Taeyang on Sketchbook + Full Interview Transcript

Broadcast on July 11:

Source: 핑끄

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Unaired full interview with translations:

YHY: The hottest man! Please welcome Taeyang!

Taeyang: Hello!

YHY: He is so charming! Not to mention his eye smile. Ah~~ My Dong Young Bae! How have you been?

Taeyang: After long wait, my album has been finally released. It was received well. I have been really busy and happy these days.

YHY: I saw photos of you and GD from the Paris Fashion Shows. Along with Jung Hyung Don, as a person who can play a role pinpointing GD’s fashion, I would like to ask you the fashion point of your outfit today.

Taeyang: It’s all white – this thing on my head is an onion bag. If you look closely, there is a net inside my hat. This onion bag is the fashion point for today.

YHY: Ah~ this net that we usually put onions in.
Recently Taeyang wears tank tops a lot. Is there any particular reason?

Taeyang: Yes, I often went shirtless in my previous MVs. We were meeting for my new MV and the producers and my boss told me: “Taeyang, you are a person who doesn’t look good in clothes.”

YHY: Look better without clothes?

Taeyang: The best outfit for me is from Mother Nature. So I have been told that I better go with ‘less clothes’ for this promo including the MV. So I decided to wear tops that expose the arms a lot since I can’t go completely naked for the broadcasting. If I wear a jacket or shirts that covers my arms, I would get a call from my boss immediately. (YHS impersonation) “You should show your arms!” He always tells me that I look cooler with my arms exposed.

YHY: He’s got such gorgeous arms right? Here is his shoulder line… It’s like the muscles are bouncing like “tong tong tong”! Do you work out a lot? There are many different types of tank tops, but this is low cut on the side. See? I can even put my hands in here easily!

Taeyang: We cut out the sleeves whenever we need shirts for the stage. But it seems like we cut way too much today.

YHY: That’s right, you went too far today. Well, this type of shirts will be easier for you to dance hard! Aww~!! Your back smell! I can definitely smell his back. (T/N: They had talked about ‘the moment you fell in love’ with the audience in an earlier segment of the show. A couple from the audience introduced their story. She fell in love with her boyfriend the moment she first smelled his back. YHY made a joke referring to it.)

YHY: We have a special present for you Taeyang. Try this on. I know you like to wear snapbacks backwards. Let’s both try this on.

YHY: Don’t I look good?

Taeyang: This hat for this outfit…I have to say that you look slightly older than your age. Haha.

YHY: I have the vibe of Eastside hipster. Some of you might have noticed.

YHY: Ok, Let’s move on to music talk. How old were you when you started music as a career?

Taeyang: I was 13 when I joined YG as a trainee.

YHY: It almost half of your life.

Taeyang: Even longer than half.

YHY: Did you struggle a lot since you were still young and could’ve stayed close to your mom…

Taeyang: I had no other option when I told my mom about my decision to join YG as a trainee. I couldn’t afford to fail school since I was allowed to do what I love.

YHY: But I am sure you were stressed out from time to time.

Taeyang: I would get frustrated from repetitive line of work. The only outlet was hanging out with Jiyong and going shopping together.

YHY: So you two stuck together during a time when you guys went through a lot. Where did you guys usually hang out?

Taeyang: There were not many places to go when we were young. We would go to DongDaeMoon after we were done with late night practice. We went out for shopping and street food snacking.

YHY: Do you tend to get your feelings hurt less?

Taeyang: I do get my feeling hurt sometimes but I do have a relatively high tolerance level for stress. I actually took a clinical genetic test recently. (T/N: getting DNA analyzed)

YHY: What? Why? What have you done? (YHY’s signature evil eyes)

Taeyang: I wanted to know more about my body such as the vulnerabilities to inherited diseases. The results say that my brain structure withstands stress well. I had no idea there was such a brain.

YHY: That’s very unusual! When I see you on stage, you do look a bit serious while GD and Seungri look perky. Is that some kind of concept? What is your real personality like?

Taeyang: I am calm and introverted than ‘serious’. I guess people can see that part of me on the stage.

YHY: That part of you goes well with your music. When you appeared on Sketchbook last time, you told us you were preparing for travel, love, and the album. Do you recall?

Taeyang: I remember that.

YHY: How did it go? Now the album is released.

Taeyang: Yeah, album is released and travel is on hold. I’ve been too busy making the album. I will go on a trip when I have time since now the album is out!

YHY: Ok, travel, check! How about love!

Taeyang: Love… I did. While working on the album for the last 4 years.

YHY: Oh! For real? When? How? With whom?

Taeyang: With a beautiful lady. As I get older, I’ve come to think that I need various experiences for my life. I fell in love and dated someone. That’s how the title song “Eye, Nose, Lips” came out.

YHY: From your own experience with love. No wonder the lyrics are so touching. Eyes, Nose, Lips… Ok, let’s talk about “Eyes, Nose, Lips.” Tell us more about the feelings that you had when you wrote this.

Taeyang: I had this girl that I loved, but it didn’t really work out. It really hurt after we broke up and I was longing for her, especially the image of her.

YHY: Her face…

Taeyang: Yes, her face kept coming to my mind. “Her eyes, her nose that she breathes, her lips that I kissed and her hands that gently touched me.”

YHY: What kind of eyes do you like?

