BIG OCEAN Interview: “We Want to Be Recognisable Even Without Sound”

PJ, Chanyeon and Jiseok speak to CZMOS Magazine about sign language as a musical identity, the playful confidence of “Love Sign” and their return to Europe after the cancellation of their previous tour.

A BIG OCEAN performance should be recognisable even without hearing the music.

That is the ambition Jiseok shares with CZMOS Magazine when asked which part of the group’s identity should remain unmistakably theirs as their international audience grows.

Not a single genre or a concept designed to be repeated, but the way hands, facial expressions and sign language move through the choreography.

Formed by PJ, Chanyeon and Jiseok, BIG OCEAN debuted on 20 April 2024 with “Glow”. They are widely described as the first K-pop idol group composed of deaf and hard-of-hearing members.

Their performances incorporate Korean Sign Language, American Sign Language and International Sign—not as translations added after a song has been completed, but as languages that help shape the music and movement from the beginning.

BIG OCEAN in Conversation with CZMOS Magazine

Recognisable even without sound

As BIG OCEAN reaches an increasingly global audience, which part of your identity as artists would you want to remain unmistakably yours?

I would like someone to be able to watch a BIG OCEAN performance without sound and still know that it is us.

Our hands, our expressions and the way sign language moves through the choreography have all become part of our musical identity.

The sound and concepts can continue to change. But I hope that way of performing will always feel unmistakably BIG OCEAN. -Jiseok

His answer shifts the focus from technology to artistic form. During rehearsals, the group can follow the tempo through vibrations and visual cues, while repetition brings rhythm into muscle memory

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These tools explain how the members work with music, but they do not define the group on their own.

That recognition emerges between sign, expression and movement, at the point where lyrics are not only heard or translated but physically occupy the stage.

“Love Sign” and the freedom to be playful

Released on 9 September 2026, “Love Sign” turns the relationship between hands and language into the centre of the track.

Moving between nu-disco, pop R&B and soul, its chorus names different sign languages while the gestures become lyrics, choreography and a visual hook at the same time.

 “Love Sign” reveals a playful and flirtatious side of BIG OCEAN. What did this concept allow you to express about yourselves as artists?

It allowed us to be a little mischievous.

People often encounter BIG OCEAN for the first time through a serious story: disability, difficulty, technology and overcoming obstacles.

With “Love Sign”, we could move the focus somewhere else—to chemistry, eye contact, confidence and attraction.

We did not have to turn everything about us into a message. We could simply enjoy being attractive for three minutes. -PJ

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When choreography can speak

In your performances, sign language becomes both lyrics and choreography. What can your hands communicate that a voice or a dance movement alone cannot?

A dance movement can suggest something, but a sign can actually say it. Our hands can contain the literal lyrics, while speed, expression and the rest of the choreography show how we mean them.

A movement can therefore be language and performance at the same time. I think that space between the two is where BIG OCEAN feel most like BIG OCEAN. - Chanyeon

Someone who knows sign language can read part of the lyrics through the body. Someone who does not can still perceive rhythm, intention and intensity. Choreography does not replace language, and language does not interrupt the performance: the two are designed together.

When the audience answers with its hands

Your performances reach audiences who use different spoken and signed languages. Did a response during this tour change how you understand connection on stage?

Proprio la settimana scorsa è successo qualcosa allo Houston Korean Festival che mi è rimasto davvero impresso. Abbiamo chiesto al pubblico: “Qual è il vostro cibo coreano preferito?” e tutti hanno iniziato a gridare. Poi ho notato un fan che segnava “tteokbokki” in KSL. L’ho capito immediatamente e ho potuto rispondergli.

Sembra un momento piccolo, ma per me era qualcosa di nuovo. Eravamo sul palco di un grande festival e improvvisamente ho potuto avere uno scambio diretto con qualcuno attraverso la lingua dei segni.

Siamo abituati a portare la lingua dei segni sul palco attraverso le nostre canzoni, ma in quel momento qualcuno la stava utilizzando per risponderci. Mi ha ricordato che la comunicazione può muoversi in entrambe le direzioni, anche nel mezzo di un festival rumoroso. - Jiseok

From Fashion to the United Nations

BIG OCEAN’s US tour extended their work beyond the music stage. On 10 September, the group presented a collection with Andy Yu during New York Men’s Day.

Vogue described the collaboration as a meeting of British military references, Victorian romance and workwear, reinterpreted through the group’s visual language.

On 21 September, BIG OCEAN also appeared at Digital@UNGA, organised by UNDP and ITU during the United Nations General Assembly.

Vibrating metronomes, visual cues, captions and sign language demonstrated how accessibility can expand a performance when it is considered from the beginning of the creative process.

BIG OCEAN Return to Europe

After the cancellation of their spring European tour, BIG OCEAN will return to the continent for three concerts:

• 28 October 2026: Die Kantine, Cologne

• 31 October 2026: Alhambra, Paris

• 3 November 2026: 229, London

The interruption also led to “Make It Up To You”, a song written for the people the group had expected to meet on the cancelled tour.

The new dates cannot erase what happened, but they represent a concrete attempt to rebuild that relationship with European fans.

Italy remains a possibility

Since CZMOS is based in Italy, is there an Italian artist, musician, filmmaker, designer or other creative figure who has influenced or inspired you?

I really love Ennio Morricone. “Gabriel’s Oboe” from The Mission has long been one of my favourite pieces. I love how much emotion his music can communicate without needing words.

If we have the chance to visit Italy one day, I would love to perform one of his pieces for the PADO there. I think it would be a very special moment. - PJ

Morricone’s presence almost completes the circle: music capable of communicating without words meets a group building its identity in the space between sound, gesture and image.

BIG OCEAN will probably continue to be introduced through their historic first. That definition matters, but it cannot remain the only one available. “Love Sign” adds humour, confidence and attraction; the European tour reflects a willingness to rebuild a relationship that was interrupted.

The members’ words reveal the wider goal: to reach the point where hands, an expression and a choreography are enough to know immediately who you are watching.