Following their debut show in London, AMPERS&ONE sat down with CLASH in Hackney to discuss their ‘Born to Define’ tour, incorporating elements of traditional Korean music into their songs and settling into life as K-pop idols.
As AMPERS&ONE prepared to take to the stage for their first-ever London concert at EartH Hackney for the last night of the European leg of their ‘Born to Define’ tour, they stood behind the curtain unsure what to expect.
As soon as ‘Get Famous’ played over the speakers, the whole crowd started cheering and singing along in unison before the group came on to perform ‘GOD.’
South Korean boy band AMPERS&ONE – made up of members Kamden, Brian, Jiho, Siyun, Mackiah, Kyrell, and Seungmo – were blown away by the energy in the crowd and it settled any nerves they might have had as they could see the impact their music has had with their overseas fans.
The ‘Born to Define’ tour was in support of the group’s fourth mini-album ‘DEFINITION’, which was released in April 2026. The album showcased their versatility and maturity as they grappled with different sounds and themes throughout the six-track project.
Following their European tour, AMPERS&ONE will take inspiration from their experiences and performances back to Korea to work on new music to further showcase their growth as exciting rising stars in K-pop.
CLASH: How was the London show yesterday? Was it different from what you expected?
I didn’t know the energy during the show would be at that level. It was really loud! I thought that people in Europe would be chill but they had the most energy. London really knows how to party.
I’d heard that crowds in Europe have lots of energy so I was expecting a lot but they exceeded those expectations. We were really energised by that.
You started the show with ‘GOD’, which instantly gave the crowd energy… How did that help you settle into the concert?
‘GOD’ is our most recent title track so it’s what we’re trying to show with this tour. It’s a Korean-infused hip-hop song, we were curious to see if the fans would like it or not and if they’d sing along. But it turns out it’s a favourite with a lot of fans and they were very loud. We were happy and it was a strong start. If the start is strong then it gives us more energy, more confidence and it helped last night become even better.
The melody and hook of ‘GOD’ is really easy to sing along to. It’s simple so that’s why it’s a great opening song.
Did the response from the fans take you by surprise?
When we were first planning our comeback with ‘GOD’, we weren’t sure how fans would respond because it’s a new sound. There’s not a lot of songs that are like this and I’d say it’s very unique. The response has been a lot better than we expected. As Mackiah was saying, it’s a favourite for a lot of fans which we appreciate and we’re grateful for that response. The performance is also great too. Seeing all of that is amazing and to receive all of that love is great for us.
‘GOD’ is full of imagery and it’s quite elaborate and different from what you’ve done before… How did this show a new side of you as songwriters?
The choreography for ‘GOD’ is very different from what we have shown before. There’s a traditional dance in Korea called the Talchum and it’s very different for us because we aren’t used to those lines and movements. But during the process we studied Korean traditional culture with videos of dances and Korean dramas or movies to get the vibe of the song to express that within our performance. That was a good learning experience and I’m glad we got to portray that during the show.
How did that feel to tap into your Korean roots with your music?
It’s incredible that we’re able to show Korean traditions around the world through music. I’m glad that it sounds good and not too focused on the fact that it’s Korean music. It’s easy to listen to and there is a traditional instrument at the beginning too. Jiho also dances with a fan he dances with so that shows different elements and culture to the audience.
What does ‘Born to Define’ mean to you?
There are a few reasons why we chose ‘Born to Define’ as the title of our tour. Firstly, it’s because our most recent album is ‘DEFINITION’ so it’s connected with that theme of defining ourselves. Also, through this tour, we want to share that message with fans and encourage people who come to the show to not let others define them and be confident and true to themselves. The way that we define ourselves is changing and that doesn’t have to be fixed or concrete. We hope our fans will be encouraged by that. We also hope that through this tour we will also take away good memories and this will be a defining tour for us as well.
As this is your first European tour, how do you feel like you’ve grown as artists during this experience?
I feel like something we’ve learned from this tour is that the European venues have a specific curfew. We are used to having a longer time to perform so during the first show we didn’t have time to do our encore, which was unfortunate. We had to lock in and do it shorter.
Whilst we were in Paris, we had the chance to go to the BIGBANG concert. Before, I thought that to get the crowd more hyped and more energetic, the performer had to lead by example with more energy. However, watching BIGBANG, I realised that there’s lots of other ways that you can make the crowd go crazy.
Yeah, just by being cool or having swagger.
How do you feel that ‘DEFINITION’ shows your growth as artists?
With every new album we produce, we have different genres of music that we explore. We are always looking to explore new sounds and new styles as it helps us improve as artists in terms of our identity and broadens our artistic views by giving us a chance to do something which we’ve never done. ‘GOD’ was a great opportunity because it’s nothing like we’ve ever recorded. We are still defining who we are and we’re on the path of doing that. It’s good to try new types of music and we’re always dipping into new genres.
