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READ: https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-cocoro-auction/ INTRODUCTION Please introduce each other. – 粟子’s introducing of the members: Ohno: A strong leader and a very stoic person. Tenmei: Serious but gentle. Ikawa: Natural and hot-blooded. – Ohno’s introducing of the members: Awako: All the members love his voice. Tenmei: Tenmei is someone who keeps on fighting now matter how difficult the circumstances are. Ikawa: He has a very unique sense of style. – Tenmei’s introducing of the members: Awako: He’s the face of Cocoro Auction. Ohno: A calm, cool, and collected leader. Ikawa: A soft but fair person. – Ikawa’s introducing of the members: Awako: If you have a problem, he gives you an enlightened message, like a Buddha. Ohno: If you have a problem, he will clear a path together to move forward. Tenmei: If you have a problem, he will be friendly and talk with you to support you. Some people don’t know the world of the Cocoro Auction, so please introduce the band in a fun way! Awako: The band expresses sadness and preciousness through music that allows you to see the world in a much more delicate sense. When and how was Cocoro Auction formed? Also, please tell us how you all met. Awako: The group was formed in 2011 by members of my university’s parlour music club. Rather than getting a job, we mainly gathered members who wanted to play music. Onno, our bass player asked us all “can we become a rock star?”. That’s how it all started. If you had to describe Cocoro Auction with one kanji character, which one would you choose? Awako: 風 (kaze,wind), Because our general aesthetic color is green, also we value music that has the sadness and preciousness of “the moment’ and shows their own worldview. So it feels like wind. It’s been a while since your last music video was released. Do you have any plans to release a new music video soon? Awako: We’ve already started working on a new album, and we’d like to make a music video for the release. However, we would like to make an experimental music video that is a little different from the band’s previous music videos. Why is playing a live show so important to the band?　What makes it a fun challenge? Awako: What makes playing a live show important is because we can see with our own eyes the moment when our music is transmitted to the audience. The human touch, the sensation of mixing the sounds that sound, which is only unique to that moment of time, it has an irreplaceable joy, gratitude, and emotional excitement. How would you like to be supported by your fans? Awako: We would be very happy if you listen to our music. Also hopefully, we will be able to give our fans courage with the music we have made. CORONA Currently we live in the world greatly affected by the Corona pandemic, did you learn anything during this hard time? Tenmei: Currently we cannot release CDs and tour anymore like we used to. However, the four of us were able to reaffirm the ideal and importance of Cocoro Auction as a band. If the four of us are able to look forward to the future, then we can create a bright future through our music. Has Corona had any positive impact on Cocoro Auction’s? For example, close friendship with fans. Tenmei: Even though we are in this situation, we do various things such as live streaming, online distribution, music videos, sell goods etc, to keep in touch. Also we still receive messages via SNS from fans telling us that they enjoy our works. For those who would like to see Cocoro Auction in the future, we will continue to do our best to find comfortable places to make it possible. CONCEPT The new concept of Cocoro Auction is to “remind memories“. Please tell us why you did choose the concept. Ohno: After listening to the songs we’ve written so far, we realized that there was a common theme to all of them. We thought that this theme must be the one we wanted to convey the most, so we decided to put it together as a band theme. “Dream” is the keyword of the concept “remind memories”. What was your childhood dream? Awako: When I was young, I dreamed of taking over my family’s business. Before I formed the band, I wanted to be a teacher. Tenmei: My childhood dream was that I wanted to be a pro baseball player. Ohno: I wanted to be a farmer. Ikawa: I wanted to become a ninja and do cool mysterious moves. What is the true brilliance hidden in your daily life? Ohno: For example, there is the everyday life. It’s something you don’t take just for granted, but if you think of it, all kinds of coincidences and miracles have led to your present situation. Just by realizing this, I think you can feel that you are living in the present moment. Also your lifestyles have a story to tell. What’s the story behind this? Ohno: We don’t just create songs and present them, but we also tell people the reason why we decided to create that song, how we felt while creating them and what we think/feel about it when we completed a song, also how we would like you to feel our songs, we don’t hide anything, so because of that you can feel our world which we tell with our songs more deeply. Is there anything that has moved your passion so far? Ohno: All events related to Cocoro Auction have moved my passion. Just the four of us going into the studio and playing the songs together is very inspiring. Do you have any memories from your school days? Ohno: We met each other at university. I still remember the first night we went into the studio together to play. Do you have any memories or triggers that led you to Cocoro Auction? Ohno: Ever since I was in college, Awako and Ikawa have been very much in the spotlight as music players, and I always knew that if I was going to form my own band, I wanted to do it with these guys. PERSONAL QUESTIONS If you were to describe yourself using one of your favorite kanji, which one would it be? Awako: 和, (wa,harmony,Japan) I have a gentle personality that represents the feeling of harmony. I also like Japanese culture and food, and I am proud to be Japanese. Ikawa: 空, (sora,sky) The weather was really nice when I was answering this interview, so I saw the beautiful blue sky, and suddenly this Kanji came to my mind. Tenmei: 欲, (yoku, greed) Because without desire, there is no motivation. Ohno: 春, (haru,spring) The letters of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, represent the seasons and are all in a shape that allows you to imagine the scenery of that season, which is very nice. What made you want to be a band member? Awako: I’ve always loved music, but when I heard the Beatles, I was struck by them. I felt the power that only a band can pour out. Ikawa: I loved to play the drums. Tenmei: When I saw my favorite band live, I wanted to live like them. Ohno: I don’t have a particular motivation. I kept trying to get better at making and playing music, and so I became a band member. Being a band member is very difficult and not always easy. What are the biggest challenges of being a band member? Awako: One of the biggest challenges is to stay excited all the time. Ikawa: It is always hard to have new goals. Tenmei: The biggest challenge for me is when I try to create new good songs, and to hold down to the bands innercore together. Ohno: You can’t have a band on your own, so it’s to keep up your friendship. We are all smiling and we all smile at many things. So what makes you happy? What makes you smile? Awako: movies, anime, manga, games all let me smile, but in the end music saves me. Ikawa: Engaging in games and anime as a hobby. Getting compliments from people. Tenmei: I’m happy that I can still continue the whole process of making music, making it, delivering it from the stage, toasting when I got off the stage, and so on. Ohno: Drinking beer before going to bed. What is the best part of standing on stage and performing your songs to an audience? Awako: There are moments when you can affirm your existence, and you can feel the life you’ve been living in the songs and sounds. Ikawa: To be able to sway the emotions of those who watch us, either yin or yang, through our own sound. Tenmei: The best thing is being able to directly convey your feelings for the song you made and what you want to convey now. The fun memories of a live show will maybe be the lifetime memory of a person’s life. Ohno: The ability to feel the reactions directly. It makes me very happy if I play a good show that I get a good response from. Are there any challenges you face when you perform a live show? Awako: Sometimes I’m worried if I can convey the message I put in the song and the emotions I put in the live. Ikawa: There’s a challenge on how to overcome the tension from playing live. Tenmei: To take care of your body and physical condition. Creating the set-list and how we wish to present our show. Ohno: It takes a lot of preparation to play live, so the challenge is to be able to enrich your ideas at the preparation stage. What is your biggest inspiration for making music? Awako: When I relax in nature or hear the sound of rain or wind, a melody often pops up. Ikawa: It’s fun to see myself coming up with a banging phrase! Tenmei: My biggest inspiration for making music is drawing from the essence of my favorite musicians. Ohno: Everything is inspired by feeling emotionally rich instead of just passing through what you feel in life. Where is your favorite place to write a new song? Awako: Park benches, baths. Ikawa: In front of my drums. Tenmei: When I’m thinking about arrangements, I spend time in my work room with a cup of coffee. Ohno: Home Studio. On September 9th you released your 5th mini album Memorandum. How is it to see the CD in a music store? Awako: I’m really happy about it. It’s really exciting to see someone buy our material at the store when I am around too. Why did you choose the title “Memorandum” for your mini album? Awako: I wanted to make an album that would remind us of the important feelings that we’ve forgotten without directly acknowledging it. How was the recording of “Memorandum”? Have you faced any problems? Awako: It was difficult to give some of the songs the right feeling of expression. Ohno: The song, “贈り歌”, was a real challenge to arrange. Even after the recording, some parts had to be rethought, so it took a time to complete. https://open.spotify.com/album/23of7MUWS6rZ1v4VZtbXIA In one short phrase, what is the concept behind each lyric of “Memorandum”? 手作り飛行船 → The Beginning of Dreams. ロックスターに憧れて → The shock and gratitude for meeting the sound of rock. 贈り歌 → A teacher’s graduation song for students. ミルクティー → The Sparkle of Youth. 少し長い話 → The connection between scenery and emotions Please tell us about the “Memorandum” jacket. What is the idea behind the jacket? Awako: I was conscious of expressing the theme of the album, “how I felt back then,” in a fantasy design. GOODS I’ve heard that your official merchandise is very unique and includes many different items. Can you give us some recommendations for what you think are the best? Ikawa: Everyone would say “Everything”, but I recommend “the pencil with our logo”. I love the atmosphere of the merchandise, it’s very nice. Who is the designer of the merchandise? Ikawa: I try to ask people who match the world I want to create. Recently, I’ve been asking Masashi Namihira, who also designed the album jacket. How do you decide what type of merchandise to sell? Ikawa: As a band, we met and came up with ideas for the songs to be released and for the overview of the album as a whole, from our inspiration and views of the album, we create merchandise that connects with our view. How do you link the music to the atmosphere of the merchandise? Ikawa: We create merchandise that matches the lyrics and the message we want to convey through our material. The most popular goods are the “OFF Tumbler, Yorimichi bag, Milk tea and Handmade light bulb stands”. They have been sold out, but are there any plans to resell or sell similar products? Ikawa: If there is a very strong demand, maybe we will consider selling these products again. When will the new merchandise be available? Ikawa: The new merchandise will be available in early 2021! Is it possible for overseas fans to purchase directly from Cocoro Auction? Ikawa: We have a webshop that we manage directly, so you can buy goods from there! you also can buy or stream our music via digital sites such as itunes and spotify. 「COCORO AUCTION Online Shop」 https://ccrumbrella.thebase.in/ 「サブスクリプション」 http://LDK.lnk.to/cocoroauction *note; their base shop is Japan only, I recommend to directly contact them if you want to buy something. Final Questions What is the ultimate goal of Cocoro Auction in the future? Ikawa: The ultimate goal for us is that the music and things we create become a lasting part of your life. Please give a message to your fans and readers. Ikawa: Please support us if you are interested in the music and the world view that we make!

Meet RotM, you may know him from the short living band “Sarcastic“, who sadly never released anything, however because of “Sarcastic“” we noticed RotM and so we started to follow him. A few years passed, some information has sadly swapped from the internet and at the begin of this year, I noticed that RotM started a new solo project named “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)”. Which everyone should check out. Due corona “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)” couldn’t make it’s stage debut earlier, however on December 16th RotM will perform as “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)” at 下北沢WAVER. If you are unable to watch the live show at the venue, you will be able to watch the live via a twitcast live stream for only 1,500yen. https://twitcasting.tv/c:waver_livehouse/shopcart/31484 Next year, a full and longer interview will be published on JROCK’N’ROLL!! Be sure to check it out too!! https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-rotm-kuroi-senkou/ RotM, thank you very much for this interview. Some people don’t know the world of “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)”, so please tell us some words about the solo project. With 黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou) I would like to try out new things, such as some musicality things which I have developed though my past band activities. Also I would love to spread my music worldwide. Why do you think we should listen to “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)”? What’s unique about it that sets it apart from other artists? Visual Kei in Japan is mostly based on hard rock and metal, but 黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou) is based on EDM and psychedelic music. The visual kei death voices and shouts that I’ve developed over the years of my career are added on top of that, which I think is interesting. What kind of EDM music can we expect, dance music as we know from the famous DJ (club) songs, or more to the cybergoth style? I guess it’s close to cybergoth, but honestly, it’s not really clear which genre it belongs to. To my next releases I would like to add some psychedelic elements. Please tell me why you became a singer. When I was a child I admired Hyde from L’Arc~en~Ciel. Until now it was always unclear that ALMA was formed by you and takuma (ex.ジルドレ(jilldre)). However, what made you decide to continue solo under a new name? And not just continue alone as ALMA? ALMA’s musicality is finished. So I started a solo project to try to do something I wouldn’t do with ALMA. Why did you decide the name “黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)” and RotM”? Please tell us the origin and meaning. 黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou)” can be seen as an element of Visual Kei, such as Gothic, etc. So I’ve put the two words “黒い (black)” and “閃光 (flash)” together in order to make an impact on the world. RotM is an acronym for a SM-themed project I did a few years ago. On December 16th an live event will be held, which is sponsored by you. Why should people come to your show? https://twitcasting.tv/c:waver_livehouse/shopcart/31484 I want you to feel the emotion, shock and madness that a CD alone cannot convey. The show will also be streamed (via twitcast). Why did you decide to also air the live via twitcast? I have chosen a form that would allow fans who could not come to the venue due to the effects of the corona, as well as those from abroad, to watch the event. The other bands 夜櫻蟲學 (YOZAKURA CHUGAKU), HITOMI, 水鏡響 (Mikagami Kyou)& Tha pino noir。. Why did you decide to invite them to your event? 夜櫻蟲學 (YOZAKURA CHUGAKU) and Tha pino noir are my important seniors, so I decided to invite them. HITOMI, 水鏡響 (Mikagami Kyou) are our juniors, so I wanted to add some young people power to the event too. I see, anyway, what was your first encounter with them? Tha pino noir, has been in my life for a very long long time already. 夜櫻蟲學 (YOZAKURA CHUGAKU) We’ve known each other since we performed together at a live event in Tokyo a few years ago. HITOM I & 水鏡響 (Mikagami Kyou) We met each other on Twitter and their projects made me curious, so I asked him to join us. Your album GARDEN has been released for free. Can you give us a comment? GARDEN represents one person’s life. It overlaps with my own, and maybe with someone else’s. I hope you can relate to it, even if it’s just one song or one phrase. I’d be happy if you can sympathize with me, even if it’s just one song or one phrase. And I hope you can look forward to the beginning of a project called 黒い閃光 (Kuroi Senkou) Please tell us about the “GARDEN” jacket. What is the idea behind the jacket? The title of the album, GARDEN, means a garden. The jacket is a symbol of the happiness that the album’s protagonist sought at the end. In one word, what is the concept behind each lyric of “GARDEN“? Life What’s the power of live shows? I guess it’s the visual message of makeup, costumes, etc., and the shouting you experience with your full body. Please give a message to your fans and readers. A new world of a musician named RotM is opening up. Enjoy the new music that does not fit into the current Visual Kei scene. RotM Thank you very much! PART2 of this interview will be published next year on January 14th! Please look forward!

