Interview with BENI before Anime Expo

The day before Anime Expo, JaME had the chance to sit down for a brief interview with BENI. Speaking fluently in English, BENI appeared to be friendly, down-to-earth and excited for her upcoming performance.


This is your first time performing outside of Japan. What are your expectations for the performance?

BENI: Well this is my first time and this is also Anime Expo, which is something I have never experienced before. I don’t sing any anime songs as BENI, so when I got the offer, I was like “Are you sure this is okay?” This is a big event that bridges Japan and America. This is a good opportunity to get my music out there. I know I have fans that listen to me overseas as well. They will be there to see me live. This is something really new. I’m excited to see who’s going to be there and see how my fans will react. I think it’s going to be fun.

Is there anything you are looking forward to on this trip besides the fans and your performance?

BENI: Shopping! (laughs) I just got here yesterday morning. As soon as they dropped us off at the hotel, I put my stuff down and went straight to Melrose and West Hollywood. I’m still not done. As soon as I get some free time I’m gonna go look around.

You are half American and have lived in California. What are your thoughts on coming back to the US as a Japanese pop star?

BENI: I’m feeling really good. I haven’t been able to come back to California in a long time. It’s been six years. So coming back and performing is really an honor. I’m glad my first performance is in California where I grew up. I actually have some friends who are gonna come to my performance. It’s really an honor.

Why did you decide to start your music career in Japan instead of the USA? Do you think you'd have the same amount of success in America, as you have in Japan?

BENI: Well, I lived in San Diego when I was in elementary school. As soon as I started middle school I went back to Japan. I’ve been there ever since. That’s where I started to become interested in singing. Naturally I got into J-pop, singing in Japanese and writing in Japanese and so one thing lead to another. It really wasn’t a big decision to come back to America because my family’s in Japan. I just started it off there and things are going great. My recent album, Lovebox, even hit number one on the Oricon charts. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tour internationally and actually come out with an English album one day.

Your recent album that hit number one is titled Lovebox. Where did this title come from?

BENI: Actually we had to think of a title before any of the songs were written or produced because we were on a very tight schedule. So I was basically thinking about what the album would be like. I love love songs. Songs, in particular, that girls can relate to. I wanted this album to have a lot more variety in the types of love — not just relationships. Such as friendships, how you feel about yourself, all types of love in one album. It’s kind of a like a jewelry box image with lots of love.

Since you named this album before working on it, would you give it a different name now?

BENI: Well actually that’s the title that helped me form my songs and put them together. It turned out just how I wanted it to.

You’ve written a lot of these lyrics for this album based on love. What influenced you when writing these lyrics?

BENI: I think going around touring last year. I did 120 shows in one year and so I was constantly all over the place. It kind of helped me see what everybody wanted to hear from me and why they were listening to my music. It was a good way to research. When I went to one place they liked all of my sad, down songs. And then when I went to the next place they were really into the pop and upbeat songs. That’s one of the fun things about touring — you actually get feedback. That’s what helped me to create a whole variety of songs for this new album so that everywhere I went, everybody would have something they enjoyed listening to from that album.

Since you’ve done so many performances in the last year, what do you think is important when being on stage? What do you concentrate on?

BENI: To have the motivation to have fun and to get everyone else with you motivated to have fun. That’s why I try not to get stage fright. It’s hard to try not to because you’ll just end up nervous. I just try not to think so much about it. I found out that I used to be really nervous before I went up on stage in the past after doing so many shows. I would wonder why people watching some shows would kind of seem nervous as well. But then I realized they’re watching someone on stage all shaky so then they’d be nervous as well. So it came to the point that I just thought forget everything, don’t be nervous, don’t think about what everyone might be thinking or how they’re gonna react, have fun. Just do your own thing. I guess that’s what freed me on stage.

Your new upcoming release is called Heaven’s Door. What can your fans expect from this release?

BENI: Heaven’s Door is actually my first wedding song. I usually write songs from experience, but obviously since I have never been married this is something new. (laughs) I wanted to make a ballad for a married couple that anybody would know. I have also designed a line of wedding dresses as well. So it’s like a set!

Finally, please give your overseas fans a message.

BENI: Thank you for all of your support. Even though you guys are far, I get a lot of feedback from international fans. I’m really happy that even though it’s in a different language, people actually get into my music, which is a big motivation for me. From now on, I will try to get into the international market. Until then, please keep checking out my music so that hopefully, I can perform live in your town one day. Thank you for your support!


JaME would like to thank BENI and Anime Expo for this interview.