KATSEYE on Being Underrated, Lexapro, & Hating Babies (Kind Of)

Welcome to mixed feelings’ Hyperspecific, a profile series of increasingly intimate questions in which we ask our favorite artists, scientists, musicians, and the like to unveil their innermost selves — their weird existential musings.

There’s one thing I can say with absolute certainty, having met the members of KATSEYE three times now for various interviews and shoots:

Every single one of these girls has silly-ass, goofy-ass starpower.

Whether you’ve watched every episode of the hit Netflix series that launched their careers — Pop Star Academy: KATSEYE — is irrelevant. Sophia, Megan, Lara, Manon, Yoonchae, and Daniela could all have solo pop careers if they wanted, they’re what the theater community calls “triple threats”: they can sing, dance, and kill with onstage charisma.

But, as we all know, they are strongest together. Their friendships and shared ambition are felt in every snippet or clip we see of them, which is why quite literally every video we see of them goes viral.

With their newest EP “BEAUTIFUL CHAOS” coming tomorrow, June 27, we’re seeing a successful reinvention of their pop identity in real time. “Gnarly,” the edgy, viral hit with choreography that lives en permanence in our brains, launched a departure from their sweet, bubbly debut era, and after some hemming and hawing, the fans have welcomed it with open arms (myself, included).

Rather than sit with our hands under our butts for the new release, dive into our Hyperspecific interview with them, where they go off on how much they love Alex Consani, cooked spinach (why), and Sex and the ShittyCity, among a million other things. — Amalie MacGowan

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

LEVEL I

1. Something you’re always hoping people bring up in conversation when you first meet.
   Daniela: Me! Just kidding…
   Megan: But I guess my life so I can talk about it?
   Daniela: You want people to ask you questions about you and not just talk about themselves the entire time.
   Megan: I like when people ask about my hair because then I can be like, “well, actually I'm in a girl group and that's why my hair is like this.” And then I can go into it.

2. A positive trait people always tell you you have.
   Sophia: Bubbly!
   Daniela: I get that I’m very kind.
   Megan: I get that I’m very emotional.
   Manon: I like when people say that I’m funny and thoughtful because I’m l like, “Oh yay, you’re laughing.”
   Sophia: That’s one of my favorite compliments.
   Daniela: Or like [if they say] “you smell good."

   Lara: What I get a lot — and I love when people say — [is] that I’m confident. I love hearing that, but also funny.

3. One destructive trait you know you possess and wish you didn’t.
   Megan: I get scared of going out of my comfort zone, so I just don’t.
   Manon: For me it’s overthinking stuff. I wish I could just chill a bit more sometimes. Because I assume things when I don’t know the answer. It’s not very peaceful for the brain.
   Sophia: I think I’m a combination of both where I overthink and it also causes me to not go out of my comfort zone. I’m such a perfectionist and I see life a certain way for myself. I have such a clear vision for myself and it has done me so good but it can also hold me back sometimes.
   Lara: I kinda feel the opposite. I feel like I’m a little too impulsive sometimes. Also, I wish I didn’t do this [but] I define myself worth off of success.
   Sophia: But it’s a journey to learn that.
   Lara: But I don’t want to value myself fully off of just what I do.
   Sophia: You have a lot to offer, so it won’t be hard to find.

   Daniela: With my ADHD I get very distracted and I can’t finish one task completely. I try to multitask but I can’t do it. That and my perfectionism. I’m very nitpicky with everything that I do. If I don’t get it perfect I get so mad at myself and tear myself down for it.
   Yoonchae: For me, I’m really bad at multitasking. Like when I do something and Sophia talks to me, I can’t listen and I just ignore her.
   Sophia: We’re like that to each other and we get pissed at each other! She yells at me. She’ll be like “Sophia, Sophia!” And she gets mad.

4. If a bodega were to name a dish after you, what would it be? (Be specific.)
   Megan: Obviously it would be a sandwich.
   Sophia: The perfect club sandwich.
   Megan: Mayonnaise.
   Sophia: Fried chicken…Cheese!
   Lara: Can we put some spinach in there for me? Cooked spinach with garlic.
   Sophia: A boba tea matcha.
   Megan: And then garlic aioli.
   Sophia: And some cheese.
   Megan: We already said cheese!
   Sophia: But nobody reacted when I said cheese.
   All: Oh cheese! Wooo!

