The colorfully diverse girl group Spica hasn’t been around for a long time, but its members are certainly no strangers to the music scene.

Leader Kim Bo-a was a former vocal trainer for the K-pop idol boys of Infinite, and her distinctive deep and husky voice has been featured in songs of numerous idol groups including popular girl group Kara.

Yang Ji-won was a member of the former K-pop girl group Five Girls, which included stars G.NA, Yubin of Wonder Girls, Uee from After School and Hyosung of Secret. Park Na-rae was a contestant on the first season of Superstar K, and together with Kim Bo-hyung and Park Ju-hyun, the five women formed the group Spica, which refers to the name of one of the universe’s brightest stars. 

Spica debuted a year ago with the single “Potently” in January 2012 and later in the year released two mini-albums along with two singles. As opposed to mashing many different genres into one song, which has become a popular trend nowadays, the artists released single tracks that show off their different colors.

“We were each so eager to try new things, so every time we worked on a song, we wanted to show a different side of us,” Na-rae said.

Spica’s title tracks “Potently,” “Russian Roulette,” “Painkiller,” “I’ll Be There” and “Lonely” are examples of how the members have tried out a variety of genres and sounds from ballad, to pop, to dance and R&B.

“When we first debuted, we showed a strong, more charismatic image, and then later when we came out with the song ‘I’ll Be There,’ we were more bright and upbeat. And then with our latest song, since we are a girl group, we went with a more sexy concept,” Na-rae said.

“No matter what we come out with, I think that the most important thing for us to play up is our charisma,” said Bo-a. “Compared to other groups, we really focus more on our vocals than anything else.”

While most of the members best recall the emotions that overcame them the first time they performed onstage as a group or the first time they held a fan meeting, for Na-rae, it was the reality check she received during the filming of the group’s first music video, “Russian Roulette.”

“I don’t necessarily know if this is a good memory, but I will never forget our first music video shoot,” said Na-rae as the rest of the members gasped and laughed in unison. “I didn’t know that music video shoots were crammed into just two days. We had to act, pose and lip-sync in front of the camera for the first time. My mind was completely scrambled.”

“It’s only been a year, so I can’t say my nerves are completely gone, but I would say that before I had like 20 different things running through my mind, whereas as now it has been shortened down to like five things,” she said, laughing.

The young ladies of Spica released their latest mini-album “Lonely” in November and the album features songs written and composed by some of the group members. The mid-tempo pop piece “With You” was written and composed by leader Bo-a, while the ‘80s electro-inspired hip-hop track “That Night” was written, composed and arranged by Bo-hyung.

“When people hear our songs, I really want them to feel the lyrics, the messages that we send through them,” said Ju-hyun. “To me, that is what true success means.”

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)