There’s been music in every season of MARTIN’s life—a soundtrack of ambition and nostalgia filling the 17-year-old’s world as he stands ready to debut.
Your debut’s just around the corner. [Note: This interview took place on July 19.]
MARTIN: It somehow feels like… everything’s moving so quickly right now? It still doesn’t feel real. I trained for a really long time and it was just the same routine every day. Then all of a sudden, I was slated for debut and making an album in the US. Everything changed in a flash.
What was your time in the US like?
MARTIN: I spent three months in LA last summer engrossed in making the album. I haven’t been to many different countries, but I got the sense that the people there live more free and easy. I ended up engrossed in that vibe as soon as I got there, and even the music I listened to started to change. That was when the Sabrina Carpenter song “Espresso” hit the “Billboard” chart. Her album wasn’t something I’d normally be into, but I liked it. I started widening my horizons and ended up listening to rock music more than I normally would, too.
How did your taste in music develop?
MARTIN: The first music I ever listened to were the pop songs from Korea and abroad that my mom played for me—stuff like Justin Bieber and Michael Jackson. Then there’s my dad, who introduced me to psychedelic rock. I think listening to everything from famous bands to indie ones gave me a good ear for things. I listened to a lot of Tame Impala, Pixies, and Nirvana. My dad actually played bass in a band back in the late ’80s and early ’90s. They weren’t super well-known or anything, but he says they were kind of a big deal around where they lived. (laughs)
No doubt all that had an impact on your own tastes.
MARTIN: My dad can play guitar, so I started learning it when I was little. I don’t play much these days, but I’ve always loved how the guitar sounds. I think it also influenced my fashion choices. What I wear changes depending on the music I listen to at that point in my life. When I was into the rock music my dad recommended, I wore skinny, punkish, grunge outfits. I listened to a lot of hip hop with everyone else when I became a trainee, so I rocked a lot of big, baggy clothes. These days, I’ve been leaning more toward slim and skinny stuff.
It sounds like music and fashion naturally became a big part of your life. How did you end up becoming a trainee under BIGHIT MUSIC?
MARTIN: My older sister’s a huge BTS fan. (laughs) She recommended this audition to me, and I was young and just wanted to give something new a try. Obviously I worked hard for the first audition, too, but from the second round on, I felt like I really had to make it and I’d head straight to the practice studio after school every day. The song I sang for my audition was “Baby” by Justin Bieber. That was when I was in fifth grade, and luckily I made the cut.
Is that also when you started learning how to make music?
MARTIN: A month or two after I joined, this other trainee who was a year younger than me asked if I wanted to try making some music. I didn’t start off making beats or anything, but I got really into writing raps and lyrics and then freestyling. It wasn’t so much about creating a finished product as it was about practicing together and just having fun bouncing ideas off each other. I ended up listening to a ton of hip hop from that, then moved onto taking rap lessons and learning how to record vocals. Then I started experimenting with recording with Cubase, which was on the computers at the label. It’d probably be so cringey if I listened to it now (laughs) but I think it also had something charming about it.
And then I guess you started to get a little bit more serious about it.
MARTIN: The label heard from my rap coach that I’d been working on stuff, and they asked me to submit some. They told me to write and send something every week and that they’d give me feedback whenever they had time. I was a new trainee and didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, so I put a lot of work into it. I worked on it all day, just like I trained all day. It wasn’t easy balancing it with training, but the label helped me out so I could do both at the same time.
It sounds like you spent your teens entirely wrapped up in making music and training.
MARTIN: The pandemic hit when I was in my first year of middle school, so we mostly had online classes. By the second year, we started up with in-person classes, and that’s when reality kind of hit me, like how hectic my life had become. I’d see messages in the group chat saying we should hang out after school, but by the time I saw them, it was already too late. (laughs) I ended up getting really close with my trainee friends since they were on the same schedule as me. We were busy practicing during the week, but we’d get together to work on music on the weekend if we had time off. We’d go into an empty room and make beats, and if we ended up with something cool, we’d even shoot makeshift music videos like a vlog. Then we’d go out to eat, grab some snacks, and come back to keep working. It was even more like a video game than an actual game. Getting to make music with them was so much fun, and that’s part of why I joined the label in the first place. There weren’t really other kids like me at my school. (laughs) There was something special to me about cultivating that kind of culture.
