Exclusive Interview with Fong Atilla
I had a chat with kpop trainee and former survival show contestant, Fong Atilla. We talked about training experience and future aspirations.
[Date: December 22th, 2024]
Can you tell us about your background and what inspired you to pursue a career in K-pop?
I grew up in a family of performers, so being on stage came quite naturally to me. At a young age, I would always participate in children modeling shows and photoshoots. And at home, I would stick a Q-Tip onto my face and pretend it was my microphone, and then force my family to watch me as I perform Genie by Girls Generation…. But what really set off my passion for being on stage was when I started learning ballet at age 7 and danced on a big stage for the very first time. Hearing the crowd cheer for me gave me a sense of euphoria that can’t be described, and from that day on it was my goal in life to continue shining on stage. From starting my own school dance crew to participating in my school’s musicals, I was practically living on stage 24/7 with different performances every week and rehearsals everyday. My love for being on stage truly goes beyond everything else in my life and my biggest wish in life is to debut and constantly perform for my fans.
What challenges did you face when deciding to travel Korea for your training?
I faced extreme anxiety when I first arrived in Korea. I remember I couldn’t even sleep properly because I was so anxious about going to Korea. Of course I was as equally as excited but I’m not someone who deals well with change and the fact that I knew my lifestyle was about to take a 180 degree turn in a foreign country absolutely terrified me. At the time, I had also just started learning Korean for about a month so I was super scared about the communication issues that I might face. One of the things that challenged me was also my education. Going to PROJECT 7 also meant I had to halt my studies at school, which was a really big decision I had to make with my parents. Thankfully, my school was nice enough to let me participate in the show, giving me their full support!!
How did you first get interested in K-pop, and who are your biggest influences?
I got into kpop when I was around 2 years old (lol) through Girls Generation. The way they performed intricate dance numbers while singing perfectly was truly astonishing. On top of that, just the extravagance of kpop from the hair and makeup to the costumes made each performance such a spectacle to watch. The group that made me realise I was to pursue a career in kpop was 100% TXT . I got into them in 2020 during quarantine, and was completely mesmerised by everything about them. They were the reason I started practicing singing and dancing by myself. In fact, the first ever audition I did for a kpop company was to Blue Hour by TXT! TXT were definitely the biggest influences, but groups such as ENHYPEN, ITZY, BTS, and TWICE also made a huge impact on my decision to pursue Kpop, inspiring me every step of the way.
What has your training regimen been like? Can you describe a typical day for you?
(We signed a NDA so I can’t go into too much detail…😭)
We would typically get up very early in the morning, maybe 7-9am depending on if we had special schedules or not, and start practicing right away. No matter what shooting schedules we had, we would start practicing by 10am no matter what. The day usually just consists of practicing for our performances and eating lunch and dinner with the rest of the trainees at the dining hall. If we weren’t eating, we were practicing. If we weren’t practicing, we would be eating our meals. Our days usually ended around 4am on average, with some extra hard days ending at 5-6am, so it was quite tough but also great for training my perseverance.
How do you handle the pressure and expectations that come with being a trainee?
For me, having close friends played a massive role and releasing my stress during training. Because we had no phones, we also couldn’t talk to our families which made me feel extra lonely when I was under pressure. Having so many amazing friends in PROJECT 7 allowed me to relax and get my mind off of all the stress at night when we went back to the dorms. If you guys watched episode 11, you would’ve seen that montage of me and my friends dancing and going crazy at 5am in the morning. We would no joke do this every single day no matter how late it was because we genuinely needed some time to just let loose and go crazy doing things that made us happy because it was the only free time we got in the entire day. Besides the crazy dancing, I would always just talk with my friends and have long conversations with them, discussing things in and outside of the show. It was my favourite time of the day and truly the only moment that kept me from going insane everyday.
What cultural differences have you encountered since pursuing becoming an idol, and how have you adapted to them?
I think the biggest culture shock I experienced in Korea was the seniority complex. Of course I knew the basics of the formal and informal language, but what really shocked me was the focus on honorifics with every sentence you say. For example, I knew that I had to call someone older by “hyung,” but I didn’t know that I still needed to use honorifics when talking to someone older that I was already super close with. So at the start, I would just speak informally to an older friend after calling them “hyung” and they would literally look at me with their eyes wide open and mouth agape. Thankfully, all the trainees were the absolute nicest people and took their time to teach me the mannerisms of Korean instead of getting angry. With their help and their Korean lessons, I slowly got the hang of it overtime. Thank you to all my hyungs for being so helpful and understanding. ❤❤
What are your short-term and long-term goals in the K-pop industry?
As for my short term goals, I want to make my debut as soon as possible. I want to meet my fans and perform on stage again, as I already miss the feeling of performing for my fans and its only been a few days since I left PROJECT 7. On top of that, it was been my dream for over 10 years to become a kpop idol, so no matter what I will make my debut.
My long term goals are quite simple. I want to give performances that speak topeople and move people. I want to sell out arenas as a member of a global kpop boy group and meet my fans from all around the world through world tours and meet and greets. I want to perform for the rest of my life and spend all my time on stage!
How do you envision your music style or concept as an artist?
On PROJECT 7, I was fortunately able to showcase vastly different concepts for all 4 performances, but in terms of the style of music that I like and want to pursue in the future, it would definitely be something similar to TWS’ concept. Bright, cheerful, and upbeat, but not exactly cute either. Radiant maybe [Refreshing]? I can’t find the exact words to describe it, but I want to make music with beautiful melodies that makes people happy with a single listen. I would also like to try something similar to Time After Time from the PROJECT 7 Original’s Match. I love songs with a sentimental and emotional melody, so I would love to make music with this concept in the future. I think I would have to mature a little more to pull off these types of songs, so maybe in the near future.
What message do you hope to convey through your performances?
I simply want to show my fans performances that will temporarily mask their hardships and challenges in life. I want people to almost transport my fans into a euphoric land where all their worries will be whisked away. Life will always have its ups and downs and everyone will have days that are harder to get through, but I hope that through my performances I can make my fans’ everyday life just a little bit better and add a sprinkle of happiness into their daily life. I hope my performances can be a way for my fans to find comfort and joy whenever they are feeling down, that is my main goal.
What advice would you give to other aspiring K-pop trainees from foreign countries?
Don’t be scared and just go for it. It will take a while before you successfully pass an audition, but you have to keep trying and taking whatever opportunity there is. No matter how many times you fail, take it as a learning experience on how to do better next time. And once you do get accepted, I know it’s terrifying to move to a foreign country all alone, and it will admittedly be hard at first but everything just takes time. After a while, you’ll completely fall in love with the people you’re surrounded with and you won’t ever want to leave. Just be brave, don’t overthink, and continue pushing yourself to your limits.
Do you have a message for your fans?
Thank you World Assemblers, thank you for everything. I seriously would not have been able to endure the mental and physical challenges that came with PROJECT 7 without each and every one of you. Your love and support masked all the hardships that I had to endure, and concealed the blood, sweat and tears that I put into every practice for the past 4 months in Korea, I don’t think words could ever by enough to express has thankful I am for every single one of you, and I will spend the rest of my life repaying the mountains of love you guys have given me. This is not the end, but the opportunity for a fresh start. Thank you for changing my life and I hope you guys stay with me until the end.
Interview by: taengyulz (formerly talkingsaxy)
Related:
Fong Atilla Profile and Facts
PROJECT 7 Profile
Asia Super Young Profile
Are there any other people you’d like us to interview? Feel free to comment down below! 🙂
