Talking with Catch The Young, a South Korean rock band, is always a pleasure. It’s been amazing to see how much they’ve grown and succeeded over the past couple of years. Since their debut, they’ve shown that they are not only mature as artists but also great storytellers.

Their first full-length album, EVOLVE, released two years and two months after their debut, is a major achievement for the band. As Sani said, the album feels like the end of a long journey. Kihoon and Jungmo added that it captures the band’s growth and youthful emotions. With all five members writing and composing the 14 tracks, EVOLVE clearly shows their teamwork and creative unity.

EVOLVE reflects the many sides of youth through its music and lyrics. And I absolutely love how the album alternates between power-driven songs and calmer ones. 

Namhyun and Junyong said each song carries its own emotion while still contributing to one continuous story, and that the collaboration allowed each member’s individuality to keep building the band’s recognisable sound. Even instrumental tracks like Evolution: Prelude and The Young Wave (2026 Remix) help structure the album, guiding its flow and supporting the overall narrative.

First, I’d love to thank everyone who waited for us. I’m so happy and overwhelmed to present our first full-length album, EVOLVE. To be honest, I was a little worried about this comeback. Since people have been waiting for a long time, I wanted to share it with our listeners quickly. – JUNGMO

Performing EVOLVE live for the first time in Seoul brought the album’s energy vividly to life. Despite their nerves, Sani, Kihoon, Jungmo, Namhyun, and Junyong delivered superb performances. The band surely offered a full experience of Catch The Young’s growth. With their first studio album, these young men show that their development as artists is a journey, and through teamwork and honesty, they’ve created a sound and story that feels bigger than the album itself.

View of the Arts: Before discussing your first studio album, I just want to say how immensely happy and proud I am of you all. You’ve worked so hard on your music, and now all that effort is reflected in your first album, EVOLVE. It was released two years and two months after your debut. How does it feel to finally present such a milestone work to your fans? 

Sani: It feels like we’ve finally completed an assignment we’d been dealing with for a long time. So many people have been waiting for this album, and we all worked incredibly hard on it together, so we feel very honored and proud. I hope even more people will listen to our first full-length album!

Kihoon: I feel very proud that the time and effort we’ve put in has resulted in this full album. Through this album, I hope listeners can feel and relate to how much Catch The Young has evolved.

Jungmo: First, I’d love to thank everyone who waited for us. I’m so happy and overwhelmed to present our first full-length album, EVOLVE. To be honest, I was a little worried about this comeback. Since people have been waiting for a long time, I wanted to share it with our listeners quickly. However, we also wanted to take the time to present sincere and good music rather than rushing it. Now that the album is out and we’re promoting it, we’re working hard to deliver all the emotions you can feel from the album. Please continue to look forward to what’s ahead!

Namhyun: Thank you for your kind words. Some of the songs that were performed before our debut are listed along with many new tracks that we wrote for this full album. I’m extremely proud to have this full-length album with 14 songs that we wrote ourselves.

Junyong: I was concerned with how our fans would feel and react to our full-length album since we poured so much effort into it. We’re so grateful for our fans and listeners enjoying our diverse sides and music. 

Since we’re a band, each of our opinions and roles is very important. When making music together, sometimes one’s ideas are reflected more, and sometimes our ideas might clash. But in the end, it’s not an individual’s music, but one made by all of us. – SANI

VOA: The album is described as “capturing the anxieties, wavering, determination, and growth of youth”. How did you translate these feelings into the music and lyrics? 

Sani: We often get inspiration from our own experiences or from imaginary characters and situations. Personally, I think it’s more accurate to say that the message naturally becomes part of the song rather than purposefully inserting a message into one.

Kihoon: We worked to connect the tone, performance nuances, and every single word and sentence, so listeners could relate as much as possible. We tried not to miss even the smallest details. 

Jungmo: Since I’m a drummer, it can sometimes be harder to convey emotions as directly as in other positions. Despite those challenges, I tried to express various feelings through tone, sound, and sincerity. When performing, I often unexpectedly get overwhelmed with emotion.

Namhyun: I tried to reflect the emotions and atmosphere into the lyrics for each song. I listened to many different songs for reference and thought about how to blend in expression techniques that would suit the songs best. 

Junyong: We worked on the songs with defined concepts. If we focused on the determination and growth for our title track “Amplify,” we focused on keywords like nervousness and rebellion for our B-side track “Hurricane.” I think the emotions each song carries are certainly distinct.

VOA: All members participated in writing and composing the 14 tracks. How did collaborating on every song influence the final sound of the album? 

