In a wide-ranging interview, the members of 8TURN look back at life before they became idols and consider how years of teamwork prepared them for their riskiest comeback yet.

Recently, 8TURN's leader, Jaeyun, admitted he was nervous about the release of the group's new single "ELECTRIC HEART".

"I think this single was sort of a risk for our team," he told me this month in a new interview with the group. "From the music to styling," he continued, referencing the group's foundation in hip-hop, "we have never had this sort of style change and were worried about how the fans would react."

8TURN, formed by MNH Entertainment, is an 8-member group that has spent the past 3 years working to break into the mainstream. They've toured North America and Europe, competed on Road to Kingdom: ACE TO ACE, and, until recently, have been known for harder, hip-hop songs. I first noticed the group in 2023 when they released "EXCEL", a high-energy track that deserved more love than it received. That year, I saw the group perform at KCON and watched as they made the weekly rounds on variety shows across Korea. Yet the group is still waiting for its breakthrough moment, and "ELECTRIC HEART" may be a reaction to this.

"ELECTRIC HEART" is brighter than any single the group has ever released before. It's a song that Jaeyun describes as having a "bright, refreshing, summery" vibe.

"We see this as a big turning point for 8TURN," declared Seungheon, the group's rapper and maknae.

"ELECTRIC HEART" demonstrated something important: 8TURN can't be boxed in. The single is one of my favorite releases from this summer. It's also the reason I wanted to talk to the group for this interview. Indeed, it is a risk, as Jaeyun admitted, but it is also an achievement for the group and MNH Entertainment.

"Unlike our previous songs, this one has a more sentimental vibe," Myungho told me. "Everything from our outfits to the way we expressed ourselves on stage changed, which allowed us to show a new side of 8TURN."

Jaeyun learned, eventually, that he had no reason to be worried. "Surprisingly, yet thankfully, our fans loved it, and looking back now, I think it was a good time for us to give a twist in our music style," he observed.

Many members now consider the song their favorite in their discography. "I love how the song flows from a calm, almost dreamy atmosphere into a soaring, exhilarating vibe—like running freely across a field," Yoonsung described. "I get excited every time I listen to it, and it's so powerful to perform on stage that it even moves me to tears sometimes."

For Haemin, "ELECTRIC HEART" was the first time he had ever really connected personally with an 8TURN song. "I felt that this song really matched my image, so instead of forcing anything," he said, "I was able to show more of my true self and emotions. It was just so much fun for me!"

Crucially, the members see the single as an important next step for the group: It is the opportunity to reinvent.

8TURN's members all hail from South Korea, but Jaeyun, who is fluent in English, was raised in New Zealand. "The one thing I remember most vividly," he told me about his childhood, "was running around my school, barefoot, playing cops and robbers or manhunt with my mates on the field."

The group's other seven members come from different parts of South Korea, each with a story of an active, happy childhood. Myungho, who described himself as a "bright and mischievous kid", was born in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do. He grew up singing, often favoring Justin Bieber's "Baby". In high school, Myungho decided he wanted to pursue a career as an idol and transferred to a vocal academy. From there, he joined MNH as a trainee.

Minho, who also grew up in Gyeonggi-do, dreamed of being a Taekwondo athlete before he became an idol. "And contrary to how I might appear," he added, "I grew up always being very obedient and listening to my parents."

Many of the members of 8TURN consider themselves studious. Dreams of being an idol didn't come for some until after high school. Seungheon recalled, "I spent most of my early years studying, just like any other student. Haemin, who was raised in Cheon-an, didn't consider becoming an idol until he was eighteen. "After that," he explained, "I began the trainee life for the first time."

Yungyu grew up in Seongnam and recalled a childhood spent entertaining himself. "When I was younger, I used to love playing with spinning tops," he said. Even though he had a sister, Yungyu explained, he couldn't play with her, so he was left to his own devices. "In the end, I spun two tops by myself," he continued, "and no matter which one won, I always counted it as my victory. "

When he became a trainee, Yungyu turned that same determination into preparing for his debut. He was joined by Seungheon, who would later become the group’s rapper and singer. Seungheon, who grew up in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, began singing and dancing in middle school. Yungyu found a friend in Seungheon, and someone who he could learn rap with. "I was always more interested in and drawn to rap than singing," Yungyu told me when I asked how he became a rapper. But he didn't have many opportunities for rap lessons, so during a weekly evaluation, Seungheon and Yungyu prepared a rap performance. "The trainers liked it,” Yungyu recalled, “and that gave us the chance to start taking rap lessons to really learn rap in earnest."

8TURN's training period offered the boys time to learn not just how to rap and sing, but also about the K-pop industry itself. Kyungmin, who was scouted off the street at 15, didn't know much about K-pop when he joined MNH. "I didn't even like listening to music that much, so I didn't have any songs that I really liked," he said. But he caught on quickly and discovered BTS, who "made me dream even bigger than I had."

Jaeyun, who would later become the team's leader, also took extensive vocal lessons while a trainee. "I was more into dancing when I started," he remembered, but eventually he found his rhythm in singing, pulling inspiration from dramatic vocalists like Amy Winehouse or Adele.

Other members, like Minho, began to consider what kind of impact they wanted to have on fans. Sometimes, he'd think of Jungkook and how he wrote "Still With You" for his fans. Because of that song, he explained, "I was inspired to pursue this dream with the hope of becoming someone who can also bring comfort and strength to others."

