But this was no ordinary pop act. Members of the multilingual, multinational group \u2014 Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Manon Bannerman, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung, each known by their first names \u2014 have backgrounds in South Korea, the Philippines, Cuba, India, the United States and beyond. In the year since their first song, \u201cDebut,\u201d dropped, they\u2019ve reached huge heights: performing at Lollapalooza<\/a>; an EP, \u201cBeautiful Chaos,\u201d peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200; going super viral for their new Gap campaign<\/a> and winning an MTV Video Music Award.<\/a> In November, they\u2019ll embark on their first tour. It\u2019s sold out.<\/p>\n \u201cThings have happened very fast recently, but it\u2019s an amazing feeling,\u201d said Lara recently. \u201cWhen things get wild, we have each other to lean on, which is awesome. And we\u2019re very grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n The group talked to The Associated Press about their whirlwind year, representing their home countries, their super viral Gap ad and more. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n AP: You debuted last summer and a lot has happened in the time since. Do you feel like veterans?<\/p>\n SOPHIA: We\u2019re very lucky to experience so much in such a short amount of time in our career. It\u2019s only been a year. And everything is so fast-paced and moving so quickly. But I feel like we\u2019re still very new to this and we\u2019re so very fresh and learning so much. Still have a lot of room to learn about different things.<\/p>\n AP: Your Gap ad went super viral \u2014 it\u2019s all over my TikTok \u201cFor You\u201d page. It feels more like a music video than an advertisement.<\/p>\n MANON: That\u2019s what I loved so much about the Gap campaigns. \u2026 Even way back in the days, they used to have those dancing commercials. And I was so excited when our team told us we would do it, because I was like, \u201cOh this is about to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n SOPHIA: The Gap campaign truly is something that us, as Katseye, truly align with. It\u2019s all about the confidence and inclusivity and expression. And to see its impact, and to see our pure intentions as a group and what we stand for and what we want to give out to the world, like really happen, it\u2019s really beautiful to see.<\/p>\n AP: In the first three days, 400 million total views, 8 billion total impressions (according to Gap) \u2026<\/p>\n MEGAN: Isn\u2019t there only 7 billion people in the world?<\/p>\n SOPHIA: Aliens are watching our Gap campaign, everybody! Animals, or pets \u2026 my dog watched it.<\/p>\n SOPHIA: It motivates us more to continue to do what we want to do, because it\u2019s the proof of our impact, you know what I mean? It\u2019s proof that we can make something out of what we love to do, and what our purpose is as musicians and as artists with an influence.<\/p>\n MANON: People want to see diversity. People want see themselves represented on the TV, on billboards. And I really hope that people high up see that and see that it works, and implement that.<\/p>\n LARA: We\u2019ve all, growing up, had to tell ourselves, \u201cOK, if we\u2019re not going to see that, if other people aren\u2019t going to do it for us, and represent us, we have to be the ones to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n SOPHIA: Our goal is to truly break barriers for those who look like us, those who have the same personality, the same upbringing.<\/p>\n AP: Are there inherent pressures in doing that?<\/p>\n LARA: Totally. 100%. I feel like it\u2019s an honor more than anything else: \u201cWow, I get to be the one.\u201d<\/p>\n AP: I want to talk about \u201cGnarly.\u201d You must\u2019ve known that song was going to polarize.<\/p>\n MANON: The very first day it dropped, I\u2019m not even going to lie, I was texting the group chat and I was like, \u201cIs it over? Are we over?\u201d Because no one liked it. But then a week later\u2026<\/p>\n DANIELA: A couple days later! Literally like two days\u2026<\/p>\n AP: It changed and everyone loved it. And then you hit them with \u201cGabriela\u201d and \u201cGameboy.\u201d Something completely different.<\/p>\n MANON: We want to keep doing that. We don\u2019t want to give our fans the same song we imagine over and over.<\/p>\n AP: What\u2019s your relationship with \u201cPopstar Academy\u201d like, now that it has been over a year?<\/p>\n SOPHIA: Watching it, I felt I transported to that moment and relived the moments, but also saw it in a different perspective, so it kind of brought different feelings to the surface. And it was a very interesting experience. It was our experience curated in a way that wasn\u2019t controlled by us. \u2026 It took time for us to accept that that\u2019s what is brought into the world.<\/p>\n LARA: There is a lot of beauty to the documentary. \u2026 Every time I see that I\u2019m like, wow, here\u2019s this version of myself before our lives blew up. \u2026 That\u2019s beautiful and also really sad and intense to look at, like, it\u2019s just a very nuanced, very gray-area feeling surrounding that documentary.<\/p>\n MANON: What I\u2019m grateful for is that it toughened us up a bit and gave us thick skin.<\/p>\n AP: So, what\u2019s next for Katseye? What are you hungry for?<\/p>\n![\"Manon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/KATSEYE_Portrait_Session_35788.jpg\")
Manon Bannerman, clockwise from left, Yoonchae, Sophia Laforteza, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Daniela Avanzini, of KATSEYE pose for a portrait on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)
\nAP: When something like that happens, does it change the way you think of your next steps?<\/p>\n