A Brief Interview with MUCC in St. Petersburg, Russia

Having played the first show of their MUCC WORLD CIRCUIT 2009 the day before in Moscow, Russia, MUCC came to St. Petersburg for the next stop of the tour. We met with the band in a club-bar right before dinner to ask some general questions about their activities.


How was your flight to Russia?

Tatsuro: We had layover in Beijing, and it took 11 hours total to go from Japan to Moscow. But we were pretty lucky - there was some kind of mistake with our airlines, so we were moved from economy to business class.

What do you usually do during a long flight?

Miya: I usually sleep. (mimes putting his hands together under the cheek)

YUKKE: So do I.

SATOchi: Yeah, me, too.

Tatsuro: I play "Momotetsu." ("Momotetsu" or "Momotaro Dentetsu" is a video game similar to board games such as Monopoly and sugoroku.)

How did you celebrate your last MUCC day?

Miya: We had a tour in Japan at that time, so we didn't actually celebrate it.

But you didn't have a concert that day, did you?

Miya: Yeah, there wasn't any show that day, but we thought like "maybe it would be good not to do anything this day and just relax." So we did nothing.

What do you usually do right before a performance to organize yourself?

Tatsuro: I warm my vocal cords up.

SATOchi: I also warm myself up, I use an exercise band to stretch out my arms.

Miya: I do nothing at all.

YUKKE: I stretch my fingers.

Do you have any kind of tradition, something you must do right before the performance to have it go smoothly?

Miya: We give interviews before almost every show, so if we are interviewed, the show will be a great success! (all chuckling) We do it all the time, so it's a kind of traditional thing for us.

But you didn't have an interview before your concert in Moscow - how was it by the way? Did you enjoy the show, the audience?

Miya: Yeah, we didn't have an interview yesterday, but the concert was very good anyway. We hope we'll come back to Russia next year.

By now you have played hundreds of concerts, can you tell about one which was out of the ordinary? Maybe during which something strange of funny happened?

YUKKE: It was about eight years ago. During a performance, I saw something falling down right behind Miya's head.

Miya: Yeah, I heard a huge noise behind me, but there was nothing. Before the performance, somebody had told us that we should not have gone through some areas backstage because of a ghost which was said to be in the venue.

YUKKE: But Miya passed through the place, so maybe there was actually the ghost inside.

When was the first time you performed barefoot?

Tatsuro: About ten years ago.

So it wasn't a traditional thing from the very beginning, was it? Whose idea was it to perform barefoot?

Tatsuro: Yeah, we played our first concerts with shoes. Then it came naturally. No one made the offer, it just happened, you know.

Do you have any interesting or strange experiences associated with it?

Tatsuro: Not really. It's just more natural and easier to move on stage without shoes.

How did you choose songs for the set list? Since it's your first time performing in Russia, is there any difference between the Russian set list and the other ones on the tour?

Tatsuro: There is no particular difference. Basically, we perform songs from our new album, but since we're playing two shows in the same country, we'll usually change one or two songs in the next set list.

Thank you so much for your time! We hope to see you in Russia next year.

MUCC: Thanks!


JaME would like to thank the Motley Concerts and Squall agencies, Twisted Talent and the band for the opportunity to do this interview.