https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-remaze/ RE:MAZE Thank you very much for this interview, Please introduce yourself with a few words to those who don’t know you yet. Kyosuke: I’m vocalist Kyosuke, you can call me the Jiro Visual Kei bandman. (I love to eat at RAMEN JIRO’S) riku: I’m guitarist Riku, I am an artist who loves curry! Toyoyon: I’m bassist Toyoyon! My future dream is to be successful with this band and to run a tapioca restaurant with the money earned from being successful! TAiKi: This is TAiKI on dums, I like fashion and I started to be a bandman to create my own fashion brand. If you would need to describe RE:MAZE with a single Kanji, which Kanji would you choose and why so? Kyosuke: 「変」 (Hen, change) → A band that keeps changing. Please also describe yourself with a single kanji and please tell us the reason. Kyosuke: 「挑」 (Challenge). The most important thing is to challenge yourself, challenge yourself to do everything! riku:「羽」 (Wings/Feather). I like the idea of being free. So I would choose my kanji to represent myself with “Wings”. Because I want to “fly freely in the sky”. (^^) Toyoyon:「甘」 (Sweet). I love sweet things! TAiKi:「耐」(Endurance). I believe that when you endure and overcome difficult things and defeat the face of adversity, you will be a little better off as a person than you are now. Please introduce each other, also please say something pleasantly fun about each other. Kyosuke: Toyoyon and I are the most positive people in REMAZE, and Riki and TAiKi are the ones who have negative energy. Riku: Everyone in the band are pretty decent people. (laugh) Toyoyon: Kyosuke to me has a real knack for speaking well, Riku is an individual artist, and TAiKi is a very good cleaner. TAiKi: Kyosuke has always been a Talker, Riku is very enthusiastic about walking, and Toyoyon is a Tapioca loving artist. What’s the reason why you wanted to become a bandman? Kyosuke: When I was a college student, I saw a live show of my friend’s band, and on that night I thought “This is such a unique sense of expression?!!”. Actually I was aiming to be a novelist, but that night gave me the thoughts that I might be able to express a story with music, so I moved to Tokyo and aimed to become a bandman. riku: After discovering Janne Da Arc, I longed to be a musician myself. Toyoyon: The reason why I decided to become a bandman was when when I was in highschool, I was invited into my friend’s band. TAiKi: When I saw the way that a band performs live for the first time live, the band that I saw live had something unique inside them which attracted me. What is the biggest challenge of being a bandman? Kyosuke: The biggest challenge is how much can you put your feelings and heart inside your music while performing live. In order for me to do that, I need to improve my musical abilities and accuracy as a vocalist. I want to ultimately get better at live performances. riku: One challenge of being a bandman is not only do you have to think about how to create good music, but also how you can reach a lot of people with your music! Toyoyon: To keep going! That’s all. TAiKi: Even if you have beaten one struggle, there is another high and thick wall beyond that which needs to be beaten. BAR or Izakaya? Where do you like to drink the most? Kyosuke: I love to drink at home (laugh). Riku: I like drinking at a BAR! Because I want to drink and talk calmly. A bar is also a place that is neither too quiet or too noisy, it’s just right. Toyoyon: Izakaya. I love to drink at Torikizoku and Hidakaya. TAiKi： Izakaya. I like the feeling of drinking alone with the hustle and bustle around you. (laugh) Which CD did you play the most? And please tell us something about it. Kyosuke: Billy BanBan 『時は今、君の中』.It’s the folk song that is played in the commercials for iichiko. I like that sadness, and it’s the root of my love for music. I like music that makes me sad rather than bright tunes. riku: La’cryma Christi 『Sculpture of Time』. This ensemble of music has been honed to the ultimate perfection. It’s a really great album, so definitely listen to it. Toyoyon: B’z 『B’z The Best “Pleasure”』 TAiKi： L’Arc-en-Ciel 『ray』 It seems that everyone of RE:MAZE likes bands from the 2000s, but what about bands from other eras? Do you know bands such as, ARB, THE MINKS, BOØWYand TH eROCKERS? Kyosuke: I don’t know them. (laugh) riku: BOØWY Toyoyon: I know BOØWY. Personally I listen to everything from British rock from the 60s to modern progressive metalcore in the 2020s. TAiKi: I played in a BOØWY coverband. We played songs such as DREAMIN. When and how was RE:MAZE formed? riku: Originally, there was a band called “AMAZE”, a predecessor band that I mainly gathered members from, and from there, “Remaze” was formed with the current lineup. REMAZE was born as AMAZE, so for what reason did you decide to change your name? Kyosuke: The name was changed to 、リメイズ(REMAZE) in the sense that it will restart from AMAZE. We decided on this name to carry on and change without denying our past activities. The reason for the name change was to restart the band as a visual kei band, and the band name was changed because there’s a “crack” in between. We live in a world greatly affected by the Coronavirus, has Corona taught you anything? Kyosuke: Many live houses and bands have disappeared during the corona period, but I realized that what we have now isn’t here forever. So I decided to cherish the time we have as a band. riku: That there is a possibility of sudden loss even in everyday life, and we usually take it for granted. Toyoyon: As riku says, We used to take everything for granted. TAiKi: I was reminded that we are connected to each other as humans. Has Corona had any positive impact on your life? Kyosuke: It gave me time to think about some things. I’ve been running a band until now, but what will happen when I stop? What should we do from today on? With that in my mind, I decided to restart the band. That’s a bit of a background on how “REMAZE” was born, which was a positive thing. Toyoyon: Personally, because we couldn’t perform on stage for a while, we started to use more SNS to connect with the world and that also had a positive effect. Please give us some nice self-line-notes (comment about each song) about your 1st single “REDEMPTION.” https://linkco.re/6HmaVynZ – REDEMPTION Kyosuke: When I got the demo from riki, the song’s energy felt like it had a feeling of “ruin” and “demise”. So I wrote the theme of lyrics about the “End of the world”. I always wanted to write a song about “heartbreak”, and since this track would be the title song I wrote the lyrics with such a theme. I think we can use this song as our business card for the new RE:MAZE. riku: I wrote this song with the development of the song in particular in mind. I hope you enjoy the contrast between the heavy, dark section from the intro to the A-verses and the catchy, melodic chorus! Toyoyon: Overall, the A and B verses are pretty well thought out, so I’d like you to listen to it! – résistance Kyosuke: The theme of the song is “Fist of the North Star” (laughs), The song has been around since AMAZE days. I arranged the fallen chorus a bit, so that’s the highlight of the song. riku: It’s a very hardcore song. The performance is intentionally simple and heavy. – リライト (Rewrite) Kyosuke: Personally, this is my favorite song out of the three, and I think the highlight of the song is the chorus where the tone drops and the scenery of the song changes dramatically. Toyoyon: The bass line moves around quite a bit, so I think it’s the most rewarding song on the new single. Even in the interludes and outro, I’m cramming in the number of notes by playing fast with three fingers. https://open.spotify.com/artist/1pT5Qfv7JUS9Hay51UzBTt?si=xdF1LQUNQFudR1F1sb_-PA Why is live performance important to the band? Why is it a fun challenge? Kyosuke: Listening to live music is the source of music. The instruments are used to vibrate the air, so a live show is the most important part of music. Also, even if the setlist is the same, live performances are never the same, so I’m always looking forward to standing on the stage! riku: A live performance is a space where you can enjoy the music with all of your five senses. Toyoyon: I think it’s a valuable opportunity to hear (and see) performances that can only be performed at that time. TAiKi: There’s a power and emotion that comes from a live performance in a space where the band is there and the audience is there. I hope people will come to experience that. What is your biggest inspiration for making music? Kyosuke: It’s about being moved by something. I don’t care if it’s because of a movie, a novel, music, or anything else, my motivation is to recreate an emotional experience. riku: My inspiration comes from taking frequent trips by myself to see the scenery of different places. Toyoyon: My inspiration comes when I see other people’s live performances. TAiKi: I get mine from looking back on the past. Where is your favorite place to write a new song? Riku: My favorite place to write a new song is at a location with a beautiful night view! How would you like to see fans support RE:MAZE? Kyosuke: If you like what you hear, please come to our live shows! What is your ultimate goal for the future of RE:MAZE? Kyosuke: Going on a world tour! (Laughs) Riku: I’d like to see us appear on radio stations. Toyoyon: I guess it’s a tie-in with a tapioca shop! TAiKi: My ultimate goal is To make music that will be around 100 years in the future. Why do you think we should listen to “RE:MAZE”? What is unique about you that other artists don’t have? riku: Although I try to create rhythms that people can enjoy and sounds that raise the tension, first of all it’s a “song” and a “melody”. I’m not a vocalist, so I always think about the sound as we would be an instrumental band and play with the image of a song in mind. Not only in Visual-kei, but in every genre of music today, I think there aren’t many bands that have this in mind. It’s a bit of a shame, though. Please give a message to your fans and readers. Kyosuke: I’m still a fledgling, so I’ll continue to do my best! Riku: Please support us! Be sure to listen to our CD!! Toyoyon: Nice to meet you! Hopefully I’ll see you at the venue sometime! TAiKi: I think it’s a miracle that we are still around. So I would be happy if you could come to our lives to witness this miracle. Thank you very much for this interview! ENGLISH Grammar/Spell Check: @Katt

