Interview with Insanity Injection

Visual kei band Insanity Injection released their debut single ADVENT OF SLAUGHTER in February and have played shows throughout Japan since then. With a distinctive image both visually and audibly, they are a fresh breeze in the visual kei world. Get to know the band members and their unique concept!

Could you introduce yourselves?

Kyouka: I am Kyouka, Noise+Voice.
Chaos: Hi! This is Chaos from Insanity Injection.
Makoto: I am Makoto, guitarist of Insanity Injection.
GAGA: I am GAGA.
Hideaki: I am Hideaki, bassist of Insanity Injection.

Where and when did all of you meet?

Kyouka: I met GAGAand Chaos in a live house in Shibuya few years ago, Makoto in a live house in Meguro few years ago and Hideaki in Tokyo many years ago. I had plans to start a new band with Hideaki some years ago, and met with the other members while doing session bands together. After we found the right members for the project, Insanity Injection was formed. This project is supposed to represent my ideals and achieve what I always wanted to do in a band.

Chaos: I met Kyouka and Hideaki several years ago and we had a chance to play together in a long-term session band. While touring we had a chance to meet the other members, and later started talking about how cool it would be to play original songs too. That’s how the idea for Insanity Injection originated.

Makoto: I have been friends with Kyouka for a long time. He suddenly invited me to play in his new band and I was the last member to join Insanity Injection.

GAGA: I first met Kyouka and had a chance to meet the other members while playing in session bands.

Hideaki: Me and Kyouka used to be rivals in the past, but our relationship changed for the better throughout the years. We have been friends for a long time now. We had a chance to meet again when I was playing with DAS:VASSER for their 15th anniversary. We started playing together in session bands and eventually formed Insanity Injection.

What does Insanity Injection mean?

Kyouka: Insanity Injection is mostly about real cases that are happening around the world. We think that murder and other crimes are all caused by insanity. Where does insanity come from? What’s the point of view of an insane person? How do they feel when they commit their crimes? These are also questions we would like to answer with our songs.

Chaos: Most songs are inspired by things that actually happened and we saw in the news or in books, but we don’t want to just tell a story but express our feelings about it and each side’s point of view too. Also, we feel that the bad things that are happening are somehow caused by our society. Nowadays, society is kind of helping insanity to spread as there are so many young people who have lost their path in life and were not taught values.

Kyouka is also known as the singer in the 90’s visual kei band Aliene Ma’riage. You still have the same interesting appearance and special singing style. Could you explain your way of expressing yourself?

Kyouka: Singer? Huh? I don’t consider myself as a singer. My role is Noise+Voice. Vocals are too much connected with the pop category and the whole idea of delivering good and nice singing just makes me feel bad. As Noise+Voice, I want to scream out my feelings in this fucking world.

All the members have other projects as well. Could you tell us a bit about those?

Chaos: glamscure is a three member unit I started about a year ago. As Insanity Injection is mainly based on twin vocals, with glamscure I am trying to show a different side of me. Both bands are equally important.

Makoto: “Missa” is my solo project, which I use to express my individual opinion. Its concept is ‘rebellion’ against the world’s contradictions and discriminations. I ask the question “Does it look like a god or a devil?” to the listener, meaning that it’s up to each person to decide if my expression is right or wrong. I feel I can express the impact of both sides.

GAGA: In Insanity Injection I am known as GAGA, but I have been active as Kyoki in other bands such as Secilia Luna. I have been also playing in other genres recently.

Hideaki: DAS:VASSER has been active for the past year to celebrate its 15th anniversary.

You released your debut single ADVENT OF SLAUGHTER this February. The sound has an aggressive and dark feel to it. How did you pick the songs for the single?

Kyouka: The songs we chose express the band’s raison d’être, Insanity Injection’s dark and heavy sound at its best. The songs' themes are all-around grotesque episodes, another distinctive trait of our band.

Chaos: We chose the songs that best represented the band’s sound and concept, as this release was thought of as Insanity Injection’s manifesto. Each song has its own atmosphere and distinctive sound, but I feel they are all equally representative of Insanity Injection’s music.

Makoto: I made demos of the songs and had the members listen to them first. We then thought about which songs would best express the personality of the two vocalists. The songs’ arrangement was also thought about according to vocal styles and nuances.

GAGA: I think the three songs showcase the world of Insanity Injection at its best. I'm sure you are looking forward to listening to other songs too?

On your Youtube channel you shared the PV for B.R.N which has an elegant and yet horror feel to it. How was the recording?

Kyouka: As the title of our release says, ‘GORE’ was the main concept for the video’s aesthetics and story. The whole process took quite a long time as I had a very clear idea on what kind of direction and visuals I needed for each scene, and it was great to see the members’ personality come out this much.

Chaos: It was my very first music video shooting. As visual expression is fundamental for this band, we didn’t want to come to too many compromises and had long meetings to talk about the script every little detail. I remember we were in a hurry for the whole day despite having booked the location for a long time. (laughs)

Makoto: I had fun shooting. As it is our first music video, we tried to express every little aspect of the band’s concept. After eating raw meat and internal organs for a scene, I remember gargling with some dish soap I found at the location. (laughs)

GAGA: During the music video shooting I could feel the personality and charm of the other members stronger than I could have imagined. That gave me the right motivation to work even harder from now on.

Hideaki: It took a long time to express each member's strong personality, but I am really satisfied with the results.

Do you have any releases planned?

Chaos: We will release two digital singles on July 11th and August 8th. Our first album will follow on November 11th. At the moment our tour will be in Japan only, but we would like to reach everybody overseas too in the future.

Do you have a message for our readers?

Kyouka: I hate the visual kei scene today. With my band I will show everybody what real visual kei is and create a new genre.

Chaos: I would like to keep growing together with our fans and make this band the biggest. I cannot wait to release our new songs and show them in a different way at our concerts too.

Makoto: Many bad things keep happening in this world, but we have to keep looking for our own justice. Then we can have our hearts beat in unison.

GAGA: I would like to impress all the world with our activities. Please stay tuned for more!

Hideaki: I would like to keep expressing the unique world of Insanity Injection, so please look forward to our next activities.

JaME would like to thank Insanity Injection for this interview opportunity.