Interview with BEE-315

BEE-315 is a rock band whose style more often than not, includes an energetic pop-punk feel that's quickly winning over fans worldwide. JaME got the chance to have a one-on-one with all three of the members.


Could you introduce yourself?

KENTALOW: I'm KENTALOW, on drums and guitar.
RIU: I'm RIU, vocals and bass.
KAWASAKI: I'm KAWASAKI, vocals and guitar. My blood type is B. Nice to meet you!

The band was formed in 2004. How did you meet each other and why did you decide to form a band?

KENTALOW: We just happened to meet in a jamming session that RIU played in annually. KAWASAKI and RIU had played together several times before and then I joined in, and we worked well together.
RIU: We started off as friends playing in different bands going on tour together.

What would you say the band's concept is?

RIU: We started as a session band, just playing whatever we wanted to really, so we want to continue doing that and have fun.

Whose idea was it to form the band?

KAWASAKI: At first, we started as a session band, so we didn't have a real concept, it was just like "Let's have fun!" and we played lots of cover songs. KENTALOW was in a band whose style we liked and aimed for and RIU and I liked listening to this kind of music. So when KENTALOW joined us, we thought it would be interesting to do more music like that.

Did each of you play a different type of music?

KAWASAKI: The other band, which I play in is more ‘manly' or more ‘sweaty' (laughs). I would use the word ‘fun' to describe BEE-315, as I play purely for fun. The other band I play in is like "We can enjoy ourselves after we finish the struggle" (laughs).

Is it like more spiritual? (laughs)

RIU: (Laughs) I think he can't see himself and the band objectively, but the melodies of the band seem more Japanese.

RIU, you play electronic music in Metronome, don't you?

RIU: Yes, I do.

So the three of you gathered from quite different fields then?.

RIU: Well now that you mention it, yes. Why did we go on tour together in the first place? (laughs)

What is the meaning of the band's name of BEE-315?

KENTALOW: We all are blood type B, and it means like "Bi gata Saikou!" (Blood type B is the best!) (note: the pronunciation of ‘three, one, five' is the same as ‘the best' in Japanese.).

So it doesn't mean 'bee' like bugs.

RIU: The spelling is 'bee' but it doesn't mean that. We use numbers in our band's name like blink-182 and SUM 41, which we like.

Does it mean also 'three' members make 'one' band, and 'go!'? (note: in Japanese, the number 5 is pronounced as 'go') I found the same kind of words in the lyrics of the song Raise The Roof!.

KAWASAKI: That explanation sounds good too (laughs). But we mean 'the best!'

How do you usually create songs?

KENTALOW: We make the songs separately.

Do each of you write lyrics too?

KENTALOW: The person who makes the music also writes the lyrics.

In your album BOOST UP YOUR FUN!, how many songs did you originally have before choosing the final seven?

RIU: At that time, we brought twice as many to the meeting to select the final songs.

As the artists, what would you say the changes are in the band's sound from when you first started out, until now?

RIU: We have released three CDs, and the music has become catchier with each CD, I think. At first, we didn't think like we do now: we created songs without deep thoughts. Now we choose songs and then make the album, so I think it became more cultivated.

Can you tell us something about the album BOOST UP YOUR FUN! released on February 21st 2007?

KAWASAKI: Until then, we had produced everything all by ourselves; we did everything from the beginning to the end, like buying materials and getting everything together. This time, the record label Tricycle ENTERTAINMENT Inc. backed us up, so it was different from the way we three used to do it. We listened to objective opinions around us, which was a big challenge for us. As well as being convinced at times, we also have to convince people around us, as a team, so our eagerness was different from before. The process of writing lyrics and making music was almost the same. Before, we made songs, brought and collected them, and arranged them like "Here you are", but this time in the step of selecting songs, we talked about how we would make them, and thought about their flow. Before, we saw them just in front of us, but this time we chose them looking ahead.

STRIKE-E.P. is the opening theme song for the TV show, HOT WAVE. Did you choose this image to match the song after you made it?

RIU: Yes, we did.

Do you think that having more people involved in the making the album made your songs catchier?

KAWASAKI: I haven't really thought about it, but we discovered many things that we wouldn't have if we had made it by ourselves. That was a big point.
RIU: About the album BOOST UP YOUR FUN!, we worked on it with the people around us. For example, we left our choice of photographs to the cameraman, and we wanted to make the best use of the director's opinion when we made our PV. In this way, this album is a little bit different from our former self-production works because we wanted to make it taking the opinions of the director and other members in the team. But as we all tend to be very vocal about what we want, we didn't lose our character in the album at all.