5. One song that makes you feel understood.
   Manon: “Miss Understood” by Little Simz.
   Sophia: “My Way.”

   Megan: “Lunch” by Billie Eilish. *giggles*
   All: “Lunch” by Billie Eilish!
   Lara: That’s going to start so many rumors!

6. Something you think is wildly underrated.
   Sophia: KATSEYE! No, actually! Don’t underestimate us.
   Megan: Yoonchae! Don’t underestimate her.
   Sophia: She may be the youngest, but don’t underestimate her. She won’t fall for such folly.

LEVEL II

1. A movie/tv show you watch when you want to self-soothe.
   Manon: Twilight. Every day. All day.
   Megan: Sex and the Shitty City.
   Daniela: Hey! I was going to say that!
   Lara: I love Sex and the City and also I just finished White Lotus. I love that show so much. And I’m starting Severance. I’m hoping that can become my new comfort show when I want to do nothing and pay attention to something else.
   Sophia: I’m such a re-watcher. I love to rewatch my childhood favorite shows. I’m always on Disney Plus watching Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly Place. It’s like my personality.
   Lara: She’s so Hannah Montana.
   Sophia: I’m so connected to my inner child so that stuff is so soothing. Like I love Tangled, I love Princess Diaries.
   Daniela: I’m watching SpongeBob.

2. Who is your favorite chronically-online personality?
   Sophia: Alex Consani!
   Lara: And Quen [Blackwell], I love Quen, she’s so funny. Alex is really funny though.
   Sophia: I love the one when she’s holding the water going “lifestyle.” Or the one where she was with Troye Sivan and was like “bap bap bap!” Or the one where she’s by the tree singing “where have you been?”
   Daniela: I think the one with her knees and she’s wearing the yellow wig.
   Sophia: And she has that new one where she’s like “Francais!”

   

   @captincroookWhen they be giving me the fancy wayer

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3. What’s the first fandom you lost yourself in…
   Manon: BeyHive.
   Daniela: Vamp…Playboi Carti.
   Megan and Lara: Yeah, Vamp.
   Sophia: Like the first one ever was, like, Directioners.
   Manon: Oh, hell yeah.
   Megan: I wasn’t really part of a big fandom until I got into the Opium and YVL. I like really tapped in. I dyed my hair red!
   Sophia: BTS ARMY, too, was like a rabbit hole [straight] into the ground.
   Lara: I was an Arianator.
   Sophia: I am an Arianator.
   Lara: I still am an Arianator.
   Manon: Belieber!!!

   All: [agreeing] Belieber!!!

4. Something you bought recently after LOTS of research.
   Megan: I just recently got a Dyson, literally two days ago.
   Lara: She won’t stop talking about it!
   Megan: I won’t stop talking about it because I always used to use Sophia’s and I was like “ugh, I have to get [one].” And it was on sale at Costco!
   Manon: Okay, backstory. Whenever I get nervous my hands get really sweaty and I hate it so much…So I bought this really expensive device that you put your hands in. You basically [zap] yourself with ionized water. It stops your hands from getting sweaty at all.
   Lara: I bought tabis after lots of research. It’s like the basic ballet flat with the very little heel.
   Daniela: I recently got a cute purse that I had to do so so much [research on]. I just really wanted a designer purse. I’ve never had one before.
   Sophia: Adult purchases!

5. What fictional world would you want to live in and why?
   All: Avatar!
   Megan: The one from Sharkboy and Lava Girl.
   Sophia: I want to be in Nowhere Land.
   Yoonchae: I really want to be in Spider-Man.
   Lara: I want to be in Harry Potter!

6. What’s the most random thing you have in your home that always requires explanation?
   Manon: Honestly, probably that thing I use for my hands.
   Megan: I have something! I have a picture frame but in this picture frame I didn’t print a picture so I just have a picture of Nicki Minaj. It’s just her in front of an American flag.