How do you feel like this tour has inspired you? Maybe that’s just confidence to keep going as you know what you’re doing is working or just inspired by new sounds from your travels?
Concerts really help us a lot because we see which songs our fans respond to and which they’re singing along to the most. What we have found really interesting is that the top songs that they sing along to are “Broken Heart” and “He + She = We” and the genres are so different. “Broken Heart” has intense choreography and a strong beat and the fans love it. But then “He + She = We” is a bright and youthful song and they love that too. It gives us confidence because the fans enjoy the music that we’re creating and it gives us good feedback.
We can actually see it. If you hear that people like our music, you’re not seeing it in real life. But when you’re on stage at a concert, you see the fans screaming, jumping up and down and smiling on their faces in real time and that gives us confidence that we’re doing something right. The music we are making is giving people energy and making them happy so that gives us a boost of confidence.
One of the most energetic songs is ‘My Way’, did you make this with live performances in mind?
For this concert, we actually remixed “My Way.” Before, it was still hype but we made it more hyped up for this tour. We tried to have a party vibe whilst we were performing. ‘My Way’ is one of our favourites and it’s one of the fans’ favourites too.
Another highlight was ‘Did It’, that has a complex beat and choreography, what was this like to perform?
It’s one of my favourite songs to perform. I think that the choreography made it even better. Personally, ‘Did It’ didn’t really stand out to me when the music came out. But after preparing for the tour with the choreography from the hip movements to the chorus, that made it really fun to dance to.
Is there any other song that you have a new perspective on following live performances across Europe?
In Korea, our fans like other songs more than “I Know You”, it wasn’t a very popular song in Korea. However, touring across America and Europe, we found that they enjoy this song. We definitely felt that whilst performing as the fans were singing and that was unexpected because we didn’t think it’d be that popular overseas. From our experience in Korea, it wasn’t our top song but from this setlist we saw how much they liked it. It’s a fun song.
The BPM is really fast too. It’s one of our fastest songs.
I like the chorus parts too as the fans sing along to the Korean bits.
Do you feel that songs with more BPM go down better with western audiences?
In Korea, “He + She = We” is one of the top hits with the fans because it’s got that youthful vibe, it’s not too fast and it’s vibrant. Whereas, overseas I think they like songs such as “Whip It”, which is very strong and has hard beats and powerful choreography. Obviously, it depends on the person but in general that’s where the difference lies.
You performed ‘FEVER’ by ENHYPEN and ‘Love Story’ by Taylor Swift but also ‘Drag Me Down’ by One Direction… How did it feel to perform a 1D song in the UK?
When I was singing, the fans were singing along with me so I felt really good about that. Next time, if we come back to London I would like to try something new with different stages because the crowd is great and they love the music.
What was it about that song?
I heard this song whilst I was training alongside Mackiah and Siyun and it gave me the idea to perform it one day as a unit.
It’s the perfect place to come and perform it, here in London.
Members of the group come from the United States, Australia and Canada… How did that help you settle into life as an idol in Korea as it must feel less isolating that you can share this experience together?
For Kyrell, Kamden and I, we have Korean backgrounds with family and parents who speak Korean and we know the culture. So for us, it wasn’t too hard to settle in but for Brian, since he doesn’t have a Korean background, it wasn’t as easy for him.
Because of the members, it was a lot easier to integrate into the culture. Sometimes, Seungmo’s mom just makes miyeokguk, which is Korean seaweed soup, on our birthdays or national holidays. She also makes jeon and tteokbokki and those little things really make a big difference to help me integrate into the culture.
In Korea, there are lots of family events during public holidays. It’s also tradition to have this seaweed soup on your birthday. If you eat and drink the soup, you gain one year. We live together as seven boys so we’re not really cooking much at home but Seungmo or Siyun’s parents will come to the house and cook for us. It keeps up the Korean traditions so we don’t miss the holidays. If we’re busy for a public holiday then a parent might come in the morning, cook something up and leave it out for us so when we come back home we can have the food. If they didn’t, I don’t think Brian would have been able to experience that because it’s just us at the dorm. We don’t really have time to cut up all the veggies but it’s nice of their parents to do that.
You’ve explored different sounds and genres with previous releases and showcased a growing maturity with your music… but what is next and what do you want to explore?
I think performance is something that we are working on next. ‘GOD’ had a great stage presence, it was very powerful and very new but at the same time it was very fluid. With the next title track, we are looking for a more powerful performance and it will be something that will be eye-catching and grab your attention.
I think it’s our most powerful song yet.
We have been preparing and it’s hard and draining. But we are really proud of what we’re preparing so we’re excited for the upcoming album. Look out for the next album because it’s what we have been most proud to share with the world.
I feel like this next album is a step up from ‘GOD’, it feels like it’s connected and the themes seem related but it’s more powerful. As you’ve said, we’re always looking to experiment with different genres so this next release will also have some new sounds so look forward to that.
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