Monsta X:
K-pop’s great survivors.
Military-grade training and constant surveillance from fans creates a ruthless culture of perfection in Korean pop music. These megastars are taking back control.

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The heat and organised chaos hit you like a fist. The windowless dressing room in one of Seoul’s major TV studios isn’t much bigger than a double bedroom, but is crowded with 11 staff and the seven members of K-pop group Monsta X, who are promoting their new single: seductive, dramatic Jealousy. Vocalists Shownu, Kihyun, Minhyuk, Hyungwon and Wonho, and rappers Jooheon and I.M, are now seasoned “idols”, as K-pop stars are called, and oblivious to this lack of space. Within a culture of seniority, a dressing room is earned; until recently, they were in a communal room with other young team (known as “rookies”) with flimsy dividers for privacy.

Wonho, 25, whose infectious laugh belies a thoughtful intensity, is practising dance moves while the softly spoken 25-year-old Shownu, Monsta X’s team leader, whose duty is to “guide them in the right direction and keep them sharp”, asks if we have eaten. Red-haired Kihyun, 24, brings over iced Americano. They are running on zero sleep from a trip to the south-east city of Ulsan the day before, where the performed in a rainstorm on a TV show. Fan footage shows Kihyun falling over, but he shrugs it off. “From our debut, we’ve experienced stuff like this. I knew I was going to slip. In my head it’s: ‘Choreography! Choreography!’ so I go into the next move. It’s not something to be embarrassed about.”

K-pop’s hyper-produced earworm songs and visual perfection have had a recent boom global interest, spearheaded by boy band BTS,whose phenomenal success has crossed over into the US and the Billboard Hot 100. But the cameras of Korean fans, who post them online every minute of an idol’s public life, reveal a strenuous existence. K-pop can seem like a factory, its idols helpless drones rather than artists, and the stress and fatigue are often in the spotlight: 33-year-old Seo Minwoo, of group 100% , died of a reported heart attack in March, while Shinee member Jonghyun, struggling with depression, took his life in December.

Ms Suh and Ms Shim, executive directors at Monsta X’s agency, Starship, put idol training - when talent is honed and new skills developed - at five to seven years. The aim for these putative stars is to be put alongside others in a manufactured band, then “debuted” as a finished product; Monsta X were foamed in 2015 after prospective members were whittled down on a reality show called No.Mercy. “Korean entertainment is one of the hardest jobs out there,” say Suh and Shim. “Trainees are cast from the street an auditions, and learn there are guidelines, and things they need to give up. Everyone is running towards the same goal: debuting”.  No trainee is guaranteed a debut and Shownu switched agencies (“it was slightly painful”) to give himself the best chance of being picked for a group.

Each agency sets its own rules, but mobile phones or romantic relationships are forbidden as standard; Monsta X say they relinquished their phones as trainees and for nearly two years after their debut. Minhyuk, 24, saw it as an “inconvenience”, and Hyungwon, also 24, a self-proclaimed introvert with pink hair and a wry sense of humour, says only now does he understand Starship’s intentions in removing outside distractions. But Jooheon, 23, recalls he felt “walles in the during training. There was no freedom. At least when you debut, you experience new things.”

Their early, aggressive-sounding singles, Trespass and Rush,  brought a solid fanbase, known as Monbebe. They shower Monsta X with clothes, toys, snacks and letters before shows and at album signings, where fans talk with each member, often holding hands with their favourite. To the cynical, it may be a genius marketing ploy but these meetings develop a emotionally a tough industry, the fans are, says I.M, a “source of strength”.

The youngest at 22, I.M has an adult wariness from spending his formative years in front of cameras where the slightest error can bring career-damaging public criticism. “I worry about making mistakes, but I feel being an idol is natural to me,” he says. “Do I like having rules? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but that’s real life and I’m fine with it.”

Starship undeniably rules the Monsta X roost. Idol groups, with few exceptions, have little power, but in recent years a number have begun to exert some creative grip. Monsta X, too, are striving towards a level of autonomy. I.M pens solo material plus his lyrics on their tracks, as does Jooheon, and several of Wonho’s emotive pop songs are Monsta X album cuts.

Jooheon reveals dozens of inspirational phrases on his phone and says he frequently gets by on three hours sleep. “I feel uneasy if I don’t make one song every day,” he says, yet he and I.M have been able to release only a couple of solo singles. The group live together in a cluttered apartment but each has a small studio  where they can create. “I’ll do everything there - eat, scream, cry, laugh, watch movies. It’s playground,” Jooheon smiles.

This downtime is crucial; an idol’s schedule is back-breaking. Interviews, radio, variety TV, fan meeting and music shows make for 18-hour days. “The workload can sometimes be too much but we need to grow. It’s good to be busy,” says Wonho. Kihyun, laughing, says: “It’s our third year. This is in my bones.” Fans call him Monsta X’s “mom”, although he keeps referring himself to the “police, keeping Monsta X within the boundaries”. But he is happy. “I’m doing something I love, I’m earning money and I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed a lot.”

For others, idol life is challenging. “I used to like being around people, but now I need space,” says Hyungwon. Minhyuk is a ball of a warm energy but beneath that is a poignancy. “I’m not an idol for fame, I just like to perform,” he says. “I don’t like people gossiping, so it’s been almost two years since I went drinking with my friends. Sometimes I’m lonely.”

Even in the wake of Jonghyun’s suicide, mental health problems in South Korea aren’t always dealt with correctly or understood by either industry or public, but Kihyun says it’s better than it was. “When artists say they’re going to rest, the reaction is: ‘Please rest before it gets worse.’” Starship’s Shim says they “monitor the mental health of all trainees and idols. If we feel like they’re emotionally having a hard time, we’ll suggest they see a therapist or work to make them better.”

Most successful K-pop groups will exist for five to seven years, and idols often head into presenting or acting, with some finding solo success. But male groups face South Korea’s compulsory two-year military service and the threat of career decline on return to civilian life. As a result, Shownu has adopted a day-by-day approach for Monsta X. “I used to think: would I be able to make a living from this?” he says. “There were teams that debuted at the same time as us but weren’t going at the same pace. Now I feel like I shouldn’t be pressured - it’s more about longevity as a group.”

After their upcoming, solo world tour, Monsta X may well have another release before the end of 2018. If they had full control what would they create? Minhyuk quickly replies with “something like Trespass, a banger”. Hyungwon would keep the sexiness of Jealousy but “I’d love to mix it up with more casual look”, but it’s Shownu who grounds and bolsters them simultaneously. “It doesn’t matter what song we do”, he says from across the room where he’s been silently observing. “Sexy, soft, or strong - if Monsta X are doing it, it’s out style.”

Jealousy is out now. Monsta X play Eventim Apollo, London on 17 June. With thanks to CJ Kim for translations.