I will just copy some of my favorite sections:
Then how would you define yourself outside of TWICE?
I think about this question a lot. I can’t define myself in a single word. Nowadays, it’s impossible to hide oneself because you show yourself to the fans and to the public a lot. So I believe that the things I communicate to my fans, and what the fans see in me as Im Nayeon, is how I define myself. There’s no difference between TWICE's Nayeon and Im Nayeon.
What’s one thing, outside of music and your fans, that makes you happy?
I’ve never really given much thought to what makes me happy or what happiness really means. I receive happiness from my everyday, normal life. Every time I laugh out loud. Or when I’m talking and eating delicious food with people I love. That's what I think happiness is. It’s a comfortable feeling.
TWICE has released over 30 singles and accompanying projects since 2015. You've been busy! And now you're releasing your first solo album. What keeps you going, creatively?
When I’m working nonstop, I want to take a rest. And when I take a rest, I want to work again because I miss working. So when I’m working constantly, I would prefer to have frequent small breaks, rather than long breaks. I enjoy working. And my driving force is 50 percent TWICE members and 50 percent ONCE [the fans], because I know that fans are waiting for our albums and our concerts. That keeps me going. And the members and I all have similar energies and drives. So we’re all happy to keep going because we know the fans are waiting for us.
I’m sure the album-making process is a lot different as a solo artist than it is as a member of TWICE. How did you challenge yourself with making this album?
The energy is very different! The most important thing is that I don’t try to fill the gap of the other eight members, but rather I think of it as completely different work. The challenge is thinking of it with a completely different mindset. When I’m preparing for an album, there are times when I have to make a decision, and there are times when I have to give up on certain things. With the members, there are eight other members who have the same thoughts as me and who want the same things as me. So when I’m doubting myself, I have them to back me up. But when I'm working by myself, I feel more pressure to be responsible for my own decisions. I have to be really sure of myself, and that can be a challenge!
You wrote two songs on this album, “All or Nothing” and “Love Countdown” with rapper and singer Wonstein. What was that experience like? Obviously, you’ve written for TWICE, but it had to feel different writing your own songs for your very own album.
I still think I have a long way to go to master my songwriting skills. I really wanted these songs to be perfect because they were going to be on my debut album, so I did feel a bit of pressure to do well. I was also writing while on tour, which made it a bit more difficult. But I thought of it as another new challenge, another opening in my life. I tried to match the song vibe as much as possible while also expressing myself.
You debuted in TWICE seven years ago, and you were a trainee at JYP for five years before that. How has your relationship to music changed in that time, if at all?
In my trainee years, I was able to practice and sing a variety of songs. I listened to everything. But after my debut, I was really busy and TWICE became my life. I was limited in the music styles I could sing. So now that I have more time in my career, I’d like to explore more genres and wider depths of music. In my album-making process, I liked the recording part the most because it was the first time I recorded an entire song by myself. I got to fill the song with my voice. I studied how I could sing it and interpret the music for myself. It made me realize how much I love singing and music in that sense. Before, it was a mechanical process. And now I get to explore a variety of styles in my own voice. Through this album, I found a new love for music.
