INTERVIEW } Jiyoung's solo debut as JY

― Please tell us your feelings when you heard you were going to debut as JY.
Jiyoung: At first I was very scared. I was really troubled when deciding it. But I was pleased by the fact that I would be able to sing again, and I wanted to tell to everyone soon my real intentions. So far, this mysterious artist's information is given little by little, and after all, many fans had their instincts, a fan even asked me in an event "JY is Jiyoung-san, right?", and I answered "No, I'm not" innocently (laughs). It was a secret even to my co-stars in the drama. To those who noticed, I'd say "It's a secret. Please wait until March 15." and I'd run away (laughs). I'm glad I can finally announce this to everyone.

― Your field as an actress is now wide, do you have anticipations on working again as a singer?
Jiyoung: It's something that I really want to do. Not being in a group and doing it solo, I think there will be a lot of hard times, but on the other hand I'll be more free to do the things I want to do. The things I want to express in a song and the feelings I want to convey will be strongly there.

― Before "JY=Jiyoung" became apparent, The views of music video (JY 『最後のサヨナラ』-Short Ver.-) on YouTube was more than 210,000. I think it's not an exaggeration to say that the people were fascinated by the song and the voice.
Jiyoung: Honestly, I'm happy. There is pressure, there will be events from now on as JY, and I'm very excited on how will they react. Recording was hard, I did it a couple of times. There were times when I'm not satisfied, the staff were also expecting, and saying "If it's Jiyoung then you can do it better!". Especially since "Saigo no Sayonara" is a ballad, I'm thinking on what emotion I should convey while recording.

― Do you have worries on promoting activities as JY?
Jiyoung: Saigo no Sayonara is ballad and RADIO is EDM with its dance tune, so it was really opposite to each other. At first, I think it's better to decide on what direction should I be, and I consulted for an advice with the staff. With our talk, they said "Let's make JY an artist who can sing, dance, who can do anything.", and so we decided to make a lot of good songs.

― On your coupling song "Sayonara Watashi no Shoujo", you challenged to write the lyrics, right?
Jiyoung: There's always a limit with my Japanese, although the words I used to express my emotion my not come out as expected, everyone in the staff helped me, and somehow we did it completely. The title "Sayonara Watashi no Shoujo" (Goodbye, my girl) may contain a lot of meanings. But above all it shows a story of a girl growing up. Strong women were expressed with the lyrics "For you, I might look like a girl, but I have a different side, too. And I can do anything alone"

― Is there something intentionally divided with JY and Jiyoung?
Jiyoung: That's a very hard question. Because I'm one person (laughs). So I'm finally free to talk about JY, and from now on perhaps you'll see JY's personality coming little by little. "Am I JY now? or Jiyoung?" so that you'll not be confused, JY as a singer and Jiyoung as an actress, I would like to continue working sincerely with my job.

― Please tell us the goals of JY.
Jiyoung: First is to release a lot of singles for an album. If I made an album, I thought earlier that there will be a concert, and someday I think I want to do a concert alone. Just thinking it makes my heart pounding. I'll work hard from now on so I'll be standing in a stage soon.

― Finally, your message to your fans.
Jiyoung: I myself feels it weird to be singing as JY. Since there's a chance given to me, if you can't tell your feelings to someone else, I would like to share my feelings. Though one dream came true, if I won't put my effort here, it would just end. For my future growth, I'll work hard to say my feelings to everyone, thank you and please keep on supporting me. Thank you very much.

Source: ModelPress | Translation: Kang Jiyoung World