CHANELLE MOON And then after it came out, seeing the response – especially talking to fans – we saw how much of an impact it had. They said they loved the meaning of the songs, that it was okay to be imperfect, okay to not be okay, okay to be the way you are. Hearing that it meant so much to them was really touching to us. It made the whole thing even more meaningful.

2 When you noticed this reaction, how did it make you feel to know that you had this positive influence on your fans?

KEENA Reading comments online, fans have said that when they listen to our music, it feels like songs that would play in a laundromat – that fresh, very FIFTY FIFTY style. Something they know is us, something they'd expect from us. When we read those positive comments, it reminds us that we're doing a good job. It makes us feel positive too.

3 For the message of this comeback, how do you think it shapes the music?

CHANELLE MOON If you listen to this album, you can really hear very different vibes from what we've put out before – which we were really excited to do. But with the message of it's okay to not be okay, it's okay to be imperfect, it just motivated us to work even harder and really convey that emotion of embracing our true self. We wanted to put that true self, and that true vocal tone that we have, into our music.

CHANELLE MOON If you listen to the lyrics, especially on our title track "Like a Bubble," there are a lot of messages about having fun being yourself, having fun living life the way it is – just go with the flow. We really wanted to have fun while singing, but we were also thinking of our fans while singing as well.

4 'STARSTRUCK' kicked off this chapter, and sounds like a different version of FIFTY FIFTY. What did it feel like to open this chapter with something different, and a bold sonic statement?

YEWON This was the first new concept we tried, and we wanted to get people's feedback saying, oh, this is a different charm to FIFTY FIFTY, something we've never seen before. We paid special attention to the performance as well. We just wanted to try something new and different to showcase to the fans.

ATHENA We're really happy to be able to try this new concept. What we always say to our fans is that we'll keep improving, become better versions of ourselves, and show different genres, different styles – that there are no limits to what we can do. So it was really an honour to release "Starstruck" as our pre-release. I'm also happy that our fans got to see a different side of us. Some of our members naturally lean towards a cooler, more chill style, and they really vibe with "Starstruck" – so I'm glad that side of them got to come through too.

6 Let's move on to the title track "Like a Bubble," because it has a very different vibe from "Starstruck." How does it feel to be a group that can move between all these different sounds?

CHANELLE MOON For us as FIFTY FIFTY, like Athena said, our goal is always to improve with every comeback. Within the group, we always say we want to be a group without limits – not tied to one genre. Our goal is to try every concept, every genre, even if we don't do well, we still want to make the attempt. Try everything, show that we can do everything, and convey our message in as many different ways as possible.

CHANELLE MOON When we were recording this album, "Starstruck" and "Like a Bubble" were very different from each other. So we studied hard and practised hard to figure out how to provide a different image with each – in terms of facial expressions, vocal tone. Personally, providing a very different vocal tone with this comeback was one of our goals. I think we did that pretty well. It just feels really good to be a group that can do various things.

7 What did that process of working on different vocal tones feel like in the booth?

CHANELLE MOON While recording, every song is a little bit different – if you hear it, you'll hear that every single song has a very different vibe to it. So in order to get the perfect result, we wanted to be at the right frequency with each song. For me personally, when I was recording "Like a Bubble," I was smiling a lot, imagining just kind of being at the beach. And then for "Starstruck," it was a little bit more like thinking of rock or EDM-style voices. That's personally what it was like for me when I was studying the tones.

YEWON For "Like a Bubble" it was important to bring out my very bright, cheerful tone. But for "Starstruck," I had to use basically all ranges of a lower range – low tones. That was new for me as well.

8 I also want to talk about each song on the album, starting with "Took It Too Far." There's a lyric that stood out to me – don't try to make me change for you. That's your lyric, right CHANELLE?

CHANELLE MOON Yeah, that is my lyric. Wow, that's actually my favourite lyric from the song as well – I think we match there [laughs]. Our album is called Imperfect-I'mperfect, and me not being perfect is kind of what makes me who I am. So when I was recording "Took It Too Far," that lyric in the bridge – don't try to make me change for you – I realised that personally, I try to match myself to a lot of people. But I was like, no, just being myself is something I need to practise more. So being able to sing that lyric, I was really happy to kind of place that goal in myself again.

