All posts tagged: interview

Interview: Die of Dir en grey

Published by Ali Watson

We had the honor of speaking with Die over the phone prior to their Seattle, WA show, one of the last three stops on their North American tour. Please enjoy. [Originally posted to JRockRevolution.com in this article.] Dir en grey seems to be a band that does not do things without reason, from your lighting to the videos you have chosen for this live tour, everything falls into place effortlessly and is usually something we would only see at Japanese lives. Is there a particular image you had in mind when choosing the lighting or videos for your sets? Die: Basically, on all of the different shows that we do, depending on what kind of songs, and the images behind the songs, there is always a certain message we try to put across. When it comes to presentation, such as lighting or visuals, that has a lot to do with the band manager who helps judge what is best for us, because we’re on the stage facing the audience, so we can not see what …

A look at Lost Vector

Published by Ali Watson

There are times when people have said ‘try out this band!’ For many of these great bands, trying out is as far as I go. With Lost Vector, their story and music were very intriguing. For a few weeks, I paid attention to the band’s activities and their path as a new emerging band in a world where it seems thousands are born daily. While many bands that travel overseas do so at risk, most are at least well established enough to take that leap of faith. All artists start somewhere. This is where Lost Vector begins. This year, the final location of the Emergenza Festival will be held in Germany. The Emergenza Festival is an annual competition of newer and unsigned bands that number over fifteen thousand from various locations around the world. In each participating country, bands vy for top positions in elimination rounds before moving on. Lost Vector made it to the finals in O-EAST at the end of July. Unfortunately, they were not selected as the band to continue onto Germany.  Their accomplishment up …

Interview – GACKT

Published by Ali Watson

September 2011. Some interview questions were also obtained by various staff at the time. JrockRevolution.com recently asked GACKT some questions about various topics. Read up on his insightful responses! Earthquake/Tsunami Relief Many people, yourself included, assisted in earthquake relief—do you feel you have accomplished your goal of showing people’s hearts and bringing a smile to the people of Japan? Japan is hardly close from recovery. My country needs all the help it can get and I will not stop supporting the victims of the East Japan Earthquake through YFC and my solo career as GACKT. What activities are you currently involved with for post-earthquake/tsunami relief? Through “SHOW THE HEART”, we have raised donations and shipped necessity supplies to the victims. SHOW YOUR HEART will continue to expand outside of Japan to support the children all over the world in need of help. Tour in Europe For the second time, you are touring in Europe, do you have any expectations for this tour compared to your last? It was the second time, but the band members …

Interview – LOUDNESS

Published by Ali Watson

July 2011. From the beginning of May to early June of this year, LOUDNESS toured the U.S. Accounts of the Los Angeles show described an eclectic mix of metal, rock and punk as well as curious new fans for a packed house.In Denver, the venue was heavier in rock with long time fans in concentrated numbers wearing band shirts displaying not only LOUDNESS, but also Metallica, Slayer, Alice in Chains and more. While at the Denver stop, we had the opportunity to chat with Minoru Niihara — vocalist of this legendary metal band — on the past, present and future. Enjoy the interview and look for their new album hopefully being released this fall! Is this your first time in Denver? I don’t think so. We’ve been here before, but it’s been a long time. We played at Red Rocks, opening for Motley Crue in 1986? Something like that. That’s in Denver, right? Yes, Red Rocks is right outside Denver [in Morrison]. Okay, so yes, we’ve been here once before. This would be the second …

Interview – exist†trace 2011

Published by Ali Watson

[Photo originally courtesy of JapanFiles.com for JrockRevolution.com] May 2011. At Sakura Con this year, JrockRevolution.com had a chance to sit down with exist†trace. Among the many subjects we touched on were the past, the present, their future in going major and the international music scene. Enjoy! The band introduced themselves as: Miko, guitar Jyou, vocals Omi, guitar Naoto, bass – nice to meet you! Mally, drums Last night was your first concert in the United States. How did you feel about the performance? Jyou: The crowd was so energetic for us. That gave us a lot of power and we want to do it again. You brought a Japanese flag and an American flag with ‘kizuna’ written on it. Can you give us the story behind this? Jyou: Kizuna means ‘heart to heart’. There was a big earthquake in Japan and we received a tremendous amount of support from America. ‘Kizuna’ is about the connection between people, that travels even over the ocean, between Japan and America. We decided to write it on the flag …

Interview – LUNA SEA December 2010

Published by Ali Watson

December 2010. Just before the show at the Palladium, JrockRevolution.com had an opportunity to chat with Sugizo, Shinya, and Ryuichi. We talked about the present, some of the past and the near future for their World Tour: Reboot. At present, Hollywood is the second stop with the first being Germany and other dates being in Asia. You can find tour dates and information about Luna Sea right here at JrockRevolution.com. This is the first part of the interview with the final piece being published tomorrow! We started out asking about the twenty years together and how the reunion has gone so far. Shinya answered first, saying it wasn’t like someone had said, “hey, let’s do this”. The timing happened to be good. “A lot has happened over the years,” he explained. “Things were just right for this to happen now.” Sugizo agreed. “A certain kind of gravity brought us back together.” Like things were in alignment. Ryuichi added, “Also, the fact that we could produce an ideal sound at this point in time as a …

Uchuusentai Noiz

Published by Ali Watson

JrockRevolution.com and Anime Diet shared an interview for Uchuusentai NOIZ. After a long day, we opted for a shorter interview, yet it was very enlightening! Our thanks to Anime Diet for letting us include their questions and the photos taken after the interview. Your battle suits are creative and unique. When you designed them, what inspiration did you draw upon? Kyo: There isn’t one specific thing; it is [in general] Japanese culture is one of the main draws. Masato: Hm. X-Men. Eye candy. Angel Taka: There isn’t anything specific such as “oh, I like this”, but the main theme is ‘Asian beauty’. Yamato: Creature. Kotaro: [did not get translation] [In relation to the suits], you were posing on stage. Are you posing because you were specifically influenced by the sentai dramas? Uchusentai NOIZ: It’s not so much influence – we are space rangers… As individuals outside your powers as heroes, what would you consider your personality strengths and weaknesses? Kyo: My strength is being positive. The weakness is without thinking, going into action. Masato: My …