘Hubi’ Is The Manhwa Prince Of Our Dreams KPOP STORIES|Apr 18, 2022 TEMPEST’s HwaRang Reveals The Meaning Behind His Stage Name KPOP STORIES|Mar 14, 2022
