HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR After Their Chicago Visit

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR had their second USA appearance at the end of May with their performance at Anime Central in Chicago. After this appearance, the band took some time to answer a few of our questions.

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If you had to pick one song to introduce HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR to an overseas audience, which song would it be and why?

mACKAz: PRIDE
MEG: PRIDE; it's the theme song for GUNDAM SEED DESTINY so check it out with the anime.
KAZUTO: Ichirin no Hana; I think it's the song that best represents HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.
MAKI: PRIDE because we started out with this song.
SASSY: Ichirin no Hana; heaviness and the melody with Japanese sensibility coexist in the song.
YUSUKE: PRIDE because it's our debut song and the songs has a good balance between pop and loud sides of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.

We assume MAKI and YUSUKE use your real names, but what about the other members? What is the meaning behind your nicknames?

mACKAz: It's my nickname.
MEG: Because I like Meg Ryan.
KAZUTO: It's my real name.
SASSY: The nickname came from my real name, Satoshi.

You've contributed to shows such as Gundam SEED DESTINY, Gundam SEED DESTINY SPECIAL EDITION, BLEACH, and Anata wo Wasurenai; how did you get these opportunities and how did you create the songs used for them?

MAKI: About Gundam SEED DESTINY, we heard from our staff at the record company that our song PRIDE had been chosen for the opening theme. It was an offer made to an existing song. For SPECIAL EDITION, we got the offer from Bandai and created the song, Enrai ~Tookuni aru akari~ with the anime in mind. As for Anata wo Wasurenai, since I'm in the movie, we made a song for a scene in which my role sings.
SASSY: I think we got these opportunities because the world of the anime and the image of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR are good match.
YUSUKE: I guess it's also because anime and rock go well together.

What is the reason for your continuous contribution to television shows? Is there any specific audience that you're trying to reach?

mACKAz: No, we're not necessarily trying to reach specific audience through anime songs.
MEG: I think that reason is simply because the image of the anime and our songs were good match.
MAKI: It's not that we're targeting a specific audience but the fact that our music is being played from such big speaker as anime has lead many people to listen to our songs and that's great.

From all of your songs, which do you find the most technically difficult to perform live?

mACKAz: No song in particular.
KAZUTO: Ichirin no hana.
MAKI: There are a number of songs that I feel are difficult to play, but that's not very important to me.
SASSY: STYLE. The drum fill at the end of the song is hard to play and I messed up a lot at first.
YUSUKE: Enrai~Tookuni aru akari~.

We understand all of you contribute with the music and lyrics for the band, but how are the two developed? Does the music or lyrics come first, and then the other?

mACKAz: We first make a song individually and then develop it together by making arrangements and adding instruments.
KAZUTO: We made music first. Our vocalists sense the feel of a song and create the lyrics.

In your album San, there is a lot of English text; is there any particular reason for using so much English? Who is the main lyricist responsible for those lyrics?

MAKI: YUSUKE writes English lyrics.
YUSUKE: English fits better to an approach that I wanted to take, that's why. I come up with the words that I want to convey in Japanese and then translate them with help from a staff member who is fluent in English.

Compared to your previous album covers, which have relatively "light" colors, San's cover is extremely colorful; was this done on purpose? Do you think this reflects your message you're trying to express with the album? Why or why not?

KAZUTO: We wanted make our previous album, Gou on Progressive to have heavy feel to it on the whole. For San, we put more emphasis on the color that each song has.
MAKI: Sound-wise, this album is more colorful than the previous one so we made the artwork colorful as well to reflect that.
SASSY: The artwork reflects the fact that the overall sound of the album has stronger element of pop than previous album and melodies are catchier. The artwork also expresses other things such as the joy of playing music live.

MAKI, you made your acting debut in the movie Anata wo Wasurenai; how did you get this opportunity and how was your approach to this role different from your approach to creating music with a band?

MAKI: I was offered the role by the director of the movie. I heard he had seen me perform live. When in a band, I express my inner feelings through songs whereas acting, you have to express the personality that the role you are playing has. That's the main difference.

YUSUKE, in your album San you don't have much of a singing role compared to previous albums. Is there a reason for this? Also, you're credited as "Machinegun Vox", why?

YUSUKE: For this album, I used less death metal voice and instead added distortion to my natural voice. As for the name "Machinegun Vox", my staff member suggested it. I think it fits my vocal style.

MEG, KAZUTO, mACKAz, and SASSY, did you receive any instruction or take classes to learn to play your instruments or did you learn them on your own? Were these the original instruments you wanted to play?

mACKAz: I learnt bass on my own. I can't play any other instruments.
MEG: I took some lessons while I was in high school.
KAZUTO: I mostly taught it to myself, but used to take guitar lessons for about a year. Guitar was the first instrument that I ever played.
SASSY: I learnt on my own. I used to play with guitar a bit, but I'm not good at all.

