Golden Child distinguish themselves by their musical variety. Although they represent K-pop in its pure form, the group finds it easy to combine the genre with funk, disco, and electronic sounds. Visually, when it comes to their music videos, the group values simplistic aesthetics blended with satisfying choreography instead of the flashy, complex music videos that K-pop is often infamous for.

Known for their top-notch fashion and dance routines, Golden Child have recently participated in the biggest outdoor K-pop festival in the UK, the MIK Festival.

“It was a great chance [for us] to visit the UK”, confesses Y when asked about the group’s experience at the MIK Festival, then adds: “We were so happy to see our Goldenness [official name of the group’s fanbase] from the UK as well”.

Witnessing their performance as they showcased their vocals, choreography, and on-stage charisma was just endearing to see. Outside of being talented entertainers, the group also knows how to enchant the crowd. 

London has definitely impressed the young men as they couldn’t stop talking about their favourite moments in the capital. “I enjoyed visiting tourist attractions such as The London Eye, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the list goes on and on”, says Seungmin with a chuckle. “Performing in front of our British fans was the most important thing though”, he continues.

Golden Child debuted in 2017 with an EP called Gol-Cha! The group consists of Daeyeol, Y, Jangjun, TAG, Seungmin, Jaehyun, Jibeom, Donghyun, Joochan, and Bomin. In a short period of time, they released two full-length albums: Re-boot (2019) and Game Changer (2021). They also have a few singles and EPs under their belt, including their latest August release, AURA.

“Golden Child’s 6th mini-album AURA shows our strong and sexy charms. It also shows Golden Child’s heavy and magnificent aura”, Joochan explains.

The title track of the aforementioned EP is Replay, a super energetic song that shows the full vocal potential of each and every member of Golden Child, with the exception of Daeyeol who is currently serving in the military. With an avant-garde sound, Replay turned out to be one of the hottest comebacks of this year. 

“It is a song that expresses the desire to go back to the past and the urge to think about memories again”, Jaehyun confesses when asked about the meaning of the song.

TAG and Jangjun were very much involved in the making of AURA. Replay was co-written by both of the members, with TAG taking part in the production process for most of the songs, including the composition and musical arrangements. But what was it like for the members to be involved in the creative process? 

“I only wrote the lyrics”, Jangjun reveals, then adds: “We mainly focused on expressing our thoughts through the lyrics, we wanted everything to blend well with the song”.

Every K-pop idol group has big dreams, but Golden Child’s dream is rather ordinary, yet candid: “We only have a simple dream, which is to enjoy our performances along with our fans”, admits Bomin. The group often expresses their gratitude and love towards their fans, and there is no denial that this affection goes both ways. 

“The fans are the 11th member of Golden Child, and we don’t [and wouldn’t] exist without them”, says Jibeom. 

There is no doubt that the Korean music industry is extremely competitive, and we cannot forget that the accomplishments of K-pop groups are all achieved through hard work. And Golden Child is one of those groups – they always search for new themes and music to present to their fans, as Donghyun tells us: “Golden Child is a group that works hard to show you a perfect and new style every time, and our next goal is to present our listeners with a fresh style and memorable performance”.

Interviewed by Marianna Baroli

Written by Maggie Gogler

_{View of the Arts is a British online publication that chiefly deals with films, music, arts, and fashion, with an emphasis on the Asian entertainment industry. We are hoping our audience will grow with us as we begin to explore new platforms such as K-pop / K-music and continue to dive into the talented and ever-growing scene of film, music, and arts, worldwide.}