- [Nicole] The winter formal was February 21st.
I didn’t get to go ‘cause I had to come…
- [Eric] To Korea. - [Nicole] On Valentine’s Day.
- [Eric] Oh my gosh…
- [Nicole] It’s not like I had a date or anything but I wanted to go…
- [Eric] Ninth grade Nicole wanted to go…
- [Eric] So Nicole…
You guys may know her best for her amazing role in KARA.
Which was a…
A huge group.
Huge group and legends in their own right.
And I feel like on the Daebak show and the listenership at the DIVE Studios,
we have a great mix of people from all generations of K-Pop.
But for people who are newer to K-Pop, they may not be as familiar…
- [Nicole] Yes with… - [Eric] With KARA.
- [Nicole] ‘Cause we were more… - [Eric] You debuted when?
- [Nicole] 2007 I think? - [Eric] Yeah.
- [Nicole] The group itself was like very popular and active from 2007 to 2013?
- [Eric] Yeah. - [Nicole] Or 14?
- [Eric] Yeah yeah yeah. - [Nicole] Wow it’s been six years.
I understand. It’s possible.
I wouldn’t expect kindergarteners or like first graders to know me.
I’m very shocked that they do.
If they know me, I’m like, “Oh my god. Thank you.”
I don’t feel old anymore.
I feel like very honored that they know me.
- [Eric] But like… Let’s see.
So that means you’ve been in Korea…
Not even in Korea…
You’ve been actively promoting for like almost fourteen years.
- [Nicole] Yeah. Half of my life is… - [Eric] Half of your life!
- [Nicole] I’m like at the halfway point right now.
- [Eric] Wow. That’s incredible.
How do you feel about that?
Like that’s a momentous occasion I feel like…
- [Nicole] I honestly didn’t realize that it would be this long.
When I first came, it was sort of a…
Not a whim but it happened so fast.
So like I auditioned…
And then the next day, they said, “Okay. Come to Korea.”
And I came like a month later.
And it was Valentine’s Day.
I remember because I didn’t get to go to my winter formal.
- [Eric] Oh… Heartbreaking. - [Nicole] Yeah so I never went to a formal…
- [Eric] Ever? - [Nicole] I never went to a dance.
- [Nicole] It was very like… I remember the date!
It was February 21st. The winter formal was February 21st.
I didn’t get to go ‘cause I had to come…
- [Eric] To Korea. - [Nicole] On Valentine’s Day.
- [Eric] Oh my gosh…
- [Nicole] It’s not like I had a date or anything but I wanted to go…
- [Eric] Ninth grade Nicole wanted to go…
- [Eric] To her winter formal. - [Nicole] I just wanted to like have that…
- [Eric] Yeah. Yeah. - [Nicole] Experience.
- [Eric] Okay. Well, let’s talk about it.
So you were born and raised where?
- [Eric] In LA? - [Nicole] I was born in Glendale.
- [Eric] Glendale, okay.
- [Nicole] I was raised basically in Glendale ‘cause I went there for third grade… fourth grade…
Third grade to seventh grade.
And then I was in LA for a few months…
And then I came back, but I went to Burbank.
- [Eric] Okay…
- [Nicole] But I was mostly in Glendale… In the Valley area.
And so… Sometimes I see like on my Instagram like,
“Oh. I can pick up her accent!”
And I was like, “Do I really?”
“I have an accent?”
- [Eric] What got you out to Korea?
Did you go to a random audition?
Did you— Like what happened?
How did it happen?
- [Nicole] Jangtuh? Festival? - [Eric] Jangtuh?
- [Nicole] It was like… For a while Hollywood Bowl…
There was like Hollywood Bowl and stuff.
And it was also this other festival that went on every year…
And at that festival… Tim sunbae-nim…
- [Eric] Oh Tim? - [Nicole] Yeah.
I went the day he came out.
And the next day I think it was G.O.D sunbae-nims.
And so I saw Tim sunbae-nim…
And his song was so good. I really liked the song.
It was my first time hearing K-Pop after ‘Eternal Love’.
- [Eric] ‘Eternal Love’?
- [Eric] Was it Fin.KL?
- [Nicole] Fin.KL sunbae-nims!
It’s just the feeling like…
The songs of that era like H.O.T’s ‘Outside Castle’.
Like that era?
Like from that period was my first time hearing K-Pop.
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Nicole] And I was like, “Oh. I like it.”
And then I was like, “Oh. I want to try out.”
But then they said—
I went to an audition for another company but they said I was too young...
- [Eric] Ohh. How old were you? - [Nicole] At the time.
- [Nicole] Fifteen? Fourteen? I don’t know.
Maybe fourteen or fifteen?
- [Eric] Man. So middle school?
- [Nicole] Yeah. They said I was too young.
And so for one year I started watching like variety shows.
Like ‘X-man’ and watching dramas to try and pick up my Korean at least a little bit.
- [Eric] Yeah.
- [Nicole] To hear it more… And then the next year…
During the ninth grade.
I think around Christmas time…
I filmed my DVD and then I sent it over to Korea...
And then they called me the next day. From DSP…
- [Eric] Wow… - [Nicole] Yeah.
- [Eric] Okay so you get to Korea. February 21, 2006. Right?
- [Nicole] No 14. 21st was the winter formal.
- [Eric] Oh sorry. Sorry, my bad.
I really wanted you to go to that formal.
I’m sorry you couldn’t go.
- [Nicole] It was regretful. I really wanted…
- [Eric] It’s been pent up inside.
- [Nicole] High school… You have to have it.
- [Eric] Right. Aww man. - [Nicole] Yeah.
- [Eric] So on the 14th you come…
What happened? How was that?
Do you… Did you come by yourself?
- [Nicole] I came with my mom.
And I went to the company. Greeted them. And then…
That day, it was Lee Hyori sunbae-nim’s comeback.
And so… She came out with ‘Get Ya’ and she was having her first broadcast at Mnet.
M Countdown when it was at Saemaul Sports Hall.
- [Eric] Okay…
- [Nicole] And they told me to go…
- [Eric] Say hi? - [Nicole] See it. Yeah see it.
- [Nicole] And so I watched her comeback stage and everything…
But the most…
I remember just like the first time I saw her…
She was sitting down and she looked up at me.
And I was like, “Wow. She’s really pretty…”
“She’s really pretty…”
I remember her makeup and everything.
It had a huge impact on me.
- [Nicole] Very… Impact... - [Eric] Impactful yeah…
- [Nicole] Her eyes were like huge and everything and her hair was like whoosh!
Like goddess hair… And so…
But the thing that shocked me the most was the cold.
- [Eric] How cold it was. In February. Yeah it’s freezing.
- [Nicole] ‘Cause I remember LA and California…
I’ve never felt…
It was like, “Am I wearing anything right now?”
Like I had a fur coat and everything and I was like, “Am I really wearing anything?”
It was like windy…
Everything was like piercing through my skin…
- [Eric] Yeah it’s so cold.