Sani: Since we’re a band, each of our opinions and roles is very important. When making music together, sometimes one’s ideas are reflected more, and sometimes our ideas might clash. But in the end, it’s not an individual’s music, but one made by all of us. I think that collaborative effort creates a noticeable density in our sound. 

Kihoon: Each member plays a different instrument, and we all contribute with our ideas and expertise in their field. Through that process, our individual colors naturally come together and create great synergy.

Jungmo: I think we were able to create our current sound by understanding and sharing each member’s position. I’m certain that the time we spent gathering and discussing together positively impacted our final sound as a band.

Namhyun: I believe we’re discovering and building our musical identity and color with every project. We share so many ideas when working together, and we’re able to extract the best sounds, rhythms, and melodies that we can present to our listeners.

Junyong: I think each member’s personality and musical color are ultimately shown through our music. While working alone can bring good results, collaborating as a group with various perspectives creates richer results, and that’s one of our biggest strengths.

While we attempt to make diverse music, that doesn’t change the fact that Catch The Young members make the music together. I think that allows us to preserve our taste and style in music, and trying various styles helps us naturally balance it out. – NAMHYUN

VOA: The title track, Amplify, minimises programming and emphasises band performance and chemistry. What message or sound were you hoping to convey through this song? And I absolutely love the MV! 

Sani: It carries the message that Catch The Young will quite literally amplify ourselves and our music to the world. The layered synthesizers and backing vocals make the sound very full, and as shown in the music video, we hope to connect, empathise, and move forward with many people.

Kihoon: I’m glad to hear that you like the music video. Through this full-length album, we hope listeners can feel the nostalgia and youthful energy that explodes across genres.

Jungmo: It contains our ambition and goal to be at the center of the world and amplify our music to bring everyone together. That’s why we focused on the rough, sharp performance while minimizing external elements, so we could share Catch The Young’s sound with the world.

Namhyun: We included our hope and determination to spread our music to the world and combined addictive sounds and rhythms. I also think our music video suits that message very well.

Junyong: Just like the meaning of amplify, we wanted to show our growth through this first full-length album, as well as express our intention to continue expanding further.

VOA: Sail was selected as a double title track and reflects the heart of youth moving forward, even in wavering moments. What drew you to highlight this track alongside Amplify? 

Sani: I think it expresses the unstable emotions of youth very well. While “Amplify” represents the youth’s energy, “Sail” conveys the pain and loneliness of youth! We thought it was crucial to show both sides of youth to match the theme of EVOLVE.

Kihoon: The moods of both songs strongly contrast, but I think the message behind them is the same. “Amplify” contains the explosive energy from the direction and determination we have as a group. We hope listeners can feel how desperately we pursue music through the emotions and energy in this song.

Jungmo: While “Amplify” conveys the message of amplification and imprinting of ourselves, there will absolutely be moments of wavering in that process. When it comes to life, not just music, we may have ambitions and resolutions, but we sometimes lack courage, feel anxious, or face various factors that make it hard to act upon them. We chose these songs as double title tracks because we believe we can overcome anything by confronting those obstacles. 

Namhyun: We also deliver the story of comfort through our full album. We hope to tell our listeners and all wavering youth that it’s okay to have more courage and be brave.

I feel very proud that the time and effort we’ve put in has resulted in this full album. Through this album, I hope listeners can feel and relate to how much Catch The Young has evolved. – KIHOON

VOA: With 14 tracks covering a variety of genres, such as jazz-influenced I’m Already In Love With You and acoustic To You, Standing Before Me, which track do you feel best represents Catch The Young’s growth and why? 

Sani: I think it’d be our title track, “Amplify.” Since our debut song “YOUTH!!!” and until now, for the past two years, I think we really showcased how much we “evolved” through our performance, vocals, and overall ability. 

Kihoon: I think it’s “Hurricane” because it best represents our rebellious spirit and sound. The musical structure with rough guitar riffs from start to end is impressive, and the reinterpretation of classic rock moods in our own style seems to represent us well.

Jungmo: “Amplify” for me. I think it reflects Catch The Young’s unique genre, YOUTH-POP-ROCK, and captures our color and growth.

Namhyun: I believe “Amplify” depicts Catch The Young’s growth the best. It’s a new addictive style we haven’t tried before, and we expressed our determination to move forward through this song, which seems to demonstrate our growth and journey.

Junyong: I think it’s “Hurricane.” We worked on it with the keyword “rebellion,” and it effectively shows another side of Catch The Young.

