V01D

On their second mini-album YOUTHQUAKE, the five-member group V01D draws on the energy of rock to express the anxieties, contradictions and possibilities of youth.

The album’s title brings together “youth” and “quake”, framing instability as part of the process of finding direction. Across its five tracks, V01D – who debuted in March this year – move between the urgency of “Scream Out Now”, the coming-of-age nostalgia of “Memory” and the more reflective emotions of “Ending Credit”. “My Youth” – the title track – centres on the decision to follow one’s own path rather than measure success against someone else’s expectations through upbeat rock rhythms, while “Best Part” turns towards the shared memories that give the present its meaning.

Musically, YOUTHQUAKE balances the force of a band performance with a more considered approach to emotional expression. On “Ending Credit”, the group place greater emphasis on the relationship between the vocals and instrumental arrangement, allowing the song’s sentiment to come through without relying on sheer intensity. Elsewhere, “Scream Out Now” captures the collective energy of five performers working together, its driving rhythm demanding that individual parts come together as one.

V01D describe their development as a process of learning to work with different perspectives and paces, building a shared musical direction without expecting every uncertainty to disappear. For a group still defining its sound, the willingness to embrace that unfinished process becomes central to YOUTHQUAKE.

The title YOUTHQUAKE combines “youth” and “quake”, suggesting that growing up can be as disruptive as it is exciting. What does that idea mean to you personally at this point in your lives?

V01D To us, youth feels like a time when you worry about whether it’s too late to start something, yet ultimately keep moving toward what you love. Even while promoting as a band, there are many moments when new worries and anxieties arise rather than certainty, but we believe even that wavering is a part of our journey. Just like the title YOUTHQUAKE, the process of feeling shaken isn't necessarily a bad thing – we feel that we gain the strength to move forward little by little from within it.

The album explores the uncertainty of youth, including the pressure of reality and other people’s expectations. Have you experienced a moment when you felt you had to choose between what others expected of you and what you wanted for yourself?

Rather than trying to fit ourselves into other people's standards or pace of success, we believe it is much more important to steadily pursue the music we truly want to make. Of course, it’s not that we don't have realistic worries, but since we started with the determination to do the music we love, we want to take responsibility for the path we chose rather than comparing ourselves to others. Right now, rather than judging the results too quickly, we are trying to focus on the process of building V01D’s own direction and color.

“My Youth” encourages listeners to leave yesterday behind and fill the present with their own colours. Is there something you have recently learned to stop worrying about or measuring yourself against?

In the past, we used to care a lot about how well we were doing or where we stood compared to other teams, whereas now we believe it’s important to move forward steadily at our own pace. Being in a band isn't something that yields all the answers in a short period of time, after all. Even if immediate, visible results feel lacking right now, we trust that our experiences are accumulating, and we try to focus on improving even a little bit compared to yesterday while creating our own music.

“Scream Out Now” looks back at the fear of stepping onto an unfamiliar stage for the first time. When you think about your earliest performances compared with where you are now, what has changed most in the way you see yourselves as artists?

Compared to when we stood on stage for the very first time, rather than simply thinking that we need to do a good job, we now think much more about how to convey the music we prepared to the audience. There are still nervous moments with every stage, but we feel that rather than becoming people who never get nervous, what matters is embracing those emotions and still pulling off the performance and playing we need to do. As our stage experience builds up, we’ve come to focus more not only on our individual roles, but also on the moments we create together with the members.

“Ending Credit” marks the beginning of a new chapter for V01D, with a more mature vocal approach. What did you want to express through your performances on this track that might be different from your earlier releases?

In this track, rather than simply showcasing energy, we focused on bringing out the emotions of the song and the message the vocals aim to deliver. For the instrumental performance as well, rather than playing forcefully unconditionally, we thought it was important to consider the flow of the vocals and the band sound together so that the lingering resonance of the song could be fully conveyed. We think it is a song that shows a new kind of maturity and composure compared to our previous releases.

The album moves between the individual experience of “My Youth” and the shared memories celebrated in “Best Part”. How has being part of V01D changed your understanding of what it means to grow up?

While promoting as V01D, we are learning that growth isn't something achieved merely in one's head. In the process of five people with different thoughts and paces coming together to create one cohesive music, we come to understand each other's perspectives, and sometimes clash as we find the answers together. Growing doesn't mean becoming perfect all on your own; it feels like harmonizing with different people and gaining a broader perspective. In that sense, we believe V01D is a precious journey where all of us can grow together.

“Best Part” is dedicated to the people who have stayed by your side as time passes. When you think about your relationship with your fans, what is a moment with them that you hope you will still remember years from now?

We want to hold onto the moments when we communicate heart-to-heart with our fans (D10V) at concert venues for a long time. Going beyond simply playing our music for them, we believe the greatest charm of a live show is being able to share our emotions and feel the exact same moment together while we perform. There are moments when our hearts reach each other through music even without expressing everything in words. Even after a lot of time has passed, if our music and concerts remain as fond memories for our fans, those moments will stay with us as precious memories for a long time as well.

Which song on YOUTHQUAKE has challenged you most as a performer, and what made it challenging?

For us, "Scream Out Now" is a track overflowing with energy in terms of both instrumental playing and performance. Because the intense melody and rhythm must blend together seamlessly, we believe it is crucial not only to pull off our individual parts, but also to firmly maintain the overall flow of the band. We pay close attention to delivering the full intensity and energy of the song while ensuring that the sounds of all five members come together as one.

The album moves between energetic rock tracks and more reflective moments. Which side of V01D do you feel this release reveals most clearly, and are there any songs you are particularly excited to perform live?

We think this album shows that V01D is not just a band with intense energy, but a team capable of expressing a wide spectrum of emotions – from personal worries to shared memories. Since tracks with distinct atmospheres are gathered together, it feels like an album that lets listeners hear the many facets we have. For live shows, we are especially excited to showcase "Scream Out Now." Because it is a song with such great energy and joy to play, we want to share that energy together with our fans at the venue.

YOUTHQUAKE captures a period of change, uncertainty and growth. When listeners look back on this album years from now, what do you hope it will represent about who V01D were at this point in your journey, and what you were working towards becoming?

When we look back on this album a few years from now, rather than being remembered as a band where everything was already complete, we hope it will be remembered as a snapshot of V01D constantly clashing, experimenting, and growing while searching for our own unique color. Right now, we believe we are in the process of bringing who we are as a band into sharper focus. We hope YOUTHQUAKE becomes a record that holds the worries and energy of this era, and stands as an album that shows how sincerely we were striving back then to move even further forward.