LEVEL III

1. What’s an anecdote you usually tell to describe how you were as a kid?
   Megan: So, this is a story where at the end of the story you’ll realize how not smart I was as a child. So I grew up in Hawaii and I had an older brother and we used to fight all the time. We were at our country club and we were playing tag. And to get away from my brother, I jumped in the pool and I didn't know how to swim. So my dad had to belly flop into the pool! I literally have a vivid memory of him [doing that.] Thanks, Dad. Love you.
   Lara: Well you know, I'm Asian. So my parents made me go to Kumon. And my sister, she is a scholar, straight A’s, went to Kumon…Rhea is really smart, but for me, I hate school. I was not good at it, especially when I was little. I once sat in a Kumon parking lot — I was six-years-old — and I refused to go. I was sitting in front of moving cars and I sat criss-cross applesauce and I was like, “Mom, I'm not going.” I stood my ground and she tried to pick me up and I was like “no.” So she had to pull me out of Kumon and I never went back.
   Sophia: I'm a yapper and I love to spill tea and tell people things. I would update people about everything and anything and so everybody in the family called me CNN growing up. Every time I walked into the dining room they were like “CNN's here. What do you have to say?”

2. What is your low-key hell and actual heaven?
   Manon: Work a 9-5. No shade to anyone, but knowing us and our personalities, we would get fired within the day. And then we’re living our heaven already.

3. What is your most unhinged coping mechanism?
   Megan: Lexapro.
   Sophia: What’s that?
   Megan: My medicine…like, my anti-anxiety medicine.
   Sophia: Good for you!
   Lara: I think that’s it!

4. Random thing you hate so much for no apparent reason.
   Daniela: I just hate when people are slow walkers or slow drivers. I’m like, “Can you just move?”
   Sophia: I remember one time we ate dinner out, [Megan], me, and Dani. I was driving with Megan and we were behind Dani. Once the light turned green, she went VROOOOOM.
   Daniela: That’s my car! It accelerates fast!
   Manon: One thing I cannot stand and I need to work on it, is when people are like “Oh my god, I need to tell you something,” and then they take so long to tell you.
   All: YOU DO THAT!
   Manon: And then they start telling it but they take so long to get to the point. Just give me the info.
   Lara: My thing, and you can get this out if it’s too mean, but I hate babies. I think that as I grow up I’ll start to like them more. And when I meet babies that are Eyekons they are so cute…And I’m like “oh my god, maybe I do want a baby some day.”
   Sophia: But I’ve seen her with a baby and I saw your motherly instinct. She started singing to the baby!
   Lara: Really? Because I feel like I’m so awkward with a baby and the baby doesn’t like me. I feel like we can be cool, we can be friends…
   Sophia: She’s treating the baby like she’s also nineteen.
   Daniela: I hate when people say something and I’m like “wait what?” because I didn’t hear and they’re like “oh, nothing!” I’m like “you tell me right now, no matter how serious it is.”
   Megan: Dani had a talk with all of us saying we can’t do that anymore.
   Sophia: And I do it all the time. Sometimes I do it to Dani just to piss her off.

5. How you exit a party.
   Manon: Irish goodbye. Because once my social battery runs out I will be calling myself an Uber and no one will know. And the next morning I’ll say “I had a great time.”
   Megan: I feel like I’m one of two. I either leave early or I’m the last one to leave.
   Daniela: It depends what kind of party it is. If it’s a family thing then I’ll say “bye” to everyone, but if it’s a random house party I’ll just dip.
   Lara: I make my rounds I have to say “bye” to everyone.
   Sophia: Me too! We’re the same. I feel like I can’t just leave. You need to know that I’m gone and miss me.

6. How you wanna go (either un-seriously or seriously).
   Lara: I would love to have a cinematic unaliving.
   Manon: Maybe by like taking a bullet for someone or saving a kindergarten or something.
   Lara: I want to say some stupid shit…like skydiving…or something with powers.
   Megan: It’s like when Iron Man was like “I am inevitable,” unalived Thanos and saved the entire Marvel universe.