– Nico H.

Summer is a time for both recreation and self-reflection. A time to take a break after month upon months of grueling work, while still keeping an eye on what’s to come, later in the year. A second chance.

Red Velvet understands this, and has made this sentiment the main theme behind their most recent comeback, with the mini-album Summer Magic and the accompanying title track, the 8-bit retro pop anthem “Power Up.” Instead of chasing love like in more recent comebacks, the very velvet “Peek-A-Boo,” the recent “#CookieJar,” and the now iconic “Bad Boy,” Red Velvet have decided to turn up the heat in another way. To just have some plain old fun.

‘To have fun whether I’m playing or working,’ the group sings, keeping in tone and tune with the instrumental itself, a bright and bouncy beat with a lot of moving parts. Like playing a new game for the first time, it takes a little bit to get a grasp of the rules. Keep busy, learn a lot, but never lose the groove.

And the team behind this hit is none other than Moonshine, the duo that are also responsible for “Peek-A-Boo.” Playing into the theme of summer, Moonshine gets another chance to prove just how skilled and versatile they are, giving Red Velvet a new title track. It’s a first for the girl group, to bring the same producers along for the ride, for another comeback.

So, in also playing into the theme of second chances, I’ve followed up with Moonshine about “Power Up,” their process in making the instrumental, and the fun things they’ve learned since the last time we spoke. Enjoy, everybody.

BD: Hello again guys, I wanted to start by saying congratulations for producing more K-Pop songs, and another Red Velvet title track, at that. The song just came out, but it’s already reached number one on all of the Korean music charts, and is well-received internationally, too, having beaten out all of your previous single’s records. How has the reception been for you two, compared to Peek-A-Boo?

Moonshine: Thank you! We’re super happy about both the song and the release. We’re so amazed by how well-received it’s become internationally, as well as in Korea. We got so much good feedback on our Instagram with tons of fans liking, commenting, and messaging us with love and compliments. Love the Reveluvs! Compared to Peek-A-Boo, some fans seemed to want more of a ‘velvet’ song, but we’re so happy that we got to do a ‘red’ song for the girls.

BD: I also wanted to get into the process on how this song came together. How were you approached to work on Power Up?

Moonshine: The song started from a really cool idea that Cazzi Opeia had, she said that she wanted to do a song that sounded like it came from the inside of an arcade machine, and we just went for it!

After that we just went on a crazy hunt for different 8-bit sounds. We ended up using a lot of sounds from Game Boys and such, which was really fun because it felt like a throwback to our childhood.

When we had all the basics down, we had created a soundscape that we felt was really exciting, we just started to create all the different parts and tried to keep it fun and exciting all the way through.

Other than that, it’s really hard to remember exactly how we did everything because you’re in the zone when you’re writing and producing music. But, what we can say is that we work a lot with Cazzi and Ellen, they’re amazing songwriters and two of our best friends, and the day we wrote Power Up was one of the funnest days we ever had with them!

BD: Considering Red Velvet’s diverse catalogue of music, it’s a first for a producer to comeback with the group, too. How does it feel to be able to work on another Red Velvet title track?

Moonshine: We’re so thankful that we got the opportunity to work for Red Velvet again. We really love what they do and are big fans. So to have another title track with them was a really big honor for us.

BD: Did you know that you would be working with Red Velvet again?

Moonshine: Not really, we write a lot of songs towards Red Velvet, but you never know if they’re gonna take the song or not.

BD: The instrumental has a very distinct theming to it, borrowing from retro video game bleeps and bloops right next to the bright sounds of bubblegum pop, yet, the blending of styles feels really natural in Power Up. What inspired you to take this particular approach?

Moonshine: We saw it as kind of a challenge, actually. It shouldn’t work, but it kind of does!

BD: Red Velvet, as a group, is known for having two sides to their musical identity, the bubbly and pop-oriented ‘red,’ and the sultry, R&B-influenced ‘velvet.’ What’s it like to be able to explore both of the group’s sounds with your two title tracks?

Moonshine: For us, that is what really makes Red Velvet such a great group. Their versatility is what makes them so fun writing towards. The girls always reinvent themselves, rocks all of their concepts and we’re super happy to be a part of that.

BD: And compared to the more haunting sounds of Peek-A-Boo, the uptempo vibe of Power Up is a testament to your versatility. Did you try to go out of your way to make something different from Peek-A-Boo?

Moonshine: We always try to do something different! We believe that as soon as you repeat yourself, you don’t evolve. So we always try to raise the bar further with all of our songs and productions.

BD: How was the production process of Peek-A-Boo different from Power Up?

Moonshine: Instead of writing the song on top of a small track idea, we started the production of Power Up in the session, in the room together with Cazzi Opeia and Ellen. That was very beneficial since there are so many details in both the production and the topline that had to be “glued together” in order to make the song fit. For example, like the four counts of “glitch” in between the first chorus and the second verse.

BD: Was there anything you learned from making Peek-A-Boo that helped you when it came time to work on Power Up?

Moonshine: With Peek-A-Boo we realized that it really helps to have a really strong concept in both the lyrics as well as in the instrumental. So we made sure we applied that to Power Up as well.

BD: And was there anything particularly challenging when making the instrumental?

Moonshine: The biggest challenge we encountered was how to make retro 8-bit music sound modern and work in a pop song format. The key for us was to take elements from old video games and apply modern effects and processing to the sounds in order to make it feel like something new.

BD: Now that Power Up is out, what are your favorite parts of the song?

Moonshine: All the parts of course (lol)! But the bridge is cool and unexpected.

BD: How would you say you’ve grown as artists since working on both Peek-A-Boo and Power Up?

Moonshine: We think we’ve started to be more free and creative with our songs. Since both Peek-A-Boo and Power Up are songs that we did with a total free expression, we’ve now kind of realized that our quirky and weird ideas work. It’s a really nice feeling!

BD: I’d like to shout-out Cazzi Opeia and Ellen Berg, too. I know they contributed to the track as well. How did they help shape the instrumental?

Moonshine: We’d like to shout-out Cazzi Opeia and Ellen as well! As we said earlier, we always do magic when we’re in a session with the girls.

Cazzi Opeia is so good with all the quirky ideas, like the whole video game concept, and she’s a genius with the hooks. Ellen always sees the bigger picture of the songs and come up with the best arrangements, harmonies and adds so many cool influences from different genres. We´re so lucky to get to work with them!

BD: Is there any small, unique detail about the instrumental that people might not know about that you’d like to point out?

Moonshine: Some of the sounds are actually sampled from a real Game Boy!

BD: And is there any particular sound you would like to experiment with for next time?

Moonshine: That’s kind of a secret (lol), but we have been working on a lot of sounds that is more towards male acts.

BD: Last time, you were a bit coy about any new collaborations within the K-Pop world. It’s a shot in the dark, but is there anything on the horizon that you can share? Or at least, any new groups you’d like to work with in the future?

Moonshine: Twice released our song “Dance The Night Away” just a month ago, people should definitely check it out if they haven’t already. Regarding what’s in the horizon we can’t say much, that’s top secret, but we have a lot of songs in the pipe with various SM artists. Apart from that, we still have lots of acts on our bucket list.

BD: My last question, is there anything you’d like to say to the fans out there? Anyone else you’d like to thank?

Moonshine: We’d like to thank our amazing publisher EKKO Music Rights for all their hard work and support. Also big thanks to SM Entertainment and all the A&R’s there for the amazing opportunities they given us, along with the great food, fun times, and crazy sessions during the camps there.

Finally, we want to send our greatest thanks to all the fans out there, for all the kind words you send to us!