Last year you performed at Shiokazecon and this year you performed at Anime Central; what are some differences you noticed between your fans, the performances, and the conventions?

mACKAz: This year's event was bigger and there were more people.
MEG: I didn't feel any major difference, but thought the fans were so pure.
KAZUTO: Both events were great, but Anime Central was bigger and was fun to be part of.
MAKI: I didn't notice any difference in particular, but it was nice to see all those kids dressing up as their favorite characters and having a good time.
SASSY: I was impressed by all the cosplayers! The concerts were as nice and energetic as always.
YUSUKE: It was basically the same, but this year we visited US just for this event so we could spend more quality time with our staff. That's the difference, but both events made me want to come back to the US to do live shows again.

You've performed two times at Anime Conventions now. Would you like to do a tour on your own in America as well?

mACKAz: I want to tour as part of Family Value Tour.
MEG: Yes.
KAZUTO: Yes.
MAKI: It's not easy to visit many places and meet a lot of people so if there's such an opportunity, I'd love to take it.
SASSY: I'd like to. Live shows are important elements of delivering HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR so I want to keep doing it.
YUSUKE: Yes, I'd like to. In order for it to happen, I want people in the US to know about us know.

Just for fun, if you could change your role into the band, what role would you choose? Keep in mind, you can choose any instruments that are not used by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.

mACKAz: Sax
MEG: I seriously want to try out vocals.
KAZUTO: Piano or violin.
MAKI: Guitar or piano.
SASSY: Guitar. I want to do metal riffs.
YUSUKE: Guitar.

Is there any song that has a special meaning to the band as a whole?

mACKAz: PRIDE; It's our debut song and I think this song best represents HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.
MEG: PRIDE because it's our debut song.
KAZUTO: Ichirin no Hana; with this song we could show all appeal of HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR.
MAKI: DIVE into YOURSELF; for the album version of this song, we also recorded our fans voice.
SASSY: for Dear…; it's a song we wrote about the parting with one of our staff members.
YUSUKE: Energy; the message of the song is that even though what each individual can contribute is small, if people all over the world share the same wish and get together, we can rise above something that is difficult. I feel empathy for the message whenever we play this song.

What's the strangest or funniest story behind a song and its creation?

mACKAz: I heard a rumor that there's a ghost in the studio that we often use.
MEG: When data of a song has disappeared!
KAZUTO: mACKAz was recording his burp.
MAKI: Nothing in particular.
SASSY: When we were temporally recording the vocals to a song that MEG made, he made off-the-cuff lyrics and recorded it. The lyrics were so funny.
YUSUKE: KAZUTO's computer kept freezing when he tried to play it.

If you had the chance to have one of your songs remixed and you had to pick a completely different genre (such as reggae, jazz, sappy pop-ballads), which song would you pick and what genre would you use?

mACKAz: I'd want STYLE remixed to sound jazzy.
MEG: Tsumi. It would be interesting to make it sound more digital.
KAZUTO: Resistance. I'd have it remixed to techno style.
MAKI: OVER. Fusion style.
SASSY: I want to try bossa nova mix as it's one of my favorite genres of music. I'd also like to do House mix.

When do you plan to release something new? Do you already have some ideas in mind for new songs? If so, will you assume the same style HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR is known for?

mACKAz: We're releasing a new single called Dreams. It's a ballad.
MEG: It's kind of cheery and sounds like pop.

What is each of your favorite memory as a band?

mACKAz: Our two visits to the USA.
MEG: We shoved our faces into a cake at our debut party.
KAZUTO: Having had opportunities to perform overseas is very memorable.
MAKI: Everything that's happened was new and memorable, but going across the ocean and visiting Texas and Chicago were such fun memories.
SASSY: Performing at Summer Sonic '06 and seeing my favorite band METALLICA live.
YUSUKE: Doing concerts in America; I have a lot of other good memories, but having been connected with our fans. Transcending language and racial barrier is a very special memory.

Now that HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR has received much popularity than even last year, what are your goals now for the band? Where do you see the band going from this point?

mACKAz: Unknown world even to ourselves--That's what HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR is.
MEG: World peace.
KAZUTO: US tour is my goal for this year.
MAKI: I just want to keep performing live and having good moments.
SASSY: I want to keep delivering our sound to many people. I also want to keep absorbing different kinds of music.
YUSUKE: I want more and more people possible--in and out of Japan--to listen to our music and play in many places.

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Many thanks to HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR for their time and Sony Music for making this interview possible.