Read on jrockrnoll
https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-rana/3/
RANA, thank you very much for accepting this interview!
To know you a little bit better, please introduce each other with a funny comment.
Vo. AME OTOKO AME (雨男雨) ↓
Ari’S is a multi-talented guitarist who can do everything and anything.
Sola is a drummer with a five-dimensional sensibility.
Gt. Ari’S ↓
AME OTOKO AME, is a serious, stoic and seamless person. But he is also cute and unexpected too. Funnily enough, when he’s drunk, you can have more mature conversations with him.
Sola, is a natural and easy-going person, but he sees people and things in a different way that makes him dependable. When he’s drunk, he likes to act like a sumo wrestler.
Dr. Sola (昊) ↓
AME OTOKO AME, is sensitive and stoic. He is quite versatile as he can compose and write lyrics and draw oil paintings. He is also very mischievous when he drinks.
Ari’S, he is outspoken and an honest person, and on top of that, he has great talking skills.
Japanese contains a lot of Kanji, so which Kanji would you give to RANA?
【真】[Truth] One’s true self, “truth”, is an attitude that we all share.
Also it can mean that we are a band that pursues the creation of great and pure music.
Also which Kanji would you choose to express yourself?
AME OTOKO AME → 【雨】 Rain, I have a gloomy personality.
Ari’S → 【無】 Nothing, No waste, no pressure, nothing at all…
Sola → 【心】 Heart/spirit, Even when playing music, it’s the most important thing to live as a person.
What was the reason why you became a bandman? Was there anybody who inspired you to become one?
AME OTOKO AME → I thought it would be lots of fun, I like hide and Ulfuls (ウルフルズ).
Ari’S → The first band I copied was SHAKALABBITS, and that was really fun.
Sola → I love music and music saved my life. I started playing drums naturally because I loved to beat to the rhythm of music. The band who inspired me firstly would be the German heavy metal band HELLOWEEN.
Being a bandman isn’t always easy so, what’s the most difficult thing about being a bandman?
AME OTOKO AME → Mental strength.
Ari’S → I guess for me, it would be to stay motivated?
Sola → To earn money and to stay alive?
RANA has an interesting worldview, so could you tell us a little bit more about RANA’s worldview?
The perspective of humans and other living things and “rain” is also an important keyword. While “rain” seems a bit negative and depressing to modern people, everything is inextricably linked to each other, and because there is something negative, there is also a positive. If we can see it all in such a kind of “light“, the message is that “negative” isn’t just always something “negative“.
Why did you decide to use “RANA” as a band name? And what does it actually mean?
Rana is the human condition from a perspective that crosses the boundaries of living things. In keeping with that theme, we could have also used any non-human creature.
AME OTOKO AME → So the word RANA felt right.
Your costumes look trendy, so what about your costumes for RANA? How do you decide?
We choose the ones that fit our music, based on fashion trends.
Due to Corona your activities and appearances of live shows have been postponed. What would you want to accomplish when you finally can stand on stage?
AME OTOKO AME → I want to increase the number of fans we have in an audience!
Ari’S → Our first step is to make our lives a success. Then the next step is stepping up higher!
Sola → It would be nice to have an environment where we can enjoy our live shows as we did before, but it will be difficult to do that for at least a while. But we won’t let that stop us from performing even better and we want to give everyone better shows than before.
Being on stage, what’s the best part of it?
AME OTOKO AME → The best part of being on stage for me is pouring out a song with a strong message and a hard sound. Also to introduce ambient surround synths, which is rare in live houses which expands the range of sound expressions.
Ari’S → For me, it’s when i’m faced with lots of smiles and when I’m covered in sweat!
Sola → I like it when there is a vibe, with intensity the genuine feel of live sounds. The drums in particular are an instrument that directly expresses emotions, and I want you to experience it for yourself.
What’s your biggest inspiration for making music?
AME OTOKO AME → Happiness, anger, sorrow and joy.
Ari’S → When you find preciousness in your everyday life.
Sola → Both sides of Sorrow and anguish, Ugly parts such as outrageous incidents and beautiful parts such as nature, art, and human goodness.
How do you decide on the title of your new song?
AME OTOKO AME → We decide by trying to be as original as possible.
Please give us some fun comments about the release of your 1st EP “蛙の詩” and 1.5 EP “蛙の悪戯”.
【蛙の詩】 Is our first release, so we thought a lot about the band and the message we wished to convey, and we made it.
【蛙の悪戯】 We created this EP during the Corona restrainment period. We did the entire process online, from arranging to mastering, also it was a good period to test the band’s teamwork.
Please tell me about the composition of the EP. How did you write and create the new songs?
AME OTOKO AME → We composed the EP by using smartphone voice memos and D.A.W.’s (Digital Audio Workspace).
