Interview with Wagakki Band

Since debuting in 2013, Wagakki Band has been one of a handful of bands fusing contemporary Western rock with classical Japanese instruments. On July 5th, the band brought its uniquely Japanese brand of music to Paris’s Japan Expo. At the event, frontwoman Yoko Suzuhana talked with JaME about Wagakki Band’s origins, musical style and plans for the future.

Hello. Could you please introduce yourselves for people who don't know you yet?

Yoko Suzuhana: We are a rock band, whose music is the result of a fusion between traditional instruments like koto, shamisen and wadaiko and Western instruments, all accompanied by shigin (recitals of Japanese poetry).

How was the band formed? How did you meet?

Yoko Suzuhana: The members are all friends of mine. That's why we are very close and familiar. At first, I was doing shigin. The girls and I were together because one of them played koto and the other one played shakuhachi. We slowly began to meet other members via the streaming site where we posted videos of our performances.

How was the name Wagakki Band chosen and what does it mean?

Yoko Suzuhana: “Wagakki” is the name of traditional Japanese instruments, while "band" symbolizes the group and the fusion from both sides: Japan and the West.

At its release, your first album VOCALO Zanmai was top ranked in charts. Why do you think it did so well?

Yoko Suzuhana: VOCALO Zanmai merges both traditional and contemporary musical styles, which makes a great impact upon young people who may not know traditional Japanese instruments. I think that's why we were successful with this album.

All of the tracks on this album were covers. Why did you choose these songs in particular?

Yoko Suzuhana: We chose these songs because they were our favourites. There are exceptional feelings in each song.

The tracks include GACKT’s Episode.0 and Yoshiwara Lament by Asa. What can you tell us about these specific rearrangements?

Yoko Suzuhana: We rearranged every song and not only these ones. They are all covers but with Yoshiwara Lament, Asa wrote lyrics, that's the main difference from the others. As for Episode.0, it's a man singing when usually it's always me.

All of your previous releases have been covers. Can we expect original songs in the future?

Yoko Suzuhana: We’ve already released an original song in Japan. The music and lyrics were composed by me. Of course, there will be more to come. In the future, we want to play original songs. You can go on YouTube to hear our most recent songs.

This is your first live in Europe. What did you think about the live and the audience?

Yoko Suzuhana: It was our first overseas live. The number of visits to our website has increased significantly and comments in other languages have also increased. Despite that, we were very scared to come here. We are pleased to be appreciated by foreign fans. With that live, we realized that we have fans here. French fans sang in Japanese with us during the live. Many people also spoke with us in Japanese. We were really surprised and we really enjoyed it.

You will be holding your first one-man live in Japan soon. Can you tell us something about it?

Yoko Suzuhana: We will play all of the songs on the VOCALO Zanmai album. We also want fans to hear each instrument played by each member.

At the live, there was a shakuhachi player. How long have you been playing? Is your way of playing this instrument traditional or not?

Daisuke Kaminaga: I have a shakuhachi degree and am a master of the same school. When playing classical songs, I don't move because that's the traditional way of playing. But when I play with Wagakki Band, I move a lot and have to play fast. It's very different.

Could you leave a message for our readers?

Yoko Suzuhana: We are starting our overseas activities so I hope fans will continue to support us.

JaME would like to thank Wagakki Band and Avex for making this interview possible.