As we arrived at Yas Island’s du Forum at around 6pm on March 16, Fifth Harmony could be heard outside the venue conducting their sound check. No sooner were they off stage and settled in the courtyard of their changing room area that Gulf News tabloid! sat with them for an interview before their concert.
“Hi. How are you?” Ally Brooke first greeted, as Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane and Normani Korde followed with similar warm welcomes.
Dressed casually, they sat around a wooden bench and we chatted like we’ve known each other for years. Given their young age and the international success — three albums over the last five years — the women from Fifth Harmony came across as a friendly set to hang out with. Here are excerpts from the chat.
What is the secret to keeping grounded despite your growing success?
Brooke: I’m always in the state of just pinch me because it is amazing to see how far we have come in our success. It really is quite an accomplishment. I have an outstanding family who keeps me grounded and I’m a southern girl from Texas, so we always try to stay grounded.
Jane: For me, it is more of a balance of who we were before we started. I feel like with the help of my parents specially, for me definitely they always humbled me and remind me of where I am and how I got here.
Jauregui: I have really amazing friends and family, and support systems in my life... a lot of people in my life have shaped me in different ways to become who I am.
Korde: For me it is definitely my family. I was raised in a house as an only child, so I am so attached and I have separation problems. I think we also do a good job of keeping each other grounded as well.
Jane: We have performed in front of 100,000 people before and we always freak out, every time. And I think it is because we are all so family oriented.
The band has a hectic schedule of commitments. How do you keep those energy levels up?
Brooke: [The] adrenaline of everything, when it’s go time, it’s go time. And I really genuinely get excited for everything still. I think the crowd reaction, their emotions and expressions… I just feel their energy, so it’s hard to not get excited.
Jane: The places that we go to excite me. It’s our first time in Abu Dhabi, second time in general [in the UAE]. I have this thing were I walk out and I am like ‘We will be in Abu Dhabi performing’.
Jauregui: It’s also the different fans that we get. Because everywhere we go, there is like a whole new set of faces. It is such a blessing to go to all the different places and see all these different faces in the crowd and them singing back at you.
Do you really look at the fans’ faces?
Everyone: Oh, yes.
Brooke: It’s such a misconception. Everybody thinks we can’t see anything, but we see every single person.
Jauregui: So when we say, ‘put your hands up,’ and half of them don’t, I’m like ‘I see you’.
Any pre-concert rituals you like to follow?
Jane: We play music and get excited. Sometimes some of us will put our headphones in and just zone out and listen to what will hype us before we head out.
Did you have time to shop for yourself in Abu Dhabi [we hear Jane, one of eight siblings, had gone shopping for them in Yas Mall the previous evening]?
Jane: I sat back and thought should I get something for myself, and I felt really bad to get something for me. When it comes to myself, I am like ‘Oh my God that’s too expensive, that’s too much, over my budget’.
