The day before the Blue Moon World Tour Concert in Stadium Negara, Kuala Lumpur, the Korean rock group CNBLUE, attended the press conference and greeted the members of media cheerfully. Starting off with a series of 'Apa Khabar?' (How are you?), the members, Lee Jungshin, Lee Jonghyun, Jung Yonghwa and Kang Minhyuk introduced themselves individually. They talked about being in Malaysia for the second time and having their first solo concert here and hoped for fans' support. Minhyuk even expressed his eagerness to try satay before he leaves, because he likes grilled meat.  

During the press conference, CNBLUE talked about the reason they chose the name 'Blue Moon' for their world tour. Minhyuk said, "Blue moon only comes once in a while but sometimes there are two full moons. Since this is our first world tour, we want it to be special." 

Jungshin, who is the youngest yet the tallest member, was quick to say 'No!' when asked whether he had ever used his height to his advantage whenever the group members get into a disagreement, which made the members of media laughed. Famous for his judo ability, when asked whether he could still defend himself in a tough situation, Jonghyun laughed and said, "Now I have a lot of security guards around me, so I don't think it's necessary for me to take actions."

These past couple of years, CNBLUE members had all dabbled in acting. Jonghyun acted in A Gentleman's Dignity and more recently, he had a cameo in a KBS drama special Adolescent Medley. Minhyuk acted in My Husband Got A Family while Jungshin recently acted in Blades and Petals. When Minhyuk was asked which one was his first love between singing and acting, he said, "My first choice is always the band. That is always my priority."

Having written many of CNBLUE's songs and also songs for other artists (namely Juniel and AOA), Yonghwa said the inspiration for the songs comes naturally. "It depends on the people I meet and the kind of music I listen to," further stating that there are times when he only gets the inspirations for the lyrics and other times only the melodies. Minhyuk, who had previously shown his lyrics writing skills in the song Sweet Holiday, which was included the band's second mini album Blue Love back in 2010 commented that Yonghwa had been teaching them a lot when it comes to songwriting and eventhough he had taken note of all the lyrical ideas that he had, he said that they're still in the learning process. "We usually edit songs together, so whenever we work together, I learn a lot of things. So by the time I reach their level, maybe we will have more songs written by ourselves."  

When asked how do they make sure that their songs are different from other Korean boy bands, Yonghwa said that the band does not have a clear definition for their music, further expressing that "our songs are catchy and easy to sing along to, so when you listen to the songs, you would know it's CNBLUE."

Special thanks to DAOL Entertainment and Samsung for the invitation.

Writer: Aisyah Roslan | Photos: Nik Fatimah & Ain Osman