New to Apple Hair? Start here for an introduction. Apple Hair’s a fictional Asian American boy band from Hawaii, but their universe expands to the fantasy along with the romance of everyday.
Or feel free to start here, where Corrin Chang writes about how he started his journey as a professional singer. This is a member exclusive!
Hi everyone! It’s Corrin (your favorite member of Apple Hair). I got the great news that I’ll be writing the first member exclusive! Hey, that’s a great honor. I hope you’re enjoying reading our story?
I’ve been thinking that maybe you want a little background! (and it’s just what I feel inspired to write about). So I’m here to give you my audition story.
As you know, I love to busk. Just me and my guitar out on Waikiki. I opened up one day with a Bruno Mars song. My voice cracked a few times, but I gathered a small crowd. Sunset just passed and I was struggling to see, as you might know that twilight often has that effect.
I finished the song, and I saw a man approaching me. At first I prepared myself to say no to whatever money he had to offer (as that’s not exactly legal for busking here). But he simply gave me a card.
I glanced at his face, a man in his thirties? He was dressed all fancy in slacks and a dress shirt, and his smile was pretty nice. I looked down at the card, and it said AWE Entertainment. At that time, I’d never heard of the company.
I finished busking and went back home. Now I wouldn’t say that I’m a chronically online person… but I definitely acted like one on that day. Mom called me out for dinner, but I was too consumed with looking up info about AWE.
Outside, I told my mom that I wanted to audition.
She was hesitant, and she warned me about the perils of the entertainment industry. As a single mother and nurse, she just wants me to have a stable life. I can’t blame her!
I most always listen to my mom’s advice, but there was something about that man and something about that name. AWE. Isn’t that just such a cool name?
Anyway, I continued to research. I hid this from my mom, but I had a date in mind. A seemingly random Saturday to everyone, but a day that was displayed on the AWE Entertainment website for everyone to see. Open auditions—bring yourself and a confidence that you could successfully debut as a singer.
I waited until that Saturday to beg my mom to go. She put up a pretty good fight, (we rarely argue, so this was particularly distressing). Anyway, she gave in. But I couldn’t celebrate just then. I still had the whole actual audition to worry about.
Mom drove me to the audition since I was running late—thanks to the argument. The first time I saw the AWE building, I got a little tripped out. The whole time, I thought it was another condo. Who knew some K-pop mastermind was building an entertainment company here?
Anyway, my mom wished me good luck, and then I got in line, which snaked all the way outside and around the building. I saw a few… or maybe a lot of handsome and pretty people. It felt like it took forever for the line to move even an inch.
Eventually, I got inside the building and saw that the auditions were happening in the lobby. When it was my turn, I got in front of a blank white screen, facing three judges. One of them was CEO Kim, but I didn’t know that just yet.
I brought my guitar too. In the middle of my singing (a One Direction ballad), CEO Kim raised his hand, and I slowly faltered to a stop. I was aware of the entire waiting line looking at me, probably picking me apart. It wasn’t a good feeling.
“Good,” he said, not giving away any other emotion besides a pleasant indifference. “Now, we want to see you dance. Can you dance for us?”
“Um.” I had read a lot about K-pop auditions, and one of the main points was to do whatever the judges ask. “Yes.”
One of the judges played a track from the speakers, and I began to dance. I felt a lot like a monkey, jumping around and flailing a bit. At that point, I thought that I for sure failed the audition (there were a lot of people who prepared much more than me, and a lot of people who could actually dance).
I exited the company with a bit of embarrassment, and my mom picked me up and asked me how it went. Since I thought I failed the whole thing, I just said, “I think it went okay, but not the best.”
Two weeks later, I got the call. It was Merlin Kim welcoming me to become a trainee, if I so wished. The training sounded intense, but I was all for it. It sounded like my future. It sounded right.
So that’s my audition story. I bet it’s way better than the other members’ stories. Anyway, thanks for reading and reliving this journey together with me. Apple Hair’s always rooting for you. And may this be a sign to take that chance and that risk.
Lots of love!
Corrin xx.