MUCC at JRock Revolution

JaME was given the chance to hold a brief interview with rock band MUCC the day before their performance as part of the JRock Revolution event held in Los Angeles, California, earlier this year.

---

How did you get involved in the plans for JRock Revolution?

Miya: We performed at Otakon about a year ago and then got together with Yoshiki, who also attended that event. We thought we should do something together.

What did you think of your European tour?

Miya: Well, this is our third time doing Europe, and it was pretty amazing.

How do you create your songs? Your sound is so diverse; do you start with a basic beat or melody and it evolves naturally from there or do you think "we want to write a song with this type of feeling"?

Miya: Sometimes, there are types of songs we feel like doing right at that very moment... like, 'I want to do a song like that.' And sometimes, we make songs without putting any thought into them. There are both kinds of songs.

SATOchi, what was it like writing both the music and lyrics for Kinsenka? What's the inspiration behind it?

SATOchi: The inspiration.... Like, what I thought about when writing it? Basically... There was an incident that left a huge impact.

You've all written all kinds of songs, but... What are some of your main influences?

Miya: All sorts of genres; we aren't really influenced by specific artists.

How is it when you're writing music? Do you all work together?

Miya: Well, first, one person comes up with a composition... then we all come up with an arrangement together. I'm usually the one who writes the songs.

You recently released two CDs; Best of MUCC and Worst of MUCC. What can you tell us about these releases?

Miya: It's our 10th anniversary, so it's our 'best of' albums... Well, they were both released together. The names 'Best' and 'Worst' are a joke. The 'Best' album features our singles, and the 'Worst' album features our indie releases.

What about your single, Flight?

Miya: It's full of very deep, real songs.

And how about a release from last year, Cover Parade?

Miya: Since our early years, we've been doing song covers at our concerts. We've always thought that we'd really like to release them as an album one day. Since there are copyright issues, we can't release it as a proper official album, but we have been distributing it.

Being together for 10 years is quite an accomplishment. How do you feel about MUCC's success and growth within these past years?

Tatsuro: Well... We're the 'MUCC' we are today because we've been together for 10 years.
Miya: In the past 10 years, we've made lots of different songs, and sang lots of different songs... Because we've done that, we can sing the songs we sing today.

What advice were you given when you first started out? Has it been true?

Tatsuro: Ah well, we were taught some things by our sempai (senior) bands, and... When we were younger, we were staff for a lot of bands. We learned a few things from them.

On the flip side of the coin, what advice do you have for young musicians?

Tatsuro: Observe a lot of older bands; see what they do and work with them.

Thank-you very much for your time.

---

JaME would like to thank the JRock Revolution staff, the Renaissance hotel, N. Matsumoto, and MUCC.