[Interview] Going Back In Time With PTMRS

Hello and welcome back to HallyuTones — always focused on sound, stage and substance.

The guest we’ll be introducing to readers today has truly stunned the team with their unique concept and commitment to the arts. Some K-Pop fans may be familiar with the graduation concept of idol groups where members are onboarded and officially graduate from the group, leaving behind that era after a certain period of time. PTMRS (pronounced Part-timers) is a group that takes that concept, and they tweak it to perfectly fit each members’ goals in their industry with realistic schedules and capacity for participation. 

The group recently debuted, on the 8th of August to be exact, with their single Dreamwalkers which could easily pass for a 2020s Daft Punk crossover. The lineup currently consists of five members: Uki Satake, a Japanese vocalist famous for her contributions as a voice-actor in anime, Jay Choe who built up the collective with Jo YoungBae following their work together for previous artists, Minnie whose vocals liven up the tracks as well as Yuting who is putting the skills she learns in the K-Pop trainee system to form a full-rounded team. 

Today’s interview, co-ordinated by our head writer Nate, gives a more in-depth look into building a co-ed group in a music industry still dominated by single-sex groups and the odd co-ed duo (à la AKMU). We’ll be exploring the group’s debut EP, Love & Scandal and more on how the group came together. 

While KARD and the newer ALLDAY PROJECT have definitely piqued the public’s interest, PTMRS with their diverse musical backgrounds truly adds something invaluable to the K-Pop landscape as a unique group with both male and female performers that we hope fans will enjoy.

Interview:

Q1. Please introduce yourselves // (and your musical style! Jay only)

Jay: Hello! I’m Jay, going by Jay P.D. 

YoungBae: Hello! I’m YoungBae

Uki: Nice to meet you, I’m Uki Satake! From now on, I’ll be sharing my voice with you a lot!

Minnie: Hello! I’m Minnie! Nice to meet you!

Yuting: Hello I am Yuting, a K-Pop idol trainee. 

Jay (for second part): Our style of music, at least for this first release, draws inspiration from the stuff we listened to in the 2000s, the stuff I partied to during my school days, and the stuff that was hot when Uki first debuted. Smartphones were coming out, K-pop started going global. I still have my roots in America listening to Hip-hop and R&B, and I wanted to kind of just mash it all together and see how it goes.

Q2. PTMRs has a very unique concept that makes it stand out from other Korean music acts – could you explain how the group concept works?

Jay: PTMRS stands for part timers. We are all different ages and come from different parts of the industry, united only by our love and respect for music and the community. Because we’re all individually busy and can’t commit to creating and moving as one unit (or is/was part of other units, or live in a different country completely), that’s where the idea of part timers came in. We all have our main gigs, and this “group” is a part time effort. And so, the music and the project’s concept will take center stage, and who participates on each track will depend on what is needed for that song, and who is available. 

Q3. How do you select the part-time performers for each track?

Jay: For this first project, the selection process wasn’t very complicated or deep. After we determined who would be the core members of PTMRS, the budget determined how many songs we’d make. I wanted to showcase each individual performer in the best light possible for our initial debut given our limitations, so I told YoungBae and Joo Hyung (our producer) “I want a girl track, a guy track, and a coed party track.” Going forward, we won’t necessarily follow this formula. For example, if next season a theme sticks out to us, or if we’re suddenly inspired to make X amount of songs of a certain genre, it won’t necessarily be split in the same way. It could be Uki and YoungBae only, or Minnie might be solo. The song and concept comes first.

Q4. Could you tell us some more about the first single  ‘DREAMWALKERS’ and the artists featured for this track?

Jay: The concept of Dreamwalkers came about shortly after Uki finished her collab[oration] track with U_Chae [ formerly known as Dajeong], and this ultimately determined the final roster for PTMRS. YoungBae, Joo Hyung, and I worked on a girl group called PIXY years ago, and when Uki expressed interest in doing more music with us, my first instinct was to do an Uki-focused track and fill our roster with solid female performers, since we can make girl group tracks all day. Minnie is a long-time friend of mine, can sing in both Japanese and Korean, and nails the harmonies, so she was a no-brainer to bring on to the project. Yuting is currently training and auditioning, and has been taking lessons from YoungBae. I asked YoungBae, “Is Yuting ready?” And he said “yeah.” 

YoungBae: Jay already said most of it, so there’s not much more for me to add, but after U_Chae and Uki’s collaboration, Jay and I talked about doing more of this kind of work together. That’s when I brought it up with Joo Hyung, who had worked closely with me on all of PIXY’s music, and he was also interested—so that’s how it started. Yuting had been taking vocal coaching from me, and I already recognized her potential, so I felt she was more than ready to join this project. Uki, of course, is nothing short of professional! And I believed Minnie’s stable and charming vocals would provide a solid foundation for the track—and she absolutely delivered.

Q5. Your most recent release was ‘IT’S YOU BABY’. Could you talk to us about this track and the selected artists who performed it?

Jay: I wanted YoungBae to show off. I’ve been trying to convince him to release a solo track for years and he finally agreed, but he wanted someone to be on verse 2. Verse 2 was originally written with a female performer in mind, but after laying down my guide track, we decided my tone and delivery was right for it, and so I rewrote the lyrics from a guy’s POV. 

YoungBae: For the past ten years or so, I’ve mainly been working as a music producer and rarely released any of my own tracks. Then my friend Jay suggested that I put something out, and although I hesitated at first, I thought it would be a fun project to do together with friends, so I decided to go for it. (Thanks, Jay!) I’ve worked with Joo Hyung on countless tracks, so the process went really smoothly. (Though I did feel a little embarrassed using one of his amazing tracks for myself, lol.) The second verse was originally intended for a female vocalist, but with Jay stepping in, he delivered a rap that fit his character perfectly, and I think it actually made the final result even more satisfying.

