There are K-Pop fans across the globe who share the same passion. But on online platforms, it is hard to know about each other’s stories and K-Pop life. Even if we are in the same fandom, it is hard to get to know each other. So at Kpopmap, we started the Kpopmap Fan Interview Project to get to know more about K-Pop fans from different countries: more about their K-Pop life and tastes and to give them the opportunity to share with our readers about their favorite group(s) and bias.   Tia from Europe is the next fan to answer our questions. She is a fan of TRI.BE and more particularly of Mire! Check out how she entered the fandom, the songs and content she advises to new fans, and much more!   Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from? Hello everyone! My name is Tia and I’m from Europe. I’m a fan of K-Pop since 2020 and I listen to girl groups. My all time favorite group is TRI.BE, so I want to talk about them today in this interview since they are so special to me!   How and when did you enter the fandom? I entered the fandom in 2021! I wanted to find some new groups to listen to so I searched up “K-Pop Girl Groups Debuting in 2021” on TikTok. The video I watched included a lot of new groups, but as soon as i saw a pre-debut picure of TRI.BE, I just knew I wanted to stan them, I had a feeling I would adore them. I wasn’t wrong. Indeed, they instantly became my favorite group in the whole world. At the time, they just released ‘Con Migo’ so they kind of marked my whole summer of 2021!   What are the reasons why you love your favorite group? There are so many reasons I could never say all of them! One of the reasons is that they are very unique, if you ask me! From their songs and concepts, to the amazing talents. Their dancing is so energetic and I find their vocals so charismatic. This, of course, makes their performances so amazing~ I really feel like they know what they are doing. They own the stage from the moment they step on it. Also their stage presence and facial expressions are so on point. They amaze me every single time all over again!   Who caught your attention at first and why? Even though they were all eye catching with their looks, outfits and poses, I have to admit the first one that caught my eye was their maknae, Mire! She was the only one with short hair so I memorized her first, and the red color of her hair was so beautiful to me!   Who is your bias, and why? My bias is Mire! Although it was hard to pick, when I saw Mire, I knew she was gonna be my bias. Since i noticed her first, she also reminds me of when I first saw TRI.BE. She is my bias because of so many reasons honestly… Firstly, we are almost the same age (I’m 2 years younger TT) so it’s a lot easier for me to relate to her because of that! I really look up to her, she is so young yet so incredibly talented and capeable! Can you imagine that she was only 14 when she made her debut in TRI.BE?! She impressed me because she was only a trainee for 6 months, which can take some people years or decades. She is also Japanese but she learned Korean with help of the other members and she is so good in my opinion! These are only some things that I find inspiring of course. In general, she seems so nice,funny and kind~ I love her personality… I can just say she is a real role model for me and her talents encourage me not to give up on myself!   Can you recommend a title track and a B-side track for new fans? I really love all of their title tracks! For this one, I would say ‘KISS’, though I would like it even more with JinHa who sadly didn’t promote 🙁 this song is really perfect for TRI.BE if you ask me!   And for the B-side, my answer is ‘LORO’, also my number 1 song! It’s so energetic and I especially love the last part of the song. It’s such a vibe I could listen to it all day long!   Can you recommend a fancam, V Live, cover video, cover dance, or individual content video of your bias to our readers? A V Live I recommend is “Let’s play with Mire in the practice room” (11-15-2021). She is just having some fun in the practice room and the other girls occasionally join in too! Her birthday lives are also fun 🙂

  A cover i recommend is ‘Hello Future’ by NCT Dream and for content, I like her vlog in Japan :))!

  Can you also do the same type of recommendation for the group? I really like TRI.BE’s cover of EXO’s ‘Love Me Right’ and EXID medley. They all do mini vocal covers on TikTok as well, the covers are usually about a minute long but I love hearing them sing songs that they pick. The content I enjoy is when they switch their choreography with each other and try doing another members part! They always have lots of fun together but they also do a wonderful job~ I love their “It’s Live” group fancams since it’s really good quality and it includes all of the members. They also have a band that plays their songs to make things even more interesting!

