Seungmin: The Agent Of Chaos
In the week leading up to the release of Stray Kids' first ever Rolling Stone UK cover, we're sharing our individual interviews with each member from within the magazine. Next up, it's the agent of chaos: Seungmin.
On the day of the band’s Rolling Stone UK cover shoot, I notice that Kim Seungmin is always watching, like a curious puppy dog. During the group shot, every time I look over, as Hyunjin spins around in his own world and Bang Chan is busy making sure his ducklings are all in a row, Seungmin is curiously surveying me from afar, cocking his head with his new blunt-fringed acorn haircut. The style suits him well, giving a more mature aesthetic. It has more layers and more depth, just like him.
When we sit down for his solo interview, he takes a closer look at the papers I have spread out in front of me, which list my interview questions for the rest of the group, before pulling back politely. He apologises for his English, even though he is practically fluent, speaking with a soft American lilt, and often asks me questions about myself. His inquisitiveness and smartness, paired with his sharp wit and humour, have always made him an intriguing member of Stray Kids.
He’s quick to make a joke, especially with the rest of the group. “Curious,” he says playfully when asked who is the easiest to wind up. “These days I tease Lee Know a lot; I don’t know why… He’s the easiest target, the most fun. It’s delicious to taste.” There’s a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he says this.
As with Changbin and his girl group dance challenges, Seungmin’s playful spirit is innate, and he doesn’t switch it on for viral social media moments. “I don’t joke around consciously knowing there will be clips around, but when those clips emerge, I just enjoy it even more,” he says.
As much as Seungmin likes to mess about, it’s really only one side of his personality.
Asked what he has learnt about himself on his Stray Kids journey, he says, “About myself? That’s a hard question.” He then pauses to mull it over before saying, “I learnt that I have two personalities — for the group and then for my individual things. At the beginning, I was really shy. You know the [personality test] MBTI, right? I was an ‘I’ [introvert] person, but day by day, as time goes by, both personalities merge and [I] enjoy spending time with the other members.”
Previously, Rolling Stone UK has playfully referred to Seungmin as the group’s ‘agent of chaos’, but like Lee Know, at his core, he’s much more predisposed to order. “I am more inclined to be more organised, but I have spent quite some years with the members, so I’ve gotten used to the chaos. I like to thrive inside the chaotic environment and just joke around and have fun. It’s not a challenge for me.
“Every day still, even if I’m really tired after the [crazy] schedule, I [carve out] my own diary time before I go to bed. It helps me organise every thought, what I have done and what I have learnt that day. I try to organise everything, my feelings and what I have learnt.”
The call of home is, as with the other members, always there. HAN has commented on his bandmate’s longing for a decent meal from home: “Something I find cute just to witness [is] how Seungmin always longs for Korean food, especially when travelling and there is not much of it around. The way he longs for it, he waits for it, the way he asks for it [from] the staff is fun.”
Seungmin backs up HAN’s observation. “I miss the warm energy and good Korean food,” he says, before listing his favourite meal as kimchi stew and rice.
Part of the VOCALRACHA, along with I.N, Seungmin has a sonic blend of soothing, floating vocal tones and powerful high notes that define Stray Kids’ sound. Like the other members of the group, he is not content with being a triple threat, he’s also learning the guitar. He is modest about his progress, though Felix has already endorsed his skills. He doesn’t think he is ready to play the guitar on a track or on stage.
“Someday I’ll do it, but I am still practising,” he says.
Which track would he like to perform? “What would be the easiest one?” he laughs. I propose something emotional. “Ahhh, that’s hard. Perhaps ‘Stars and Raindrops’ by Seungmin,” and he flashes me one more charmingly twinkly grin, unable to resist one last rizz before he bids me farewell.
Taken from the October/November issue of Rolling Stone UK – you can pre-order it here now.
