You have experience making a Limited Edition Watch with Bvlgari with inspiration from Edelweiss flowers. I was wondering why you chose Edelweiss as your favorite flower.

Maybe when I was 5 years old? I went to Switzerland, my father’s hometown, with my family when I was in kindergarten. While climbing a mountain, I saw a white and cute flower and it must have stayed inside of my memory. When people started asking what my favorite flowers are, I thought about that small flower I saw. When I looked it up, I found that it was a flower that symbolized purity, which made me like it more. It feels also feels like first love.

Recently, a newly discovered flower in Thai is named “LISA”.

My mom was the first person who sent me that picture. I haven’t seen it in person yet so it doesn’t feel real but I’m really curious. I want to see it quickly. I will brag about it until I turn into a grandma.

The biggest recent issue is Coachella. You guys stood on stage as a headliner.

I want to brag about this until I become a grandma (laughs). When we first went to Coachella, the staffs guided us. I thought to myself how amazing it is when I saw all the posters of previous festivals hanging on the wall. I was so proud to stand on that stage as a healdliner as BLACKPINK. One day after our concert, I heard that we would attend Coachella when I came down on stage and it surprised me so much. All of us were feeling various emotions at the same time, like being so surprised, happy and worried.

I’m sure festivals and concerts feel different. What kind of power do you think BLACKPINK
holds at festivals?

During tours, most of the time BLINKS who like and know us come, so we give and take energy, but festivals are a bit different. Since we don’t know what kind of music the crowd likes, we get to think a lot about ways to enjoy the time together. However, festivals feel like a stage without any boundaries, and it has the charm that brings up and blows up the energy from the first song. When the four of us are gathered, that energy multiplies. I think that kind of sense of relying on each other is visible in festivals.

Tell us about a moment that you won’t be able to forget for a long time?

Hmm… that’s hard. Because each one is so special. If I had to choose, it would be the ‘Whistle’ stage. It was our debut song and we changed the whole choreography for Coachella. The stage was close to the audience so I could read everyone’s eyes. I couldn’t forget the way they looked at me when I met eyes with the crowd. I also expressed ‘Let’s enjoy this together’ with my eyes and I felt like the crowd was replying the same thing to me.

Your solo performance “MONEY” was so overwhelming that it reminded me of your solo debut era. I think you must’ve had that kind of thought too

I enjoy the present. (laughs) When I released my solo album, I was sad that I couldn’t meet the audience in person due to COVID-19. It was nice to be able to show my stage infront of so many people in person. My family and friends often come to see our concerts, but this time, they said they watched the performance in the back with the audience. I was really happy because they told me that the audience knew “Money” and sang along.

You cried after the performance. There must be so much emotions in those tears.

I had to change to Coachella mood as soon as we finished our tour concert. I guess I was nervous and pressured a lot. After coming down from stage, I saw the members’ faces and I felt like crying as my heart started to relax. I think my tears were also tears of encouragement saying, “we worked really hard.”

I saw you enjoying Coachella outside of the stage. How do you enjoy festivals?

I got to fully enjoy watching a musician that I really liked. Since the weather was hot I was more hyped and hearing my favorite music made me feel my vibes burst out. I am a really passionate audience.(laughs) That person who screams loudly when they hear “let me hear you scream” is me.

What kind of photos did you take with your camera?

First there are pictures of our rehearsal and my favorite musicians. Anywhere I went, I liked it so much that I hit the snap button at anytime. There weren’t a lot of selfies of myself. (laughs)

You’re featured in Taeyang’s “Shoong!” I could see the tension between the artists and also individual presence. What did you think was the most important thing while participating?

Since I was a trainee, Taeyang has always been a person who supported me warmly whenever we meet. It was a great honor to work with a senior who loves and respects his juniors. The important thing about featuring a song is to support the main character to shine more than myself. In this song, I made up my mind to try and try until Taeyang liked it. He would jokingly say “how about trying three more times?” and then switch to “let’s try just one more time” but I argued that I would try again three more times. (laughs) It’s important to be in harmony and he lead me in a very comfortable way and I felt how much of a professional he was. When I’m with someone like that, I have to become a professional too, so I learned a lot.

