Ryonai Sama
Interviewer, writer: sadOasisTranslated by: 1-5
Questions Answered By: Ryonai Sama
Thank you for doing this interview! Could you introduce yourself please?
I’m honoured to be given the chance of this interview! Greetings! My name is RYONAI. I’m a member of the industrial unit BLAM HONEY and a founder of the Gothic and Lolita fashion accessory brand, SUPPURATE SYSTEM.
Please tell us about your style.
In all the works related to me, I put the wish "I want you to find a single rose in decadence". I feel my style is a mixture of decadence, steel roses, those who transcend gender...angels etc.
At what age did you begin composing music?
There was a big analogue synthesizer in the living room of my parents house, where I lived. From the time I was a small child I had fun using the synthesizer as a plaything. I was made to take violin lessons, but I couldn’t play the melodies cleanly, and I began to be really interested in the dissonance caused by the bow and bowstring rubbing together, something which is a big influence on my compositions now.
What kind of music did you like in your childhood and teens?
I wasn’t so interested in music, I was interested in the fragments of sounds originating from the natural world. For example, I took pleasure in the recurring sounds of of an iron pipe hitting a piece of metal in an industrial factory and the mother’s womb-like sounds (I heard) when submerged in the bathtub.
What first attracted you to electronic music and why?
It’s a characteristic of Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys etc. I feel that I was first attracted to it by the melodies and music awash with sorrow. I was also attracted to the wonderful construction of the sounds in industrial music such as Nine Inch Nails and Front Line Assembly.
What was your biggest influence in BLAM HONEY? (Art, music etc.)
Although the foundation (of BLAM HONEY) is the members, it’s also true that the the sounds of the environment in which I grew up and the music I like influenced me. We members were people who had the concept "beautiful twin pathogens" and it was expressed with CDs and lives, but I feel that we changed into the the existance of "BLAM HONEY".
What is the concept of BLAM HONEY?
A large concept is "I want you to find a single rose in decadence", and in that there is liberation of sexuality and the gender that accompanies it.
Although there is industrial and darkwave music in Japan where I live now, when we were performing in 1995, it was very minor, and even though it was a not a genre that was accepted within the music genres of Japan, because we wanted to make industrial music established, as it is in Canada, Germany etc, we acted as "preachers of industrial music" in Japan. Starting with our music, we wished that people would listen to this wonderful genre. Although we were only a fraction of it at the time when we were acting in Japan, and although there were industrial bands, all of these bands were dark and cliquish and we withdrew into our shell and it came to feel like we were just masterbating. I thought our music etc. was very high quality and cool, but the performance and visual side were missing.
We left the core part (of our music) as industrial music and gave the song melodies when we arranged them, assuming that everyone would become familiar (with our work) more easily, and we persued the visual side so that when people saw us once it would make an impact and they would not forget us.
I think it ended in success, consequentially.
Your stage show was decadent. Was it and important part of expressing the world of BLAM HONEY?
We didn’t have meetings and pratices (for it) prior to the perfomances, maybe because we wanted it to be an expression of each individual member’s foundation.
Do you still keep in contact with Tatsuya?
Eeeh?! Of course! We live far from each other, but we were called "beautiful twin pathogens", when he though of an idea, I thought of it at the same time, because of the unity of body and mind.
What influences the music and accessories of SUPPURATE SYSTEM?
Because I don’t really think music is a complete expression of myself, for the past few years I’ve worked to establish the Gothic and Lolita accessory brand that boasts the number 1 shares and eminence in Japan. This year overseas artists/musicians have asked to aquire the adornments I make a lot more and I’m thinking about that offer. And overseas mail order is scheduled to start this year. Please look forward to it!
Could you explain the meaning of the name SUPPURATE SYSTEM please?
The words of our slogan are "jintai to kinzoku no yuugou to kyouzon" ("the unification and coexistence of the human body and metal"). We work to produce things through which a person’s individuality can be drawn out to the maximum when someone has them. Please try to imagine what the origin of the name might be for yourself!
Are you working on any new songs at the moment?
Eeeh?! Of course, music is my life’s work and my source of life. I’ve saved fragments of tunes and stimulating sounds, which I made using a synthesizer, onto my hard disk and sampler; it’s like writing down the feelings I felt each day in a diary. This year, my big task is to bring together the pages of this diary and to bring together the fragments of sounds.
A lot of people from all over the world listen to your music. How does it make you feel?
