In spring 2026, a very special museum that blurs the line between virtual and real opened. The five-member virtual girl group OWIS, presented for the first time by creative director Lee Hae-in CCO in her new role as producer, is the protagonist. As the acronym of the team name 'Only When I Sleep' suggests, the five girls who gathered under the mysterious proposition "only meetable in dreams" began to take out, one by one, precious fragments of memory that had been sleeping in listeners' unconscious through their debut album "MUSEUM".
OWIS members shared their debut impressions and talked about their first mini album "MUSEUM" in a written interview with OSEN.
OWIS is the first artist of the new entertainment company ama (all my anecdotes), and the meeting of CEO Kim Jae-yi, who came from Warner Music Korea, and CCO Lee Hae-in alone early on signaled the birth of a "sensory virtual group." In particular, despite being a mini album, this debut record boasts the striking number of eight tracks and achieves album-quality production on par with a full-length release.
Above all, what attracts attention is the high level of member participation. Serin, Summer and Soyee are credited with lyrics and composition on the tracks, including the title song, and have built their own worldview directly. In particular, the title track "MUSEUM," written by Summer, was inspired by the memory orbs in the film "Inside Out" and aims to be a "key"-like song that reopens forgotten dreams. OWIS said they want to focus on emotional persuasion rather than technical showiness and become a "group that makes listeners curious about the next story." Below is a Q&A summarizing a deep conversation with the five girls met at the boundary between dream and reality.
Q. On March 23, you made your official debut with the first mini album 'MUSEUM.' How does it feel to meet global fans?
Serin: These days I've been so busy without a break. I go through moments of excitement and feel scattered, but as it gets closer I notice many regrets and the desire to grow bigger seems to increase!
Soyee: Even though it's before debut, please leave comments or letters, fans. When I see them I already feel strengthened, and I'm really grateful. With that feeling, I want to quickly become a source of strength through my songs!
Summer: I've long prepared OWIS's story, and I'm really excited and happy to finally be able to share it with the world! If until now it was a world known only to the five of us, now the thought that we can share that story with more people makes me very excited and a little scared haha. It feels more meaningful because we can meet global fans as if sharing the same dream!
Haru: I'm so happy and at the same time feel a great sense of responsibility. I still can't believe we can meet fans around the world. I'll work hard to get closer with various looks and good music.
Yuni: I'm finally able to greet you as OWIS and I'm really excited and happy. While preparing for debut I often wondered, 'Will there someday be people waiting for us?' and meeting global fans like this feels dreamlike. I hope our music and stories can connect us with many people going forward.
Q. The title song "MUSEUM" carries the lyrical message of "exhibiting the lost pieces of dreams." What was your first impression when you first heard the song and what should listeners pay attention to?
Serin: Summer wrote the lyrics and I was very moved. I liked debuting with such meaningful lyrics, and even when it was a demo I thought it sounded pleasant, but once the lyrics were added it felt like a tremendous anthem of encouragement. I think it was a very good choice as our first message, not to make people forget reality for a moment but to give them strength to live again in reality.
Soyee: I'm someone for whom finding dreams is crucial — I can't imagine myself without dreams. The message of finding and exhibiting the pieces of lost dreams felt like myself and OWIS itself, so I was moved when I first heard it.
Summer: When I first heard it I felt it was refreshing yet tinged with a faint nostalgia. The image that immediately came to mind was the memory orbs from the movie "Inside Out." I wrote the lyrics imagining what it would be like to go to a museum where joyful and sad memories stored without our knowledge are exhibited. The listening point is definitely the moment in the chorus when the atmosphere opens up refreshingly. That spot brings out the song's mix of wistfulness and freshness most strongly, so it would be more enjoyable if listeners imagine their own "dream museum" while listening!
Haru: When I first heard the demo I thought the melody was so good and that it would be great sung with lyrics containing our story. Now, with lyrics full of our story and the members' voices added, I feel overwhelming emotion every time I listen. In the final chorus the members' voices blend together and sing, and that part is my biggest tears point.
Yuni: I felt the gentle yet dreamy atmosphere was impressive, and the more I listened the deeper the emotions became. I think the part where the emotion fully unfolds in the chorus is the listening point.
Q. Serin, Summer and Soyee directly participated in writing and composing the debut album. Was there anything you paid special attention to during the process?
Summer: When I write lyrics I focus not on making pretty words but on naturally reflecting what kind of story OWIS wants to tell. Especially while working on "MUSEUM," the image of memories being collected and stored one by one came to mind first, and I worked with the hope that the song would be a "key" that lets people open those memories again. I hope listeners can use the song to take out their own forgotten emotions or dreams.
Soyee: I carefully examined OWIS's charms. The members have lively, quirky and shy charms. Of course, I'm the shyest…! I tried to balance the lyrics so that the shyness naturally blends into all the members.
Q. With very diverse genres such as jazz, afrobeats, hip-hop and R&B, what musical direction does OWIS pursue?
Serin: For me, genre is just a means; I want to challenge a wide musical spectrum that can best convey the messages we want to deliver at each moment. There are various genres, but we maintained the album's cohesion under the single overarching theme of OWIS, and I hope those aspects come through well.
Q. The meaning behind the team name 'OWIS (Only When I Sleep)' — "only meetable in dreams" — is mysterious. What kind of team is OWIS and how do you want to be remembered as an entity?
Serin: I think OWIS is a team that carries the message that everyone can dream, and to that end we always try to focus more on lyrics and messages. We plan to carry out that emotional persuasion step by step to many people.
Soyee: OWIS is a team that dreams with you, searches, and shares that journey. Although we can only be met when asleep, paradoxically we want to be a team that, having met in dreams, is not forgotten when awake.
Summer: I think OWIS is a team where each person's dreams and stories come together to form one world! We don't want to stop at simply playing songs; we want to convey our emotions and world through music, stories and visuals. We want to be remembered by the public as a team that has "their own world" and makes people "curious about the next story!"
Haru: Although we are a team with the story "only meetable in dreams," I hope people remember us not as difficult or distant but as a team that naturally comes to mind in their own moments. We are a mysterious team, but ultimately we want to be a team remembered for our music.
Yuni: I think OWIS is a team you can meet somewhere on the boundary between dream and reality. Like a scene that suddenly comes to mind before falling asleep, I want to be something listeners remember for a long time. I hope to remain a small dream-like team for fans where they can briefly forget reality and rest.
[Photo] Provided by all my anecdotes.
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