Interview with Mix Speaker's,Inc. before their show in Paris

Mix Speaker's,Inc., the unusual, concept-driven visual kei band visited Europe for the first time in January as part of a three date mini-tour in France, Finland and Germany. The band, known for their colorfully themed costumes and two vocalists, took a bit of time to talk to JaME before their Parisian live to explain what lies beneath the masks of Mix Speaker's,Inc.

Hello

All together: Hello!

Could you please introduce yourselves?

MIKI: I’m MIKI, singer.
YUKI: I’m YUKI, singer.
Keiji: I’m Keiji, guitarist.
S: I’m S, the drummer (Everyone laughs when S tries to part the lips of his mask to make himself heard.)
Seek: I’m the bassist, Seek.
AYA: I’m AYA, guitarist.

Your music is hard to classify, going from punk to rock, dance music, jazz and so on. How would you describe it to someone who has never heard it before?

Seek: To start with, we have a concept or some kind of story, it’s like theatre in a way. We have the idea of a story and the first thing to be added is the music. This can be jazz, for example, and then the second part can be dance music or something else. We don’t categorize ourselves within a single musical style like rock, pop or something; we create the concept of a story and with it the music that goes best for each part of our own story.

The band is unusual in having two singers. How did you come up with that idea?

YUKI: It’s kind of an advantage but also a new challenge because there is no other band with two singers.
Seek: These two singers look alike and seem to be similar, yet they are two totally distinct characters. If they sing together and combine their personalities into a single one, it becomes more powerful than it does with only one singer. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.

For your original concept, named 1st Story, you chose a universe full of monsters. Why?

AYA: We wanted to try new effects with make-up and we thought about what kind of stories would fit best with this special kind of make-up. Monsters were the perfect choice.

What are your expectations for this European tour?

Seek: Our biggest problem at the moment is that we can’t communicate with our European fans because of the language barrier. But we have these special costumes; this make-up, etc. and we try to show each fan how far we can go with our music and costumes to communicate with them.

The new album, Wonder Travelling, has a totally different sound to the first album. Will the 2nd Story concept be like this too?

Seek: Musically speaking, it will be totally different. On the previous album we used a lot of orchestration but for the new album we tried something more "spatial" by using numerical sounds and sound effects.

On the single YOU Ai Message, sold at lives, we can read the word "neet." What does that mean or who is "neet?"

(The band starts to laugh)
Seek: To describe "neet," we have to introduce what is, in fact, Mix Speaker's,Inc. And as I said before, the first part is about monsters and the second part is a space trip. These two theatrical acts lead us to Mix Speaker's,Inc. It’s like the Cirque du Soleil. There are different acts and Mix Speaker's,Inc. is the whole. Within this concept the fans are called "neet" (note: pertaining to the acronym "Not currently engaged in Employment, Education or Training"). So these "neet," they’re the fans. And if they work hard to become better fans, they will be called "arubaito" (part-time worker). But for now they’re called "neet" and they are fans. (laughs)

Your concerts show an important concept, how do you prepare them?

Seek: It takes us nearly a year to be ready for a show and to give a concert in front of an audience. It took us nearly a year to write the concept and check the different concert places, how they are and if we could do our show there. It took us one full year in the end.

How did it go at MIDEM (a music industry fair in France)?

Seek: There were a lot of people inside, only people from the press and media. We were a bit scared, not knowing if we would be able to play in front of them. But after this concert they seemed really happy; we could see that they liked our music as well as our performance. But today it’s our first true concert.

Several of you compose. How do you work together?

Seek: Each one of us has his own songbook, his riffs and melodies. When it comes to the time for the creation of a full album, let’s say the one with the concept of monsters, we first choose the music that will work well with this concept. Then we listen to all of the compositions and try to find which part of the work itself has its place in the concept. Then we assemble them and compose together.

You’re planning the release of a new DVD live. Do you think it will have videos from the European tour?

Seek: (He looks at the cameraman seated next to him who then starts to laugh) For the DVD that will be released soon, no. But maybe for a future one.

You’re independent, with your own label, what does this position bring you?

Seek: Independent? (He thinks, until one of the people from the staff nods.) We release our own CDs and the other releases through Mix Speaker's,Inc. Company.

A last word for our readers?

MIKI: We will try to come more often and try to spread our name to more and more fans in the future.
YUKI: I hope that fans will come to see us, making our name known throughout the country in the future.
Keiji: France is a bit far from Japan but we’ll try to make ourselves known here.
S: Today is our first time in France but we’ll do our best so that more people will come and see us next time and spread the name of Mix Speaker's, Inc.
Seek: I think Paris is the city of arts, so we try to show, we have been allowed to show, our art in the city of arts. I don’t know how many concert halls there are in France but we’d like to conquer all of them in the future.
AYA: I’ll try to come back very very soon, because it’s only our first step in France. We’ll come back as soon as possible.

Thank you.
All together: Thanks!


JaME would like to thank Mix Speaker's,Inc. and La Locomotive for making this interview possible, as well as Masahiro Eto for the translation.