https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-beast/ 2020~ BEAST ARE: Ba. AKILLA, Gt. BB & Dr. TETSUJI Learn about the new era of BEAST! 新時代のBEASTについて学びましょう！ RESTART: 2021年1月30日　新宿SAMURAI --- BEAST, thank you very much for this interview. Please introduce yourselves. Ba.AKILLA: I’m bass AKILLA Gt. BB: I am BEAST guitar BB. Until 2003 my stage name was BACHI BLUE. (It’s still pronounced that way) Dr. TETSUJI: I’m drummer TETSUJI How would you describe BEAST with a single kanji? AKILLA: 凶 (Kyou, Bad Luck) When I look back on our past, I think there were lot’s of tumultuous and dangerous ways we lived. Now we’re doing what we want to do without worrying about it. BB: I’m sorry, but only using one kanji is too little to work with (laugh) Well for example “音 (oto,sound)” would fit. The BEAST sound is really neat. BEAST has the coolest sound, whether it be our current sound or our past! TETSUJI: 狂(Kyou, Madness) It applies to our music expression, as well as us individuals. How would you describe your own personality and from the other members with just one kanji? And why did you choose this kanji? AKILLA: →→ BB（静, shizu,quiet）: He is calm and gentle. →→ TETSU（放, hana/to be free）: Airhead. We talk past each other (smile) BB: I’m sorry but, yet again I cannot choose just one single Kanji! →→ AKILLA: インテリジェント&重厚 (Intelligent & Profound) →→ TETSUJI:ダイナミック&気品 (Dynamic & dignity) →→ BB: 自由&器用 (Freedom & dexterity) TETSUJI: →→ AKILLA: (直,choku) Sticks to his beliefs →→ BB: (癒 iya, heal) The Neutralizer of BEAST How was BEAST formed and how do you know each other? AKILLA: Originally it started when I started my own band, when I invited members to join me. Well, I won’t go into details. (smile) I encountered two great members, BB and Tetsu. (smile) I’m counting on you guys! (smile) BB: I joined BEAST in 2001, after they made their debut on YOSHIKI’s(X-JAPAN) label. Originally, I am indebted to one of the BEAST members of that time, one of the members came to see my band I was active in back then, and the next they asked me to join an audition for BEAST. After all, I was allowed to leave the band I was active in and did audition for BEAST, and when BEAST revived in 2015 I joined BEAST again. TETSUJI: AKILLA and I have been connected with music since we were teenagers, and each of us went through many different experiences in bands before we got to where we are now. This time BEAST returned with 3 members only, Ba.AKILLA, Gu.BB & Dr.TETSUJI. Who will be the vocalist this time? AKILLA: For now, we only will provide instrumental songs. However, maybe if anyone wants to join us as the vocalist, we will let this person join. However for now we will continue being an instrumental band. BB: There’s no vocalist at this time. Someone may want to create songs to sing from the start, but firstly we want to express ourselves with instrumental songs. I’ll leave it up to you to imagine how our new sound sounds and what we can do with it in the future. In the future, we surely will change the shape of our songs for sure in many different ways, it surely will turn into the shape of your envision. I hope you’re gonna like it! What was the reason for restarting this time? AKILLA: KEN-chan (DEAD POP STAR / Kamaitachi), he told me “it’s about time” (laugh) BB: We had done a lot of preparation, but due the current global situation, it’s not possible to hold a show with our original plan. Regarding our first live performance in January 2021, we wanted to play on the same event with our senior(s) and not just a ONE-MAN. We decided on this event after consulting with our favorite senior(s) talking about various things. They are our favorite senior(s) who always cares about us! Thank you always! #note: I’m not sure if BB talks about just one senior or more seniors. Also there is nothing known yet about the event. I decided to use senior(s)…I’ll change after the event details will be public~! When did you decide to restart again? AKILLA: We decided to restart when it was in July (2020) Why did you decide to play the instrument you play now? AKILLA: When I started high school, a classmate asked me “Do you have an instrument”, I owned a guitar, but I was forced to play BASS. Back then I asked my parents to buy a bass for 50,000 yen, I didn’t even know how to read a score. It totally upset me that I couldn’t play well, after all I managed to remember the notes out of my head. BB: I bought a guitar after seeing some advertisement for a musical instrument mail order in a boy’s magazine. It’s not like that I wanted to be popular with music, but more like I wanted to have it because it looks so cool. In my generation, guitars and motorcycles everyone owned one, it’s also crazy to note that I (laugh) of course also owned a motorcycle which I was riding like crazy. In addition to BEAST, I don’t only play the guitar, sometimes I also play the bass on stage. I try to actively play various musical instruments other than the guitar too, recently I bought a banjo and a wind instrument and I like to play them as a hobby. It’s been a long time since I got my very first guitar, but I still play the guitar and various instruments for both work and pleasure, and I’m still riding my motorcycle like crazy. lol. TETSUJI: When I was a junior high student, I was in charge of the SAX in the brass band, however after seeing X (X-JAPAN) on TV I was amazed at the visual shock they had at that time and thought drumming was much cooler. Is there anything you want people to pay attention to in the new BEAST? AKILLA: That it will be interesting that we only play instrumental songs! BB: As always, just pay attention to a lot of different things. (laugh). I’m going to try different kinds of sounds you haven’t heard yet! TETSUJI: The range from which we perform has expanded, and also attention has increased because the music we create are unique instrumental songs. You have been creating music already for a long while. Have your own musical tastes changed? Are they still the same? AKILLA: Personally, my taste didn’t change at all. When I started BEAST, I was already addicted to “new techno and mixture”, My taste basic is: “Separate Ways” of Journey, “Technopilic” of Y.M.O and also “Prowler” of Iron Maiden, etc. BB: I don’t care how the music is created, analogue or digital or whatever genre it is, I think music is cool, I really like music which you can feel the heat inside. That’s just my personal taste, but nowadays music has a sense of discomfort, they don’t have that heat inside anymore, so they don’t really interest me. It can just be me, but nowadays it feels that there is a lot of unnecessary editing, which doesn’t give a song the feeling that it was created by a human I guess? (smile) I’m always responding to what I am interested in. Personally, because of my job as a musician, I’m always experimenting with different kinds of sounds. BEAST has a main sound, so I’ll just throw ideas at it that come to me at any given moment, and try them out if they fit to BEAST. However it’s too long to write it down here, so if you want to know more, please check out the BEAST SNS. Oh, anyway, at the time when I joined BEAST in the early 2000s, I only listened to HIP HOP. I bought NAS’s “STREET’S DISCIPLE” CD set and also I listened to old anime songs. TETSUJI: I find myself absorbing all sorts of different types of music. Please tell us about some of the turning points of BEAST. AKILLA: Everything is a turning point. BB: So many things have happened, so I never really thought about just one turning point. TETSUJI: You could say we are shaping up now. What is your favorite BEAST song? AKILLA: After all “LR-7”, it’s the song created together with YOSHIKI. Also Dayz&Diez and the instrumental songs I composed. BB: I love all the BEAST songs because they are all cool. For example, After playing “LR-7”. it feels like that your muscles have been strengthened (laugh). The other songs also have that kind of inspiring effect on my mind and body, or they make me feel as if I’ve been moved to another scenery. TETSUJI: You can’t forget about6 LR-7 and UNCLEAR. What are some of the most memorable events? AKILLA: Touring around with bands who belonged to EXTASY RECORDS, and a more recently the EXTASY SUMMIT (VISUAL SUMMIT). It’s really fun to play on the same event as your seniors! BB: Especially, the VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT held at Makuhari Messe in 2016, Which we performed on after the revival of BEAST was very fun! TETSUJI: The most memorable event for me was being the opening act of XJAPAN film GIG of VISUAL JAPAN SUMMIT and the international forum. What’s the most fun part of performing a live show? AKILLA: To surprise the audience with our oppressive music. BB: The most fun part of performing a live show is that it’s a place where we can all play together on stage and on the floor as we like, with loud noise and shouting. The audience and all the people who support the live show on the day of the event, come to the show with a lot of enthusiasm, and that enthusiasm is really wonderful. TETSUJI: LIVE = LIFE, Feeling with the eyes, ears, skin, the most fun is becoming one with the audience. Is there anything you learned while being active as BEAST? AKILLA: We’ve been blessed musically in all of our past, not just BEAST. We are members of a band. I’m sure that will continue to be the case in all our future activity. BB: That you always have to continue to study and research. Also I’ve learned that the freedom which you create with respectable people is very important and wonderful. Which we are passing on to the next generation. TETSUJI: That I am very grateful to all our fans, everyone involved and our staff. Without them this couldn’t be possible. What are the differences between the bands you’ve been in and BEAST? AKILLA: I’ve been in “BANANA FISH” and “Three Eyes Jack”, I joined both bands at a later point, so I couldn’t really give my own inputs as I wanted, but I am a member of BEAST since the start, so I can be as selfish as I want. BB: There is a difference between how to behave as a musician, your behavior as a professional musician is overwhelmingly different. For example, the miracle that happens when sounds merge with each other. BEAST was the only band with whom I had such an experience. BEAST is the basis for my current music production and teaching at music schools. TETSUJI: Each band has its own color and each has its own differences. It’s hard to compare, but There’s never been a band with as much spirit as BEAST. When you aren’t busy with BEAST, what are you doing? AKILLA: When I am not with the band I am at a hot spring with a view of the sea. BB: I like to drive my motorcycle or car and explore the area, after that I like to surf and play my guitar, also I like to go to the sauna and enjoy a massage! If possible, I would like to drink alcohol that I don’t usually drink and I would like to sleep for about 10 hours on a very high-spec mattress, also I want to watch the movie「男はつらいよ」 while dirnking hot sake. I’d also like to hold a slightly geeky workshop to teach people how to create music, that has been a while, I would like to do that more often. TETSUJI: Scuba diving in the beautiful overseas sea. Recently, there are many artists who release their music digitally. Do you have any plans to release BEAST music that way? AKILLA: We’ve scheduled to use it by the end of December or the beginning of January. However only new songs, not our past songs. BB: Since our resurrection in 2015, we have released 3 releases and also have distributed Videos, but this year we participated only with one song on the compilation album called HAUNTED HOUSE MEMORIAL OMNIBUS “UNHOLY FROM THE GRAVEYARD”. We are planning to release new songs next year which we also will distribute digitally. For more details please check out our SNS. BEAST’s early producer was YOSHIKI. What kind of influence did YOSHIKI have on BEAST? AKILLA: When I saw YOSHIKI playing the piano up close, I thought, “It’s real!”. Musically, of course, I didn’t see any compromise in my way of life. Personally, I was taught the way of extasy toasting (the soul of Extasy Records) at that time. If you were to live abroad, which country would you like to live in? AKILLA: For me i’d like to live in Barcelona, Spain. BB: Please name me any country were I can surf and drive my motorcycle comfortably (laugh) TETSUJI: I would love to live in Maldives. Please give a message to your fans and readers. AKILLA: I just purely want to have fun, so I’m happy if people watch and listen to the show and feel the need to say afterwards; “that was interesting”. BB: It’s been a while since the final BEAST one-man show shooting gallery at Shinjuku ReNY on January 14, 2019, but I’m going to continue to create and convey the sounds I want to make. I’m sure things will continue to change in various ways after this, so please continue to support us. TETSUJI: I know this has been a long time coming, but I hope you’ll be happy with the best sound you can enjoy right now. Thank you for your support!

