[Herald Interview] ADYA embarks on adventure with debut single 'Per'

ADYA, Starting House Entertainment’s new girl group, set sail on Tuesday with its debut single “Per."

The name of the five-member group is a combination of the word “adventure” and the Spanish word “ya,” which means now. ADYA comprises Chaeeun, Sena, Seungchae, Yeonsu and Seowon.

The team, whose members are aged 17 to 20, aims to portray the younger generation who love themselves and are honest about their feelings and desires, ADYA said.

“We don’t want to be limited to certain genres but instead use our true colors and talents to try out different kinds of music,” said Seowon during an interview with The Korea Herald.

Sena said their strength lies in their performance, and all members are gifted in creating choreography of diverse genres, such as from popping to heels dance.

The five were in charge of making the choreography for their debut single “Per.”

“This single is about setting off on a new adventure with confidence and excitement. We took part in coming up with the choreography for the intro, outro and hook of the single,” explained Yeonsu, the leader of the group.

Sena said each member's talents in different dance genres gave them "diverse inspirations."

"Although it was quite a burden to be in charge of a debut single choreography, I think it brought us together in working toward what’s best for the group. We did a lot of research to find the best choreography,” said Sena.

Before their official debut, ADYA showcased their performance skills in a string of teaser promotions, such as their dance cover videos that the girls planned and choreographed for.

The rookie K-pop girl group was brought together by Im Yong-woon, the producer and founder of Starting House Entertainment, and the one behind successful K-pop idol groups such as 4Minute, Pentagon and (G)I-dle.

“Our producer always reminds us that we should enjoy what we are doing because if not, there is no reason for us to do this. When we send him videos of us practicing he always gives us individual feedback which helped us to grow as better artists,” said Seungchae.

Some of the members spent four years as trainees, and the long years were not without hardship.

“There were times when I got tired of the trainee’s routine life. When those times hit me, I asked for some time off to go back to my family in Daegu," said Yeonsu, 20, who began training at 17.

"I also tried to share my concerns with other members and the agency as well as with my sister who is also a K-pop trainee at a different agency.”

After years of hard training, the girls are both excited and nervous about their debut.

“The K-pop market has grown recently and girl groups are making outstanding accomplishments. This makes us nervous about jumping into the scene but it also means that they have paved the way making it easier for their successors like us to reach new records," Chaeeun said.

They are excited to learn from their accomplishments and eager to hit the ground running.

“We want to top the local music charts and land on the Billboard charts with our debut single ‘Per.’ We are so thrilled to finally get to perform in front of people and our fans, to be able to feel the heat and cheers coming from the audience,” said Seungchae.