Q6. What inspired the creation of PTMRs?

Jay: I spent years working on other people’s projects, music, and debuts. Same with YoungBae. I had a creative itch, wanted YoungBae to come back to performing and not just training others, and Uki wanted to make more music after her collab[oration] with U_Chae. And so the timing felt right. Originally, it was just going to be the three of us doing like, maybe two releases per year? But as this project came together and more members jumped on, and we had so much fun doing it, it got us thinking…maybe we should ramp up production and do more? 

Then we ended up doing a whole photoshoot, and Minnie was like “we need a separate Instagram page,” then suddenly things started looking more and more legit and official. Then we started getting support from our distributor, Symphonic Distribution. So I guess we have no choice but to continue, hahaha.

Q7. What does music mean to you?

Jay: Community. Escape. Relief. Can’t live without music. Once in a blue moon I hear a track that hits like a brick, and gets me emotional. I chase that high. 

YoungBae: Music is my work, my life, and my goal.

Uki: Music is a part of my life. I used to dislike singing at first, but now I truly love it.

Minnie: Music is my lifeline. I can’t go a single day without listening to music. It gets me through everything.

Yuting: Music is an important part of life, like air and water. It gives me a lot of energy when I have a hard time.

Q8. Your Instagram bio mentions ‘nostalgic sounds’ – which older music acts (Korean or global) have inspired your music?

Jay: I grew up in the States and listened to everything. But I suppose… What inspires my sound now and the sound that I try to incorporate into my music nowadays is probably the stuff I grew up with, listening to in the late 90s and 2000s in my formative years. Rakim and Eminem inspire the way I approach rhymes. Timbaland inspires the way I look at beats and production. On the Korean side, Epik High and Big Bang have inspired me. 

Q9. What is the typical song production, writing and recording process for your songs?

Jay: Depends on the song, but our process is similar to the typical K-Pop pipeline. First, we discuss the concept. Joo Hyung throws us a 30 sec instrumental section. YoungBae sketches out the melody and harmonies over the beat. Then we split up writing the lyrics (I tackle English and Japanese, YoungBae takes care of Korean). Once we arrange the song, YoungBae (and sometimes me) record a guide track. The artists come and record. Then we send it back to Joo Hyung, who develops the track further, adds more instrumentals and layers, and smooths out transitions. On this project, Joo Hyung also did the mixing and mastering. 

YoungBae: The process can vary from song to song, but for this album, it mostly followed the workflow that Jay described. Other times, a track might begin from just a single line of lyrics, or from a simple piano chord progression that turns into a playful melody and eventually develops into a full song. On rare occasions, I’ll create everything on my own, but most of the time I enjoy collaborating with other composers. There’s a great sense of fulfillment when we combine our strengths and create something even better together.

Q10. What can fans have to look forward to from PTMRs in the future?

Jay: More music you can add to your playlist for long drives and/or working out at the gym, or to play in the background at your next cookout. At least for now, we’re not here to change the music landscape or do huge shows. We’re here to vibe, do cool collabs with people from different countries, and get y’all to dance. We’ve certainly been inspired to ramp up production, so expect more music coming soon.

Q11. What are your goals for the future of PTMRs?

Jay: Make more music, do more collabs, and go with the flow. One day I’d like to have enough resources to be able to produce some nice videos, and have enough songs for Uki to do a full solo set and for me to tag along when she goes to anime conventions. It’d be nice if we could all perform on stage one day, but we’re not a typical group for the mainstream audience, nor am I cute enough to sell photocards. I’ll take it day by day. 

Q12. Lastly, do you have any questions for your fans and new listeners?

Jay: Which one of us is the cutest? 

YoungBae: First of all, I apologize for Jay’s comment. Which members’ collaboration would you like to see next?

Uki: Are you ready to create lots of songs with me? They’re only complete because you listen to them.

Minnie: What type of song would you look forward to us trying out?

Yuting: Which song from this album is your favorite? and why?~

It would only be a fair observation to say that generally, we find ourselves in an era of music and content that is often created as quickly as it is discarded by many mainstream consumers. The trend cycles have become increasingly shorter and artists are under as much pressure to conform as they are to stand out. PTMRS is a talented group of artists who have come together proving that passion sometimes really is all it takes to turn a dream into reality. From years of experience in the industry as recording artists and production staff, the members now get to enjoy the creative process of working as a collective on more leisurely terms. 

PTMRS takes this moment in time to slow things down and simply relish art itself and the community that it takes to make it. Jay’s nostalgic offerings are certain to resonate with global audiences who share in the yearning for music that feels like youth. The way they’ve come together is testament to the fact that in the same way that fans are brought together by the creations of musical teams, the teams themselves are often inspired by breathing life into new work.

We look forward to seeing more from PTMRS and encourage others to keep a keen eye out for each members’ individual projects too. From Yuting’s idol activities to Minnie and Uki’s music collaborations and acting gigs, the members of PTMRS surely have loads of offerings waiting for fans. 

So tell us, what would you like to hear from them in the future?

Follow the members and find their latest EP, Love & Scandal across all streaming platforms.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ptmrs.official/ 

X/Twitter: https://x.com/PTMRSofficial 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDNjNHj2ATGvZUSwmVWjOEw

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/ptmrs/1830260869

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3uN0HRAIJVJ8r7FCO6djFz