Training can be difficult for idols: There are rigorous evaluations and expectations to fulfill. There is also, as each member felt, a deadline to debut. I heard this in Yoonsung's story, where he recalled that, growing up, he was often the class president or the leader of a club. But during his training period, he drew strength from his ambitious adolescence.

"Ever since I was young, I've felt a wide range of emotions and found comfort through listening to music, but I don't think I was very good at singing," he said. At MNH, he took vocal lessons and threw himself into his craft. When things got hard, he told me, "I would remember IU-sunbaenim, whose songs had always moved me in so many ways. Thinking of her made me want to become an artist who could do the same for others, and that pushed me to practice even harder."

The first track on 8TURN’s debut mini-album is "WE", a high-energy song that spoke to the group's teamwork and hopes for the future. "Gimme your voice and we on a team/ We coming together/ The fear, take it down," Seungheon and Jaeyun sing in the chorus. Like many K-pop groups, "WE" was a statement single about what 8TURN stands for: teamwork and the quest for success.

Looking back on their debut day, Yoonsung said it was emotional for the members. "What I remember most is seeing the fans in front of me during our first showcase performance," he said. "I had always practiced in the rehearsal room, imagining I was performing on stage while looking at the mirror." Then continued, "'WE' is very hopeful and energetic, and when I saw the fans in front of me, it really hit me that we had debuted. I remember feeling incredibly overwhelmed with emotion."

Kyungmin, who participated in the competition show I-LAND and dropped out of the Hybe group &TEAM right before debut, was especially moved by their first performance. "I had been a trainee since I was fifteen, and since I had failed to debut once before, it didn't really sink in right away that I was actually debuting on that day," he remembered. "Normally, I'm not the type to get nervous, but on our debut day, I was so nervous that the whole experience felt electrifying."

Over the past three years, the members have spent nearly all of their time together. This closeness, they told me, has made the members incredibly attuned to one another. "We all have pretty strong individual personalities, so we don't often hang out or go out to eat together," Kyungmin described. But the benefit to spending years training together, he explained, is how attuned they are to one another. "I feel like our teamwork has grown to the point where we can almost tell what the other is thinking just by looking at each other," Minho added.

There is a precision that the members expect from one another. They are, as Haemin described, "extremely professional" when they're on stage. "I think what makes us unique is that you can expect the highest quality from us," he said.

The fact that 8TURN is such a hardworking group is perhaps thanks to Jaeyun's attentive leadership. "I'm trying to be more of a lenient leader nowadays," he admitted. "I was pretty strict with the members over the years, but since it's been three years since our debut and all of our members have grown up, I try to give them more freedom to think and decide on what they want and do."

8TURN is not a group that was handed an easy career. Though they have a dedicated fanbase in TURNING, they have yet to clutch a music show win or top the music charts in Korea. But they've persevered. The members have toured Europe and North America, released several comebacks, and have worked hard to improve themselves with each new single, all in hopes of winning over more fans.

The group has been encouraged to see that they have a strong global fanbase. "It was amazing and heartwarming to know that we have people waiting for us [in North America and Europe]," Yungyu said of their international tours. On tour, they'd hear about audience members who came to their shows out of pure curiosity and walked away as fans. Those stories, plus performing in new cities, made Yungyu feel like "I had truly become a singer".

"It was amazing to see fans welcoming and loving us in cities I had never been to before," Yoonsung added. "Each city had a different vibe, which made it really fun. As we performed more, I think we found better ways to communicate with the audience."

Last year, the group also participated in the competition reality show ROAD TO KINGDOM: ACE TO ACE, facing off against several popular boy groups, including ONEUS and CRAVITY. The experience, the boys told me, was valuable for their team's growth. Most importantly, the show reinforced that they can do anything together.

"I realized that, without even noticing it, that I had been trapping myself within the limits of what I thought were my 'boundaries,'" Yungyu said about what he learned from the show. ACE TO ACE was important, he added, because "Through being part of a team, I learned that we can fill in each other's weaknesses and grow by sharing what each of us has to offer."

The members have supported each other in meaningful ways, too. In the past, for example, Yoonsung would often feel overwhelmed or nervous about an upcoming performance or project. But he would find strength in Jaeyun's leadership. "Watching the way he stays calm and works through things step by step, even when challenges come up, has taught me a lot."

Living with the members has been a positive experience for Yungyu, who said they have encouraged him to think more positively and believe in himself. "Sometimes they really feel like real older brothers to me," he said, "and I think I've relied on them quite a lot whenever things were tough."

Coming from a small company can be tough. Jaeyun readily admits this, noting their limits as a group still trying to break in. "To be honest with you," Jaeyun said, "I think there are more challenges than excitement when you're part of a small label. But I try to focus on the reason I started this in the first place: my passion for singing and dancing." He laughed and added, "If not, I would have given up already."

Promotional periods can be especially daunting for the group. "We don't get much sleep, and our schedules can be pretty irregular," during those periods, Myungho said. "I can get a bit sensitive" during those weeks of intensity. "Still, I try my best to stay positive, and since all of the members are going through the same thing, we make an effort to understand one another more."

The members' attunement with one another is where the group's teamwork comes back into play. 8TURN's years of training and experiences together have taught them that they can rely on each other to push through challenges.

As he looked back on the past three years, Myungo thought about how much he's grown. "I've learned to believe in myself, to trust the people who believe in me, and to approach everything with confidence and determination."

But the most important thing he's realized is that 8TURN is a team for a reason. The goal is that no one, including their fans, should feel alone. "I've learned that when I'm with my members," he added, "I can overcome things that would be too hard to handle on my own."

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