Q: What made you want to create a J-pop album?
D-LITE: I’ve always liked J-pop to begin with. And ever since I released my cover album D’scover in 2013, I’ve been working with Mr. Kameda.

Considering everything I’ve done in Japan up until now, I felt that I wanted to make an original J-pop album at least once, almost as a way of bringing all those experiences together.

This time, I also got to work with Mr. Hata, Mr. Mizuno, and Ayaka, whose songs I’ve previously covered. So it really was a wonderful opportunity.

Q: What was it like working with Hata, Mizuno, and Ayaka?
D-LITE: As you can probably tell from the fact that I’ve covered their songs before, I’ve always loved their music.

I already had my own understanding of each artist’s individual musical style, and I wanted to see what would happen if I combined their colors with my own.

Because I had a relatively clear image of what I wanted from the beginning, the actual process wasn’t particularly difficult.

My meeting with Mr. Mizuno was especially fun. We were technically meeting for work, but it didn’t feel like work at all! (laughs). Whenever I mentioned a keyword, he would immediately understand what I was trying to communicate. We had that kind of back-and-forth, and when I finally heard the song that came out of those conversations, I thought, “Wow, this is incredible.”

The moment I heard it, I could already imagine how it would look onstage.

As for “D-Day,” which Mr. Hata wrote and which became the album’s title track, it wasn’t that I initially approached him asking him to write a song called “D-Day.” Rather, when I heard the song he had given me, I thought, “I want this song to be ‘D-Day.’” I’d already decided that the album would be called D-Day, and the moment I heard his composition, I thought, “Ah, this fits perfectly.”

So I explained what “D-Day” meant to me, and he wrote the lyrics based on that.

Then there’s Ayaka’s “The sign.” I think it contains a great deal of Ayaka’s distinctive musical style, but at the same time, the feelings and imagery I’d shared with her during our meeting were properly reflected in it.

Listening to the song, I could really feel that she’d written it while thinking about me.

Q: You were also involved in creating “Harukaze Melody” and “Kindai Mirai” (Near Future), weren’t you?
D-LITE: From the very beginning, I wanted this album to have a refreshing atmosphere, something that would make people feel good when they listened to it.

My previous album, D’slove, had a more mature atmosphere, or maybe you could say it was a little heavier. (laughs). So this time I wanted something a little lighter.

With those two songs, Mr. Kameda and I worked toward that image right from the start. As a result, they turned into bright, lighthearted songs.

Q: You also wrote the lyrics for “Harukaze Melody.” What was your songwriting process like?
D-LITE: My songwriting style is to listen to the music first.

I keep listening until some kind of image forms in my mind. And if nothing comes to me, I just don’t do it.

It’s the same with composing. If I start feeling like, “I have to do this!” then I won’t do it. When that happens, I give up pretty quickly. (laughs). With this particular song, an image naturally came to me while I was listening, so I wrote the lyrics.

The lyrics express things I’ve been wanting to tell my fans. In my case, when I write lyrics, they’re always based on my own experiences. That’s where everything begins.

Of course, I might expand on those experiences using my imagination afterward, but fundamentally, I’m writing about things I’ve personally felt. These are the feelings I want to communicate to my fans right now.

Q: The first-press edition of the album includes your previous solo music videos, as well as footage from BIGBANG’s 10th-anniversary concert last summer.
D-LITE: For the “D-Day” music video, I wanted to portray something like a first love experienced in adulthood, or the kind of pure, innocent love you might experience in your early twenties.

That’s why we cast a relatively young woman of around that age to play my girlfriend.

We had a really enjoyable time filming, and I think that atmosphere comes across in the video.

As for the 10th-anniversary concert... I really don’t know what to tell you anymore.

Because I can’t remember anything! (laughs)

My memories are completely gone.

It was summer, right? All I remember is how hot it was. (laughs)

Oh! I remembered one thing!

The pyrotechnics were insane.

It was already hot, but when the sparks started flying, it became even hotter.

I felt like a squid. (laughs)

Q: A squid? (laughs)
D-LITE: I felt like a grilled squid! (laughs)

And after the sparks shoot up, quite a lot of oil actually falls down from above.

So it felt as though someone had covered me in oil, and I was singing surrounded by that smell.

That’s when I really felt like a squid. (laughs)

And ever since then, I’ve hated squid.

...Well, that would make the story funnier, wouldn’t it?

But actually, I’ve always loved squid, and I still do. It’s delicious!

Q: Hahaha! (laughs) Now, since you’ve titled this album D-Day, what does “D-Day” mean to you personally?
D-LITE: “D-Day” isn’t used to describe something that’s already happened in the past. It’s used for something that’s still going to happen.

So when I think about all the experiences I’ve had up until now, including the ten years I’ve spent as a member of BIGBANG, I feel that all those experiences came together to make this album possible.

That’s why today, the album’s release date, is my “D-Day”!

Q: And you have your first solo dome concerts coming up!
D-LITE: I’m so happy!

I believe these concerts are only possible because of the strength and support of the fans who’ve continued to cheer me on ever since I released my very first solo album.

I’m filled with gratitude. More than anything, I want my concerts to be something everyone can enjoy together.

