Ahead of their first headlining set at 82WORLD, P1Harmony sat down with Music Connection to talk about connecting with fans, performing songs from across their catalog, and the excitement of taking the stage as headliners. They also shared behind-the-scenes details, from the choreography that keeps them on their toes to Keeho’s pre-show routine. Formed in 2020, the six-member South Korean group (composed of Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob) is known for its high-energy performances, powerful choreography, and unique blend of hip-hop, pop, and R&B. The members help set P1Harmony apart through their active role in shaping the group’s sound and building connections with fans around the world.
P1Harmony hit the stage this afternoon for the "This or That" game session. It was so fun to watch. Did any of you have a favorite question?
Theo: Soul, Alien.
Keeho: I agree, it’s the Soul and Intak’s alien one. I think that was the one that caught us the most off guard. I couldn’t even tell who drew what, and I was surprised that the P1eces knew more than we did. And I was like, "Oh, wow, they’re locked in." They actually are.
It looked like you had a blast and you interacted with so many fans. What’s the best part about meeting fans?
Jiung: I really love that energy is getting bigger. We give energy and we get back energy from them. We get happier and get more energetic. That’s the best.
This is your first time headlining a festival, congratulations! Was it difficult putting the setlist together and choosing which songs to perform?
Jongseob: We do a lot of these kinds of festivals and stage things. We’re very used to it, it’s not hard to choose the setlist. I believe our fans are gonna love it, we’re so ready!
Keeho: Besides it being easier to choose songs, I think we’ve always had more of a difficult time choosing when there were less songs that we had to do, because we want to show so much more. And a lot of times, you know, we’re not headlining, so we only do like two or three songs and we’re like, "Ah, gosh, I wish we did more." But I think now that we’re able to headline and have so much more time, I think that gives us some more freedom to really show everything. And we have some slow songs, fast songs, new songs, old songs, and being able to showcase that all just made it a lot more easier, more freeing.
Is there a song P1Harmony likes to perform the most?
Intak: These days, "ICE." I think that song is super energetic and the beat is so powerful.
What about a song you’re most likely to forget the choreography or lyrics to?
Soul: "Triple 7"!... Too much hand moving
Theo: Me too. I’m "Triple 7". 왜냐하면 연습 기간이 너무 짧았기 때문에, 예, 저도 모든 곡 중에서 "Triple 7"이 가장 좀 정신을 바짝 차려야 되는 곡인 것 같습니다. (Since the practice period was so short—yes, I’d say that out of all the songs, "Triple 7" is the one that really requires me to stay the most sharp and focused.)
Keeho: We didn’t have a lot of time to practice it. We had a couple— not even a couple days, I think a couple hours to get "Triple 7" ready for the stage, and so he finds it a little difficult to remember the choreo.
I will also add, singing-wise, I think it’s always hard to sing songs where there’s no dance and you’re kind of all just standing in a line. And I feel like a lot of fans will find that interesting, because you'd think that it’s easier to sing if you’re not dancing, but when you’re dancing, when you stand in the center, you know it’s your part. But like for songs like "Stupid Brain" and "Gotta Get Back", because we’re all just standing in a line, sometimes I forget what part is mine and what part isn’t. So sometimes like Jiung and I would have the same part, and then I’ll accidentally sing on his part. But I wouldn’t know cuz I’m not standing in the center, you know what I mean? And so sometimes I forget my part, and then I forget the lyrics, and I’m like, "Ah!" And then we’re singing together, and sometimes I don’t sing at all, and I’m like, "Oh, well, that was my part." And yeah, that usually happens.
Do you guys have any rituals before you go on stage, or routines?
Keeho: We all have our own separate things, but for me personally, I’m very particular about what I do. I love to have tea, Throat Coat is amazing, and then I have a candy that I have. We also have a little chant that we do before we go on stage.
P1Harmony 6th anniversary is coming up! Looking back on your time as a group, what's the most memorable or coolest thing you’ve done so far?
Jiung: For now, I would say the latest tour would be the best one, cuz it’s getting bigger and more people are coming. We hope when the next tour comes in, we will perform at bigger venues.
Since your debut, you’ve met a lot of fans from different countries. Has meeting international fans changed the way you approach making music?
Keeho: I don’t know if it changes the way we make music. The priority is making sure we like it first. And sometimes, obviously, it’s hard to make that happen in itself, because we’re six guys, we all have different tastes in music, and then we also have our company, and we have all these other external factors.
The first priority is us, and then definitely, like you said, depending on what country we go to and what type of fans we see, the level of popularity on songs are very, very different. We just try to make a lot, we try to make a lot of different genres and make sure everywhere someone will like something. I think that’s what makes P1Harmony so special, too, cuz we’re so versatile, and I think there’s no real limit in what we do, and I feel like we can just do whatever we want and we’ll be good at it.
Compared to other K-pop groups, P1Harmony participates a lot in the creative process for the group and you also do solo stuff. In the midst of such a busy schedule, how do you recharge your creativity and keep coming up with new things?
Jongseob: Like Keeho said before, we have our six members who have very different tastes in music. I’m always finding out how I can express my personal taste or how I can express my personal goal. I always keep searching on YouTube or find music.
Does the group participate in any writing sessions or take vocal lessons?
Keeho: it’s all based on initiative. I think no one really forces us to do it, but if we’re like, we want to do a song camp, we want to do writing sessions, we want to do vocal lessons, it’s really out of our own time and our breaks and our, you know, time that we have off. We do it a lot because we love to do it, and I think sometimes as artists, when you’re constantly so busy and you’re caught up with stuff, there’s a lot less artist development and there’s more just you being on stage.
Definitely on down times, you should be able to develop yourself as an artist, cuz you need to be able to grow, and you need to always be in the position to want to learn, because you can never be so perfect. I think we always try to push those boundaries, and every album we put out, we always want to give you guys a new side, and so we try to stay tapped in as much as we can.
