It’s a Tuesday in early spring, and the young women in IVE are gathered in what appears to be a warehouse turned studio near L.A.’s Arts District for a Vevo Studios shoot. The performers gather around a monitor playing back their most recent take. They watch the screen intently as makeup artists and hair stylists give quick touch ups.
Earlier this year, the girl group put out their second studio album, Revive+. The six-member outfit, comprising members Yujin, Wonyoung, Gaeul, Rei, Liz and Leeseo, kicked off their new era with the pre-release single “Bang Bang,” one of the two songs they’re performing for Vevo.
There’s little downtime, with the group performing several takes of them singing and dancing live for the cameras, but the members of IVE find a few moments of rest. In those moments, they look less like the global superstars they undoubtedly are, and more like the young women they also are — playing with their phones and chatting amongst each other during their brief breaks.
“We’re so enthusiastic,” says Wonyoung about being in Los Angeles. It’s hours later, and we’ve gathered in the basement of Live Nation’s Beverly Hills office. “We really love working in L.A., so we’re really happy.”
At just 21 years old, Wonyoung has been an active K-pop idol for eight years, having won popular Korean music competition series Produce 48 at the age of 14 and joining the temporary girl group Iz*One, alongside fellow IVE member and the group’s leader, Yujin. The now-22-year-old was only a year older than her.
IVE had plenty going for themselves as group when their first single “Eleven” was released in 2021 — two K-pop veterans with Wonyoung and Yujin, a powerhouse vocalist with the now 21-year-old Liz, a skilled rapper and songwriter with now 23-year-old Gaeul, a charismatic and charming rapper with the now 22-year-old Rei and an adorable singer and youngest member with the now 19-year-old Leeseo. It should come as no the surprise the group was a near-instant success.
The group dominated domestic charts and toured the world, but they’re still getting new experiences, much like this Vevo shoot. “This is the first time that we’ve done anything like this in the U.S.,” Rei says. The rapper, perhaps IVE’s most online member, admits she’s watched other performances from the series online and the studio was smaller than she expected it to be.
“We’ve done a lot of performances in Korea and filmed videos of ‘Bang Bang’ a lot,” she continues. “But it was a special performance.”
Now, the group is back in the U.S. for their Show What I Am world tour, which lands Saturday (Aug. 1) in L.A. The group will return to the Kia Forum after last performing at the arena in 2024. The group comes back with new performances, including solo stages from each member — a continuation of the group’s decision to each have a solo song on Revive+.
Below, IVE speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about their latest music, touring, the realities of being a K-pop idol and what they’ve learned from one another.
Can you tell me about your most recent single “Bang Bang?”
GAEUL “Bang Bang” symbolizes a new start for us, just like the title of our album, Revive+.
Do you feel a pressure to try new things ever?
WONYOUNG More than a pressure, we really feel excited and like [there’s] a happy virus thing inside of us. [It’s] really less [about pressure] and more that [these] six girls can do it.
Rei, Gaeul, Jang Wonyoung, An Yujin, Leeseo and Liz of IVE attend the media showcase for IVE’s second full-length album ‘Revive+’ on February 23, 2026 at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
HLL/Imazins via Getty Images
You’ve been together for a while now. Do you feel anything has shifted for you as performers or as people? Does being an idol get any easier for you as time goes on?
LIZ Inwardly, I don’t feel much different from when I was a student. I think because we did have to start working earlier on, we were able to reflect on that and learn new things.
Leeseo, I’m particularly interested in hearing your experience with this. A lot of people your age are just starting to think about what the rest of their life looks like. You’ve already had a career for quite a long time now. How are you feeling about where you’re at right now?
LEESEO Sometimes I do want to live a normal life like other people my age, but I feel like with the five members I have, this team, is just so fun. I’m really glad that I’m in IVE. I’m really satisfied with the music and the vibe of our group, so I’m really excited for the future.
Your music has definitely evolved alongside you. Do you ever feel any anxiety or any excitement about trying new things? Do you have worries about losing the spark of what makes your music work for you if you try these new things?
YUJIN Especially with “Bang Bang,” I was kind of worried because it really was a new genre that we haven’t tried before. But it got so much more attention and love than we thought [it would], so I think it’s worth it. We try hard to make our performances better and better, so I feel proud.
Success tends to come with more eyes on you, whether that be fans or the general public. You’re young women — a lot of people are given more grace be young and do things, but everything you do is often looked at pretty critically. Do you ever feel misundersood? Do you ever wish people could see you differently?
LIZ Something that I would want to do if there wasn’t so much pressure is freely travel and go about my everyday life. But with all the love that we receive, there’s risks that inevitably come with it, so I think it’s something that we have to accept. Many people can think what they want and they have their own impression of what IVE is. But if you end up caring about all of those opinions, then you can’t live your own life. We try not to care too much about what these other people think and just keep going.
GAEUL There’s a lot of misunderstandings and some things can not be in our favor, but we still try our best in our own way. We believe that if we just keep doing what we want to do, then we’ll be able to go our own way.
IVE members Rei, Gaeul, Jang Wonyoung, An Yujin, Leeseo and Liz.
The Chosunilbo JNS/Imazins via Getty Images)
Is there anything about how you all are together that would surprise people?
WONYOUNG Maybe audiences see us on stage or during performance and [think] we’re [just] professional. But we’re just six girls or high school girlies, so that’s a fun part [of us people don’t get to see]. All versions of IVE might be a surprise, in a good way, because we’re just girls.
You’re getting ready to go back out on tour. What does preparation look like?
YUJIN I have such a good memories from our last tour. I really had fun, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m preparing a lot of medicine, so I don’t get a cold.
Is there something your teammates have made you better at over the years?
REI When we practice, we definitely give advice to help each other. For me, personally, during our debut there were a lot of things I didn’t know. Especially just Korean language-wise, so the members have really helped me. I’m the only foreign member, so sometimes it was a little bit lonely for me. But the members really took care of me. That really warmed my heart as the years went on.
Last year, when KPop Demon Hunters was really popular, you posted a video of you doing the “I Am” choreography to “Golden.” That was very cute, why did you decide to do that?
WONYOUNG We felt like there was a little coincidence between that song and our song, “I Am.” We felt like we could relate to that song, so we just made a cute video of our choreography and the Demon Hunters song. It was a good thing because people loved that set.
When you’re preparing for a comeback or a tour, what’s the most important thing for you all?
WONYOUNG Our health. Our health is the most important thing always, so we just try to get a lot of sleep and a lot of food.