Some people prefer working solo on creative projects, but it sounds like you enjoyed collaborating from early on.
MARTIN: I actually used to be really introverted, but my MBTI changed to E, and I’ve become much better at communicating with others. All that experience is really helpful now when it comes to being the leader of our group and bringing everyone together. I felt like we were all getting a little burnt out lately, so I suggested we work on something random just for fun. It was brief, but it felt great. Our ideas clash sometimes, but that can also lead to new music, and before you know it, everything’s fine and we’re back to listening to music and having fun. I prefer working as a team than on my own.
CORTIS feels like a collaborative creative collective. And that extends beyond your music, too, like when you’re making choreography with JAMES taking the lead.
MARTIN: When we were working on the melody for ILLIT’s song “Magnetic,” JAMES was dancing right there. At one point, he did this one move, and the producer saw it and went, “That’s great!” Then they recorded it and ended up incorporating it into the choreography. Just like how I take the lead with producing but don’t do everything alone, we all work together to flesh out ideas for choreography, then JAMES combines them together. That’s kind of the way CORTIS works. It just feels natural for us to write even little pieces of lyrics together and to choreograph it while we’re working on the music.
How do you and the rest of the group usually go about swapping ideas?
MARTIN: If I send something I’ve been working on, usually SEONGHYEON adds on with, “What if you did this?” He says exactly what he’s thinking and sticks by his own style, not trying to copy anything or trying too hard to be cool. He sticks to what he personally likes. It’s refreshing and really awesome. KEONHO—he’s got a way of being clear and specific. He takes time to think things over and work out the details, so the insights he ends up sharing carry a lot of weight. I feel like he’s hugely helpful to the group every time he adds even one single thing.
You and JUHOON are the same age. What about him?
MARTIN: JUHOON was the last to join, and when he did, I was really happy. Things are great between SEONGHYEON and KEONHO and me now, but for a while there, it took a bit to find common ground between us since they’re younger. For example, when I was in my third year of middle school, they both had that “second-year syndrome.” (laughs) But JUHOON maintains a good balance and doesn’t lean too far in one direction. I’ve never seen him start something new and then give up soon after. When he wants to get good at something or he’s really serious about it, he’s in it till the end. He had a hard time finding enough energy when he first joined, but then he dealt with it by going all in on working out and eventually caught up. (laughs)
How do you think the group’s vibe is reflected in the album?
MARTIN: We focused on key ideas like the emotions we’re feeling, the situations we find ourselves in, and the things we want to say. “GO!” feels like a snapshot of our lifestyle, starting with us heading to the studio and showing our process. “GO!” and “FaSHioN” both pull from genres we love and combine those with K-pop choreography, which I think made them even better. When we were in the US, we explored different genres and sounds and tried a bunch of things, and tracks like “What You Want” and “JoyRide” feel influenced by that LA vibe. We worked on a mellower, softer, dreamier sound. We were super playful and always going out to experience and explore the world around us when we were in LA, even more than now. So “What You Want” really does reflect what we want.
The group’s collaborative style really seems to come across in the music of the final track, “Lullaby.”