--- READ on JROCKNROLL ENGLISH / JAPANESE READ extra notes about their upcoming release on JROCKNROLL: HERE (EN&JP) Read on IdolOnChaos ENGLISH / ITALIAN -- The poisonous idol group “POISON RAT (ポイズンラット)” has suddenly appeared in the Nagoya idol world. POISON RAT’s fierce live shows scatter deadly poison and with their addictive PIKOPIKO sound it will poison your body which lets your body move!! Leader Yuzuriha Riri (楪 菻李 ), she also wrote a lot of lyrics which POISON RAT performs. Poisonous outbreaks! Poisonous alert issued! If you’ve come to the live shows, you’re an “infected person”! Because POISON RAT is a big infection that’s sweeping the floor! POISON RAT’s music is composed by Nagoya’s rock band THREE LIGHTS DOWN KINGS, PENPEN(u-ya), 残響P/708(ハローモンテスキュー) and tmg(Ei). MEMBERS: 亞呪。 Ichitani Aju | Twitter 愛音 Anon Yura | Twitter 楪 菻李 Yuzuriha Riri (LEADER) | Twitter Dramatical Records: てるな teruna | Twitter POISON RAT: Website & Twitter & Youtube --- --- Please introduce yourself Ichitani Aju: I’m POISON RAT’s Red member Aju! I’m doing the death growls and shouts! Anon Yura: I’m pink member Ano Yura. I’m a good dancer and I’m the member who laughs the most! Also I like to talk to people, once I start talking, I keep talking! Nice to meet you!( ࿀ ) Yuzuriha Riri: I’m a really easy to understand person, I really do like singing and it’s also my specialty. Lately, I’m getting better at dancing, I never was a good dancer, but I’ve come to a point that people started to say “I never thought you were a bad dancer once”. So it makes me really happy if someone praised me for dancing more than being praised for singing. Please introduce POISON RAT members. Anon Yura: We really can laugh about anything with each other, well sometimes I just laugh straight away right?(laugh) What is the meaning behind the name POISON RAT? Yuzuriha Riri: It’s my favorite animal! But that’s not the reason why we called the band POISON RAT, we just wanted to have a name which sounds beautiful and which can be remembered and be called out easily by many people, that’s how the name received its shape. How would you describe the music style of POISON RAT? Ichitani Aju: Not only typical idol-like songs, but also mega cool “band” music. Anon Yura: PICOPICO, band-ish sound. Yuzuriha Riri: I’m aiming that the music we pour out that it collides with our soul rather than just being good or bad. What makes POISON RAT special for you? Ichitani Aju: POISON RAT is the only and best place to be. It’s the kind of place where you want to affirm that you’re alive and affirm the meaning of someone else’s life. Anon Yura: POISON RAT is my life. Yuzuriha Riri: Unique member personality and one of the strength points is that the sound totally fits my voice! When and how was POISON RAT formed? Ichitani Aju: 2017/12/24, But I joined the group at a later moment, so I don’t know the story behind the formation. Our current line-up was formed on April 13, 2018. Anon Yura: 2017.12.24 Yuzuriha Riri: This is a conversation I’ve had with our producer Teruna about what kind of group I’d like to be in and that’s what POISON RAT is now, it gradually embodies it. What have been the highlights of your activity? Ichitani Aju: That we have achieved crowdfunding. In the past many auditions attempts and other challenges I’ve done so far were not a success, just disappointing, But I’m really glad to have been able to succeed this project with all our fans! Anon Yura: All big lives, but especially our one-man lives. Yuzuriha Riri: There are so many highlights, but I don’t want to raise them over here. I don’t want to cling to past highlights too much, because I wish to make new highlights of every new day from now on. Why did you want to become an idol? Who or what inspired you? Ichitani Aju: At first, I didn’t want to become an idol, but rather I wanted to be involved in it because I love music. So I was wondering how I could step in that world, so I wanted for my very first time to watch an idol live, mainly because I knew one of the former members, everyone was so sparkling, So after seeing the show I really wanted to be an idol too. Anon Yura: I loved idols and longed for them, so I wanted to stand on stage too!, I guess that was the trigger. I always liked Tomomi Itano from akb48, I admire her because she is a great dancer and singer, so I really wanted to be like her. Yuzuriha Riri: Actually I’ve been making fun of the idol genre for a long time. The dances aren’t hard, but most of the time it’s lip-synching. I’ve been saved by putting my trust in music all my life, so I thought that lip-synching was the biggest insult to music. “But don’t you want to be on Idol?” Since our Producer Teruna invited me to become one, It really gave me lots to think about which led to that I wanted to see what kind of idols I’ve been making fun of and because I wanted to see what they were focusing on and things like that. How would you like your fans to support you? Anon Yura: I always wish that everyone can get along with anybody around them and support us together no matter where we are. Yuzuriha Riri: All I wish for is that you like our music. However if you don’t come to our shows etc, we won’t get results. However my personal feelings won’t change because of it, if you like me, I also will like you! What is the most important thing you want to receive? Anon Yura: Fans happiness after seeing me perform a live show, I really want to be such a person to give my fans smiles and to receive them because of it. Yuzuriha Riri: Everyone’s feelings~~~~~ How do you prepare for a live show? Ichitani Aju: While the soundcheck we all check out together how we will perform our show that day. Also we do some voice exercises before the show. Anon Yura: We also do some small preparation work, dressing up and getting ready for the show. Yuzuriha Riri: I wouldn’t name it preparation, but it’s very specific such as stretching your body and vocalization before the performance, but that’s not preparation, it’s more about how to turn your mind to the right mind setting to prepare for the show like “We’re going to hit on stage again today too!!” What’s your favorite part of your live shows? Ichitani Aju: When I notice someone who has never seen POISON RAT before. At first their faces are like “don’t enjoy”… but I really love it and it really gets fun when they start raising their first and shout long. Anon Yura: When I felt the sense of unity with our audience. It’s really fun when we all have together as one unit! Yuzuriha Riri: Before you get united with music as one there is always a space gab. I mean, if there are 100 people in the same room, then each person has their own life, we all have our own struggles and fun times which we cannot always share with others. Even if you listen to the same music, you might never have the same feeling, and that’s fine. But even if our feelings are different and live music is playing, we are looking in the same direction and being filled with emotions which we share together, and that only can happen live. How do you decide on the costumes? Ichitani Aju: I asked my favorite brands “M:E” and “kakuremi”, to create our costumes and also the last two shows before I became an idol for this group. I’m happy that I’ve received so many opportunities to work with them. Anon Yura: We all consult and decide together! Yuzuriha Riri: We’ll discuss the details with each other, but I’ll leave it up to the people who make our customs and our producer Teruna to handle the general details etc. What’s your favorite song of POISON RAT? Ichitani Aju: 毒69 (doku 69) It’s my first song that’s my very own, so I’m deeply fond of it. Anon Yura: It’s salam, I really like it because it expresses me so well! Yuzuriha Riri: I’ve so many memories of all the songs, so I can’t really tie them just to one song, but I especially like grayscale because the song feels as if I wrote the song myself from out of my heart. Who decides the choreography? Ichitani Aju: Mostly Yura and Teruna, but everyone is free to give some input ideas. Anon Yura: Our producer, other idols and choreographers. Yuzuriha Riri: Yura and Teruna are the main ones. But we are all working on it little by little. Who is your favorite artist? Ichitani Aju: SUG. Anon Yura: EXILE THE SECOND　＆　風男塾 (Fudanjuku) Yuzuriha Riri: I do like many artists, but recently I really like the band CIVIRIAN. What’s your favorite genre of music? Ichitani Aju: Japanese rock. Anon Yura: Idol. Yuzuriha Riri: I always liked to listen to Anime and Vocaloid music, I still like to listen to it from time to time. What is your favorite food? Ichitani Aju: Plum Anon Yura: I love tomato-based food, Pasta with meatballs, Hayashi Rice, Minestrone, carbohydrates. Yuzuriha Riri: Yakiniku and chocolate! What is your favorite drink? Ichitani Aju: Ginger ale dry. Anon Yura: Cafe latte. Yuzuriha Riri: Cocacola, milk, Dr. Pepper What are your hobbies? Ichitani Aju: Gaming, especially FPS (First Person Shooter). Anon Yura: Watching youtube Yuzuriha Riri: My hobby was music, so since I started this job as an idol the hobby kind of disappeared, but I really like to go singing karaoke on my free days. What are your recent interests? Ichitani Aju: I love cooking, recently I’m learning how to cook a dish exactly how it’s shown in a photo. Anon Yura: Dancing. Yuzuriha Riri: Cooking!! I’d like to get better at it and turn it into a hobby. What makes you smile? Ichitani Aju: The smiles of all the Otakus. Anon Yura: When everyone is smiling. Yuzuriha Riri: The smiles of everyone who supports me. that’s all. If you could make a live show abroad, where would you like to do it? Ichitani Aju: I would like to perform at DEAD RHYTHM EASTER FEST. Anon Yura: Taiwan or South Korea! Yuzuriha Riri: China, South Korea, and the Philippines are closely related to Japanese culture, so I would like to show people over there the world of POISON RAT. Corona is a global issue at the moment. As an artist, how do you deal with this issue? Ichitani Aju: For idols and for the music industry right now. I think everyone is filled with cloudy feelings. I hope I can cheer you up as much as I can without any boundaries of genre! Anon Yura: We have been unable to perform well due corona, so we have been unable to express ourselves well enough, However we give our best to use SNS to communicate with everyone and to let people who don’t know us yet who POISON RAT are! Yuzuriha Riri: I hope that anybody who feels sad because of Corona will be happy again. What’s your ultimate goal for the future of POISON RAT? Ichitani Aju: To play at Budokan, with anyone calling out for us! Anon Yura: To stand on a big stage with us four together. Yuzuriha Riri: Ultimately, it’s hard to say, but to put it simply, I want to be an artist that everyone can understand when they hear “POISON RAT”. Please write your message to your fans and readers. Ichitani Aju: Thank you for your support!! I hope that everyone will follow me! I will do my best to show you the very best LIVE’s you will ever see! Thank for you (continued) support for POISON RAT!!~ Anon Yura: Thank you for always supporting POISON RAT! We’re going to grow much bigger in the future, so I’d be happy if you could (continue) watch over me/us! Yuzuriha Riri: Thank you very much!! Please keep following us so that our music will become one of your reasons to “live”, we will continue until we die!

vkgy latest interview, with a famous vkei writer! Also I worked hard on this one so it's a cross post with JROCKNROLL Nagasawa Tomonori (長澤智典) is a music journalist of note, having written for most major visual kei magazines and bands. We had the chance to ask him questions over several weeks, and so we explore his career, and his decades-long view of visual kei from the inside. Choose your favorite platform vkgy or jrocknroll If there are people who still have any questions about the "visual kei" history, we can do another round So if you do have any questions, throw them to me and I'll will ask them!

https://jrocknroll.com/an-interview-with-gunix/3/ ENGLISH Grammar/Spell Check thx to @Katt -- Not everyone is familiar with the world of GUNIX yet, please introduce GUNIX with some nice words. K-BOM: GUNIX is a rock band with the concept of us being a modern form of cyberpunk. Our musical genre can be described as EDM+LOUD MUSIC. What sets us apart from other bands is that we are also a band with a female and a male vocalist. Also, we are always trying out new things. We are a five member band with Vo. Ami & K-BOM, Gt. Arly, Ba. Matsubai and Dr. Toyotetsu. We as a band are all calm and interesting, we all take our music very seriously and we love it with our whole heart. When and how was GUNIX formed? How did you all meet? K-BOM: GUNIX was formed around the end of March 2020, and we started our activities in August. Of course while forming the band we also got stuck in production due to the shitty epidemic known as the coronavirus. We got to know vocalist Ami by a recommendation from a music vocational school. Japanese contains a lot of Kanji, so which Kanji would you give to GUNIX 和 (wa, harmony) This is because we value Japan’s unique melodies, sensibilities and harmony. We are a world-class band that has a unique sense of connection in our music. Currently we live in the world of Corona. Is there something you have learned in these difficult times? K-BOM: We have learned that it is very important to have connections and relationships with various people. We have to learn how to adapt because the coronavirus epidemic divides us as people. Does Corona have any positive impact on your life? K-BOM: Well, we can thank the coronavirus because it led to the formation of GUNIX, which I’m thankful for. Why are live shows so important for a band? At least to us, a rock band can’t be a rock band without performing live. We don’t want to limit ourselves to just releasing material online either. So, you wish that fans come to your shows right? Why is that so? For the time being, please come to our lives. Right now we live in a difficult situation in which both artists and visitors ought to spend some money. Which Kanji would you choose to express yourself? K-BOM: 楽 (easy) Because I’m always trying to have fun at anything and everything! I consider myself a hyper positive person! What made you decide to become a bandman? K-BOM: After seeing LUNA SEA I was longing to be a vocalist and a guitarist, however after seeing PIERROT I really wanted to become a vocalist. Well, also to me, being a bandman is a way of life. What’s the biggest challenge of being a bandman? K-BOM: The biggest challenge is that people end up just quitting like it’s some school club activity. Being a bandman to me means that you should never give up. Out of these two, which do you prefer; a bar or an izakaya? Where do you like to drink the most? K-BOM: I only drink when I’m at home. Matsubai: I like to drink, but I also like to eat. Specifically, I like social drinking while talking with people around a big table with plenty of food. Everyone smiles and laughs, so what makes you smile and laugh? Ami: I’m the type of person who is always smiling even if there is nothing to be smiling about. K-BOM: I don’t really laugh. Until now, what’s your most played CD? K-BOM: DRAGON ASH ｢LILY OF DA VALLEY｣ Arly: RADWIMPS「絶体絶命」 It’s really great to stand on stage and do a show, right? Isn’t that the most amazing thing? K-BOM: There is no point in living if you wouldn’t enjoy it. Toyotetsu: That’s right! I don’t think the time on stage can be replaced by anything else. Do you face any problems when you perform your shows? K-BOM: Right now, due to corona, it’s difficult to share my voice to many people. It’s hard because a venue can only allow a limited amount of visitors inside. How do you get your inspiration for making new music? K-BOM: It’s like taking a bath, a bath filled with music with your favorite songs and new music you never heard before. What’s your favorite place to write a new song? K-BOM: I’m always writing with all my focus in my own studio. I really focus on creating songs of perfect quality. https://gunix.thebase.in/items/35179820 Why is the album titled “WIRED”? K-BOM: WIRED means awakening or addiction, also it fits our musical style. Beside that, our previous releases are named WIRED1 and WIRED2 so we thought let’s create a “WIRED” series for this year’s releases. What was the main inspiration for creating “WIRED”? K-BOM: CORONA. This unusual situation felt cyberpunk which became the origin. What do you want listeners to feel while listening to “WIRED”? K-BOM: First, the craziness which you will get surprised by, later you feel the loud parts however you will also notice a bunch of pop aspects too. How was the recording of “WIRED”? Did you have any problems recording the part? K-BOM: The process of finishing the songs together was creative and exciting. Arly really did do a good job. He did a great job on the arrangement and putting our recordings together with our engineer. Ami: It really was lots of fun to record all the songs! Most songs of GUNIX’s have a high key, so it was really difficult to hit the tones well, also the chorus wasn’t easy. I had trouble with the many parts of the songs and the many harps. It was fully loaded. Toyotetsu: I didn’t have any problems with it. I felt good about being allowed to do it freely, while keeping the open-ended vibe of the song. (smile). Arly: When we were making the unique concepts for our songs, we tried to create an intense but tight sound. Are there any fun and interesting stories about “WIRED”? K-BOM: There is a point where a song just floats by, like an idiot. Ami: K-BOM, Gt.Arly, and I do like to record background sounds together. Everytime when Arly made a mistake in timing or rhythm, K-BOM scolded him (which happened almost every time), which was super funny and interesting to me personally. Toyotetsu: Well it’s not really interesting, but we were able to create our first album as a very unique and strong piece. What’s the inspiration behind the lyrics of “WIRED”? Frustration? Because we live in a shit world, there are many people who are shit. We are the shittiest creatures in the world, so to speak. What did you enjoy most about working on WIRED? K-BOM: For me, I enjoyed the food breaks between the recording periods. Ami: We recorded each song together, mixed it, mastered it, and finished it as a collective.It was a lot of fun to watch the process of creating a CD as it was completed. Toyotetsu: Watching the production process, it was great to see how each song was completed. Matsubai: The production process includes not only songs, but also jackets, music videos, and many other things, and that’s when we start to see WIRED as one piece of work. Our song ZERO GRAVITY was the last song which we matched to fit on the album. Could you please share some self liner notes about each song of WIRED? 1. INVADE This is an instrumental song with the theme of aggression. 2. ZERO GRAVITY Zero gravity is the theme, so that means that there’s nothing to lose! That’s the message of the song. 3. WAVY TOXIC It’s written with the idea that the only way for us musicians to survive is to keep chasing the waves of life, we shouldn’t give up on trying, so we have to make sure that our dreams never stop existing. 4. IN SIDEOUT!! This song was written when the state of emergency was declared. Now we came to the point that it’s time to release all passionate and emotional feelings inside your heart. 5. MAKE SOME NOISE!!Feat.GUNIX This is Ami-chan’s immensely badass PARTY SONG that we helped contribute to. 6. BANG MY HEAD Let’s head-bang until our heads hurt so much that our heads burst. 7. PARTY MONSTER This is also PARTY SONG. It’s a very uplifting song. 8. SiN-METRY-SiN This song has symmetrical lyrics and singing parts. It’s fun to listen to because of the VOCALS swapping back and forth between singers. 9. #wonderland It’s a song about a song which goes viral with a hashtag on twitter. It goes viral because everybody loved it when we played it at our lives. https://open.spotify.com/album/2BIKkHuGRLZUKtIR7XXKPQ Can you tell us about the MV shooting of your MV’s INSIDE OUT!! and WAVY TOXIC? K-BOM: While shooting the music videos, I wore a mask and it felt like I was running out of oxygen. Arly: While we were recording WAVY TOXIC, I slammed my PC with my guitar. I almost broke my PC but my guitar didn’t even get a single scratch. Toyotetsu: INSIDE OUT is a very rough PV. WAVY TOXIC is like a hardcore PV, and I hope you can feel the difference in tension in a good way. Ami: INSIDE OUT!! is a MV created from off-shot videos which we took during our activities. We took the off-shot videos and we simply edited them from scratch, so I guess you feel the handmade love in the video! (smile) WAVY TOXIC was quite a long shoot, and since it was during the Corona period, we had to create it with only a few people on hand, so we had to move around a lot, and we had to give our very best. Matsubai: INSIDE OUT!! is a collection of videos taken during the time between the formation of the band, all the way up until the official band photos were taken. So, we didn’t shoot any special videos but everything happened after Dr. Toyotetsu joined the band as an official member, so it turned into an emotional video. When we did shoot WAVY TOXIC it was raining like crazy. (laugh). I decided on our costumes and hairstyles that day, but I only brought a few costumes with me, so I was stressed out trying to keep everything dry. On the shooting day location there was also an e-sport match going on, so you can see the word “e-sport” written on the wall and there are a lot of computers in the video. That day we also got the chance to take a peek at the location where they were filming an e-sport event. I was really was amazed by it (Laughs) Please tell us a little bit more about the concept of the MV’s K-BOM: The concept is cyberpunk. So I just thought about how to express the feeling of cyberpunk. To me, it’s to feel the end of the world. Please tell us a fun background story about the MV shootings. K-BOM: When we were filming our music video, we also used a CG composite by using a greenscreen. It was interesting to see how everyone was moving in front of the greenscreen. What’s the ultimate goal for GUNIX in the future? Matsubai: I want to do all kinds of things which are harder to achieve in our current situation. I want to perform at outdoor festivals, oneman shows at large venues, touring all over the country and abroad! Why do you think someone should listen to “GUNIX”, what’s your unique point? K-BOM: Because of our unique sound and the way we present and promote ourselves. The GUNIX’s sound is made for male and female twin vocals in mind, it’s quite unique. I also don’t think there is any other band like us with a modern cyberpunk concept. Ami: One of the strengths of GUNIX is that it doesn’t get stuck in some trivial pattern that someone else has decided for us. The themes and atmosphere of the music keep changing, so It never gets tired of listening to it, and you will find something new every time you listen to us. We came to the end, please give your final message to your fans. K-BOM: If you’re reading this, please share this interview, because we want to be active and known overseas as well. Ami: There’s not a day that goes by that someone doesn’t listen to GUNIX. I’m going to give my best to make that happen. Our goal is to take over the world!♡ Matsubai: Right now I cannot promise you to play a live show in your area, which is very sad. We live in a time where the world is turned into turmoil. Yet GUNIX was formed and shaped and we made it this far, we will always keep going on and deliver our music to everyone. Thank you very much for your support. Toyotetsu: I will continue taking support from those of you who are addicted to the unique sound and style that is GUNIX. We are taking everything to the next level on stage, so I’ll see you at our next live show! Arly: The first album from GUNIX is now complete. You have to listen to it!