Taeyang: I like the eyes with clear whites. (T/N: TY was borrowing someone’s joke from previous talk.)

YHY: Eyes with clear whites. Not the eyes with lots of whites. Haha. How about nose?

Taeyang: Nose, in fact, it doesn’t matter if it’s big or low. Um, I think I like the small but with tiny bridged nose.

YHY: Lips?

Taeyang: This is more important than the others. I like full  lips.

YHY: Angelina Jolie‘s lips? The kissable ones? Jolie style?

Taeyang: Yes. That is.

YHY: A Body?

Taeyang: I like a body that is more fit yet with some volume rather than skinny.

YHY: I see. I just met someone who meets all these. Her name is MJH. Even her outfit for today is perfect! The animal print! Her nose is very low but has decent bridge.

Taeyang: Ah, the one who wears the sweater covered with lint balls.
(T/N: In the previous talk, MJH won for special seat with king’s crown and robe. TY performed Ringa Linga, he ran upstairs and danced for her. YHY interviewed her briefly and teased her for her sweater with lint balls.)

YHY: Hypothetically speaking, the perfect woman who meets all these conditions is standing right in front of you now. What would you do? I think all you need to do is just dance for her. Like in ‘I Need A Girl’?

Taeyang: Um… I figure…. Ladies like that I sing for them rather than I dance.

YHY: Well. It could be awkward bursting out dance moves to someone you never met before.

YHY: What song would you sing for her?

Taeyang: Well, if I need to pick one from my songs- ‘I Need A Girl”?

YHY: OK, Let’s try this. You just called her around 2am. Taeyang got bored and lonely.
“Hello?” Aww! Do it for me! Pretty please?
“Hello? Oppa, why did you wake me up? I am sleepy.”

Taeyang: “I woke you up because I wanted to sing for you. “

YHY: “Aww~ that is unexpected.”

Taeyang: (sings) “Girl I need a girl, mommaedo ippeun.” (Wrong lyrics)

YHY: “Someone’s there? Why are you stopping? Something is fishy. ”

Taeyang: (continue singing) “Girl I need a girl, mwol haedo ippeun mommaedo ippeun, Girl I need a girl, Baby I need you, Girl you need me too…”

YHY: “Ah! Oppa! I hope you don’t modulate your voice when you sing!”
Ah! I love this song, when we pronounce ‘girl’ we just say ‘girl’ but you are like ‘gal’.
Now, we will talk about your new album. I heard the great news! Taeyang has ranked the highest on the U.S. Billboard main chart for a K-Pop male artist. What was it like?

Taeyang: I’ve been told it’s a great achievement. When I first learned that my rank is 112th…. When I heard the number 112, I wasn’t really sure if it’s good rank or not. Haha. Well it was totally unexpected. Your love and support made it possible. I am so lucky.

YHY: Yang Hyun Suk is not a type of person who gives compliments easily. But he said he would give you 100 points. What do you think of that?

Taeyang: Well. In fact, he loves the song “Eyes, Nose, Lips.” He happened to be at the studio when I was recording that song. When I sang the first verse, he gave me compliments like ‘this song is the title, what a great song!’ But I couldn’t help but wonder ‘what’s gotten into him?’ Because my album had been delayed a lot and I’d been getting harsh feedback from him all the time.

YHY: He made you wait 4 years. Haha. He must have loved that song a lot. How does the first verse go?

Taeyang: The first verse starts like (sings) “Mianhae mianhae hajima Naega chorahaejijanha”

YHY: 100 points right there! It’s really good, the first verse.
Are there any musicians that you want to collaborate with? Besides YG musicians…

Taeyang: When I was working on ‘Let Go’, I was really into old Korean pop music from the period of Cho Yong Pil-sunbaenim (senior) and heavily influenced by it. So the song was made with the feeling that I had at that time. Suddenly the idea occurred to me that it would be so meaningful if I could sing with Cho Yong pil-sunbaenim. I’ve been keeping in touch after I met him when his new album was released.

YHY: So you met him!

Taeyang: Yes.

YHY: We (Sketchbook) tried to reach him so many times! I’ve never had a chance to meet him yet.

Taeyang: I went to his studio see him, we listened the song (‘Let Go’) together. I told him that it would be a great honor if he could sing this song with me. But there was not enough time left until the album release when I asked him. He gracefully turned me down saying he wanted it to be perfect if he decided to do it.

YHY: Too bad!

Taeyang: I know…

YHY: We almost had a  ‘Dream Stage’! So close. Did he give you any advice as a senior?

Taeyang: He gave me good advice. He really liked ‘Let Go’ and gave me a detailed opinion with lots of compliments. Furthermore, he also shared his thoughts on musical direction and beliefs as a singer.

YHY: What kind of beliefs?

Taeyang: Not to be afraid to accept new things to maintain a sense of youth as I am getting order.

YHY: As a musician, we should never be mature. Never! Because there are so many incidents that make us be mature. That might be something we expect to see from Taeyang. ‘I used to be like him one time’, ‘I want to breathe’.
I hope we can see you and Cho Yong Pil-ssi’s collaboration stage here in near future.

Taeyang: Yes, I will work hard to make that happen.

YHY: You promised! It will so special! Wishing you the best on the stage, keep shining just like the words from Cho Yong Pil-ssi.
It’s time for us to say good bye to Taeyang-ssi and looking forward to the next song. Thank you!