On the contrary, other people can discover the new charm of BEE-315, I think.

RIU: Yes. About our promotion video, I was surprised when I heard the director's opinion. He listened to our music only 1-2 times, and gave us all of his direction from the beginning, so we just said, "OK, we'll do it just as you said" (laughs).
KENTALOW: To put it simply, I think we could make the best of all of our works.

You have many foreign fans, don't you?

RIU: Yes. When I see fan mail on our homepage, there are a lot of messages from overseas and I'm very happy about that. And there are fans that work hard to write in Japanese. I'm encouraged by them when they say "I'm supporting you always, so keep going, RIU!" (laughs) I'm very happy and say "Thank you!" (laughs).

RIU, since you were in punk bands before, and have been in Metronome now for a long time, did you feel the need to return to your roots, so to speak, with BEE-315?

RIU: If I would think of Metronome as a base, I played in a punk band before, and I also played various genres. It didn't seem like I returned to my roots, but honestly, there was a time when other members of Metronome played solo, and I wasn't doing any solo activities. When I was told by the manager "Do some solo activities", I didn't have an idea or an image of what that would be. I wanted to do something different from Metronome. In general, except for support and studio activities, many people don't think it's good to do two bands at once. But as an artist, I want to do both, and I have a lot of things I want to do. As I do support activities and many other things, that is how I express myself now.

So you don't feel like you're returning to your roots, but more like opening up another part within you?

RIU: Yes, I feel like that.

RIU, when the band started, you were the bassist. Were you just going to be the bassist?

RIU: With BEE-315, I wasn't going to be just a bassist. I wanted to sing. So my bass is simple in this band.

KAWASAKI sings more on the latest release, is there a reason for that?

KAWASAKI: Basically, in our band, the member who made the song mostly sings that song. This time a lot of my songs are on the album, so I sing more.
RIU: If many songs made by KENTALOW were chosen to be on the album, KENTALOW would sing… (laughs)

KENTALOW only sings chorus now, do you also want to sing lead vocals just like RIU and KAWASAKI?

KENTALOW: No, I don't think so. It is my first experience to be involved in a three-member band and the drummer in a band with three members stands out more than they would in a band with four members. So I want to be looked at by the audience as a drummer. I don't want to project a vocalist image.

So you want the other members to sing the songs you wrote the music and lyrics for?

KENTALOW: Yes. The other two members have more skill and experience in singing, so I think RIU and KAWASAKI would sing better than me.
RIU: We often say to him "Why don't you sing more?", but he refuses (laughs).
KENTALOW: I want to do chorus but…

Isn't it hard for the band members to do BEE-315 at the same time with their other bands activities?

KAWASAKI: Yes, it's hard, as you say. With the schedule, of course, and having to think about the same kind of things at around the same time. For example, I have to write songs at the same time. It's hard to distinguish between each other, but I'm really happy to play in BEE-315 because as RIU just said, we have been listening to and doing various types of music, and we have many desires to do more, such as playing and arranging. If we play only in one band, we would want to express everything there. So we're in two bands, and BEE-315 is a band whose melodies are catchy, cheerful and fun and we know well what we should do in this band. So it's worth having this band even though it's hard to do both together.

As your other bands are quite different to BEE-315, how do you feel as an artist switching between them?

KAWASAKI: I always feel fresh. Yesterday I did a live of BARBELL, which I have been doing for more than 10 years. Of course I enjoyed the live, but when I thought I would do BEE-315's live next day I felt happy because it is a totally different feeling. It's amusing and pleasant.

Does the audience overlap in each other's bands?

KAWASAKI: Yes, I think so.

Are they following their favorite members?

KAWASAKI: Some of them are like that I think. And I feel that the fans of BEE-315 really enjoy our lives. They don't watch from the back when other bands perform , but they enjoy seeing them play on events with more artists or on events that we arrange ourselves. I think they really get the keyword ‘FUN' out of our events.
RIU: I think I play the most different music in each band among these three members. My role in the band, the appearance, and the sound of the band are different. So, as long as I can manage my schedule well, other things are easy for me. With making songs, I have to make them for both BEE-315 and Metronome this month, and I was making more than 10 songs at home, but it was like "Today I'll make a song for this band, and on another day, I'll make one for that one," so it's like I have lessons for Math and English.

