Hongjoong of ATEEZ
7/1/202658 min
On this week's episode of Artist Friendly, Joel Madden is joined by Hongjoong of ATEEZ.
Back in 2021, Hongjoong — one of the various members in ATEEZ — transformed Linkin Park’s “Numb” into a K-pop hit, even getting a shoutout from Mike Shinoda. Since then, the group have only continued to explode, growing their international fanbase, selling out tours, and landing on the Billboard 200 with the release of their 13th EP, Golden Hour: Part 4.
In conversation with Madden, Hongjoong opens up about the realities of life as a K-pop artist, the self-starting mindset that helped him break into the industry, and Korea’s growing cultural influence around the world.
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Listen to their Artist Friendly conversation on Spotify.
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Host: Joel Madden, @joelmadden
Executive Producers: Joel Madden, Benji Madden, Jillian King
Producers: Janice Leary, Josh Madden, Joey Simmrin
Director/Visual Producer/Editor: Ryan Schaefer
Audio Producer/Composer: Nick Gray
Music/Theme Composer: Nick Gray
Cover Art/Design: Ryan Schaefer
Additional Contributors: Anna Zanes, Neville Hardman
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHongjoong· Guest0:00
This time, I think make me better person now.
Joel Madden· Host0:04
Me too.
Hongjoong· Guest0:05
You know? Yeah. [laughs] 'Cause I never talk about this conversation, like I never show this k- kind of this conversation to, like, our fans or, like, other places. So I... It's very, like, good time to me too.
Joel Madden· Host0:20
Cool.
Hongjoong· Guest0:20
Yeah. It was really cool.
Joel Madden· Host0:21
Bad times. I don't wanna have bad. Hongjoong.
Hongjoong· Guest0:27
Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host0:27
[laughs] How you doing, man?
Hongjoong· Guest0:28
I'm doing great.
Joel Madden· Host0:29
Welcome.
Hongjoong· Guest0:29
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I really- Thanks for coming. Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host0:33
Are you in LA, uh, a lot?
Hongjoong· Guest0:35
Yeah, so like not that a lot, but, like, twice a year- Yeah ... kind of. And tw- when we touring, we always in LA.
Joel Madden· Host0:43
Big shows here.
Hongjoong· Guest0:44
[laughs] Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host0:46
Yeah.
Hongjoong· Guest0:46
Big shows.
Joel Madden· Host0:47
[laughs] Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I love Tokyo.
Hongjoong· Guest0:49
Ah, you love Tokyo.
Joel Madden· Host0:50
So my favorite... I've been going there...
Hongjoong· Guest0:52
Mm.
Joel Madden· Host0:52
I'm a lot older than you.
Hongjoong· Guest0:53
No, yeah.
Joel Madden· Host0:54
Oh, I'm very old.
Hongjoong· Guest0:55
[laughs] You, you know, I'm really big fan of your music, so.
Joel Madden· Host0:59
Really?
Hongjoong· Guest0:59
Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host1:00
Oh, okay.
Hongjoong· Guest1:01
Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host1:01
Thank you.
Hongjoong· Guest1:02
So- Thanks for saying that.
Joel Madden· Host1:03
It's very nice of you.
Hongjoong· Guest1:03
[laughs] Thank you so much.
Joel Madden· Host1:05
That's a compliment.
Hongjoong· Guest1:06
Yeah.
Joel Madden· Host1:06
So I've been going to Tokyo for 20- Mm ... six years.
Hongjoong· Guest1:11
Mm.
Joel Madden· Host1:12
Right? So older, longer than you've been alive. I've only been to, uh, Seoul once.
Hongjoong· Guest1:17
Ah, Seoul once. Just once.
Joel Madden· Host1:19
And I'll tell you why only once.
Hongjoong· Guest1:21
Oh, why?
Joel Madden· Host1:21
Because I think you need someone there- Mm ... to, like, show you around.
Hongjoong· Guest1:28
Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Joel Madden· Host1:29
Do you know what I mean?