  Can you share with us one of your favorite lyrics? My favorite lyrics are from ‘Got Your Back’: “아무 말 없이 난 그냥 네 뒤에 서 있을게 언제나 모든 순간순간에 네 편이 되어 줄 거야” It translates to “Without a word, I’ll just stand behind you always I will be by your side in every moment”. It makes me feel like TRI.BE is always with TRUEs! These lyrics sound so emotional but also very encouraging to me!   Are there any words from the members you would like to share? While TRI.BE was recording for their album “VENI VIDI VICI”, the girls were filming the process. When it was Kelly’s turn to film she said: “I want to send a message to TRUE, that TRI.BE will always be by your side.” After that Jia said: “If you ever feel lonely, TRI.BE is always here, I GOT YOUR BACK!” in the studio before recording her lines!   What is your favorite group/bias’ influence on your daily life? TRI.BE is such a big inspiration to me! The girls are like role models to me and I love them all so much! They are all equally unique and special to me. They motivate me to follow my dreams, to never give up and try hard for what I want. There are days that I feel like I can’t do anything, but TRI.BE always reminds me I should keep going even when life gets hard. I’m often really sad, only bad things and problems are on my mind, but when I watch the girls film and perform, those 5 minutes I forget about everything that bothers me in the world… The only emotions I feel are joy and happiness, so they are also a huge emotional support. There are days when TRI.BE is the only thing keeping me up, and I’m so thankful for that, even though this interview is not nearly enough to express how much they really mean to me, I tried my best to share at least a bit of my love with them and the readers here! For things like those and a million more, I’ll forever be thankful to TRI.BE!   What type of concept do you prefer: cute, dark, sexy, etc? I don’t prefer only 1 concept. For me it depends on the group. TRI.BE always does their powerful concept so well, but I also liked their cute concept in ‘We Baby Bears’! I think both concepts are done perfectly by TRI.BE!   What is your best souvenir with your favorite group until now? Some members of TRI.BE interacted and replied or liked my comments and posts on Weverse! HyunBin left a comment on my post, SongSun and SoEun replied to my comments and Jia liked a birthday message I wrote her. While it might not be a big deal to some, it made me so happy!   Can you share with readers the first ever picture you’ve saved of your bias on your phone? The first picture I ever saved of Mire was her “Con Migo” teaser! For me, my bias is … The best!   Can you recommend a cute or funny video (30s)/gif of your bias to our readers? I have a little part from an episode of “TRI.VITAMIN” saved where Mire really made me laugh :D.   What’s your favourite 2022 moment involving your bias? My favorite moment with Mire in 2022 would have to be the “LEVIOSA” showcase where they all had so much fun but also bonded with fans. They were also so emotional, especially during the last song, ‘TRUE’! I only watched the live online but it was still incredible!   What is a random fact that you think people don’t know about them? Mire really loves Doraemon 🙂 Also during a “KISS AMA (Ask Me Anything)” session on Reddit, she said her favorite thing from Costco is the cheesecake haha!   If you could spend the day with them, what would you want to do together? If I could spend a day with Mire, I think I would like to go somewhere fun, like an amusement park for example!   Can you recall a moment where you cried/laughed with your bias? I cried because I really wished I could meet TRI.BE in person…   Name 1 quality in your bias that you wish you had. I think the quality Mire has that I would also like to have is the amazing dancing skills!   What is your favorite side of fangirling/fanboying? My favorite side of fangirling… One of my most favorite sides is how I’ve seen TRI.BE’s pictures and videos so many times. Still, whenever they get mentioned in a post, an article or if there’s anything about them, I smile harder, get happier and more excited regardless! No matter how many times someone mentions them I’d always be so happy to see other fans :).   Do you feel there are any misunderstandings, things that are not well known, or any prejudices about your favorite group from other fans (non-fans)? The most common misunderstanding is that the group name TRI.BE is problematic, so I wanna explain why it’s not like that at all. People say so because they think it’s similar to the word “tribe” but in reality it’s completely different! The pronounciation is “try-bee”, so it doesn’t sound similar, and it has a meaning - TRI stands for triangle, a perfect shape. One of their pre-debut nicknames was, in fact, “triangle”. BE stands for the verb “to be” or a symbol of existence. That makes the meaning of TRI.BE to be “perfect existence”!   Tia’s message for TRI.BE: Hello TRI.BE! My name is Tia and I’m a Europian TRUE! I hope you are all doing well~ I am writing this letter to let you know how special you are to me. The first time I heard about TRI.BE was last year when I listened to ‘DOOM DOOM TA’, I was amazed when I saw all of you can dance and sing so well. From that day onwards, TRI.BE became my most favorite group in the whole world:) You don’t know how important you are to me… You make me laugh when I’m sad, you’re the reason I never give up <3. Because of TRI.BE, I wake up everyday wanting to try my best in everything I do. Because of TRI.BE, I’m still following my dreams today~ You taught me to be brave and to enjoy my life, but every moment is even better when I share it with you💓. I love the performances you do, I love your charismatic vocals and energetic dance moves… I always wish I could see it live, that I could see you perform myself. Then I would be the happiest… I’m having a rough time with a lot of things right now but watching TRI.BE’s videos help so much. In those 5 minutes, I forget about everything that ever bothered me. The only emotion I feel is joy❤. I’m thankful for moments like those that I will forever cherish and will never forget. I will always remember how much you helped me and meant to me, and you still do<3. TRI.BE means to me more with every new memory we make together, TRI.BE and TRUE! I always wanted to get a signature or a polaroid. It would make me feel like I have a small piece of love with me at all times💕. I was 12 when I found out about TRI.BE. Now, I’m turning 14 in a few months :). Remember that TRUE loves you and will always be with you, and I will always be one of them too!🌙 Maybe you will never see this but I still want to say thank you for making me so happy and for making me believe in myself. I tried to tell you how much we all love you, me and millions of other TRUEs, so you would know you are never alone, we are a team💕. I hope we will go through many more happy moments and make new memories together! I will always work hard to support you all in any way I could. Because of these and a million more reasons, I will never forget SongSun, Kelly, JinHa, HyunBin, Jia, SoEun and Mire… I love you all ❤❤. Thank you for answering our questions, Tia.   If you are interested in joining Kpopmap Fan Interview Project, please get in touch with us at [email protected] Everyone is welcome to participate.  

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