Kim Jae-hwan on Wanna One Reunion and His First Post-Military Single

Singer Kim Jae-hwan, who is drawing fresh attention through Wanna One's full-group reunion, is back with a new sound. His first release since his military discharge moves away from the polished pop of his idol years and into rock ballad territory, with the songwriter showing what nearly two years of distance have done to his voice.

Kim met press this past April 20 at a cafe in Seoul's Cheongdam-dong for a round-interview marking his first post-military single, "I'll Come Get You," which was released on April 22 across major music sites. The track is a rock ballad built around the message that he will always stay by his fans' side, and Kim recorded the guitar himself while taking part in the writing and composing.

"It's my first comeback after the military gap, so I focused on getting both my body and mind into the best shape possible," he said. "I'm trying not to dwell on chart results. The whole process of making the music made me so happy that I was already satisfied the moment the song came out."

With this release, Kim said he wants to grow into a vocalist rooted in guitar-driven genres like rock ballad and folk. Rock ballad has gained traction at home recently through tracks like WOODZ's "Drowning."

"I pictured myself performing alongside the sound of a guitar," Kim said. "I wanted to hold on to the comfort and emotion inside that sound." He added that the choice was a return to his earliest tastes. "When my friends were into Super Junior and Wonder Girls, I was the kid listening to Kim Kwang-seok, Yoo Jae-ha, Lee Moon-sae, John Mayer and Jason Mraz. I thought, let me go back to the music I actually love. And I'd love to aim for festival stages, too."

Kim said the 1 year and 9 months away pushed his vocals further than any training period before it. He served in a military band, which meant frequent touring under conditions far removed from idol production.

"Back in my idol days I had in-ears and great sound equipment. As a soldier I was handed one speaker and one mic," he said. "When you perform with a band like that, your voice gets buried. My job was to cut through and sing anyway. I studied how the musical-theater soldiers sang, asked for a lot of advice and worked through it. I really practiced my projection." The result, he said, was a more open voice. "Pushing it loud over and over opened up my vocal cords. I'm happy with how much my volume has grown."

He also reflected on what performing without the usual idol setting taught him. "I was lucky that my assignment was to sing, so my skills grew a lot. But singing in uniform, with no makeup, in front of people who weren't fans, made me miss the fans more," he said. "There was a time I sang in front of just 10 people in the military. It felt strange at first, but on that stage I thought, 'What does the size of the audience matter? If a place needs my voice, I should be grateful I can sing there.' Fans cheer for me even when I just drink water. I really learned how thankful I am."

The conversation turned to "Wanna One Go: Back to Base," the Mnet Plus reality series which premiered on April 28, that has reunited the group. Kim was careful about expectations for new music as a unit.

"I don't know yet whether Wanna One will activate as a group musically. I'm told there's a lot we don't know about, a lot that still needs to be worked out," he said. "I'm just hoping. Whenever I see the members, that's all we talk about — when are we doing a stage?"

He said the energy on set has surprised him. "I'm focused on filming the reality show right now, and it's wild how the atmosphere is the same as when we were active. We're a little more mature than back then. There's more understanding, more consideration for each other. Nothing feels awkward. We're crying and laughing and filming like we've gone back to that time. I think Wannables(the fandom's name) watching will feel the same way."

Kim also turned to fellow member Park Ji-hoon, who recently crossed the 10-million admissions mark in South Korea with the film "The Man Who Lives With the King"(왕과 사는 남자). "Ji-hoon tries hard to stay humble. He's doing so well and there's no swagger, none of that. But he was the same before, too. He's always the same Ji-hoon," Kim said. "I told him recently, 'You're our pride. Our buzz has gone up because of you.'"

Asked what now drives him to keep singing, Kim landed on something simpler than it sounded. "Self-satisfaction is the most important reason," he said. "I have to enjoy it and find it fun first. I used to think about how I'd look to others before thinking about whether I liked it myself. Now I believe people only feel the joy if I feel it first. What matters is being able to picture a future in my music and feel excited about it."

Minkyung Lee [email protected]