BLOOD
Interviewer, writer: Stormraven24Band Members: Fu-Ki (Vocals), Kiwamu (Guitar/Programming), Kaede (Bass)
Questions Answered by: DJ SiSEN, Fu-Ki, Kiwamu, Kaede
For those who are unfamiliar with you, could you please introduce yourselves?
SiSeN: I am DJ SiSeN and I am touring with BLOOD. This is my first time in America!
Kiwamu: We are BLOOD from Japan.
Tomorrow will be the final stop in the US for the Darkest Labyrinth 7 tour. How has it been so far?
Kiwamu: We got stuck in a blizzard in Chicago. We don’t know if we can go on with the tour. It all depends on the weather.
(Note: They did indeed make it to Chicago and performed another great show the next day.)
In Japan you’ve performed with Bloodmore Har of the Royal Dead as a dancer and Ryo as your new keyboardist. How has it been working with them?
Kiwamu: Bloodmore Har is a live dancer and Ryo is a guest musician. Our performances have been enhanced by them.
How did you discover DJ SiSeN and his music?
Kiwamu: We met four years ago. We have been performing and want our sounds to influence each other.
Back in April of 2007 you changed both your concept and your sound. What is the story behind Symphony of Chaos?
Fu~ki: We are imagining a pitch black scene and hearing all of these noises called chaos. The sounds together and the chaos are harmonizing with each other. That is how we imagine that scene.
I still see people refer to BLOOD as visual kei even though you no longer identify with it. How do you explain to them that you no longer identify yourselves as a visual band?
Kiwamu: Many big bands change style from visual kei to a JRock band. They always say "we are not visual kei" but it is very strange because they work for the music of that scene, a piece of that kind of music scene. Our style was visual kei, but now we change. We are not visual kei, so if you think we are visual kei, it is not appropriate.
How have your fans responded to the change?
Kiwamu: Our fans always feel our music, so it is not a big problem for them. If we are fashionable band many people will rift, but BLOOD is not fashionable band. Many bands have only look not music, so for that band, music change is very difficult, but BLOOD has the same spirit in our music. So change is not a problem for fans.
The Goth scene in Japan is incredibly small compared to those in Europe and the US. Do you hope that the success you have gained by touring overseas will encourage other Japanese Goth artists to emerge onto the scene?
BLOOD: YES!
This June you will be traveling to Australia to perform with GPKism. First of all, what made you decide to join with GPK, Kiwamu?
Kiwamu: First, I met him on MySpace. I listened to his music. It is very good and fresh for me, so I asked him about selling CDs in Japan, but in his project there is no Eastern influences, so I just wanted to show his talent to new fans.
Will this be your first time going to Australia?
BLOOD: Yes!
Kiwamu: For visual kei, it will be the first time.
I’d like to ask a couple of questions about your songwriting process. Where do your inspirations come from?
Kiwamu: I always get the idea from my brain so I....for example, when I am sleeping I always find the idea so I don’t know how I can get inspiration from somewhere.
Are there set jobs and tasks for each member, like one writes lyrics, another works on the melody, or do all of you do a little bit of everything?
Fu~ki: First, Kiwamu makes a song when we aren’t together. Then I write the lyrics.
Kiwamu: We always have recording schedule every week.
What do you focus on the most when writing new songs, if anything at all?
Kiwamu: I always make songs from melody, so I want to focus melody to the songs.
Lately you have been using a lot of English in your songs, especially for the Dead-Hearted EP. Is there a specific reason for this?
Kiwamu: We got a lot of responses from many countries, so we are thinking about using English words in our songs. Of course, BLOOD is a Japanese band. So Japanese is most important language. But when we write songs, we will choose the good language for that song. On this song, we thought English was better. But singing in English is very difficult for the singer. He will practice that more.
Going back to touring in general, do you prefer performing for a large crowd of potential fans at events like conventions, or smaller, intimate lives with long-time fans?
Kiwamu: The conventions have many fans. But we joined in some conventions in USA. There were many techinical troubles. So in USA, we don't want to join in the conventions. Especially Fanime 2004 was one of worst sound conventions.
Is there ever anything in the crowd that catches your attention while you’re on stage?
Kiwamu: During my guitar solo, sometimes strange fans catch my hands. It is very bad for playing. So I always kick them very hard.
What has been your best experience while touring?
Kiwamu: On this tour? This US tour is the best tour we joined in. I appreciate Roger and his friends working! When I met him, he was just DJ on the radio show first. Now he's grown up very much about music bussiness. We grow up together.
It has been said in several places that American fans are wilder and more expressive than their Japanese counterparts. Do you find that this is true, or does everyone react relatively the same?