But compared to the halls and arenas I’ve performed in before, the domes are much bigger, so it’ll naturally be more difficult to communicate with everyone at such a close distance. On the other hand, I think that because of their size, we’ll be able to experience an even greater sense of unity together.

Last week, I rehearsed with the band and dancers, and it was so much fun. Everything felt really good. The domes are huge, so I don’t want the concert to be made up of just my voice. I want everyone else’s voices to help create the show, too.

I want to make memories together with my fans.

Q: In May and June, BIGBANG will also be holding fan meetings at dome venues. These will be the group’s first events since T.O.P temporarily suspended his activities.
D-LITE: Even before this, there were quite a few occasions when T.O.P had other work commitments and the four of us would hold fan meetings in Japan without him.

But the feeling back then and the feeling now are definitely a little different.

Back then, even if he wasn’t there with us, we knew we could see him whenever we wanted.

So we didn’t really feel lonely. We were completely fine with it. Even now, technically, we can still see him if we go to visit him during his military service.

But it’s not as though we can meet him so easily anymore... So it really does feel different. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time focusing on my activities in Japan, and all the other members are busy with their own schedules, too.

We haven’t had many opportunities to talk, so we haven’t been able to discuss the fan meetings in detail yet. But I hope that, together with us, all of you will help fill the empty seat left by T.O.P.

I hope we can experience these different feelings together and share them with one another throughout the events.

Q: We’d also like to ask you a little about your personal life. When people think of D-LITE, one of the things that comes to mind is your well-trained physique. Is there anything particular you do to maintain your health?
D-LITE: I absolutely love eating, so I’m the type of person who exercises so that I can eat.

I hate having to hold myself back from eating the things I want.

If there’s something I want to eat, I’ll exercise enough that I can eat it without feeling guilty about it at all.

I think that’s probably why I’m healthy.

Basically, I exercise every day. I used to do cardio by running or walking on a treadmill, but lately, for some reason, my knees have been hurting. (laughs)

So now I use something called a stepper, which is a machine that lets you do stepping exercises in place.

Apparently, it puts less strain on your knees, and I’ve heard that it’s actually more effective for exercise than running. The amount of time I exercise also depends on what I’m going to eat.

I really love chicken, but in Korea, there are so many different kinds, and they’re all delicious.

So I end up eating too much and gaining weight. That’s why, on average, I try to exercise for about an hour and a half to two hours.

I usually watch movies or different videos on YouTube while I’m doing it.

Even when I’m staying in Japan or other countries, I try to go to the hotel gym and make sure I don’t miss my workouts whenever possible.

Q: Have you watched or listened to anything recently that particularly inspired or stimulated you?
D-LITE: There’s a movie I found really interesting.

Actually, I watched it yesterday on the plane when I was coming to Japan.

It’s called Arrival, and it hasn’t been released in Japan yet.

I guess you’d call it science fiction? There are aliens in it.

You know how, in those typical alien movies, the aliens arrive on Earth and then a war breaks out over whether humanity can defend the planet?

I don’t really like those kinds of stories. So when I started watching this movie, I thought it might be another one of those. But it was different!

It’s really subtle. Very subtle, and it stays subtle the whole time! (laughs) First, aliens arrive in enormous UFOs at different places around the world. Oh, one even comes to Hokkaido! (laughs) There are more than ten locations around the world where these UFOs appear.

But the UFOs don’t actually do anything. They just stay there. So the story is about people trying to figure out what kind of message they’re trying to communicate.

Humans eventually go inside the UFOs, but they can’t understand the aliens’ language.

So they begin studying the alien language in order to find a way to communicate with them. The way the aliens’ language is represented is really mysterious. It’s sort of circular in shape.

Of course, the movie itself has a message it’s trying to communicate, but everything is so subtle and fascinating.

Although, to tell you the truth, I haven’t actually seen the ending yet. I think the movie is around 120 minutes long, but the flight from Seoul to Tokyo isn’t that long. So right now, I really want to know how it ends.

That’s why I want to go home as soon as possible! (laughs). I absolutely have to watch the rest on my flight back.

Q: (laughs) And what moments make you feel most relaxed or comforted these days?
D-LITE: I’m basically a homebody.

So the time when I can really release my stress is when I’m by myself.

It’s not that I necessarily do anything special. For example, I might put on a movie and then end up falling asleep while it’s playing.

Just being alone means I don’t have to worry about anyone else.

It really puts my mind at ease, and I can completely relax.

Q: Finally, you’ve achieved your dream of becoming an internationally successful artist. Could you share your secret to making dreams come true with Modelpress readers?
D-LITE: I think being able to struggle and work hard toward achieving your dreams is actually a very fortunate thing.

So what I want to say is: enjoy that pain.

Of course, there are times when things are so difficult or painful that you simply can’t enjoy them. But I think the people who have it hardest are those who don’t have anything they want to do in the first place.

Just having something you want to do is already enough to make you fortunate.

You’re lucky simply to have that.

If you approach things with that mindset and learn to enjoy the struggles along the way, then, as time passes and you eventually look back, I think you’ll realize just how much you’ve grown.

Original interview: Modelpress Japan, April 18, 2017
Translated by @kwoncircles on X