Ahead of their KCON LA debut, Japanese boy group &TEAM visited the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on August 12 for a Q&A and first U.S. performance. The group's fandom, LUNÉ, have been waiting for years to see the nine members, composed of K, Fuma, Nicholas, EJ, Yuma, Jo, Harua, Taki, and Maki. &TEAM was formed by YX Labels through the reality/survival program &Audition – The Howling and officially debuted in 2022. The group's name, &Team, refers to "9 diverse members forming a team and connecting diverse worlds.”
The intimate event was hosted by musician and digital creator Emily Mei, who asked the group some fun and insightful questions. The first half of the interview felt like an icebreaker. Mei asked fun questions like who would rather give up hot showers or hot foods and what skill they would steal from their group mates, which Maki answered Taki’s ability to naturally be funny, and EJ picked Maki’s English and Jo’s drawing skills. Maki is fluent in English, so he took the lead on a lot of the conversation. Nicholas also speaks English very well and helped answer questions. Each member got a chance to talk through the night, they all made sure no one was left out.
Mei asked &TEAM about the songs “We on Fire” and "Bewitched." For “We On Fire” Nico talked about the meaning of the song, describing it as their second beginning. “We started from zero, but we still have our passion and heart. “We on Fire” is a song that reminds us of when we were rookies, giving everything on stage,” Nico said. Maki delved into how “Bewitched” is tagged into their original story Dark Moon. “It obviously starts with K the alpha; after that, for the choreo, then Nico, Taki, and EJ come together with him. Throughout the choreo and performance as well, you can really tell what kind of story we tell, the background. The music as well, it starts with very simple instruments but then the instruments increase throughout the song, and then when it hits the chorus it explodes,” said Maki.
When asked how they prepared for a new stage, Yuma said, “I think since we’ve been together for more than 4 years now, before now, before these days, we were always looking to try to get into unison, and try to do the unity of it all. Now we’re trying to enhance our own performances and, in the end, enhance ourselves to make a good team.”
Mei asked which song is the hardest to perform, which earned a big reaction from the group and LUNÉ. “There are songs…when we're trying to choose what songs we want to do on the tour, we’re like, yeah that song we are not going to perform,” said Maki. This led to fans asking Maki on to reveal the song he was alluding to. “For me, I think 'Scar to Scar' is really hard,” said Maki. “Can you show us a move?” asked Mei, which Maki performed after asking to be hyped up. Nico picked “Road Not Taken” for its difficult movements and also showed off the dance moves.
After the Q&A session, the group performed six songs for fans. The group began the performance section of the event with an explosive performance of “Go Blind.” It was impressive to see the nine members fit in such a tiny stage, especially with their dynamic dance choreography. Somehow the group made it work, never missing a step. The atmosphere was electric. LUNÉs were cheering at the top of their lungs and the group was feeding off that excited energy. Their synchronization was so precise, and the movements explosive and flirty, especially during fan-favorites "Deer Hunter" and "Rush." Their chemistry was off the charts.
&TEAM show no signs of slowing down as they will release their 2nd Mini Korean album “Mark on Me” on September 8th. For more on &TEAM, visit andteam-official.jp
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Recording Academy / photo by Rebecca Sapp, Getty Images© 2026.