Your performances are so perfect that I think, is it possible to be better than this? Do you feel that you need to be perfect on stage?

Actually, I always try to think of it lightly. Instead of pressuring myself to do better than any other previous performances, I try to do new and different things. ‘Since I did this last time, should do a gesture like this?’ Even in the hotel room, I try to change my shoulder and hand gestures while looking in the mirror. This is really fun for me. So I tend to monitor it often. I want to do what I can do well.

When you switch from being nervous to comfortable, what do you say to yourself?

“We all can’t be perfect 24/7.” I don’t want to make the people around me feel uncomfortable because of my condition or my mood. That’s why when I’m sick or feeling down, I say this to myself, lit’s okay. Some days are like this.”

I think your ‘energy’ doesn’t only express power.

My energy comes from my mind rather than my body. If my head is too full of thoughts, it becomes awkward. Even though I express it with my body, I can tell the status of my mind. The truth index! I think my energy comes from whether or not I can showcase my true self.

When I think of Lisa, I think of her as a person who is always bright. What has not changed for a long time and what kind of growth did you experience?

When I was young, all my friends around me were bright, so I just grew up like that. We are still playful, bright, and positive. One thing I think I achieved is confidence. At first, I couldn’t even express being thankful to my fans. Now I can express myself well and I have grown to tell people my opinions better.

Express yourself in three words.

Energetic, Cool, Lovely.

The Spice Girls story from the James Corden show was memorable for me. Superstars that I used to admire when I was young are now cheering for BLACKPINK.

When I was young, I wasn’t able to go to many concerts because I was busy practicing dancing, participating in contests, and focusing on my studies. Instead, I used to listen to the radio and the song that came out all the time when I turned on the pop channel was Spice Girls. I used to be inspired and thought “I want to be like them” watching not only foreign musicians but also 2NE1 and Big Bang music videos, and now I’m happy to be active in the same field while receiving support.

What kind of person do you want to be when you hear someone say they want to be like you?

There are times when I hear directly that their daughter wants to be like me, and sometimes I ask back which side of me do they like. My style and performance? I wonder what kind of “ME” they like. I heard the answer that they want to resemble the way I dream big and achieve that dream and it was touching. When I heard that they want to try their best in their field of interest, even if it’s not being an idol, that answer stayed deep in my heart because it’s something that I never thought of. I want to do better for that hope.

You don’t think of a camera as an accessory and continue to take pictures. Last time, you released a photobook of the members. What kind of photobook do you want to release next?

I’m a very “classic” person. I still collect cameras. But the results are slightly different for each camera. There are times when I want to take bold pictures and sometimes I want to take soft pictures. I can feel that my skills improve the more I take pictures. I like to take pictures of people, so I take a lot and there are specific angles that I like and there are angles that make the person look the best. I don’t know if the other person will like it or not, but I feel good when I capture the most attractive moment and when someone says the picture is very “LISA-LIKE”. I don’t usually take pictures of myself, so I’m thinking of taking self-portrait pictures that are not selfies. I can’t wait to collect those pictures and release the next photobook.

I can see a book peaking from your bag. Is that a new hobby?

During our tour, I kept scrolling through my phone or watching Netflix with my iPad so I was thinking of reading some books. As I was returning from the airport in New York, I bought this from a bookstore with ROSÉ. Saying, let’s pretend to be cool too. (laughs) I was going to read it while getting my hair and make up done but I wasn’t able to read it well. I will start reading from now.

You have a lot to brag about when you turn into a grandma. Why don’t you draw a blueprint.

Taking a peaceful rest in a warm place with cats and being healthy. I actually don’t really think about the future and tend to focus on the present. If I think about me after 2 years, I think I’ll be in Paris. It’s a beautiful city that I love. I want to take pictures while living there for a few months.

cr. BLACKPINK BLINK UNION