https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-dear-loving/3/ What’s the secret behind “Dear Loving” staying together as a band for so long? It comes down to two things: patience and responsibility. Doing what you want to do and having someone’s support means taking up someone’s time. If you understand that calmly, you wouldn’t choose to quit for a half-hearted reason. That’s our opinion. It’s not so much about the people who quit, it’s more that we wouldn’t quit because of those ideas. Anyway. We, Dear Loving, are really good friends, so being in a band together is always fun for us. How would you describe “Dear Loving” with just a single kanji, and why did you choose this kanji? 生 (sei/life) Breath to stay alive and everything around it is also connected to the band. How would you describe yourself with just a single kanji? MASA ☆ → 漢 otoko/man → Because it is a man among men YUKI → 骨 hane/bone → Because he is so skinny, like a skeleton. KURO → 柔 juu/soft → because lots about him is soft. Have any memorable moments happened after 2011? One of the highlights we had was going to France for the Japan Expo. We were able to go with all three of us. Due to the coronavirus, it wasn’t possible to perform lives earlier this year. How did this affect you? How did you deal with it? It’s the kind of world we live in now, and it feels that we don’t have a choice to face it no matter what. But we are kindly using the time to fill in the missing spots and to learn a lot of new stuff. Even if we cannot really perform live shows, it’s not really that bad. We’re looking towards a future that we have no idea what it has in store for us as a band, but, yet we are pursuing the future as a band at full-speed. Venues started to offer to rent their space to hold “digital” live-streams to reach fans at home and around the world. How does this new way of performing feel? We try not to think of performing a streaming live as different than performing a normal live show. It would feel like a live show if you don’t focus on that, so we are trying to make it as realistic as still we are in front of you. The most important thing is that it won’t turn into a circus, movie or piece of art, but just as a live show which is the same as watching it at a live venue. Many musicians say; in order to play live, you have to have a live audience. So what was it like to perform to an empty venue at your July 7th one man? Did you still feel the warmth of your fans? If there is no audience, it’s hard to know who you’re singing to. After all, the excitement and laughter is all what the audience brings along, so you cannot blame it on that, but whether you have an audience or not, the important thing is the sense of unity, so in that sense, our goal is the same. When corona is finally over, will you continue with the “digital” live streams you’re doing now? I’m sure we will keep it as an option, but we’re old band members, so having people come to our shows is much more important to us. We don’t think that everything will be back to the state it was before, however if things will be the same, I guess we will stop doing live streams. However, since we think not everything will go back to normal, we probably continue live streaming, so we keep preparing everything to be able to stream our lives anytime too. Why are lives so important for a band? Why is it a fun challenge? It’s important because it is “Living in the moment”. There aren’t many things in your life that you truly can feel alive doing I guess? The only time this happens, that we can think of, is during a live show. When we play a show, it’s a good moment to be ourselves. It’s the best reward for us. Are there any challenges you face when you perform a live show? We always say “It’s going to be either the best or the worst”. We are always aiming for one of those options. We’re a rock band, so both ways are fine to us. We are not really interested in being a band where live shows are “high class” and always go “as planned”. Even after all these years, do you still get nervous before shows? What are some things that have changed between when you first started as a band and what it is like now? We don’t get nervous at all. It’s just nonsense to take time to prepare yourself mentally and be nervous about what you wish to share, and to be nervous about sharing the best music with your beloved people. So we quit being nervous. What’s the most fun about touring around Japan? The best thing about touring around Japan for us is meeting the fans from the different regions we play shows at. Since the start of your career, what changed the most? The biggest thing that has changed is our confidence in ourselves (laugh). We are now more calm about ourselves and we aren’t ready to give up. We are just trying to be the best band we can be. What’s the biggest challenge of being a musician? We don’t think of ourselves as musicians. We are just people in a band. How do you wish your fans would support you? What’s the most important thing you hope to receive? All of us are very appreciative of any support we receive, but we realize that each person’s situation is different and their money is limited. We would be glad if you support us with a method that we both can survive without overdoing it, yet we hope that you don’t forget that we also should be able to live as a band, however we hope to receive any reasonable support on your own pace that we both can survive. Thank you for your support! Besides your music equipment, is there anything else you always carry with you when you play live? Basically, we always carry our wallets and our smartphones with us. In all those music years, is there something you have learned? What we have learned is that it’s difficult and fearful to continue the same thing over and over again, and also being human is also not easy. What is your ultimate goal for the band’s future? We wish to sell well before we turn into old men. (laugh) Please tell your beliefs and/or words of wisdom to your fans. The future is now, so let’s make today a reality. Please tell some words to your fans and readers Thanks for finding us and reading until the end! Let’s enjoy life together!♪ SNS http://www.dearloving.net/ https://dearloving.official.ec/ https://ssl.twitcasting.tv/dearlovingmasa/shop https://ameblo.jp/dl-staff/ https://twitter.com/DearLoving1993 https://twitter.com/dl_staff https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmCncZ1zL1We45uFz-PTF0A/videos http://line.me/ti/p/%40pqr9000 https://twitter.com/dearlovingmasa https://twitter.com/DearLovingKURO https://twitter.com/dearlovingyuki https://jrocknroll.com/band-search-dear-loving/3/ Also thanks to RarezHut ( @Valicious @Biopanda) to ask me to make an interview with this band possible, of course RarezHut also threw in some questions which they would have liked to be answered! RarezHut is on a little break now, however you still are able to shop at their webstore and they also do sell some stuff from Dear Loving. And Thanks to @Valicious (RarezHut) & @Katt for English Grammar/Spell check!

