In one of the many unprecedented turn of events in K-pop this decade, the beloved girl group LOONA experienced an emotional split after terminating contracts with their label before each of the 12 members landed safely to pursue new K-pop paths. Alongside Chuu and Yves‘ new starts as soloists, to five members reconfiguring as Loossemble, the final step of these re-debuts came in ARTMS, consisting of LOONA stars HaSeul, HeeJin, Kim Lip, Choerry, and JinSoul coming together to rebrand themselves, reimagine their artistry and remember their roots as a new quintet.
After releasing a series of solo and unit singles, the group launched their debut full-length album, DALL, to return the girls to the Billboard charts (main single “Virtual Angel” cracked the Top 10 on the World Digital Song Sales chart, while DALL itself landed in the Top 10 of World Albums), and to the delight of fans and critics alike (even earning a spot on Billboard critics’ Best K-Pop Albums of 2024 So Far list).
Riding the exciting comeback success, the group is embarking on their ARTMS World Tour ‘Moonshot,’ which has already wrapped its North and South American legs. As they prepare to conquer Europe, Australia, and Asia this fall and winter, ARTMS is eager to reflect on their journey from LOONA to their current iteration.
Sitting down with Billboard at the New York office of The Orchard, ARTMS shine with a sense of unity, growth, and playfulness. HaSeul, more confident than ever in English, jokes about accidentally spoiling upcoming tour surprises, while HeeJin candidly confesses her hair is mostly extensions, JinSoul speaks about immersing herself into the A&R process, Choerry balances the group’s past with an exciting future, as Kim Lip looks ahead to what’s next for the group’s personal and professional lives.
Despite the challenges faced, ARTMS beam with a sense of pride over their collective growth and how they’ve taken control of their music and artistic direction. Here, the five idols discuss their creative evolution, navigating the K-pop industry post-LOONA, and their deep connection to the fans who have supported them every step of the way. Read on for more below alongside exclusive photos provided for Billboard.
I’m so proud to see ARTMS here in New York. Kim Lip, JinSoul, and Choerry toured as ODD EYE CIRCLE, but all five of you are here now. How do you feel about ARMTS’ first shows outside Asia?
HaSeul: I’m so excited and a little nervous too because it’s ARTMS’ first concert and tour.
HeeJin: Of course it feels great, and we have lots of thoughts on starting off strong as New York, a big city, is our first stop for this tour.
Congratulations on your first album, DALL, which got such great reactions. Was it a relief to get such a positive response?
Kim Lip: Since we’re releasing an album as ARTMS instead of LOONA, I was worried yet excited about how the public would react to our music. But we’re getting on the charts and receiving lots of attention, so we felt at ease, and I’m so happy to go on tour and meet with our fans.
HaSeul
How did you five come together and decide to move forward as ARTMS?
HaSeul: I was the last member to join ARTMS, but all five of us are very passionate about music. I think the members who came together and gathered [here] had the biggest will to bring ARTMS to life. When producing this album, I felt how sincere we all were about music…we had many solo and unit albums when we were promoting as LOONA, and you can see it as us continuing that identity. In a way, [ARTMS] can be seen as us taking back our identity. And since our skills are outstanding, we released solo, unit, and group albums.
It seems like you have more ownership and responsibility this time. There must have been pressure, but did it feel like you could share something more personal under ARTMS?
HeeJin: Usually, the company tells us what to do, but now, since we’re active players and debuting again, we wanted to work on the identity of ARTMS. We gave a lot of input in the songs and concepts. Our company took them positively and reflected them in our work, so I’d say it’s an album we produced all together.
I imagine reuniting with LOONA’s original producer, Jaden Jeong, must have been special. Was it fun to return to this production style?
JinSoul: We have had a storyline in our group [LOONA] and the fans like this aspect. We further developed the storyline by working again with Jaden Jeong, who [first] created this storyline — and it’s great to add ARTMS to it as well. While adding ARTMS’ colors, everything became more diverse. We maintained a bit of tradition for the fans, and it’s great to show more sides of us and go deeper.
HeeJin: I think fans love it the most that we’re going with the storylines and expanding onto it.
JinSoul
While we know about LOONA’s contract story, I’m more interested in how all 12 of you found strength and came out of it together?
JinSoul: The members share lots of conversations together. But during that time, we looked into what we could do and thought of methods to use to go through with it.
Kim Lip: The members cooperate well together, so we tend to respect each other’s opinions since we’re like a family. I think that’s how we came to a conclusion.
HeeJin: It’s also meaningless if we don’t do it together. So, we did it all together.
HaSeul: We are a family.
Putting the past to rest, if there are fans — whether they’re Orbits or OURII — who are still worried about you or want to check in, what words would you share with them?
HeeJin: We’re always simultaneously thankful and sorry to the fans. It took a lot of time for ARTMS to debut. Despite that, I’d like to thank the fans for waiting for us. There are also fans who became our fans as ARTMS debuted. We’ll promote more from now on, so please be at ease and keep an eye on us. Don’t worry…
Looking ahead, what are some of the special aspects of the Moonshot tour?
HaSeul: During our concerts in South Korea and Japan, we performed TWS’ “Plot Twist.” But for the USA, we prepared a different song to perform — “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift. I look forward to performing that song the most.
