Xdinary Heroes is a South Korean rock band composed of Gunil, Jungsu, Gaon, O.de, Jun Han and Jooyeon. The band came together under JYP’s sub-label Studio J and released its first single, “Happy Death Day” in 2021.
Four years later, Xdinary Heroes continues to evolve its sound and relationship as a band. Blending punk and rock influences in their music, they work on creating a sound that is uniquely their own, and no matter what, they strive to have fun.
Xdinary Heroes spoke to The Daily Illini ahead of their evening performance at The Grove to discuss festival preparation, band collaboration and future goals.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
A translator was present during the process of this interview.
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DI: How do your rock and punk influences blend into your music, and how do you make that your own thing?
Translator: It was just natural because they grew up listening to rock and punk, so it was just in them. It just came really naturally.
Gunil: For example, Gaon, his favorite band is Green Day. So when he writes melodies and when he writes music, the Green Day is just in his genes, so it just naturally comes out. For me, I like Muse … so when I write melody, the Muse kind of melody comes out. So it all blends together to make Xdinary Heroes songs.
DI: How do you guys feel going into your Lollapalooza performance this evening?
Translator: It’s such an honor because it’s such an enormous opportunity, and they’re going to put up their best show and have a lot of fun.
DI: So what was your approach to preparing for the festival, and how do you plan to make it memorable for your audience?
Translator: The biggest strengths that they’ve got is the positive energy and the vibe, and that is something that the audience will not forget even after the performance. They’re going to go home with that energy that they are bringing.
DI: Can you guys talk about your songwriting process or your collaboration process as a band, and what goes into that?
Gunil: I think it’s very simple. We set up this period of time for a week or two, so when we look at our calendar, it just says “Song Camp.”
So that period of time is just designated for making our songs. We come up together in the studio … we all write tracks together and then we write the melodies together … All six of us write lyrics, but because there are so many people, different opinions come up. At the beginning, when we first started doing song camps, we had some difficulties dealing with different opinions … Because we work together for years, now we know what each one of us likes. I think we are getting our teamwork synergy even more as we work together.
DI: How do you feel you’ve evolved as a band, and how do you want to continue to evolve as you continue to make music?
Translator: As time goes on, their song becomes more and more hard rock. As a result, they have more fans who love them and are into hard rock and heavy metal. So they’re increasing a number of things. Now that they have an increased number of fans, they could try more in a different genre. They are going to continue to do the music that they love.
DI: What are your goals for the band, both in the near future and long term?
Translator: To be a legend is the long-term goal.
DI: How do you guys hope to impact the music industry and your fans with your work?
Translator: They’re always looking to do what’s fun, and their effort to make sure that their music is always fun, not just for them but for everybody, opens the opportunity for them to work with other people who have different ideas.
DI: Is there anything else you’d like to add that I didn’t touch on?
Gunil: Thank you so much to our global fans, especially the ones in the U.S., because we are on a U.S. tour right now. Thank you so much to Lollapalooza for inviting us. It’s going to be a blast tonight. I’m just happy to have this interview with you, and I’m looking forward for everything.