Thanks to @Katt for some "question help and spell/grammar check!" You can read this interview also on J'ROCK'N'ROLL!! https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-nightingeil/3/ Japanese version https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-nightingeil/2/ ----------------- We are living in a global pandemic, so how are you currently dealing with the corona issue? Vo. Kon: I just leave the global corona problem to the experts. Gt. Kaie: I’m soooo tired of it. Gt. Nao: I’m taking more precautions than just following the general measures. Ba. Rei: I don’t take any special measures, because I think, if you get it, you’ll get it. Dr. Hakuya: I just endure it, and I’m aware of myself to stay safe and healthy. Japan is full of Kanji, so how would you describe NightingeiL with just using one Kanji? Kon: 傷 (kizu, scar): I guess because we are a naive and sensitive band. Kaie:血(chi, blood): Because it’s or underlying concept. Nao: 色 (iro, color): We have a dark image, but we have different nuances in various aspects. Rei: 闇(yami, darkness): Because we are a two faces band Hakuya: 夜 (yoru, night): It’s the opposite of the brightness of the day, we as a band can live without light as a nocturnal character. And how would you describe yourself with just one Kanji? Kon: 無 (Mu,nothing) Because I want to think about anything at all. Kaie: 楽 (Raku, easy) Because I am an optimistic person. Nao: 猫 (neko, cat) Because I can’t live without this creature. Rei: 陰 (Yin,shadow) Because I’m a gloomy person. Hakuya: 喰 (Ku, eat): LIVE is a one-shot soul life, I’m performing on stage with the intention of eating and swallowing everything! In 2012 you disbanded once, and in 2017 you guys returned back, has anything changed? Kon: We had a member change and we are a 5 member band now, also what we want to express has expanded with those changes. Kaie: To me it feels as if we started a brand new story. Nao: Of course the members changed, but I don’t think that the inner core of NightingeiL has changed. Rei: The color of Solei has become darker. Hakuya: We understand each other better and also our new members own input of their sound and entanglements ideas. Why did you decide to use the name NightingeiL as a band name? Kon: We chose the name NightingeiL to express life, love and death. What made you decide to use your stage name? Kon: I can’t remember it anymore, I chose it too long ago. Kaie: A character in the manga To-y is also called Kaie. Nao: It’s a part of my real name. Rei: My name is of no particular origin, but my fortune teller advised me to change my name because it doesn’t have any pluses. Hakuya: From the anime “Bleach” from Byakuya Kuchiki, the first captain. We are all influenced by someone or something so what are your musical influences? Kon: Many bands and artists have influenced me. Kaie: Punk at its core, also hard rock and positive punk. To keep it short, I like LUNA SEA. Nao: Of course it’s Japanese visual kei music, but nowadays I don’t care much about the genre. If I think it’s good music, I’m influenced by it. Rei: I like Zi:Kill and Merry Go Round. Hakuya: 90s J-POP. You all play an instrument (vocals included(smile)), but what made you want to play your instrument? Kon: Because I didn’t have to spend money to buy an instrument. Kaie: I just happened to be in charge of it. Nao: My dad had a guitar at home. Rei: I’ll skip answering this question because it’s an impure motive. Hakuya: My parents played the drums as a hobby, so we had a drum set at home, so also I started to play the drums for fun. So please tell us which type of instrument you use. Kon: I’m using SHURE BETA58A. Kaie: The tones I play are almost straight from the amp. Nao: The current guitar I use is one I painted myself. Rei: I’m using Warwick JAZZMAN. Hakuya: My drum set: TAMAdrums starclassicBirch. Hardware: TAMAdrums Cymbals: Zildjancymbals Twin Pedals : AMAHA FP9310 Talking about memories, what are some of your favorite memories? Kon: Our emotions after we finish recording together.. Kaie: Can’t choose, so I guess all of them. Nao: Our live shows and also our daily life together. Rei: That I am finally able to perform with the legends which I saw in magazines as a junior and High school student. Hakuya: Our live shows at big venues and touring around. You’ve been in the music industry for a long time, so what has changed the most since the start of your career? Kon: I stopped to compare my own band with other bands. Kaie: I don’t have too many expectations anymore. Nao: We don’t have to be bound by certain stereotypes anymore, we can express ourselves in different ways. Rei: Our hair was up to our waists, however now our haircuts are shorter. Hakuya: Our music and attitude towards the band and how to enjoy it has changed. And what’s the secret to staying active for so long? Kon: It’s finding the good balance between yourself and bandmates, also too keep up a healthy distance between each other. Kaie: Because I love what I do and because we have people who support us. Nao: We love our music and we respect each other, which leads to good relationships between each other. Rei: We don’t get into conflicts easily because we don’t play as a band on a regular basis. Hakuya: The most important thing above all is that we all love playing music and we are having lots of fun while doing it. Which song do you think is most popular under fans and what’s your own favorite song? Kon: Our most popular song is “吊り下げの恋”. And my own favorite is “その手” Kaie: I guess that our most popular song is “吊り下げの恋” and “白い森”. My personal favoriets are “その手” and “彼女と空腹” Nao: There are various of popular songs “吊り下げの恋” “12秒間” and “水銀”, but my own favorite is “孤島の彼女” Rei: “吊り下げの恋” a song which is easy understand, so it’s loved by many people. My own favorite is “孤島の彼女”. Hakuya: 歪んで走る and 身代わりの人 You have a lot of introspective lyrics, where do you get your inspiration for writing lyrics? Kon: I take inspiration from everything that happens in my life. How do you write and compose your songs? Kaie: We bring our ideas to the studio, and turn them into a real song together. Nao: When we write a song idea, we turn it together into a song. Rei: Based on our ideas, we create the final song together in the studio. How has your songwriting changed as you have gotten older? Kon: If you wonder about the lyrics, they haven’t changed. Kaie: Basically, I haven’t changed at all. Nao: WE haven’t made any big changes, but we’re not trying to omit them with negative energy, but we’re trying to affirm them and trying to absorb them. Rei: It’s getting simpler. Due to Corona, you weren’t able to perform live earlier this year. How has this affected you? How did you deal with it? Kon: No, problem at all, we didn’t have any live show planned. Kaie: We’re just in the middle of a hiatus, so… Nao: We weren’t able to make any plans originally, so it didn’t really affect us. Rei: It didn’t interfere with NightingeiL’s activities, so I just gave my dogs attention during the self-restraint period. Hakuya: I’ve been doing some personal activities, so I was able to perform live. However I wasn’t able to do any activities for about 3 months during the self-restraint period, so in that meanwhile I just practiced at home. When you are standing on stage, do you face any challenges? Kon: I’m always wondering how I can betray my audience in a good way. Kaie: To keep doing stuff easygoing, just to be natural and not being afraid of what I’m doing. Nao: Just to have fun. Rei: I always feel sorry for my dog to let her stay alone at home. Hakuya: To stay calm, if you stay calm you are able to enjoy the live show. Why is it important for (rock) bands to play lives? Kon: To feel alive. Kaie: Because it’s fun. Nao: It’s the most fun to do and more importantly it’s not only fun with the members but also with the audience. Rei: It’s a great way to earn money. Hakuya: We want people to see us because we’re alive. What’s the most important thing that has happened to you in your music career so far? Kon: Being into this current state now. Kaie: To be able to meet a lot of people. Nao: That I am blessed with my musical friends. Rei: Everything. Hakuya: Playing with my favorite artists and supporting them. Some years have passed since your last release, can we expect a new release soon? Kon: If it’s expected we’ll release it, we are also considering digital distribution. Kaie: We’re looking at it positively! Nao: Maybe yes, maybe no, I’ll give my best. Rei: Would love so. Hakuya: We’re currently considering it. What’s the biggest challenge of being a musician? Kon: To stay yourself. Kaie: To absorb things without losing yourself. Nao: How to deal with music. Rei: To not get fat and not to age (becoming unattractive). Hakuya: To keep loving and enjoying it. Have you ever thought about performing overseas as NightingeiL? Kon: If you have an offer for us, we’d love to consider it! Kaie: I would love to go abroad! Nao: Currently not. Rei: It’s hard because it makes me feel homesick. Hakuya: I always wanted to go abroad. Kaie tweets a lot of anime, but what are some anime’s everyone watched as a kid? Kaie: Can’t really tell, just check out my tweets. What’s your ultimate goal for the future? Kon: Sokushinbutsu. (To become a Bhuddist mummy) Kaie: My goal is as long as I can enjoy my life, it’s the best life I can have. Nao: filial piety (laugh) Rei: To own lots of dogs. Hakuya: To be a respected musician and not just a band member. Please tell us your beliefs and/or mottos as an artist? Kon: Where there is will, there is a way Kaie: Don’t beg, win, and it will be given to you. Nao: The first thing to do is to make something that you are convinced and confident about. Rei: It’s going to be a long story, so we’ll have to come back to it another time. Hakuya: I always like the drums, hit the drums, and push the ensemble to the next level. Please write a last message to your fans and readers. Kon: If you haven’t been exposed to the world of NightingeiL yet, this is a great moment to start. Kaie: The reason why I can take it easy is because there are people who are waiting for me. I am sincerely grateful. Although we are a peculiar band, we are looking forward to your continued support. Nao: Nice to meet you. My name is Nao, I play guitar in NightingeiL. Thank you for taking the time to read this interview. I hope you will continue to support us. Rei: Please let me touch your boobs when we meet. (laugh) Hakuya: Thank you for your support. I’ll always play the drums with my heart and soul. I will continue to play the drums, which is my life’s work, and I will continue to work hard every day to provide you with a comfortable and pleasant sound. I will continue to be a band member, musician and drummer for the rest of my life. --

Thanks to @Katt for the grammar/spell check! 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. Please tell us about your encounter, how did you all meet? When frogman Jack-©︎ and AME OTOKO AME met each other, they talked about the need for musical notes “rain” to bring inside the modern world and so they planned to start a band to bring that kind of “rain” to the world. AME OTOKO AME asked his former band mates Ari’S and Sola to join him and so RANA was formed. Dir&Pro. Jack-© is a frog, right? Why does Jack-© look like a frog? Explain a bit more about the image of Jack-©. We don’t know if he is a human being who has turned into a frog, we don’t know if humans are disguised like frogs, honestly, we don’t know the truth I guess you could say? But he is the planner of RANA and he’s the one in charge of us behind the scenes. 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. Please tell us about the artwork and any other production efforts for both of your EP’s. 【1st蛙の詩】 On the cover, Jack-©︎ is observing us humans in the rain, and on the back, we have included a hopeful image of sunshine after the rain. 【1.5th蛙の悪戯】 Jack-©︎ stands in the street with the colors reversed. He’s looking at the other side of the world. → 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!

https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-aizawa-ayaka/3/ Aizawa Ayaka, thank you very much for this interview, firstly could you please introduce yourself a little bit? - Hello, I am a singer-rock songwriter from Fukushima (Sendai), I write all my lyrics to my songs with a straightforward message. Which kanji would you give your personality? - 真 (shin) – Truth Anyway, how did you enter this music world? - I really wish to reach lot’s of people with my songs, so what if I would become something to deliver something to someone else? So I started to sing. On stage you are supported by nice support members. Could you please introduce them by telling something interesting about them? - Gt. Takaki Hisanaga → He is the manager of “Otsuka Welcome back”. When he plays his guitar he always has a happy face. He is a person who laughs easily. - Ba.miyou→ Free bassist. You cannot find her without carrying her bass. She is a wonderful hairstylist and her own hair-styles are very beautiful and amazing! - Dr.MAR→ He is my boss. He is an overwhelmingly consisted drummer. Everyone who sees him play the drums like him, also wants to play the drums! You are supported by wonderful support members but how did you meet them and what made you decide to work with them? - I met MAR(the boss) when I was performing in the north of Japan. Many different kinds of support players have supported me in the past. After a while I played much more frequently in Tokyo than in Sendai, so I was looking for support members located around Tokyo and so we found and settled on our current members. Well, before I knew it, I found my place in Tokyo. (smile) Did you ever asked your support members how they would describe you? If so, how do they describe you as a person? - Oh, I never have talked with them about such a topic, but I surely would like to hear it from them in the future, at some point! (smile) However I guess they would say “Ayaka is a person who loves music”. Everyone writes and compose songs on his/her own pace, but what about you? Could you please tell us about how you write and compose your songs. - In the past but also now “I want to make what I feel is breathtaking” But what has changed during the time, is that I want to put a bit of my own color and messages inside which I want to convey. The thing I want to convey is “straight and strong feelings”. So I’d be happy if those feelings were conveyed to you. You released two MV’s earlier this year. Could you please tell us some more background about those videos? - 「Be crazy」It’s the very first video and for that reason an important video which I made as a solo artist “Aizawa Ayaka”. At live performance this song melody became a killer tune, so to me it felt that the content of the lyrics was often overlooked while performing it live. So I told my team members that I wished to convey my message with the MV and so we created together an MV with the expression and worldview which also shows the story behind the lyrics. The team who filmed my MV are mainly movie filmers, so I’d be happy if you could enjoy my acting too which I tried for the first time. (Moshimo kyou sekai ga owaru to shite mo) 「もしも今日世界が終わるとしても」 This MV was fully shot in Osaka. In contrast to “Be crazy” it’s a work that you can see how I am isn’t? The shoot was done with our usual team so I guess the MV has a totally relaxed look. There is a part in the lyrics I hope you pay some attention too “Let’s live our lives laughing like there’s nothing left to do.”, However I hope you take that sentence in a positive way and get some life spirit from it! You released your first album “Search for” last year. Could you please tell us something about this album? - It’s my first album and I remember that I really felt excited about it since a tour was also decided to promote the album. I only released “one” single before this album, after releasing that single it became clear to me what I wanted to express with my music, and so I wanted to make this album with lot’s of my expressions. Before the album release I’ve released 7 singles, but I guess the album shares a totally different taste. How do you prepare for the live shows? - I think that there are various ways to prepare for live shows, but mostly I am careful about the condition of my throat. Last year I had a vocal cord polyps surgery…So I should pay attention to how I speak and laugh, so that it won’t get damaged again, also I don’t smoke passively and I also refrain from drinking alcohol before the show. It’s a trivial matter, but I think such kind of preparation is very important for any live show. We all love to go to a live show to feel and see you which make us feel exciting, but what’s the most exciting thing about live shows for you? - That it’s possible to deliver songs by looking in the eyes of someone who came to the venue. You would like to ask that person while performing a song “How do you feel now?, what are you thinking about? Are you going crazy?” Anyway, it’s a place where you can feel the emotion of each person with your eyes, ears and skin. You released a bunch of songs already, you gotta have a favorite or two? So which song do you love yourself the most? - That’s a really difficult question… Every song has different feelings and charms, so I like every song. (laugh) If you would like to try some strong songs, I would say; “HELLO” if you like rock songs. “go for it” if you like pop songs. On your profile is written that you love Kirby and time to time you also share Kirby photos, anyway how many Kirby goods do you have? And what’s your favorite Kirby goodie? hmm! I’ve no clue, they are countless! (laugh) My fans gave Kirby goods as a gift often, so I really do have quite a few. (smile) My favorite are “hand mirror”, “lamp” and a “plush toy, which was won at a game center for ¥ 1,000” ELLEGARDEN seems to be your favorite band isn’t? What’s so good about them? Why do you love them so much? Yes, I love them. I guess they were the artist I listened to the most when I was in school. Not to mention the songs, but I especially like the fact that the live show is so innocent and straightforward in its own way. Your fans love you but how do you really wish that your fans support you? I want you to be absorbed with me. I wish that you will be my number one fan forever .I would be very happy if I would gain your unwavering support. Also, since it’s natural, I would really be happy if you could come and see me performing my live shows, if possible! Some of us read books and or manga do you have any favorite? I usually don’t read books or manga at all, so I don’t have a favorite one… Please let me know if you have any suggestions of books/manga I really should read. (smile) We all love to watch movies so what’s your favorite movie? I really do like movies, however recently I haven’t seen any. A movie which I’ve seen and that I do remember is the movie “Happy Death Day“. I really like to watch lots of suspenseful movies. Japan has many delicious local food, so what’s your favorite? I could only think of my hometown, and my mother’s cooking. (laugh) I really love my mother’s “唐揚げの卵とじ“. I often asked her to make it. Lately, what got your interest? Recently, I’m starting to get more interest in beauty again. Such as Make-up and Skin Care. I always want to meet everyone in my best condition, so I’m studying every day how to take the best body care. We all smile and laugh, so what makes you smile? I guess it’s when I play live shows together with my friends. However these days I laughed the most when I was playing with soap bubbles.(laugh) Soap bubbles, yes that’s funny, anyway what’s your ultimate goal for the future? Ultimate?… I guess my ultimate goal is that lot’s of people around the world will know my songs. But I always also hope to be able to play at bigger venues. My dream is to have a live show in a big venue to fill it up with my own fans only. Talking about venues, how do you actually deal with the global corona issue? To me it feels that it’s really important for everyone to continue to cooperate with each other. currently there are many new rules for venues, so I hope that everyone will follow them so that we can keep up creating places where we can meet everyone. And we came to the end, please write your last message to your fans and readers. To those who have read this so far. Thank you for reading it until the very end. I really enjoyed this interview because it had uncommon questions. So I’m glad that you learned lots more about me. From now on I wish that you will know me even better!♪ So, see you at the venue!