After I participated in MySpace, a lot of people from all over the world have been listening to my music, and I’m very honored! And also, I like having the chance to watch the growth of the Japanese and overseas artists who are influenced by my music and begin to make their own music.
Also, there are fansites of your projects (For instance: Industrial Gender Unit http://www.slave-riot.net/myasthenia/etc). Were you surprised by this? Do you like people making fansites?
When I first went online, I was surprised to see my images and writing about me (that had been used) without my permission, but I’ve become very happy because it’s an expression of my listeners love for me. When I see people imitating my make-up and costumes and wearing my things, which is called cosplay, I think this (too).
Do you prefer recording or performing live?
Although it’s hard because I have to spend about three hours on my make-up and costumes, I get the greatest pleasure at the moment I go out on stage. If I have engineers and other people concerned with recording who I can completely trust, maybe I’ll like it.
Ideally, where would you like to play a live and why? Also, are you interested in playing lives outside Japan?
Realistically, in foreign countries, and in Japan, though you didn’t ask (about that), I want to perform music in a live house where my environment is well organised. I hardly play intruments on stage, and instead do original dances according to the sound my feelings, because I don’t want to be aliented from things I’ve previously created. As for the places (I’d like to play), I’m very interested in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany and Mexico etc.
Have you played any particularly memorable lives?
The live that my very respected senior, ex-Soft Ballet and producer, Ken Morioka, and our support guitarist, DOOM’s Takashi Fujita, took part in is particularly memorable for me.
You have a new project called "Piled Cell Devision" don’t you? Does it have a concept?
That’s right...because I like expressing myself through photography and graphic design just about as much as I like making music and accessories, now please have a look at my graphic design branch "Piled Cell Division". I have gotten some requests to make CD jackets. The style is a projection of the thoughts and wishes etc. of each day, which isn’t that different to my music and accessories. Though on the surface the production is in a complete chrysalis-like state, the chrysalis’ husk will be broken and (the production) is flapping its wings in preparation for becoming a beautiful butterfly.
Are there any bands/artists you’d like to work with?
Even though GPKISM’s music isn’t complete, other boring musicians can’t compare with his unification of quality, baroque and trance music and I acknowledged these superior points. However, because I couldn’t speak English well, it was difficult to communicate. When Kiwamu joined, he connected us. I’ll be participating as a guest member on GPKISM’s Japan tour on April 13th 2008. I have a lot of anticipation and excitement about doing a live after such a long time.
Though it’s still a secret at the moment, I have been working jointly with other esteemed artists, whose pace matched mine, that I met through MySpace since last year. I find such collaborative activities stimulating, and so if you have aspirations, don’t hesitate to let me know!
What do you like to do in your free time?
Because I like RPGs (role playing games), I play on my PSP and NintendoDS on my bed. I like games such as Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Drag On Dragoon and Valkyrie Profile that have fantasy elements and in which I can empathise with the hero.
I was involved in making game music as a business for a while too, and listening to the trivial music that floods the world is good stimulation for me.
On my days off now, I have an interest in people watching, whilst drinking delicious coffee and smoking my favourite flavoured cigarettes in a cafe in town.
I like talking with artists and musicians that I have good relationships with, in Japan.
I like looking in music shops that sell new synthesizers and I go to used musical intrument shops and buy things too.
Do you have any recommended movies/artists/books/bands?
Though I don’t really know about things that are "in vogue", because the lighting and feel of director Derek Jarman’s work calms my mind and spirit, when I feel very exhausted or rough, it’s very good.
As for manga, I’ve returned to reading "Saint Seiya", "Fist of the North Star" and "Doraemon" often, recently.
Bands...in Japan, the music that Kaya makes. His voice and lyrics of rich sensibility soothe me! I also recently was given a BLOOD CD by Kiwamu and I listen to it a lot. I espeically like their songs "CRIMSON" and "CHAIN".
In the overseas music field, in the Industrial/Eletric Body Music/Dark-Electro etc. catagories, I’m interested in SIVASIX/CygnosiC/X-Fusion/Grendel/Lujhboia/Necro Stellar and I recommend them!
If you had to describe yourself in 3 words/phrases, what would they be?
Decadence, steel rose, trancendence of gender...an angel...
Could you give a message to your fans?
I want to express my gratitude for your kind, warm and unchanging support and assistance!!
Thank you!!
Additional Information
Official Myspace SiteCheck out Ryonai Sama’s Official Site for more information on his history, discography, and more!
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