K-Pop Group LOONA Talks #StanLoona and Why They Love Orbits
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When LOONA released the mesmerizing music video for “Butterfly,” their ambient EDM-pop single, fans were dazzled by the diversity on display. The video featured scenes of people of different ethnicities, religions, and nationalities from all around the world, interspersed with clips of the girl group dancing in a serene, lilac-hued amphitheater. The message was crystal clear: Like a butterfly’s unique wings, being different is what makes us soar, so why not soar together?
From the beginning, LOONA have embraced what makes them different. Unlike most K-pop groups, which typically debut as a full unit before breaking off into sub-units or solo projects, LOONA (Idarui Sonyeo, their Korean name, is translated as “girl of the month”) were unveiled member by member over an 18-month span. Beginning in October 2016, each girl in the lineup — HeeJin, HyunJin, HaSeul, YeoJin, ViVi, Kim Lip, JinSoul, Choerry, Yves, Chuu, Go Won, and Olivia Hye — was introduced via her own unique solo release. This innovative, individual-debut format allowed space for every member’s personality to shine through.
With 12 members, each with their own distinct personality, style, and interests, it makes sense for the group to espouse unity and acceptance as a core value. “We embrace each other’s differences by talking to each other a lot after we call it a day,” says 20-year-old (in Western age) member Kim Lip, via a translator. “We talk to each other and listen to each other. Even though our thoughts are different sometimes, we respect each other’s opinions. That’s what makes us a good team.”
In addition to their solo debuts, LOONA also has three sub-unit groups: LOONA yyxy, LOONA Odd Eye Circle, and LOONA 1/3. Even in their rookie stage, members of sub-unit yyxy were able to collaborate on a track with Grimes (“love4eva”), something 19-year-old Chuu, known for her aegyo style and bubbly personality, says she “couldn’t even believe” at first. She continues, “If we ever have another chance, we definitely would love to work with her again.”
On August 20, 2018, LOONA were finally revealed in their buoyant, energetic official debut single, “Hi High.” But by then, this girl group of mythic proportions had already earned millions of YouTube views and streams, even winning the award for Best Korean Act at the 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards. They had also amassed a considerable international fanbase, called Orbit, thanks to a string of impressive high-quality music videos, EPs, and solo singles.
Also amplifying the conversation around LOONA is #StanLoona, the delightfully unrelenting hashtag that took over both the K-pop and queer communities on social media, the latter of which LOONA are “sincerely grateful” for, says 22-year-old Yves, who is known for her fierce dancing talents. Fans had translated the videos for her solo track “New” and Chuu’s track “Heart Attack” as having underlying LGBTQ+ themes. In “New,” Yves appears to experience euphoria during the track’s crescendo as she lovingly takes fellow member ViVi by the hand and roller skates with her, which fans thought could be a nod to accepting blossoming queer feelings. “Heart Attack,” meanwhile, finds Chuu — who sings about “hidden secrets that only I know” — infatuated and crushing on Yves, so much that she is struck through the heart by Cupid’s arrow when Yves smiles back at her. As Yves said recently in an interview with MTV News, “When the song was being written and the video filmed, we didn’t see it like that. For us it was a story about yearning, but we were also thankful when it was translated that way.”
#StanLoona, which can be found plastered all over the comments section under any given YouTube video or Twitter thread, has been supported by celebrities like Kim Petras and Drag Race star Kim Chi. According to 17-year-old Olivia Hye, an avid video gamer, when not training or performing with LOONA, the viral hashtag “encourages us to do our best even more” and inspires the group to deliver “high quality performances and high quality music.”
The relationship between the girls and their global fanbase is symbiotic. “Of course, we all stan Orbits! For international fans who use #StanLoona, that’s where we get our energy from,” says 22-year-old ViVi, who hails from Hong Kong and appears to portray an android in the LOONAVERSE. “We take responsibility for the love we get; we’ve got to do our best. If fans keep #StanLoona [going], we’re going to try even harder and harder.”
Fans are also a crucial part of the LOONAVERSE — the system of multidimensional mythologies, cosmic concepts, and connected narratives LOONA have been building toward with each release — and the group hopes, in return, their LOONAVERSE can be a safe haven for listeners. “I’m sure that there are no others like us that hold such a huge and systematic universe,” says 18-year-old member Go Won. “We all hope that our fans can listen to our music and enjoy our universe as we study for it.”
“What is the point of the LOONAVERSE if fans aren’t part of it?” quips YeoJin, the group’s maknae at 16 years old. Dozens of performances, promotions, recording sessions, and music videos later (“Hi High” was 18-year-old HyunJin’s favorite video to film because they “all got to be there together”), the members of LOONA are mindful to respect one another’s boundaries. They recognize the necessity for personal time and space. “We are always with each other when we are promoting, training or recording, and even when we go to sleep,” the energetic 18-year-old Choerry explains. “So when we have free time, we try to have independent time... because we all think and agree that we need time for ourselves.”
Embracing each another’s individual differences and coming together is a theme that runs through LOONA’s music and visuals. As hinted in the video for “Butterfly,” the group wanted fans to know that it’s okay to be different. “I think it’s very important [to embrace diversity]. Even though there are people out there we cannot [physically] reach, I think there could be a ‘butterfly effect’ if they get to listen to our music,” says 18-year-old HeeJin, who was the first LOONA member to be introduced.
“I think that the message ‘Butterfly’ delivers — that we are actually spreading through a butterfly effect itself — is that we hope people will find courage, find their self-identities, and get to speak their voice,” adds 22-year-old JinSoul, one of the group’s rappers. “By listening to our music, you [become part of LOONA] along with all the other [fans]. We all agree that the message [to love what makes you unique] is something we’d like to deliver well to listeners.”
In August, LOONA made their international performance debut at Korean pop culture convention KCON in Los Angeles. For U.S. fans, the digital phenomenon of #StanLOONA finally became a tangible reality when LOONA took the stage at the Staples Center. The group, however, were just thrilled to perform together in the U.S. for the first time.
HaSeul, 22, who lived in Denver, Colorado, with her family for about a year when she was younger, hopes their appearance at the convention will open the door to more performances in North America in the near future. If the warm welcome they received at KCON is any indication — and with their repackaged EP [X X] rising to No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart thanks to a social media fan campaign launched this month — it likely won’t be long before LOONA spreads their wings wider on an international headlining tour of their own.
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