Nice to meet you DAMMITLAND. How did you all actually meet? KAZUKI: A mutual acquaintance told me about Kyuusuke and for the first half year we were looking for other members however we always ended up drinking in a izakaya. “If we will continue like this, we won’t ever be able to form a band!” So we started searching seriously and then we found P, and P invited his acquaintance MAa to join us too, and so our current line-up was formed. DAMMITLAND is active as a visual kei band, however what’s the reason that did you form DAMMITLAND as a visual kei band? KAZUKI: The other members’ past bands were Visual Kei bands, and we just wanted to challenge the visual system in terms of the music scene. I’m glad to read that you guys want to rebel against the world with a taste of irony. What kind of things going on the world have influenced your lyrics the most? Kyuusuke: Actually, I’m just writing about what’s happening around me and what I’m thinking and feel about it, so I’m not really influenced by anything. Why did you become a musician? Could you name some artist that inspired you to become a musician? Kyuusuke: I just wanted to be in a band, no other reason. I guess I am inspired by many various people. KAZUKI: I just wanted to stand out and express myself. THE YELLOW MONKEY and LA★69 inspired me the most. P: I started playing guitar in my free time, because I wasn’t in any high school club, also I found the joy of playing live. BUMP OF CHICKEN and HIGH and MIGHTY Color inspired me the most. MAa: When I saw Tomoyasu Hotei performing a show, he was surrounded by women, that made me think that I also wanted to be popular. Tomoyasu Hotei and Dir en Grey inspired me the most. We all get our inspiration from someone or something so what’s your biggest inspiration for making music? Kyuusuke: Sleeping well KAZYUKI: A crowded train and other frustrating and negative emotions in everyday life. P: Drinking or taking a walk with a camera MAa: Coffee Time KAZUKI, your band history isn’t visual kei, why did you decide to follow the visual path? KAZUKI: Originally I was doing hard-rock and metal, I always played the music I wanted to play with my hard-rock band-mates. We have done one-man shows, various tours, support stuff and we even went overseas. However this time I wanted to write my own music. Visual Kei is a genre made up of many different kinds of music and I thought it was a scene where I wanted to create my own songs and videos to present them. I’m not hiding who I am, whether it’s hard-rock or visual kei, I’m just me, so I’ll do whatever I want. Recently some people say “Today’s visual kei is fake, just host-kei imitators etc”. How do you feel about those words? KAZUKI: There are times when songs have similar chord progressions and riffs, but I think the band’s power is being tested by how to make it a song full of originality. Kyuusuke, why did you switch from guitar to vocals? Kyuusuke: Well, I like singing. Also if I loved to dance, I would be a dancer. I saw the cover of LUNA SEA ROSIER, Why did you record a cover this song? Do you all like LUNA SEA? Or did you just choose this “one song”? KAZUKI: We are going to release a cover song every month as one of our YouTube projects. ROSIER by LUNA SEA is a famous song and we like LUNA SEA, so we thought it would be a good first song for this project. You said that you have recorded your last single at home. Because corona makes it more difficult to record stuff at a studio, but will you continue to record your releases at home? KAZUKI: If possible, we would like to share all our songs on YouTube and streaming media. Recording at home is a good way to keep the costs low, so we probably will continue to do it in the future. What other struggles do you face because of Corona? KAZUKI: It’s difficult to perform a live show, however instead we think of doing other fun things which we couldn’t do before, like shooting videos for YouTube. Anyway you said that you did choose not to use electronic sounds? However Such sounds are very popular these days isn’t, so why do you omit them? KAZUKI: It’s not that we are omitting them, but I don’t use it in our existing songs because it’s not necessary. I might like to use synthesizers and other electronic sounds in the future, if we feel that they are necessary to improve the quality of the song, but we don’t need them for our existing songs. Your YouTube channel is filled with variety of videos channel. Such as rate this beer, without know which beer you are actually drinking. Will you continue to create these fun videos? KAZUKI: We surely will continue to share more of these kinds of videos in the future. It would be good if people would discover DAMMITLAND through live shows and YouTube. What about digital music distribution? Will you continue to distribute your music digitally? KAZUKI: If we are going to release more songs in the future, I guess we will mainly distribute them to YouTube and streaming sites, because I think it’s a good way to introduce DAMMITLAND to people who might enjoy listening to us. If you write brand new songs… where is your favorite place to write them? Kyuusuke: I guess in my bed KAZUKI: In my room, in front of my computer. P: On my sofa. Is it difficult to be an artist? if so what’s difficult about it? Kyuusuke: As long as you enjoy it, nothing is difficult. KAZUKI: To find the right izakayas after the shows to share your thoughts together afterwards. P: To be on time for meetings, studio and live shows. MAa: Human relations. Is there any valuable moment in your music career so far? Kyuusuke: Receiving fan letters. KAZUKI: Being in the band DAMMITLAND with members who share the same way of thinking. P: The very first live show I played in my life, it was the day that I found the joy in performing live. MAa: Being cheered by the high-pitched voices of our fans We all know age is secret, but still we would like to know who is the youngest and who is the oldest in the band? KAZUKI: I’ll leave that to your imagination! If someone would ask you, “why should I listen to your band” what would you tell this person? KAZUKI: I would tell this person: I think that all the songs which Kyuuske created and wrote are amazing, so please check them out and listen to them often. Do you have any Ultimate goal for the future? Kyuusuke: To stay healthy and enjoy life for a long time. KAZUKI: To be able to enjoy music activities for a long time. P: To play a one-man show at OSAKA-JO-HALL. MAa: To play at Fuji Rock. Beliefs and Mottoes, please share yours. Kyuusuke: If there is something you want to do, you should do it right away! KAZUKI: I want to be the bassist that the 20-year old me would adore and think “he is cool!”. P: Always keep the strongest image of yourself in your mind. MAa: Forever Young We came to the end, so please give a message to your fans and readers. Kyuusuke: Please don’t forget to subscribe to our youtube channel and to follow me and us on Twitter. KAZUKI: Thank you very much for reading this interview. I like to continue to share various interesting things on youtube, I also would like to try TwitCasting, so please keep up following me and us! P: Thank you for reading until the end. I will continue to do whatever I want, however I’ll avoid the inconvenience. MAa: Everyone, Let’s keep on living! Questions discussed together with @Katt

The world of MOB is very interesting so could you please tell us more about the world of MOB? The word MOB(crowd) is a connotation of “zako(a nobody)”. Originally, the word referred to a crowd or other people. We decided to express the feelings that a “zako” has inside his heart if he is in the middle of a crowd. Also our lyrical worldview is: We intend to represent the emotions of “zako” in various situations. With that in mind, we want to show the feelings and scenes that people who are defined as “zako” might imagine and feel in society, relationships with friends, school life and their position in a hypothetical world of devastation. We try to create a sound that gives a melodious impression while emphasizing a heavy bass. Anyway let’s learn a bit more about each member. Don’t we all have a single Kanji which fit our personality or just keeps or own attention? So what’s your favorite? U: 新 (shin)(new) Because new things are wonderful. CHIHIRO: 千 (chi/sen)(thousand) Because it’s a part of my name. MAST: 初 (hatsu)(first) You don’t forget your original intentions KANADE: 響 (hibiki)(sound) I like to make sounds by singing and playing an instrument. We all do have hobbies isn’t? So besides music, what are your hobbies? U: I love to drink and to watch various videos. CHIHIRO: I like to travel around. MAST: I like to travel around. KANADE: I like to play around with gatchets. Anyway what about your musical background, do you have any? U: I’ve been through a lot of bands. CHIHIRO: Actually I don’t have a long band history,… so MAST: I’ve been in the visual world for a long time. KANADE: I tried punk and rock, changed the guitar to vocals and then I became a bass player. Are there any artists and / or events which have influenced you the most? U: DEAD END. The live of “1989/09/09 HYPER d. at Tokyo Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudou” is the best! CHIHIRO: L’arc’en’ciel. When I saw the flower PV, hyde left an impression on me. MAST: LINKIN PARK. I was fascinated by the band’s musical skills, Chesters voice is my favorite and it’s a band that incorporated various genres. KANADE: 蜉蝣 (Kagerou). I like their sound, lyrics and worldview, I still do listen to them. You all love visual kei isn’t? But how did you encounter it? U: I like Japanese metal, so it grew with me. CHIHIRO: It was l’arc’en’ciel MAST: When I saw Luna Sea on TV, I was impressed and thought they were so cool. KANADE: It started with Dir En Grey and started listening to other bands from there. Anyway what is visual kei? Is their any connection between music and visual? U: The band’s appearances look like artworks, the sound is like art pseudo-sense. CHIHIRO: It requires make-up and an over-the-top hairstyle. MAST: I still don’t know. KANADE: It’s a bundle of fun. Also the music will never age. Being an artist isn’t always easy so what’s most difficult thing for being an artist? U: Just the feeling of wanting to do it. CHIHIRO: Feelings MAST: The difference between your vision and reality. KANADE: It’s a fight with yourself. If you are satisfied or give up, it will end just there. Let’s talk about MOB’s image, style and music. Could you tell us something about your costumes It’s an image of a decadent worldview. Please tell us something about the CD jackets. What’s the idea behind all jackets? 1st single: Gomibako (ゴミバコ) It represents the members of MOB thrown into a garbage can. The jacket is covered with the mask which we use in our live shows. Live limited: HUMAN DEBRIS As the title suggests, it’s ragged with human scum in mind. The jacket is a doll with a deformed mask which we also use at our live shows. The jacket also reflects the image of the recorded songs. Live limited: Gizensha NA kimi O Bokusatsu (偽善者ナ君ヲ撲殺) We were inspired by a scene of a person beaten to death, so we created a jacket with a photo of the band member holding a baseball bat. It’s also our first release after new members joined MOB, so that’s also a reason why we used a band photo as a cover. To learn a bit more about each song, could you give some nice self-liner-notes to each MOB song? * KILL ME WONDERLAND It’s a song with the story; living in a small world is a paradise for some people wile for others it’s a hell. * Gomibako (ゴミバコ) It’s the SE of our 1st single. It expresses the world feeling of the current MOB. * Signal (シグナル) The title already suggests it, but it’s a song about how no matter how many signals you shouted out with the message of “help me”, you won’t receive it. It’s a song about a life that ends up ugly, no matter how hard someone tried. * Karma (カルマ) This song let’s you realize the karma of being born as a mob. It depicts the struggle to find an escape route. * BOKU NO NAKA Deco Lolita (ボクノナカデコロシタアイツ) Are you the killer? It’s a song packed with envy and grudge. With other words, a song about “someone in the way”. It can be described as the highest (or lowest) grade. * BOKU NO TSUKUE NO ICHIRINKA (ボクノツクエノイチリンカ) This song answers the song BOKU NO NAKA DE KOROSHITA AITSU (ボクノナカデコロシタアイツ). Hate or grudge the result, it’s a song which made you choose to disappear. * RYOUKI NARU RIDDLE (リョウキナルリドル) It’s a song inspired by a tragic incident. It’s a story that tells the story of a young man who couldn’t maintain his mental health. * OVERDOSE The theme of this song is destruction and imagination. The song is about a person who misunderstood the idea of becoming a new self by destroying himself by relying on scientific things. * Gizensha NA Kimi O Bokusatsu (偽善者ナ君ヲ撲殺) It’s inspired by scenes of “beat to death”, so we wrote a song with this theme. You thought to be protected, however nobody is protecting you, after all it’s only about oneself pleasure, isn’t it? That’s the message. * Kankin My Room (監禁マイルーム) How did she spend her days after being trapped for two and a half years? We wrote this song with that question in mind. THE MV of “シグナル” has a really nice cool atmosphere. Could you tell us something more about the idea behind? The world of BOKU NO NAKA DE KOROSHITA AITSU (ボクノナカデコロシタアイツ) is very much like a school, so we shot it in that kind of atmosphere. If a new song has been created how do you actually decide the title of this new song? The lyrics to a song will be written after creating the melody of a song. What do you enjoy the most about playing live shows? U: That you are surrounded by music to which you are able to express yourself. CHIHIRO: It’s about going wild in the middle of an explosion! MAST: To make MOB as a complete piece by matching our music with our appearance. Also to express yourself with music. KANADE: The ability to express yourself with music. Since a band is always writing new songs, can we expect a new release this year? We have recorded a bunch of songs, we will let you know shortly when we will release them. Until now what’s the most valuable thing that has happened to you in your music career? U: I’ve felt the feelings of various people better than I would in normal life. CHIHIRO: Everything. MAST: To be able to play a show in front of a big crowd KANADE: Everything is valuable, because it’s stuff which I cannot experience in a normal life. We face a worldwide problem now named corona, how do you as an artist face it? U: I’ll do what I can do to express myself, however I don’t want to cause trouble. CHIHIRO: We just have to do what we can do. MAST: I love music, so we just have to take measures against corona and that’s all we can do. KANADE: We’ll do what we can do, while taking the necessary precautions. What’s MOB’s ultimate goal for the future? U: Living a fun life. CHIHIRO: I would be happy if you would continue to enjoy our music forever. MAST: I hope that I can play music with these guys forever. KANADE: living my life without no regrets. We came to an end, so please share your message to your fans and readers. U: Please enjoy the world of MOB. That’s all. Everyone, please be careful about your health and take the path you think is fun! CHIHIRO: Currently we cannot perform live because of the current situation, but I’ll send out messages in other ways, so please support us! MAST: It’s a tough time right now, but I’m sure the future will be bright, and that we are able to live the life we wish to live. Until then, we won’t give up and look forward to the future, so please keep your head up! KANADE: It’s a tough situation, but MOB will continue to move forward, so I would like to ask you for your continued support! Thank you very much for this interview, we wish the band all luck for the future! Learn much more about MOB via jrocknroll band search! Check it here https://jrocknroll.com/band-search-mob/3/

