Infinite’s L shares his love for electric guitar, singing and Sung-Yeol

xinmsn gets on with the singer as he spoke of his Infinite buddies and shared the group’s upcoming plans in an email interview with xinmsn

Text: Wenting Ang
Photos: tvN

Is it a coincidence or is it a hint at bromance (brotherly romance) between Infinite member L and fellow group member Sung-Yeol when the latter's name was brought up not once, but twice in L's email interview with xinmsn?

Starring in the Korean drama 'Shut Up! Flower Boy Band', Infinite's L made a colourful splash into the acting scene when he took on the role of Lee Hyun Soo, a cool guitarist from the high school rock band 'Eye Candy'.

xinmsn caught up with the Korean heartthrob, L, who shared with us the challenges he faced while filming the drama and spoke of his determination to master the electric guitar, an instrument that he came in contact with for his role in 'Shut Up! Flower Boy Band'.

We also grilled L on his thoughts on Infinite's immense popularity as he spoke on the group's and personal plans for the year.

Catch Shut Up! Flower Boy Band on tvN (Starhub TV Ch 824/874) every Monday and Tuesday, 10pm.


Do you feel pressurized acting amongst other flower boys? Are there any interesting episodes on setamong the handsome cast of the drama?

I did not feel any pressure acting amongst other flower boys. [Co-star] Min-Seok knows how to make people happy, so just listening to him makes me happy.

Being your first try on electric guitar, what are some of the challenges that you faced while filming thedrama?

It was a little bit hard for me when I have to carry the guitar with me at all times. It was heavy and restricts my actions at times. But I look cool with it. Besides that, playing the electric guitar is not my forte but I'm slowly picking it up.

Other than playing the guitar, is there other instruments that you are interested in trying your hands on?

I am interested in many different musical instruments, but for now, I'm most interested in playing electric guitar.

As the cast of the Shut Up! Flower Boy Band are mainly guys, are there any actresses that you wish towork with in the future?

I can't pinpoint anyone right now but there are plenty of talented actresses in the industry. It will be great if I can work with them and learn from them.

Hyun Soo was asked by Ye Rim to record a duet together in the drama. Which female singer would you want to collaborate with in the future and why?

I want to sing a duet with Ji-sun who is the vocalist of band 'Love-holic.' She's lovely and has an amazing voice. I'd love to sing with her.

In the drama, Hyun Soo only shows his smiles to his sister. Out of the drama, who does L shows his smiles to? Is there an Infinite member that you are closer with and will feel happy to be around with?

I'm always happy with all of the members of Infinite. But I'm particularly close to Sung-Yeol.

How similar or different are you from your ice prince character in the drama?

For one, we are both musicians and we're of the same age group so I can relate to Hyun Soo pretty well. However, Hyun Soo is from a rock band while I am from a Pop/R&B band. These two genres have very different persona and attitude.

Hyun Soo holds an ambition of surpassing Ji Hyuk and Byung Hee in terms of singing. Who in Infinite do you see as someone you wishes to surpass and why? 

I don't wish to surpass anyone but myself. My role model is Nell (Korean artist). Nell is amazing and I adore them. I aspire to become as magnificent as they are. It's excellent I can have people to look up to for direction and a goal.

Did the Infinite members watch the drama? How did they react to your acting? Who is the most supportive towards L for his venture into acting?

Yes, they did and they always cheer me up. They are very supportive and yeah, they watch my show when they have the time to. Sung-Yeol helped me a lot drawing on his experience of Korean daily drama.

Infinite rose to fame in 2011 with 'Before the Dawn'. How did it feel to act as a band member whose band is struggling to debut, a stark contrast to the high popularity that Infinite is enjoying now?

It helped me realized that I should not take Infinite's popularity for granted. We had tough times in the beginning, but we tried our best at all times so that we could get good results. I feel a sense of accomplishment and I want to keep working harder to be the best performer I can ever be.

Infinite had held a successful concert in Seoul. Are there any plans of you guys to bring the concert over to Singapore as well?

If there's any chance, we would like to do fan meets/showcases/concerts in various parts of the world, including Singapore.

Lastly, can you share some of the upcoming plans for yourself and Infinite? 

This year, we look forward to release our new album, but I'm not sure about the plans of the next year. I'm very sure that I will spend more time and put my focus on singing because basically I'm a singer. However, I would also like to try acting in soap operas if there's any chance.