- Quote :
- FT ISLAND
Also known as: Five Treasure Island, FTI
Origin: South Korea
Genres: K-Pop
Years active: 2007-present
Labels: F&C Music
from L-R: SeungHyun, HongKi, JongHun, MinHwan, JaeJin - Quote :
- MEMBERS
Lee HongKi (Main Vocal) - March 2, 1990
Choi JongHun (Leader, Guitar, Keyboard, Vocal) - March 7, 1990
Lee JaeJin (Bass, Vocal, Rap) - December 17, 1991
Song SeungHyun (Guitar, Vocal, Rap) - August 21, 1992
Choi MinHwan (Drums, Vocal) - November 11, 1992
Former member
Oh WonBin (Guitar, Vocal, Rap) - March 26, 1990
F.T. Island (Korean: 에프티 아일랜드), Five Treasure Island, or FTI, is the name of the band . The name F.T. Island stands for 'Five Treasure Island', each of the five members being a treasure.[1] The band's official color is sunshine yellow, and their fans carry yellow flags known as "pentasticks." Their debut album, Cheerful Sensibility, made the sixth best-selling album of 2007 in South Korea. Their official fanclub is "Primadonna".
CAREER
-2007-
Debut
F.T. Island's first album was scheduled to be released commercially in May 2007. However, instead of releasing the album as planned, all of the members appeared on a television program called “Dugeun Dugeun Yeochinmandeulgi” (Korean: 두근두근 여친만들기) on the Korean television channel MNet. The program title is officially translated by MNet as "Wanna Be My Girlfriend?" although "두근두근" refers to the sound a heart makes. The band also performed on stage live at Rolling Hall and held their first official showcase at Live House Melon-AX, Gwangjang-dong in Seoul on May 27, 2007. On June 7, 2007 F.T. Island performed their debut song on the music television program M!Countdown. They received their first #1 M!Countdown and beat other top artists such as Dynamic Duo and Fly to the Sky just 2 weeks after debuting.
Cheerful Sensibility
Their first album Cheerful Sensibility combined 13 songs that can be divided into 2 parts: “Emotional Chapter” and “FT Island Chapter” respectively according to the style of the song in the album. For the “Emotional Chapter”, the genre is rock ballad oriented which produced by the composers who work for many songs of famous Korean singer such as SG Wannabe. The other part, “FT Island Chapter”, tend to be the upbeat pop-rock oriented style, which was produced by the Japanese famous composers participating with the Japanese band, SMAP. The album sold 79,786 copies in 2007, making it the sixth best-selling album of the year.
The album was re-released on December 3, 2007 and it was named "The Refreshment". In addition to three extra songs, the package also included various extras, including a photobook, a stack of photocards, and a mixing program called Music 2.0 which allows one to adjust the levels of the instruments and vocals accordingly. This edition sold 25,724 copies in December 2007
-2008-
Overseas promotions
The group was scheduled to hold their first concert in Malaysia on March 30, 2008, at Sunway Lagoon Amphitheater. On the day before the concert, they held an autograph session at Damansara Cineleisure. A special version of their debut album was released in mid-February. However, the concert was suddenly cancelled, with no explanation given.
On April 12, 2008, the group held their first concert in Thailand, at the Royal Paragon Hall. In addition to playing material from their album, each member of the group had their own solos as well.
F.T. Island's Japanese debut album, entitled Prologue of FT Island, was released on June 7, 2008, with the first single released being "Soyogi". The album consists of 8 songs, 2 of which are newer versions of the original songs "FT Island" and "Primadonna". The last track, "Always Be Mine", is an English version of "First Kiss". However, the lyrics are not translated, but completely original. Music videos were also released for "Soyogi" and "Friendship".
Return to Korea
Their second Korean album, Colorful Sensibility, was released on August 27, 2008. A follow-up EP, Colorful Sensibility Part 2, was released on October 17, 2008.
Japanese Single Release
Later that year, on December 17, F.T. Island released "The One", their first Japanese single, which hit #9 on the Oricon daily charts. F&C Music stated that although other Korean bands utilized the assistance of large Japanese record labels to gain popularity, F.T. Island was able to make it onto the charts without any true marketing efforts.[9] It was the last official released CD with Oh Won Bin, as a member of FT Island.
-2009-
Regrouping, Jump Up
Rumors had been circulating that speculated that member Oh Won Bin would be leaving the group. On January 28, 2009, the rumors were confirmed as it was announced that he would indeed be leaving the group and would soon be replaced. It was announced a day later that F&C trainee Song Seung Hyun would be joining F.T. Island as a guitarist and backup vocalist, and that an album would be released in February. In the weekend of the 6th week, the Music Video of their Mini-Album title song "Bad Woman" was revealed online. They performed on SBS Inkigayo. Two days later was the official release date of the Mini-Album Jump Up.
Return to Japan
On 22 April, F.T. Island released their 2nd Japanese Single. For the first time, members participated with lyrics and production. Member Lee Jae Jin co-wrote the 2nd song "Moonlight Angel" and leader Choi Jong Hoon co-produced this song. I Believe Myself is the 1st Japanese Single with member Song Seung Hyun. They will have several performances in Japan in this summer.
Asia Tour
F.T. Island will be touring parts of Asia which include Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and so on to promote themselves in the summer of 2009. The showcases kicked off in Singapore during 25th June 2009 to 27th June 2009.