VOA: EVOLVE includes tracks with very different styles, from Addicted’s minimal tension to Hurricane’s direct message. How did you approach balancing experimentation with your own musical identity? 

Sani: I don’t think our identity is shaken by conveying direct messages. Catch The Young’s musical identity isn’t limited to one genre, but the music we create and the messages within it define who we are. Therefore, I believe different genres don’t necessarily affect our identity.

Kihoon: Catch The Young can pull off various genres without settling down on one, and I think we add more of our colors through that process. Rather than balancing, we focus on touching as many emotions as possible.

Jungmo: Keeping Catch The Young’s identity is important, but new attempts are part of Catch The Young’s creative sound and color with endless possibilities. Without trying anything new, you can’t accomplish anything new. So we won’t avoid challenges but interpret them in our own way. That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily view our experimentation and musical identity separately.

Namhyun: While we attempt to make diverse music, that doesn’t change the fact that Catch The Young members make the music together. I think that allows us to preserve our taste and style in music, and trying various styles helps us naturally balance it out.

Junyong: Even though we explored different genres, from jazz to rock, the core message has always been the same; We always work with the story of growth and youth in our music.

VOA: The intro track Evolution: Prelude and the instrumental The Young Wave (2026 Remix) open and close the album. How important was the flow of the album in telling your story? 

Sani: Even in parts with no vocals, instrumental parts carry our group’s sound as a band. With 14 tracks, the start and end of the long album were especially important to us, which is why we placed instrumental tracks as the opening and closing tracks. We thought that order and flow would be more meaningful for listeners who listen to the full album.

Kihoon: We’re not a band merely focused on the vocals, as we also have strong instrumental skills. So I think we definitely want people to recognize that we’re talented musicians.

Jungmo: To understand the full story and delicate emotions we aim to deliver, we recommend listening in the order of the track list. The sequence of the songs is part of the flow we want to convey to our listeners, so you’ll be able to tell how much thought we put into the overall flow.

Junyong: Since it’s the band’s first full-length album, I hope you listen to it from start to finish, though listening to the individual songs separately would be amazing too. Given the long list of songs that flow with a story, it will feel like watching a movie.

VOA: Performing EVOLVE live for the first time at your Seoul showcase must have been exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. How did it feel to finally share the album on stage?

Sani: I was actually very nervous, but I gave it my best as we prepared for it very diligently. I felt like some songs were harder to perform live, especially “Sail” with the high notes. But we still finished well, and we’ll show even better live performances in the future.

Kihoon: I was quite anxious because it’s been a while since we’ve done a showcase, and it was also for our first full-length album. I was a little pressured to show how much we’ve grown, and I’m glad we were able to showcase it well.

Jungmo: I definitely wanted to perform well since we’ve been preparing for a long time, so I was also nervous. The showcase for our first full-length album made me excited for our promotions and my growth through it.

Namhyun: I was both excited and nervous since it was our first full album. I’m so grateful for the positive reactions, which motivate me to want to do even better in the future.

Junyong: I was more worried than excited about how listeners would feel and react to our album. Thankfully, so many people enjoyed listening to it.

I think each member’s personality and musical color are ultimately shown through our music. While working alone can bring good results, collaborating as a group with various perspectives creates richer results, and that’s one of our biggest strengths. – JUNYONG

VOA: Looking at EVOLVE as a complete body of work, how do you hope fans experience your evolution as a band through these 14 tracks?

Sani: Listeners will feel a huge difference from what Catch The Young has done so far. We tried our best as a band to showcase greater genre diversity, vocal growth, and bold instrumental solos through this album and present Catch The Young’s truly unique charms.

Kihoon: The message and story for each song are different, so I hope listeners feel Catch The Young’s colors that appear differently in them. I wish to share emotions through our songs, and for listeners to resonate under the name of Catch The Young. 

Jungmo: I don’t have a direct opinion on how I want people to feel or experience our music. This album contains the message to not be easily influenced by others’ opinions and perspectives, so I hope they experience the music freely in their own ways. Rather than telling people how to see our growth as a band, I hope people recognize that we try to prove ourselves through music and feedback from listeners.

Namhyun: We’re gradually finding our own style as Catch The Young, and I believe our sincerity will eventually be recognized. I hope our genuine love for our fans and music is delivered, and that our growth positively impacts many people’s lives.

Written and interviewed by Maggie Gogler

Featured image courtesy of Evermore Entertainment

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to film, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. As we continue to grow, we aim to deepen our coverage of Asian music while remaining committed to exploring and celebrating creativity across the global arts landscape.}