On Monday, June 10, WINNER sat down for an interview with Star Today to unveil their plans for the rest of 2019. Kang Seung Yoon, the group's leader, shared something that their big boss told them, especially now in the midst of controversies hedging YG Entertainment.
"Producer Yang Hyun Suk hasn't said anything in particular to us. He just said, 'Keep doing what you've been doing, and work hard for your fans.' Because he said this, I think we were able to focus on our work. When we were filming the music video for our new song, producer Yang Hyun Suk even came and offered some ideas. With the strength that his support gave us, we were able to successfully prepare."
The group also talked about their recent North American tour and being back in New York. Song Mino shared, "Before debuting, we did our first project in New York, and we went back during our recent North American tour. It felt weird. It was so meaningful returning to tour in the place where we began. We thought no one would know who we were, but when we arrived, they were cheering for us and chanting 'WINNER.' I was so thankful, and we learned a lot on that tour."
When asked about their labelmate girl band BLACKPINK, who are currently making waves in the U.S., the boy group remained committed to humility and stated that they are happy for them.
"We're so happy they're doing well. We recently saw footage from a festival, and they were so cool and their live performance was great. We thought that we'd like to stand on that kind of stage one day, as well," the group said.
Given that all of their title tracks ranked no. 1 on the charts since their debut years, WINNER confessed that they themselves never expected their songs would go down well. Their success, for them, is unanticipated.
"Because for a chart all-kill, a variety of circumstances have to fall into place. We always say to ourselves, 'We're excited, but let's not worry about the results,'" the group said.
With this being said, WINNER took their chance to express their gratitude to their fans who support them all the way.
"We know that our fans work hard to create a lot of different content to spread the word about our music. We're always so thankful to our fans. We think they are like members of WINNER."
As for their plans for the coming months, the group revealed that they will be releasing another album after "WE."
"We want to combine it with 'WE' and create a full studio album. At the end of last year, we said we wanted to be really busy in 2019, and we think that's mostly come to fruition. We have a lot scheduled for the end of the year, and if we make a comeback as well, we'll be seeing our fans a lot."
