Hey guys!
Today's post covers yet another interview with one of Vancouver's biggest dance cover groups, K-City! This interview was probably my favourite because K-City's energy is out of this world!
PROFILE:
Group Name: K-City
Members (from left to right): Nina, Aidan, Subyn, Zoe (Ben, Jennifer and Carmen are also part of K-City but were not present during the interview)
First Cover: Girl's Generation – Mr. Mr.
First Cover on YouTube: Red Velvet – Happiness
Latest Cover: Blackpink – Kill This Love
The ladies of K-City met in 2013 at a dance concert called Feel Korea and decided to get together and start a dance cover group. Not long after that they met Ben through the K-Pop dance community in Vancouver who introduced them to Aidan. Ben and Aidan were part of a Chinese dance group and that is how they got to know each other.
Every time I interview a group, I'm curious to see what they love the most about doing dance covers and I always get fun answers. Nina talked about seeing the final product after all the work that goes in behind the scenes of making a dance cover. She also spoke about loving seeing what people have to say about the finished product whether it is good or bad. Zoe's favourite part is embracing dance cover culture as a part of the bigger landscape of K-Pop culture and working alongside artists to promote their music. Aidan talked about being a third party in K-Pop where the groups need fans and dance cover groups to support their comebacks but also that dance cover groups wouldn't exist if the groups didn't release any music and the fans didn't support the covers too.
My favourite question to ask is always how the groups choose who dances what part. K-City mentioned that they were not picky about parts unless one person has a specific group member that they want to dance as. Sometimes, they will look at the vibe of the song and dance and match it to the K-City members' vibes too. Zoe usually gets the tallest member because she's one of the tallest from the group.
I asked each of them to tell me about their favourite covers and here are their answers:
Aidan: Mic Drop – BTS (Christmas version) because it was fun and they got to collab with Legacy. He was also going through a hard time when they filmed it and it was something fun to look back on.
Zoe: (G)I-DLE – Latata because everything came out so well and she looked like a sriracha bottle with green hair and a red outfit. (Fun fact about this cover: some of the footage got corrupted so the final product consisted of the footage that they managed to save). Zoe also chose Blackpink's Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du.
Nina: Blackpink – Forever Young because although it was a pubic cover, they tried to shoot it like an official cover and the scenery made the video look so beautiful.
Subyn: The Boyz – Boy. She took the lead in this one because one of he close friends (Kevin Moon) from high school debuted in the group so she interviewed some of their high school friends to help congratulate them on their debut and to help promote the song. The reaction from their fans was also really positive. (Fun fact: Subyn was really upset with Aidan because he was late for the filming.)
When I asked what their least favourite cover was, I was met with instant laughter because they knew exactly what they were going to say.
The first one was Red Velvet's Dumb Dumb because the lighting was bad and they got kicked out of the venue which messed with some of the dancing. Basically it was a hot mess. Another was was Boombaya by Blackpink. They knew it wasn't the best dance cover because they learned it just before filming but then decided to upload it just for fun. Aidan mentioned DNA by BTS a few times so I'm going to add it to the list as well.
When I asked K-City what it was like filming public covers, they mentioned that at first it was nerve wracking because performing in front of an audience is tough but people's positive responses always make it better and easier. They also love the positive feedback they get from people after they are done dancing and the fact that the public is always so nice and positive.
Last year K-City performed at VKC18 dream stage and I happened to volunteer and watch them perform. They mentioned how awesome it was to meet a lot of groups in the community that they didn't know or that they had never met. They also loved watching everyone's performances. People also gave them amazing feedback which they loved. They also enjoyed it because it was a big official event which made the experience so much more special and fun.
When asked what were the reasons behind their popularity, they didn't know and wondered what it is exactly about them that attracted their following. They also credit a YouTube algorithm for helping to get their videos out there.
The future for K-City is going to be more than just K-Pop. They want to explore a lot of their new passions in dance but still keep the K-Pop covers. Be sure to check out some of their non-K-pop related dance videos. I'll leave a few below for your viewing pleasure.
Thank you so much K-City for this fun interview. Your energy and positive vibes were definitely infectious and I really enjoyed getting to know you guys. Make sure to check out K-City on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
I hope you guys enjoyed this post. Again a big shout out to Soju Events' photographer John for these amazing shots.
XO
Fadzi