9 It's a really powerful message. So I wanted to ask – what is something about you, as performers or just as people, that you don't want to change? Something that's just you.

KEENA I'm a person who takes feedback really well – I listen to people's advice and comments. But one thing I want to stick to is that when I want to try something new and different, there will always be opinions saying that's a little risky, maybe you should double think that. But regardless, I still want to try. That's how you learn and grow. Everything new I try has a certain level of risk involved, but I have trust in myself that I can get through it. I'm always a believer in – let's go for it, let's take it head on.

ATHENA I would probably say the lifestyle that I want. Before I became a K-pop star – I don't want to say star [laughs]

CHANELLE Why not? Own it!

ATHENA Before I became an idol, a lot of people in my environment were pretty negative about my dreams and the way I wanted to live. That affected me a lot. But now I realise I shouldn't have listened to them – and I still don't want to listen to anybody who says no to my dreams.

10 It's a good thing to follow your dreams – thank you for sharing. The next song, "PERFECT," is about the nervousness and excitement of a first confession. How do you find the process of performing a song that's emotionally that specific?

ATHENA What we try to do is relate to the song. We get the lyrics, and we try to express them – put ourselves in the shoes of that person, feel what they would feel, and convey that through our words, our feelings, our voices.

YEWON That’s a good answer.

ATHENA [laughs] thank you.

CHANELLE MOON Also, the questions you're giving are amazing. They're so detailed. I just wanted to say that.

INTERVIEWER Thank you – I like to ask questions that are thoughtful.

CHANELLE MOON I love them.

INTERVIEWER I’m glad to hear it. Is there anything else you want to share about “PERFECT” before we move to the next song?

YEWON With "PERFECT," the delivery of the lyrics was really important. If you read them, they're very meaningful – so it was important to bring out the right tones and match the lyrics. That's what we focused on most when recording, especially in the last part, bringing out those emotions through our vocals. Conveying the lyrics through the voice and the tone – that was everything.

12 Do the other members agree with YEWON?

ALL Yes!

13 "Carry On" is the last song, and what stood out was the ending – how it builds to this euphoric close. What was the process of recording that ending like?

CHANELLE MOON The moment we first received the song, we were told it was kind of a song for our fans – that was the mood they wanted for "Carry On." So we went into the booth immediately thinking of our fans. I think that's what made it even more special. If you listen to the recording, you can hear the emotion in our voices, in the way we sing the lyrics. It's definitely a song I really love personally, and I think it really conveys our love for our fans. You explained it perfectly – that euphoric feeling. But it's also filled with so many emotions. It's a really special song to us.

14 You can really feel the emotion in the recording – you captured that really well. If you had to pick one song from this EP to show your biggest evolution so far, which would you choose?

CHANELLE MOON I think "Took It Too Far" – it's definitely a song and a type of genre we haven't shown before.

KEENA Also "Took It Too Far." While preparing for this song specifically, I learnt a lot from this track.

YEWON Me three. [laughs]

ATHENA Oh really? Wait, am I alone in this? For me, it was "Genie Magic." I think all of the fans and my members noticed, but with this song I was hitting notes I haven't hit before. It was a real improvement for me personally.

15 From the process of making this EP, what did it teach you about how you want to be as artists moving forward?

ATHENA We tried a lot of different genres – we always do that – but with this album, I think there was more priority placed on the songs, the genres, the moods. Seeing us being able to perform all of that, sing all of those songs, made me realise – oh, we can actually do so much more. This is not our end. We can just keep getting better, because I really think we all improved a lot on this album. It really showed how much we're capable of.

16 What did it feel like to realise that?

CHANELLE MOON For me, it just made me feel more confident in myself. I think that's kind of the point of the album – to be more confident in yourself, the way you are. And it really was that for me. It was that album for me. So I felt like it would be that for other people too. It just gave me more confidence as an artist.

YEWON Personally, I hope that when you listen to this album, you can see that we've grown and matured a lot as artists. While we were preparing, we really had to challenge ourselves, push ourselves, do something new – something we'd never done before. We also had to do a lot of our own studying in terms of bringing out different tones in our vocals. Overall, just growth and maturity – that's what we want people to feel.