Do you make songs for the two bands in different ways?

RIU: Basically, I create them in the same way. At first there are songs and tunes, and when I make them for the bands, whether I'll arrange them for only 3 members or arrange for computer input electronic music is the difference. It seems like I use different computer programs in a way, while the beginning of both are the same. So I have no problem at all. On the contrary, playing in two bands is good to release stress. I don't think it's good for band members to have everything in one band. But last year, I did all of the work that I was asked to do including support work, so I was too busy and did too much that I couldn't make my schedule well, but now I'm all right.
KENTALOW: I only do support work outside of BEE-315, so it's no problem.

You are doing lots of support work, KENTALOW.

KENTALOW: Well, I just play in many lives. I'm alright if I only play in lives for BEE-315 without support work.

Do you make songs only for BEE-315?

KENTALOW: Yes. So it's not so difficult for me like them.
RIU: We see that when KENTALOW plays in a band as a support member, he plays technically and concentrates on his performance so much there. He plays so steady, but when he plays in BEE-315, he becomes more wild (laughs).

You change your style of playing drums, don't you?

KENTALOW: In lives, I want to express what I want to play. While in CDs, I play correctly and steadily. I play, as I want to do in lives, because there is something that I can feel only on stage.

Since BEE-315 has played a show with Metronome on special occasions like RIU's birthday live, would you be interested in doing or are you planning on doing a tour alongside your respective bands?

KAWASAKI: Is it like we all do two stages in an event? (laughs) Well, we could do that if we tried. We know each other's bands well so we can do that, but we don't have to do that now (laughs). BEE-315 is now opening up a new field which is different from Metronome, BARBELL and Sex Android, which KENTALOW plays in as a support musician, and we are enjoying it now and we want to enjoy it more. So I think we will probably do this until we want a change, and that could be interesting.

Would you like to play outside of Japan and where?

KAWASAKI: Yeah! Totally!
KENTALOW: I want to play in California in the USA!
KAWASAKI&RIU: Only there!? (laugh)

So you want to play on the west coast in the USA?

KAWASAKI: I don't care about the area as long as we can play overseas.

Well, I think the type of music BEE-315 plays is listened to by many on the west coast in the USA.

KAWASAKI: I want to try there because that's our roots. I want to feel the air, how the audience is and how the live house scene is, but also in nearby Asian countries, such as Taiwan, South Korea, China and even in Europe. I want to play in front of audiences that are not Japanese.
RIU: Recently I'm interested in Europe. Not only for lives but also I want to go there at least once. I want to see their culture. So I'm really happy that such people listen to our CDs and send us fan mail. And I want to know about Asian countries because I don't know them well, even though they are close to Japan.

Do you have more American fans?

RIU: Concerning fan mail, I think that we have more European fans. I sometimes get fan mail written in German, which I can't read (laughs). But I'm really glad.

In Europe, Japanese music has been popular for a while now, and now American people are beginning to pay attention to it more and more.

KENTALOW: See! We should go to the USA like I said!
KAWASAKI: But KENTALOW would probably just shop there… (laughs)
RIU: Well, it would be fun going around sightseeing (laughs).

KENTALOW, you seem like a surfer.

KENTALOW: Yes, I do surf. Everything I like is in California, such as tattoos, bicycles, cars, clothes… I really want to go there once before I die since all of my hobbies are there.

Please give your message to the JaME readers.

KAWASAKI: In our Japanese music chart, foreign songs are in the top, and we feel good to listen to them even if we don't understand the language. But there hasn't been any Japanese music in the top of the charts overseas, or that move you guys to tears when you listen to Japanese music since Kyu Sakamoto (a Japanese singer who is the only artist that entered the charts with his song Ue o muite arukou, better known as Sukiyaki) did, so we'll work on our lyrics and sound to really move you guys. We enjoy working towards that, so please invite us to do lives overseas!
RIU: Now the internet is developing, and people all over the world can look at our live images, watch our PVs, listen to our music, and buy it over the internet, so we want them to listen to our music and to evaluate it. Then, I think, we'll be able to go overseas for lives.
KENTALOW: When we listen to music, each person likes a particular genre. I hope foreign people are interested in our music and listen to it. I really want to do lives overseas! When you come to Japan, please come to see our lives!