JinSoul: When we performed in Korea and Japan, we changed the choreography of “Sparkle” and “Flower Rhythm” for the concert version. Many fans looked forward to it after seeing the choreography video. We also do different ad-libs at different times, so I’m always looking forward to the various ad-libs we’ll do.
HeeJin: The setlists will be similar, but there are always impromptu changes during our concerts, so the fans can really look forward to it. In Japan, there was a moment we performed the same song twice and a time we’d suddenly go off-stage. I look forward to those kinds of impromptu moments. And, of course, I brought my guitar.
Kim Lip
How has it been reuniting with fans in the States?
Kim Lip: We just had a fansigning today. It was fascinating to hold new events like this fansign during this tour. There was one moment that I remember when one fan started to sing in front of us — the fans are very, how do I say this, open when it comes to expressing their feelings. They’re different from the fans in Korea. I really felt the way they so enthusiastically express their feelings this morning, and it makes me really look forward to our concerts.
HeeJin: That’s why I love it. Even if the fans in Korea really want to express themselves, they are very reserved. But on the other hand, fans in the U.S. openly show their support, so it excites us and gives us lots of strength.
Whether it’s your concerts or album production, what is ARTMS’ creative process nowadays?
HeeJin: We’ve been deeply participating in the process, but shall we start off with an answer from the main A&R member?
JinSoul: Jaden Jeong usually brings forward a lot of the music, but we look into the smallest details of the production. For example, we direct the vocals for each other or select the photos to be included in the album. We also selected the album cover design, hair colors, and styling. We participated in lyric writing this time, too. The company works on big tasks and we give our detailed inputs to showcase the best of us.
HeeJin
What are you really proud of to say you’ve worked on?
Kim Lip: We can proudly say that we wrote the lyrics for “Sparkle.” And the light stick!
HeeJin: We got ideas for the light stick and sent over drafts. The final design was our idea. And personally, during the “Virtual Angel” promotions, I wanted to dye my hair white because I thought an angel had a very white, bright image. So, even though I had to sacrifice my hair, I wanted to do it. I discussed it with my company and went on with it.
You’ve never been blonde; your hair looks great!
HeeJin: This is not my hair. [All Laugh] It’s extensions, my hair looks bad.
I’m sure your hair looks great. But from watching K-pop, it feels like the fans can give artists new chances today. Do you think the industry has changed from when you debuted to today?
Choerry: I definitely wouldn’t have expected this back then. We were very young. The situation the 12 of us went through was saddening, but I’m very satisfied with ARTMS right now. I’m happy to have released great songs with the members, my sisters. I also believe we have lots of time to spend with fans, so I hope we can have fun and come to them with better sides.
HaSeul: I’d say we were able to stand on stage again 100% because the fans were waiting for us. And it was made possible because we have fans. The reason why we look forward to the concerts on tour as the time went by is because we want to show a great performance to the fans who’ve been waiting for two years. We’re really looking forward to this tour.
Choerry
I loved HeeJin’s interview with InternetsNathan when she ranked every LOONA song. To give everyone the opportunity, I’d love for you to choose your “favOriTe” song released from LOONA solo days to ARTMS today.
HaSeul: I think “Virtual Angel.” Since the title song [single] is the song you listen to the most due to promotions, there are times you can get sick of it, but I like the song so much that I can listen to it in the car every day.
Kim Lip: “Hi High”? We had lots of solo and unit songs, but we went a long way to release the “Hi High” album. I think it was a relieving album for the members, staff, and fans who were waiting for a long time. I think it’s the most meaningful album; fans still love this song. I can call this my favorite.
HeeJin: I’m going to choose “Butterfly Effect” because ARTMS is starting anew with Jaden Jeong and he told us the story behind this song. It was one of the songs he wanted to release when we were LOONA. He held onto this song for six years and finally got it on the tracklist for DALL. The song feels like a continuation of LOONA to ARTMS. Some lyrics make you think of the past, so it became a song I love.
Choerry: I choose “Singing in the Rain.“ It’s my favorite song because, during concerts, it has a bursting beat and the sound is full and harmonious. And JinSoul’s vocals suit the song so it’s a song that I always wanted. It’s so good that I want to do a collab stage.
HeeJin: I want to do a collab stage for it too!
JinSoul: I choose “Butterfly.” I think this song really shows LOONA’s identity. When I look at past performances, there were times I looked shy, but I think this song was one I was most proud of. The choreography was amazing. It’ll be difficult for me to perform it again, but I think it was a synergy only we could show during that time.
Others: We can do it again! We can do it!
What can we look forward to from ARTMS from here, the tour, what’s next?
Kim Lip: ARTMS is…
All: Vacation! After tour…
Kim Lip: This is a secret, but I think we’ll prepare for the next ARTMS album after the tour. We don’t know the details, but I think it’ll be an album to really look forward to. But it’s not confirmed…
Both of those are important! Any last messages to fans if they couldn’t see you on tour this time?
HeeJin: Thank you so so much for waiting for us. Fans who attended our concerts will know, but even though we’re fewer members as ARTMS, you’ll be able to see perfect performances. We’ve become very experienced performers. Thank you so much for loving us and coming to see us. I hope the members stay healthy throughout the tour because we wish to promote the group to many people.
HeeJin, Kim Lip, HaSeul, JinSoul and Choerry of ARTMS