Do you have any fun comment to tell about your MV’s to “蛙の悪戯” and “蛙の詩”?
蛙の詩 is the front side, 蛙の悪戯 the back side of our image.
For the MV’s, we had a meeting with the director and left everything up to his own imagination.
Why did you choose the titles “蛙の詩(Frog Poem)” and “蛙の悪戯 (Frog Mischief)” for your 1st EP and 1.5 EP?
AME OTOKO AME ↓
1st → The title track [蛙の詩(Frog poem)] is used as it is.
1.5th → Since the theme is unhappiness, it’s a mischievous frog who can be compared to God’s mischief.
What was your main inspiration for both EP’s?
AME OTOKO AME ↓
【1st蛙の詩】→ The desire to reset what you’ve gained, your pride, and your ego, and to start over, straight away.
【1.5th蛙の悪戯】 → Negative, yet realistic emotions in everyday life, such as sad events and unexpected misfortunes.
→ 1.蛙の詩
The world is full of complaints, yet despair and hope are linked with each other. This song tells you, no matter how you feel, you always can make a fresh start and try again.
→ 2.Llluvia
Creatures that humans treat with a convenient interpretation is usually done by human pattern is drawn from differing perspectives.
→ 3.耳カラ脳ヘ
You who behave pleasantly in everyday life.
You who are obsessed with meaningless envy and information manipulation.
The stimulus melody given to your mind via this song surely breaks your stress.
→ 4.ハルガサク
Like a flower that blooms around…
The proof of our lives continues to bloom in our memories.
→ 5.オタマジャクシの詩。
The things we’ve gained and lost.
We were upbeat and depressed.
Plus or minus 0.
From today, let’s live well again!
→ 1. Tranquilio
–Show your fists, not words.–
Aggressive and emotional.
An authentic rock number.
→ 2. 20% FORECAST
-Sun then rain, then…–
Funky & groovy sounds.
It’s a POP SONG that shakes your body.
→ 3. 僕らはみんな観ている
–When you look into the abyss, the abyss is looking at you.–
A dark side mid-tune song with aggressive sounds and solid lyricism.
→ 4. Social Minority
-D-on’t stop, go where the impulse leads you.-
This is a new level rock number with epic melodies and dramatic developments.
→ 5. 他人には見えない力で動いてる
–To the unseen you, who keeps doing your best. –
You know, I’ve got an upper sound that I’ve been working on.
A powerful, straightforward ale song!
→ 6. 悪魔の子
-Happiness is like a bubble that disappears when you cross a line.-
A lyrical message song that questions modern society.
What is your favorite music genre?
AME OTOKO AME → J-POP
Ari’S → Rock, metal, anime music, classics and everything in between.
Sola → I like listening to rock music, anything loud, anime songs, electro, etc.
Basically, I like a whole lot of different things, but mainly quiet and dark music.
What are your favorite bands?
AME OTOKO AME → My absolute favorite is X JAPAN.
Ari’S → Recently I have found myself listening to Band-MAID.
Sola → Some of my favorite bands include, Chouchou, Radiohead, 光田康典, ClariS, amazarashi etc. As for Visual Kei, I have found myself listening to Kizu a lot.
What is your favorite local food?
AME OTOKO AME → Soba noodles.
Ari’S → Sanzoku-yaki is my favorite local food.
Sola → I also like Soba noodles.
What is your favorite drink?
AME OTOKO AME → My favorite drink is black coffee.
Ari’S → Mine’s whiskey.
Sola → Lately, I’ve been drinking non-sugar latte coffee.
What are your hobbies?
AME OTOKO AME → I’m really into watching movies.
Ari’S → My hobby is that I’m into gaming.
Sola → Not much, I like to collect clothes and manga and I like to watch anime.
What makes you smile?
AME OTOKO AME → People make me smile.
Ari’S → Mo—ne–y♡money。
Sola → Cute people/characters and Alcohol
What’s your own habitat?
AME OTOKO AME → My habit is that I like to act suspicious.
Ari’S → I have lots of habits, but I always try to care about people’s opinions, so I am mindful.
Sola → Being Dark-hearted, unpredictable, fickle.
Where is your favorite place in Nagano Prefecture?
AME OTOKO AME → My house.
Ari’S → I like the countryside and the mountains of Nagano Prefecture.
Sola → The places where I can feel the beauty of trees, forests and mountains are my favorite places.
How would you like your fans to support you? What is the most important thing you want to receive?
AME OTOKO AME → We’re very happy when people like our songs, and it’s very rewarding.
Ari’S → We’re very happy when people try to get to know us and tell us what they think of our music in their words.
Sola → We’re happy when people express themselves honestly in words, or when they like and retweet us. It’s best to be able to convey excitement through sound and appearance.
How do you feel that you also have foreign fans?
AME OTOKO AME → I feel Ve-r-y happy about it!
