Katseye is ready to cause some chaos.
The global girl group comprised of members Sophia, Daniela, Megan, Lara, Manon and Yoonchae were strangers only four years ago, climbing up the ranks as K pop trainees in the reality competition series “The Debut: Dream Academy.” In the wake of the show’s finale, and the release of Netflix’s accompanying “Pop Star Academy” docuseries, Katseye became breakout performers with the pastel-painted visuals and sugary sweet pop in their debut EP “SIS (Soft is Strong),” and era-defining single “Touch.”
But while Katseye may have started out soft, the group’s loud and unapologetic personalities quickly overtook the carefully-manicured aesthetic that had been preselected for them on “Dream Academy.” Frequently going viral in K pop spheres for their foul-mouthed, high-energy WeVerse live streams, Katseye’s honest intensity has helped shape the sound of their sophomore EP, “Beautiful Chaos.”
“‘Beautiful Chaos’ is the season we’re all in,” Sophia tells Variety. “It’s very much us, but it’s also us constantly evolving and finding ourselves. It’s a big transitional part of Katseye, in discovering who we are and the different sides of us.”
Described by the group as a “celebration of confusion” the five-track EP has no shortage of earworms, including lead single “Gnarly,” a hyperpop track penned by Alice Longyu Gao and Madison Love (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry) and produced by Pink Slip. Other tracks include the Latin pop-inspired “Gabriela,” and the bass-heavy “M.I.A,” an electronic track that Manon is eager to perform live.
Katseye leader Sophia agrees that “M.I.A” will be a crowd-pleaser, especially at gigs like their upcoming Lollapalooza set on Aug. 3. “[M.I.A] is meant to be performed in a stadium… to be performed at Lolla,” says Sophia. “I blast ‘M.I.A’ in my car all the time, literally all the time,” emphasizes Lara. “I roll my windows down, and I envision what our Lolla performance will look like.”
Though Katseye is no stranger to intensive choreography in their performances, Megan says mastering the steps for “Gabriela,” was a particular challenge. Featuring acoustic guitar and a Spanish-language bridge from Daniela, “Gabriela” has the members singing — more like pleading with — the titular temptress not to take their lover(s): (“You could have anyone else you wanted to/I’m begging you/Back off of my fella, Gabriela”).
The music video for “Gabriela” is equally as drama-infused, observing a telenovela-inspired affair that includes a wedding, a finger amputation, and a “Succession” style clash as the members vie to succeed Jessica Alba as CEO of Gabriela Enterprises. Megan and the other Katseye members turned to Daniela for pointers on mastering the ballroom-inspired choreography in the video.
“My mom taught me how to dance, she’s a ballroom dancer,” says Daniela. “The choreography for this song [‘Gabriella’] is definitely more ballroom-y, a little flamenco inspired. There’s a lot of hip movements in there, so I was able to help the girls out a little bit with the moves.“
“‘Gabriela’ was the hardest for me,” adds Megan. “It’s a little different than what we’ve done before, a little bit sexier, which I love. But we practiced a lot in heels for ‘Gabriela.”
For Katseye, discovering different sides of themselves also means supporting each other. In May, Lara was honored with The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Blooming Impact award, which acknowledges her advocacy for the community as a queer public figure. Few K-pop idols are out and proud members of the LGBTQ+ community but Lara says the support of her fellow Katseye members – who presented Lara with the award – has been invaluable. Megan also recently came out as bisexual.
“It was so unexpected and such an honor to have my girls there for me,” says Lara. “They gave a speech before, and having them hand the ward to be, and be on stage with me, that was so beautiful. I could not have traded that experience for the world. I touched on it in my speech, but growing up there were a lot of troublesome experiences trying to understand who I am and my sexuality.”
“To think that now I’m 19,” she continues, ”And getting an award for it, with my parents in the audience? And I’m talking about it in front of them? My whole family was there, my family in India saw it. So much stuff that little Lara was so deeply afraid of… I overcame that fear. So many people came up to me that night — or have DM’d me since — saying they came out because I did. Or that they came out as trans, and saying I inspired them to do that, which is… unreal.”
Though queer visibility in K-pop remains at a minimum, Lara says she’s determined to continue to use her newfound platform as an idol. “It was such a moment of ‘Wow. There is a genuine influence and impact that we can make,’” she says. “Our voice can actually inspire and help people do things, and feel more comfortable within themselves, which is a big responsibility, but I’m honored.”
While Katseye’s fans — affectionately known as Eyekons — flocked to show Lara their support, wider reactions to Lara’s coming out were mixed, with the Korea Herald describing her announcement as “shocking.” As an international group whose place in K-pop has been challenged since their debut, Katseye are no strangers to being anomalies in the industry, and Sophia says the group continues to lean on each other for support.
“I’m somebody who grew up in a house with a lot of people in it – my whole family, even my grandparents. I got used to having people at home, so coming here all the way from the Philippines, and not going home the entire time I was training and for the first half of Katseye…if I didn’t have this [the group], I don’t know how far I would’ve made it,” says Sophia.
“Being in this group and all living together, It’s forced us to learn to truly work with each other in different parts of our lives,” she admits. “This career is not just something we can clock in and clock out of. This is a lifestyle, this is something we have to learn how to implement into every single part of our lives. It’s really built our dynamic, and that bleeds into our work — when we make music, when we’re in rehearsals and when we’re performing.”
“We never have to cry in a room alone, ever. We always are going to have somebody there to support us, and that’s what’s really keeping us going.”
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