After nearly seven years together, overseas frequenters
BLOOD embarked on their final tour
La Fin De La Journee, stopping in only Mexico and the USA. JaME caught up with the only members present,
Kiwamu and
Fu-ki, just before their last New York show began.
Thank you for meeting with us. Please introduce the member sitting next to you.
Fu-ki: Guitarist,
Kiwamu.
Kiwamu: JaME's interviewer.
(Everyone laughs)
Your bandmate, not me! (laughs)
Kiwamu: (laughs) Vocalist,
Fu-ki.
With all the world travel, do you have a particular favorite place?
Fu-ki: I was really happy that we got to play in Finland. What we were able to do in Finland was really great.
Kiwamu: Yeah, but this time because the European promoters are being pretty harsh with the money, we weren't really able to go to Europe.
The tour title is "La Fin De La Journee;" why is the journey ending here?
Kiwamu: The USA is very important for
BLOOD. Seven years ago, an American fan found
BLOOD's website. Because of that, we received many chances in the worldwide scene, so I chose the USA and Mexico for the last tour. I decided not to play a show in Japan because the Japanese audience didn't support us.
Why did you pick this lineup?
Kiwamu: The factor there is the economy problem. I couldn't bring all the members from Japan, so we chose the important people (laughs) but if we brought
DJ SiSeN on this tour, it would be the same line up as last year, so I decided to bring
GPKISM too, because he is only one person so if I brought him, I only needed to pay one more member fee. So I choose
GPK and
DJ SiSeN for this tour. I didn't choose some of
BLOOD's members.
The industrial style is a newer scene for you.
Kiwamu: Yes, the reason why we changed to industrial is because we wanted to try all different kinds of things and found it really interesting.
What type of transitions did you have to make?
Kiwamu: When we were in the more hardrock sounding scene,
Fu-ki and I were pretty much doing everything. Then, when we were getting more into the industrial stuff, it was me doing most of it and then
Fu-ki was adding in. What was happening was that if I were able to sing, then I would be doing everything (laughs) so the transition was putting everything together at the end and then going from there.
Your last release, "Lost Sky," includes several remixes by other various artists. Why did you decide to do this?
Kiwamu: Recently, I've been thinking that it was interesting to do remixes. That's probably because of the influence from the industrial scene, so we started trying to get remixes from fans. We gave them the vocal tracks to remix and then we got back a lot of different kinds of remixes. That's why I thought it was really interesting.
When you heard the final remixes, did any of them personally surprise you?
Kiwamu: Ah! (laughs) There were a lot of different ones that were just like...woah (cringes)...that didn't get put through (laughs). But there was this one guy in America, in Salt Lake City, called
Tragic Black. Unfortunately, it took about a year and a half to do it. We just thought American people are kind of...on their own pace (laughs) so that was really interesting.
So how long does recording generally take you?
Fu-ki: For recording, it's maybe about one song per month.
Out of all of your songs, which is the personal favorite for each of you to perform live?
Fu-ki: THE FUNERAL FOR HUMANITY and
BLIND because that was the album that I started the band with, and I'm very satisfied with what I put into that.
Kiwamu: For me, I put everything into all of my songs, so I don't have a specific one I really like during performances. Everything is really important to me.
Years ago, when you got together, did you envision that you'd be where you are today?
Fu-ki: Not at all! I never imagined it.
Kiwamu: With the members that we started out with in 2004, when I explained to them what I wanted to do, they understood. Once we had member changes, I put the rails down for the tracks and we followed them. It kind of looked like we were going that direction, but then somehow we weren't following them anymore. Time just kept moving.
What have you learned from traveling around the world for the past six years?
Fu-ki: When you could eat, eat, and when you could sleep, sleep. (laughs)
Kiwamu: It's a Japanese person's style to follow up with time - be timely - but when I went to other countries, I realized that I can't focus on the time because things go off schedule sometimes. I think that mentally, it's better that I don't worry about the time as much.
Could you tell us what your best and worst memories from going overseas are?
Fu-ki: The good thing about going overseas was that I was able to meet a lot of people that I ordinarily wouldn't have. The bad thing was waiting for all the planes and things like that. (laughs)
Kiwamu: Everything was really fun, actually.
Please complete the sentence any way you'd like. Music is ______?
Kiwamu: Music is...(thinks for a while)...a part of life.
Fu-ki: (thinks) That's difficult...
Kiwamu: Classic? Metal?
Fu-ki: (laughs) Metal! Music is metal.
Kiwamu: Metal is cool.
Fu-ki: But our music's not metal. (laughs)
Kiwamu: That's true. (laughs)
What would you say is the greatest accomplishment you've achieved in BLOOD?
BLOOD: The biggest accomplishment was to be able to go to twelve different countries, including Europe, America and Mexico, and be the first band that was able to go to all those different countries as a visual kei band and perform a oneman. Also, the fact that 20,000 people have bought our creations and kept them.
Is there anything you'll take away from this experience together that you can say forever changed your life?
Kiwamu: Our first oneman and the first overseas oneman. Being able to go overseas on vacation.
Fu-ki: Ah, yeah.
Kiwamu: The first album...it was my first time putting out a CD. Then there was...
Fu-ki: That single. (laughs)
Kiwamu: We actually made a single that we really didn't want to release... (laughs)
If you could go back in time and do one thing over again as a band, would you?
Fu-ki: (laughs) I wish I could do a remix of that single one more time, just to go back and re-do it!
Kiwamu: I don't really think I would.
For several years, you've said the visual kei scene is boring and repetitive. Do you think your opinion will ever change?
Kiwamu: For visual kei, the reason why we stopped and moved onto industrial is because of the fact that visual kei got boring, and I think that's the same for all the members, and that's why we moved on. For now, it's still boring.
Many years down the line, what's the one thing you'll still want people to be saying about BLOOD?
Fu-ki: "The vocalist was really cool." (laughs)
Kiwamu: I feel that if our pieces are still around, I'll be happy.
As a group agreement, what one song of yours best represents the essence of BLOOD?
Fu-ki: Hmm...that's difficult. (thinks) It's a very hard question... (laughs)
Kiwamu: (laughs) Impossible!
Fu-ki: It's impossible! (laughs)
After this tour is done, where will each of you go from here?
Kiwamu: Right now, I am doing
GPKISM, but I am also doing a label. Until now, we mostly focused on our band, but from now on, I want to be able to help those that are trying to get out there so that they can succeed.
Fu-ki: I am doing a heavy metal bar in Osaka, bar "MiDiAN," so please check
MySpace!
Lastly, please give your fans a final message.
Fu-ki: Thank you so much for everything up till now!
Kiwamu: From now on, our pieces are going to last. Even if it's along the lines, if people could check out
BLOOD and think "oh, they're good," then please keep on listening to us!
JaME would like to thank Tainted Reality, Midori Maejima and BLOOD for making this interview possible. Photos by Kathy Chee from Fundy Photographics.
