The latest group by HYBE X Geffen Records (“HxG”) KATSEYE’s “Touch” is mashed up with “Gee” by Girls’ Generation, which was a mega-hit in Korea in 2009, per producer E-TRIBEs suggestion. We talked to HxG Head of Creative Production Head Creative Producer Jay Ihn and Marketing Team Digital Marketing Manager Nicole Chun on the behind-the-scenes of the mash-up project of “Gee” and “Touch” - two songs that captured the complex and subtle feelings of a girl in love, and therefore captured the hearts of the millennials and Gen Zs respectively.

What was your first impressions of the “Touch X Gee” mash-up?
Jay Ihn: When I first listened to “Touch” in the process of producing the debut album SIS (Soft Is Strong), I thought that there would almost be no learning curve for both K-pop and local American pop listeners, which made it the perfect song for KATSEYE. Some people thought the song reminded them of “Gee” which is an iconic song in the history of K-pop. When I first heard producer E-TRIBE’s mash-up, I felt the two songs worked very well together. We’ve been holding music-related sessions with the artists to expand their musical horizon and share ideas. In one of the sessions on the history of K-pop, we felt that KATSEYE members were already very familiar with K-pop from across a long span of time and were eager to know more. Some members even sang along and danced the highlight of the choreo when we played “Gee.” (laughs) I think that’s why KATSEYE members were pleasantly surprised by it and quickly embraced the track. I personally felt that this mash-up is a sort of bridge between one chapter of K-pop and the next chapter of pop, transcending time and space.

“Gee” and “Touch” both have addictive highlight moves - what was your focus when creating the performance for the mash-up?
Jay Ihn: Our performance team's ultimate goal was to create a subtle, yet iconic section in a performance that is essentially fun. We kept the original crab leg dance which is the highlight in “Gee” and the arm pumping moves and added some other moves from “Touch” to create a 2024 version of “Gee.” 

Girls' Generation and KATSEYE have begun to communicate after Sooyoung shared the mash-up on her Instagram. What do you think is the significance of this “meet up” between the symbolic K-pop artist and a group that was produced locally in the States?
Jay Ihn: First of all, I think it’s a great honor to get a shout-out from the original artist of one of the songs in the mash-up. As soon as we saw Sooyoung’s Instagram Story, our HxG Digital Team contacted her to ask if we could Regram her post indefinitely. We were really grateful to Sooyoung and very happy. (Laughs) We have come at an age where K-pop that began in Korea has now become more than a global phenomenon, and we have started to embark on a new challenge by reexporting the methodologies on artist and content development all around the world. And I believe that a bold project like KATSEYE was possible thanks to the many prominent artists and producers in the K-pop industry who have paved the way before us. I believe that the creative collaboration between Girls' Generation who have left a significant mark on K-pop history, and KATSEYE who have only just started their journey will provide a wonderful opportunity for introducing KATSEYE and “Touch” to the fans of Girls' Generation and “Gee.” I hope that KATSEYE can collaborate on more projects with Sooyoung and Girls' Generation going forward.

Nicole Chun: From the training the members received before debuting down to marketing and promoting - we were very much inspired by K-pop and its methodologies at every level. Without the K-pop know-hows KATSEYE might not have been able to exist as they are today. The “Touch X Gee” mash-up is meaningful in the sense that KATSEYE is expressing their respect for K-pop artists like Girls' Generation. It was a huge honor that we were acknowledged by one of K-pop’s most iconic artists and original singer, Sooyoung of Girls' Generation. It’s like KATSEYE received a seal of approval. (laughs)

What were your expectations from the “Touch X Gee” mash-up challenge?
Jay Ihn: We wanted to bring the same inspiration and joy from listening to fresh new music to the people who experienced the “Gee” sensation at the time, and we wanted the later generation to get a taste of how legendary it was back then while enjoying fresh new content. Ultimately, we would be very happy if this mash-up can bring people to share their stories and experiences related to “Gee” and “Touch.”

Nicole Chun: We’ve learned that KATSEYE has gotten a huge influx of followers on social media, especially on TikTok, which led to KATSEYE's short form content reaching many more users. We wanted to bring more TikTok challenges that short form users can participate in a month after “Touch” was released. It was also right before KATSEYE was slated to start their promotional activities in Korea, so we chose to release the “Touch X Gee” before that. We hope that we can reach more fans who love K-pop and Girls' Generation with this release.

I’ve noticed that there were many more mash-up projects besides “Touch X Gee” featuring songs from a wide range of genres and time periods. Is there a particular reason for choosing mash-up projects as a marketing strategy?
Nicole Chun: We have been looking for ways to extend the lifespan of “Touch” using marketing strategies. The number of streamings for “Touch” was skyrocketing, so it was very important for us to maintain that momentum. Many artists produce remixes, mash-ups, or new versions of their songs featuring different artists to keep their songs relevant for longer. We wanted to use those similar strategies, but also using social media to release different mash-ups. E-TRIBE was very open to KATSEYE members’ input in creating the mash-up, and the members shared what sort of songs they would like their songs to be mashed-up with. Lara who has producing experience was influenced by the Jersey Club style to create her own mash-up, while it was Daniela and Yoonchae’s idea to do Nelly’s “Dilemma” remix and Rihanna’s “Unfaithful” remix, both of which were released on social media along with the “Touch X Gee” mash-up.

Jay Ihn: We thought that “Touch” had a lot of strengths that we could tap into on short form platforms even from the early planning stages of SIS (Soft Is Strong).  Musically speaking, mashing-up is a way to produce endless secondary creations using music from any time period or genre. We hope that mash-ups can provide the opportunity for the general public to grow closer to KATSEYE and “Touch” on short form platforms which is essentially a playground for fans, content creators and connoisseurs. KATSEYE members had a lot of ideas for mash-ups and remixes - we were sold from the get go after listening to Lara’s Jersey Club remix.  We want to keep creating new content for the public including remixes and mash-ups, and we hope that you get to listen to mash-ups that even we couldn’t think of.