Ari’S → We are just grateful that you found us before we even started!
Sola → I’m very happy! Someday I hope to meet you in person.
Corona is a global problem today. How do you, as an artist, face it?
AME OTOKO AME → We’d like to put more effort into our video productions, so that we can present RANA on the internet in a style for when we don’t have the opportunity to present our music in front of so many people.
Ari’S → I think that the conventional wisdom of the entertainment industry will not be accepted at all in this day and age, so we have no choice but to continue to search for entertainment that meets the needs of the times.
Sola → Of course, we will make efforts to control the infection, but we would like to continue to communicate with our fans without losing against the virus.
What’s RANA’s ultimate goal for the future?
AME OTOKO AME → Making a living out of music.
Ari’S → World domination!
Sola → I would like to tour and perform at big halls, we’d like to one day tour abroad too.
Why do you think we should listen to RANA? What do you think is unique about RANA that other artists don’t have?
We are not limited only to just Visual Kei, our music is pure, free and has lots of diversity.
Do you have any beliefs or mottos for your fans as an artist?
AME OTOKO AME → I want to be an artist who can gently push those who want to live positively.
Ari’S → I would be happy if I can be the energy to live tomorrow for you. For me, your smiling face gives me the energy to live for tomorrow.
Sola → Give color to your days, put your fantasies in reality, music will snuggle up your loneliness.
We came to the end, please give your final message to your fans.
AME OTOKO AME → As RANA we are a newcomer in the music scene,, so please give us you support.
Ari’S → We’re not able to do our activities as much as we would like because of the constant holding down, but we definitely do anything to be able to meet you, so please come to meet us!
Sola → thank you for taking the time to read this interview. Hopefully we will be able to meet more and more people. We will do our very best to make you love us even more!
Sadly, I haven't listened to much Plastic Tree, but after listening to this song, I think I've been sleeping on them for too long. It's a really nice song!
Hearing shit like that "thunk" when bandomen hit their acoustic guitar being left in the studio recording makes me so happy. I dunno... As music gets more and more processed and hi-fi and perfectly produced there's just some magic in the intimacy of hearing something so raw and real... Something you're not supposed to hear in most cases because it sounds unprofessional.
By the way, if any of you are interested in Collar x Malice character songs vol 1 - 4 CD-rip sent me a DM.
I only haven't bought the vol 5 CD since Shiraishi was my less favorite character though > . <
Anyways, beside the game itself, the character songs are cute af <3
Haha, no worries~ I'd love to hear your thoughts on it once you start digging into the routes!
Yes, he is~! I already thought he looked cool from his picture, but I had no idea how how much of a cute dork (and history buff) he'd be XP But all of the characters in the game are great. I have a hard time picking which one I like best, lol.
I haven't got onto a route yet as I don't yet have that much time on it. That'll change soon tho, don't worry haha X) I like all the characters so far and Gekkamaru does seem super sweet
Thanks! Mineo is just the cutest, isn't he? I was also very pleasantly surprised
Ooh, cool! Yeah, the artwork is gorgeous and the story is really good~ I love how mischievous Kuroyuki can be and how hilarious (and handsome, lol) Goemon is. Whose route(s) have you played so far? ^^ I ended up really liking Gekkamaru, haha. I think I'm a sucker for those types of characters XD
Aw, thanks~ ❤️ Haha, it seems to be XP And I love yours, too! I was surprised by how much of a loveable dork Mineo turned out to be His route was super funny and light-hearted; gave me the fluffy feels all over, haha.
Nice! I've been playing Nightshade recently and it's really impressed me so far. I'm not too far into it but I really like Kuroyuki at the moment! Although, Goemon is also tempting lol. Also, I love your Collar X Malice pfp~ looks like CXM pfps are becoming a trend here! Might change mine soon haha
Sadly, I haven't listened to much Plastic Tree, but after listening to this song, I think I've been sleeping on them for too long. It's a really nice song!
Recently been on an otome game binge, replaying some older ones and newer ones that I missed over the years (Hakouki, Code Realize, Collar x Malice, Nightshade, etc.) ~ I forgot how beautiful the artwork can be in these games; it's always such a treat! Not to mention the voicework is always superb.
Overcooked 2 - I've been playing it with a friend, and the levels are super fun and challenge. Trying to get that four star ranking can be quite stressful at times
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - The days when there was only permadeath for all characters. I ended up restarting some of the maps several times when one of the characters died, lol. Chapter 17 was super grueling with its four stages ^^;
Recently started watching the Chinese drama, The World Owes Me a First Love. It's starting out quite hilarious and the dynamic of the main duo is really good.
I'm also in the middle of watching Tunnel, which is a Korean mystery/detective drama. I love the time skip concept and how the main character sees how the "future" turned out for those he knew in the past. The story of what happens to his wife is so sad, though 😭
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