You can read this interview also directly on jrocknroll https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-ranze/3/ Today an interview with Ranze, you might know him from La Madame Rochas, MAGIER SEXALICE or DRESS or NUDE. He was kind enough to answer some quick to go answers with some strong powerful words. Please enjoy reading it. --- Please introduce yourself to your readers. I’m RANZE(ランゼ) from DRESS or NUDE Please describe yourself as a Kanji. 美 (Bi)(beauty) Doesn’t make something beautiful make you somehow nervous? Could you confirm and complete this band history? ○ La Madame Rochas(1987~1991) ○ MAGIER SEXALICE -> Waltz Veronica (2008~2014) ○ DRESS or NUDE(2017/08~) ○ POISON D’HERMÈS(2016~2019) Why did you want to become a vocalist? Well, I was actually a guitarist. Back then the vocalist was ill, so I decided to sing our songs. Also I was singing while I was playing the guitar. When you started your first band, “Visual Kei” was still not named. How did you call your own style? I didn’t transmit anything from myself. I left it up to the sensitivity of the fans’ perception. Back in the days, which bands or things inspired you the most? Pete Burns Why did you decide to wear strong make-up? I was able to transform into the other me. I’ve seen that “地下室の旋律” was an inspiration for “La Madame Rochas”. (a one shot manga from 1994). Why did you like this manga so much? A part of the story is about me. (laugh) Later when the term Visual Kei was used for bands who wear makeup. Did you embrace that term? Or did you dislike the term? I hate the word “visual kei” Visual Kei has really changed completely in the years hasn’t? The current scene is rotten. Everything is imitating. It’s just fake. Do you mind if people call you a “visual kei” band/artist? Please tell us the reason. As I said before, it’s up to my fans and third parties. When you look at visual kei nowadays, what do you think and feel? It’s over. I can’t look at it. You are already long in the music world, what changed the most in all those years? There are really less musicians who really play music with the heart. They only can say “We are the coolest!”. But only a few people really put effort in their own music to be really the coolest. What’s the most difficult thing about being an artist? SNS Are there more instruments which you can play? Guitar You formed DRESS or NUDE in 2017/8, what’s the biggest difference from your past bands? Making a sound which also gives sex appeal to adults. How did you meet the members of DRESS or NUDE? We are all acquaintances Why did you choose to name your mini album “PARADOX UNDERGROUND“? This one came to my mind straight away. So we chose this one. What was your biggest inspiration for creating 「PARADOX UNDERGROUND」? We’ve put on the most popular songs of that time. It’s like a business card. Please tell me the concept of each lyric of “PARADOX UNDERGROUND. 揚羽 / It expresses the mind’s dependence. 歪に曲がる / The madness which is hidden within you. SWEET SLAVES / A complete play on words. TANZANITE / A song about dependence and madness. DRESS or NUDE 1st mini album “PARADOX UNDERGROUND”, is it possible for an overseas fan to obtain it? Yes What is your inspiration for writing lyrics? It depends on how I feel at the time I write a song. Are you planning to release a new CD? I want to release a new CD as fast as possible. Do you have planned activities for the near future? Or will you wait until covid-19 is over? We will adjust our activity to the world’s situation. You have many tattoos. Are you still happy with all of them? Or do you regret a few? I will get some new ones! What does tattooing mean to you? To be able to express myself What’s your favorite tattoo? Butterfly What’s your most beautiful memory? That I was born into this world. What is your biggest loss? Also that I was born into this world. What’s your favorite place to write new songs? In my car or inside my room. What’s your biggest future goal? To stay beautiful Please tell me some words of wisdom. Wolves live and pigs die. Please say some words to your fans and readers. Let’s do our best to be able to stand on stage again as soon as possible in this world.

Read fully on JROCKNROLL https://jrocknroll.com/an-interview-with-einsvier/3/ Which Kanji character would you choose to describe Eins:Vier and what’s your own favorite Kanji? HIROFUMI ・ Eins:Vier: 想 (sou) | Thought Myself: 空 (Sky)(sora) | Sometimes vast, sometimes empty. In all those years how did all the experience affect the band? HIROFUMI ・Enhancing our living Genes. LUNA・Nourishment. YOSHITSUGU・ To stand where we stand now. What makes you smile? HIROFUMI ・People smile and laughter. LUNA・Alcohol!! YOSHITSUGU・Of course the smiles and laughs of our fans. How would you describe your musical style? LUNA・Obsession. Has the influences of Eins:Vier changed since you first formed? HIROFUMI ・ We have changed. Instead of being stuck by rock, I(we) also learned to play/create music acoustic. LUNA・It’s always changing. I’m still unbounded by anything! YOSHITSUGU・It’s not that we changed, but that we have expanded ourselves. What has changed the most since you started your career? HIROFUMI ・Own pace. LUNA・My skills grew. YOSHITSUGU・I think to be a little bit more expressive. The word visual became a common word for makeup bands. Did you adopt that word? Or do you feel uncomfortable with the words? HIROFUMI ・I never really was aware of it, and now I don’t mind it anymore. LUNA・I’ve never used it myself. I don’t care about genre division. YOSHITSUGU・I never called myself visual kei. But in the past it was common. You have been wearing make-up since the days when the word visual kei didn’t exist yet. What made you choose to be a visual kei band? HIROFUMI ・Because it was something everybody around me was doing. LUNA・Back then, I thought it was cool. YOSHITSUGU・I was influenced by my friends at that time, and I really liked the idea Has the process for making music changed since you started making music again? HIROFUMI ・Roughly speaking, it doesn’t change. LUNA・Everyone continues to make music! YOSHITSUGU・Not really. Has touring as a band changed from when you first formed? HIROFUMI ・Emotionally it doesn’t change LUNA・We’d be screwed if we didn’t! YOSHITSUGU・It’s not just the momentum. What’s your favorite place to write new songs? HIROFUMI ・Home LUNA・Home. YOSHITSUGU・ I only write at home. Where do you draw your inspiration for your own work, both musically and lyrically? HIROFUMI ・ Stuff what happens in our daily life. LUNA・Accidental impulse! YOSHITSUGU・daily life happenings Which Eins:Vier song is your favorite? HIROFUMI ・I can’t choose. LUNA・Impossible to choose. YOSHITSUGU・ I guess these are the two new songs that have been released now. Which song to you is most loved by fans of Eins:Vier? HIROFUMI ・Please ask our fans. LUNA・I don’t know, please ask our fans. YOSHITSUGU・I don’t know which song our fans rank as the number one. Do you plan to continue online streaming? HIROFUMI ・ I don’t know what the future will bring. But it won’t be our priority. LUNA・I don’t know our future plans. YOSHITSUGU・I don’t know, but if we have the chance, we could do it. Since the mini-album has been postponed, is there a chance we’ll see this music in digital distribution? HIROFUMI ・We will not release the songs as digital before releasing the actual CD. LUNA・Advance sales have already begun! YOSHITSUGU・Only two songs are distributed in advance. The first press of your upcoming release will include a bonus disc containing MV’s of [To the FLAT]. LUNA・There is no plan to include [To the FLAT], but the recorded songs of this mini-album will be recorded as an MV. Corona is currently a global issue. How do you face as an artist? HIROFUMI ・We are trying to find a way to be secure and do our best to stay in between the realities. LUNA・We fear no more than necessary! We are careful and following the rules! YOSHITSUGU・We do what we can do. What is the most difficult thing for being an artist? HIROFUMI ・For me being an artist isn’t difficult at all. LUNA・To keep up your motivation. YOSHITSUGU・Various stuff. What is the most precious event in your music activities? HIROFUMI ・All! LUNA・That we formed Eins:Vier. YOSHITSUGU・There are many events which are unique. What is your ultimate goal for the future? HIROFUMI ・To be able to die happily. LUNA・To live a happy life. YOSHITSUGU・A peaceful life. Please tell us about your beliefs as an artist and inspiration for your fans. LUNA・Let’s live as freely as possible. And please write a message to your fans and readers! LUNA・Thank you very much for your support. YOSHITSUGU・Please listen to our upcoming mini album! And please come to our live shows which will be held next year.

You also can check the interview on https://vk.gy.

EASTBAY was also kind enough to answer a bunch of interview questions, so please also check their interview out! https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-eastbay/

Please enjoy it!~

METALIC is formed by Kenichi Fujisaki, who has gone through many bands and units. The band “METALIC” can been seen as a “life work”. The members of the band aren’t limited to just one genre, styles and categories. They create music and perform live performances based on the members’ ideas of what is “AMAZING“. Check it out and choose if you want to read it in Japanese or English https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-metalic/ It's a very nice interview!

DOGMAS is a Tokyo-based visual kei METAL CORE band and their kick off start will be on August 7th! On this day DOGMAS will hold their first (ONEMAN) LIVE! Please read on to discover a little bit more about them. https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-dogmas/3/ To discover even more about them, you can also check out their band search profile https://jrocknroll.com/band-search-dogmas/3/

Menopause is a “dark industrial duo” with connections to the vkei scene, who was formed at the end of 2016 by Aya-ne (vocals and programming) and Kenji (guitar). This interview is cross-posted to jrock-focused interview site, JROCK'N'ROLL. https://vk.gy/blog/an-interview-with-menopause/

Former Silver-Rose vocalist YOWMAY has restarted the band under the name “Otona no Silver-Rose”. However, YOWMAY has restarted the band with brand new members. Silver-Rose was formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994. Even until today, the music of silver rose has been respected and loved by many visual fans enthusiastic. So let’s hear about this interesting restart! Choose your language! https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-silver-rose/

Read the full interview!! They don't see themselves as a goth nor a visual style band, they see themselves more as a all genre band, just doing what they want to do and dress how they wanna dress. I really laughed reading their answers. So I recommend to read it even if you aren't a fan It's fun! https://jrocknroll.com/interview-with-liquid-butterfly/

This time I have an interview with ex-RE:VEIN bassist 彪(Aya) Born in Otaru, Hokkaido. In the spring of 2018, Aya launched her own solo project and started to work as a singer-songwriter as well as a bassist. The concept is “true self“. Because I wanted to make myself known as a person through my own music. Aya’s music does not glorify suffering, nor does it force anyone to sympathize, but rather it expresses feelings of her own. Choose your language [ENGLISH] [JAPANESE]

Last week I shared his BAND SEARCH and today I share with you his full interview! Sho knows Japanese and English, so I did do the original interview with him in English and he translated everything in Japanese, so if you understand Japanese (almost/fluently) I recommend you to check the Japanse version, since it's all his own words! Hopefully you guys will read this interview, Sho is a XJAPAN/Yoshiki fan and beside visual kei he also loves Gothic bands a lot. --- Next week I have an interview with Aya(彪) ex-RE:VEIN -- English version https://jrocknroll.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/interview-with-sho-kotani/3/ Japanese version https://jrocknroll.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/interview-with-sho-kotani/2/