MARTIN: We wrote that song at our little hideaway—a spot near Yongsan where we all work together. One morning, I asked KEONHO, “What’s something new and fun we could try? What’s an interesting genre to try out?” And he suggested jazz. Since we don’t have a jazz background, we just messed around, trying to figure it out as we went, but it didn’t quite click, so we shelved it. Then, there was a song camp later in the evening, and producer Supreme Boi asked if we had any tracks we worked on, so we played that one for him and he suggested we write a melody for it. We made revisions to it later on, but the song really comes down to the groove we were in then. We added in the can sound while working it out as a group, and the “I GOT WORK” part was originally a chant JAMES came up with to wake some of the boys up. (laughs)
CORTIS’ playful energy really seems to sneak into the music everywhere. You even give KEONHO a shout-out in “FaSHioN.” (laughs)
MARTIN: We were focused on the music while making that song, then we tried to make the lyrics ridiculous and silly on purpose. (laughs) When we’re buying clothes, we’ll say stuff like, “That would look better on me,” or “That’s totally me,” or “Looks good. Nice choice.” Fashion is what makes a first impression for you. Even if you’re not great at picking out clothes, trying something unique or figuring out your own vibe can make you think, “How am I feeling today? Do I feel like wearing something colorful or something dark?” Even if you wear black, that doesn’t mean you’re feeling dark, though. Fashion can even make you a pioneer of an era or a representative of a generation. As I got more into the way I look, things that used to seem weird started looking unique or different in a good way.
Your group seems to know exactly what you want to show people with your music, fashion choices, performance, and videos.
MARTIN: I think whenever you try something new, there’s always going to be some pressure that comes with it. You can’t expect everyone to love it from the start. But as we break through bit by bit, I’d love it if people connected with our music and fashion sense and it started a kind of culture around it. If we stick to what feels natural and comfortable to us, we’ll leave our special mark on some people. And I want to keep trying new things while doing so.
You actually have some well-known collaborations under your belt, like TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s “Deja Vu” and ILLIT’s “Magnetic.” Those must’ve been a totally different kind of experience since those tracks were released for the whole world to hear.
MARTIN: I was lucky to get the chance to work on those projects. Even after the songs were released, I told myself to stay focused on my own work and didn’t check the charts or anything like that. Then one day, my dad called me and told me “Magnetic” made it onto the “Billboard” charts. I was so proud, but I tried to stay humble by reminding myself to focus on my own path. Actually, I saw my royalties for the first time while in LA. I practically fell over when I saw that. (laughs) I remember calling my mom, totally shocked, but I ended up saving the money and only spending it on music equipment. (laughs)
You’ve been racing toward this goal since you were young. How have you kept yourself focused like that throughout such a challenging journey?
MARTIN: There’s this interview where Kurt Cobain talks about the beauty of vintage clothing that really resonated with me. There’s just something so satisfying about digging through endless clothes and coming across a gem, you know? For me, it’s also about cherishing the little things in life, whether that’s going on a walk, riding bikes, or playing basketball. And I don’t think I’m that different from my friends who go to school, because when you’re on a journey to achieve a goal, you can’t really go through the process half-heartedly. I keep the idea of yin and yang in mind and change my mindset if I’m in a situation I can’t change. You have to go through a lot to get what you want, and even when you achieve your goal, there’s still going to be things you absolutely don’t want to deal with.
And what’s the goal you’re aiming towards?
MARTIN: Right now, my goal is, of course, to debut. I want to debut in the most tip-top shape possible, both physically and skill-wise, and then work my way toward achieving my other goals, from small to large. Right now, I just want to perform in front of people and become well-known. I want to perform our songs, have fun onstage, and connect with fans through music. It’s so cool to me how you can share in each other’s feelings without having to say a word. I’d be thrilled to get up on any stage. Just thinking about it makes me so excited.
It reminds me of your line in “What You Want”—“17 years of my life / Chased after fame.”
MARTIN: To me, fame doesn’t just mean being well-known—it’s about leaving something behind so people remember your name. I want to start out as a small focal point and then gradually lead into a culture that can spread. I have this strong desire to shake things up. It’s a really tough dream, and I don’t know if I can make it come true, but… who knows? You’ve got to give it a shot, right? (laughs) I think I just wanted to be an extraordinary person ever since I was a kid. I’ve always wanted to leave my mark on people’s memories. There’s no special reason behind it. I just… want to be some guy who’s got something. (laughs)