Kiwamu: I think Mexican fans are more agressive. So please don't mind about that. In our fan base, US fans are the biggest. So there were strange fans in this. "Just want band member attention people" We dislike them very much. But other fans are very very good. We love USA very much!
Can you tell me about the new double album that you are working on?
Kiwamu: We are working for the album THE REAPER BEHIND ME, a full album accompanying the new concept "Symphony of Chaos," which began in 2007, finally makes its appearance. As the first album since their musical transition to a gothic/industrial style, it will be released as a 2-disc set with disc 1 being the full album and disc 2 containing remixes created with foreign clubs in mind. Participating as guest vocalists are Exo-Chika of Aural Vampire on a re-recording of the 1st period track, "BLOOD," and Austrian singer Emily Rose on "FOUNTAIN OF BLOOD." The jacket image was shot in Los Angeles and features model Jade Starr. Remixes have been contributed by BLOOD's label-mates Virgins O.R. Pigeons (Greece), GPK (Australia), Spectrum-X (Italy); foreign artists BLUE BIRDS REFUSE TO FLY (Greece), The Last Dance (USA), In-Tranzit (Australia), siva six (Greece); and Japanese artists Anny-K (Camino), calmand qual, and DJ dora.
When can they expect it out? What caused the delay?
Kiwamu: Last year, I talked with the business partner in Tokyo. We had the possiblity to work with them. But they are very lazy and slow. So I decided not to work with them. Time is money. They didn't understand that. So if I work with them, I just lost my time. And now, Ryo is working for the extra parts on these songs. So we just wait for his working. He will finish that in this week.
Where will fans be able to purchase it along with your other merchandise?
Kiwamu: US fans can buy our cds at CD baby. CD baby supports 2400 cd shops in the USA. It is very good system. We already sold many cds there. Of course, we will sell our new album. Please buy that title from CD baby.
For people who are not familiar with your music, what song of yours would you recommend they listen to first?
Kiwamu: I think CHAIN is the best for not familiar fans. In that song, there are hard parts and melodious parts.
What do you see in the future for BLOOD? For the Goth industry as a whole?
Kiwamu: We finished our Visual kei period from 2002 to 2007, so we will be in the gothic industrial scene for a while.
During this tour you celebrated your sixth anniversary as a band. Did you do anything special to celebrate outside of the tour?
Kiwamu: In fact, we have no interest in anniversary. Last year, we had 5th anniversary. But we didn't notice that soon. We just released our 3rd album [VENGEANCE for BLOOD Integral edition] for our sixth anniversary. It is the VENGEANCE for BLOOD's 2nd press.
A lot of your fellow artists have done this, so I’d like to know if you have thought about acting at all. Will there ever be a day when we can see BLOOD in a movie or television series?
Kiwamu: Maybe you know Japanese visual kei band MM made the movie. I respect thier attitude. But their movie was terrible. Musicians should not make the movie!
(Note: He’s referring to Malice Mizer’s movie "Bara no Seidou" / "Bridal of Rose" )
Back in September during an interview with Roger, you mentioned that fans are not ready to see the funny side of BLOOD, hence all the cutting of scenes from the Darkest Labyrinth DVD. Do you think we might be able to see that side of the band sometime in the future?
Kiwamu: Hmmm, I talked with Roger about that. If there were 2000 or more fans for our each live show, we can show that kind part. Because now for our band, it is too early.
Is there any artist or band that you would like to perform with either at a show or on your next album?
Kiwamu: I have some artists to work with on the songs. It is not decision. It is in my idea. I don't like to show my idea before I make. I will show you when I finish the works.
Would you be interested in making a new promotional video anytime soon?
Kiwamu: I need time and money for that!
Could you leave a final message for your fans?
Kiwamu: Our new album will be very cool for US fans. Please listen and enjoy that.
Additional Information
Please visit the following sites for information on BLOOD's live shows, including their upcoming tour in Australia, and their merchandise:Curecreate.com
VENGEANCE for BLOOD
1st Period DX
2nd Period DX
VENGEANCE for FLOOD Live in Mexico DVD
SPLEEN-despair-
Official Myspace Site
Official Site
BLOOD @ J-Music Ignited
Click here to see J-Music Ignited’s page for BLOOD!
I would like to extend my thanks and deepest gratitude to BLOOD and DJ SiSeN for taking their valuable time to answer my questions, Roger Shackelford and Tainted Reality for making both this interview and tour possible, Ger who was a tremendous lifesaver by interpreting what the artists said in Japanese, and Maria and JRock Revolution for sharing Ger ^_^
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