2nd Comeback - 3rd Album - "Cross & Change"
Already in end-May the members revealed in interviews their plans for a 3rd album around July-August and tighten it during the Singapore showcase. So on the 9th July, F&C Music released a jacket photo for the upcoming 3rd album called “Cross & Change”. On the following day, a MV teaser was released online featuring kids watching ”their” idols (played by the members it selves) on TV. The title song is called “I hope”. Release date is the 16th July.
According to the information on the jacket photo, FT Island will try out new music styles in “Cross & Change”, which are different from the past pieces of music. Furthermore, it includes in total 12 songs with a wide range of types of songs – From moving ballads to addictive songs with a bright melody. In case of fashion styles, FT Island carried out a 360° turn. This time they’re using a “retro style”, using so-called “Bokgo”, which is inspired during the “jeans jeans look”-time from the 80’s.
FT island's Sub Group 'FT Triple'
The three members Choi Jong Hoon, Choi Min Hwan, and Lee Jae Jin makes a sub group called FT Triple, the reason was believed to help take up some singing time during their concerts, so that lead singer, Lee Hongki, would not overstrain his voice as to the issue that happened throughout December 2008 where main singer Lee Hongki's throat was having problems due to exhaustion which lead to a several disappointing performances within that period. Another reason was because of Lee Hongki's busy schedule with the filming his drama "You're Beautiful". And also why its a 3-member sub group not 4 (including member Song Seung Hyun) was because of his busy schedule's as well.
With Choi Jong hoon as guitar & piano, Choi Min Hwan as drums and Lee Jae Jin as the main vocal and bass this group's album will come out with F.T.Island's repackaged album. At first, this trio was unofficially announced at the Dream Concert in Japan as "A3". They almost named themselves A3 because they all are blood A type but they went with the other option. They wanted to keep the F.T. name so they added Triple at the end of it to represent that it is a trio.
National Concert Tour - "Men's Stories"
F.T. Island will be having a national tour and the tour will be titled, "Men's Stories".
F.T. Island has recently released their 3rd album titled, "Cross & Change". Their hit single from the album, "I Hope" has been very well received by their fans and the five members are planning on showing their life behind the stage along with their strong visuals and sound on a more personal level for the fans. At the concert, FT Island will be telling their “Men’s Stories“, using strong visuals and sound. There is going to be much interaction with the fans instead of just a normal performance.
The national tour will start on November 14, 2009 in Seoul.
Other works
2002 – 2005
Member Lee Hong Ki debuted 6 years ago on a kid's sitcom KBS2's Magic Kid Masuri as the main character, Masuri. This sitcom gained explosive popularity among elementary school students. He also participated into "Neh Sontob Kkeuteh Bichi Nama Issuh". Also in Kangsooni, where he played a role named Kang Soo Bong. He also sang the OST of this children sitcom.
2007
Member Lee Jae Jin was a castmember of KBS's sitcom Unstoppable Marriage. The other members made a cameo appearance. In this sitcom Lee Jae Jin plays the role of Wang Sa Baek (Sim Mal Yeon's fourth son), and appeared regularly on the show.
2008
FT Island also hosted the second MBCEvery1's Idol Show. In total there are 13 episodes. Hong Ki has also been on many other shows, such as Becoming a Good Daddy (SBS) (2008 - 2009), Monwonaehangbok (Happy Shares Company)(2007) (MBC), Family Outing (SBS).
Hongki was also meant to star in the drama, 'God of Study' in December 2008. However, due to certain issues, the drama has since been put on hold.[14]
2009
Lee Hong Ki hosted SBS's music show Inkigayo .
It was announced that Choi Min Hwan would have a minor role in the drama The Road Home," which is airing on KBS1. He attended the press conference on the January 7, 2009. The drama started airing on January 12.
On March 11, 2009, it was announced that Lee Jae Jin will participate in the musical Sonagi. He will get the role as a young boy. He was cast because he "showed a great passion for the piece, had the image of a sincere young boy, and had the qualifications to be considered a musical actor." He follows the footsteps of Big Bang's SeungRi, who already participated in the musical in summer 2008.[15] His first appearance in "Sonagi" was on the show for the 1st May with an agitation from the press. Other than Hongki, who had a tight schedule that day, all of the other members managed to attend the musical.
On June 25, F.T Island arrived in Singapore for their showcase on June 27. For one hour, the five members performed their hit songs from their latest album, including 'Bad Woman,' to a full house of 900 fans from different countries. On June 27, the band left Singapore on an overnight flight after the showcase ended.
The cosmetic brand Baviphat announced on June 26 that all FT Island members would be the new models for the men's skin care line-up. At the same time, Lee Hong Ki was cast for the musical A Midsummer Night's Dream (한 여름밤의 꿈), which is scheduled to run from August 26 to August 31.
On June 29, Choi Jong Hun was featured with Core Contents Media's soloist Hong Jin Young as one of the main characters in her music video "Love Battery".
On August 18, 2009, it was announced that Lee Hong Ki will star in an SBS drama, You're Beautiful, as a main cast with Jang Geun Suk and Park Shin Hye scheduled to air on October 7, 2009. He will be playing a British-American boy named "Jeremy" as the drummer of 'A.N.GELL', the name of the flower boy band in the drama.
F.T. Island will be releasing their 3rd Japanese single, "Raining," on October 21st, 2009. Music video of the title track of the single has been released after a significant time filming the music video.
