New boy group PLUUS honored to join ‘rise of P-pop’

Solid, passionate and patient. That’s how the members of PLUUS described their group, which was formed and co-produced by Universal Records and SBTown, the same agency that launched SB19, with Geong Seong Han (also known as Tatang Robin) as the producer and Adie Hong as the trainer.

The newly-debuted P-pop boy band is composed of Justin (dubbed The Silent Killer), Theo (The Big Brother), JL (The Nation’s Giant Center), Gab (The Ace Face), Haro (The Soul Captivator) and Yen (The Masterpiece).

Derived from the words “PLUS” and “US,” the name means that “PLUUS (pronounced as “plus”) and their fandom are together in this journey from the start and will continue to stick together for a long time and that the boys will be here to “add good things in their life.”

The boys’ musical influences include SB19, said Yen, and Sarah Geronimo and Regine Velasquez, added Haro.

“First of all, we are really honored to be part of the P-pop community,” Theo told The STAR in an exclusive chat. “We really respect and look up to them. Yung pong ibang P-pop groups, they inspire us to do more. What we can say is we are all in this together for the P-pop rise.”

“P-pop groups are our inspiration,” added JL. “There are times during training na sobrang hirap but when we watch their performances and other groups, they really give us motivation and not just one or two P-pop groups, but all of them. That’s why we are really thankful because hindi lang po P-pop community na-he-help nila, but also aspiring (artists) at mga susunod pa po na pop groups.”

During the press event, the sextet gave everyone a glimpse of what’s in the debut album called PLUUS +.Y.M. The boys energetically performed Amigo, My Time, Cross My Heart and the unreleased Missing You.

My Time focuses on their journey as trainees including the obstacles and struggles they overcame, while Amigo is about their friendship and the solid bond they developed during the training, JL shared.

Theo said that Cross My Heart, which is about tragic love, was based on the story of a close friend.

In terms of their music style, Seong Han said My Time “sounds still like K-pop,” while Amigo gives “American vibes.” Cross My Heart is “a bit of ballad, which is actually the thing of Filipinos” and Missing You is set in R&B, “a genre most of the Filipinos really like.”

Through a translator, Seong Han remarked how the K-pop genre is “gradually changing.” “Groups like NewJeans or Fifty Fifty, it’s like they are now turning their backs (on) K-pop style of music and now they are following the pop style.”

“For PLUUS, they actually have the skills to follow that pop style. But most of their fans, who are in their youth or in their 20s, they are still in this kind of music which have like a good melody,” he said.

“And then, when it comes to their choreography, it’s also done by the PLUUS members (themselves). My only instruction to PLUUS members is, like when it comes to their choreography or lyrics, don’t follow the K-pop style, but they should create their own,” he went on.

When asked about their individual roles, Seong Han explained that they don’t want to “appoint just one team leader, but it’s going to be like a rotation.”

“In the Philippines, it should be different,” he further remarked. “There a lot of Filipinos who are more talented than Koreans. There are also a lot of people who have like a bright future or they have a lot of potentials as well.” He cited SB19 as the “first-ever P-pop group.”

“I think that there will come a time soon that P-pop will be better than K-pop. But in order to do that, it’s important that not just one member (has) a specialty in just one field, but they should be able to do all things.”

Seong Han proudly said that all the six members of PLUUS can sing, dance, rap and do a little bit of acting.

According to one member, JL, the strength of the group is its ardent desire to “spread positivity through music,” while Theo mentioned the collective’s “strong bond and chemistry” after undergoing four years of extensive training.

On what they look forward to in their career, Theo shared, “Personally, mahirap po mag-expect. So right now, we just want to focus on our craft (and) to improve more on our skills since we are just a rookie group. We know that we still lack stage experiences and there’s a lot of room for improvement and we just want to focus muna sa sarili namin po.”

(Check out PLUUS on www.youtube.com/@pluus_official, www. facebook.com/@pluus_official, www. twitter.com/pluus_official, www. instagram.com/pluus_official and www. tiktok.com/@pluus_official).