Interview with -OZ- in Moscow

The band was very short on time before the concert, so their management suggested that the interview should be in the form of a press-conference for the representatives of the main Russian media dedicated to Japanese music. We gathered together to discuss the tour, their impressions, the band itself and the guys in particular.


Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

Natsuki: I am Natsuki.
Aki: I am Aki, on guitar.
Tama: I’m Tama, on guitar.
Nao: I’m Nao, on bass.
Zukki: I’m Zukki, on drums.

How did the name -OZ- appear?

Natsuki: It was just the way it looked and sounded, actually. It looks great and sounds interesting. Tama proposed to name the band that way and we all agreed. This is how the name -OZ- was born.

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of your band?

Natsuki: In 2005 Aki and I played in another band; Tama and Nao as well. When these two bands split up, we decided to form a band all together. Then Zukki joined us; and that's how -OZ- was formed in 2005.

How did the idea of using lighters during the shows come about?
(The guys discuss the question.)

Aki: Natsuki.
Natsuki: There is this tradition all over the world to turn on lighters during the shows. However, this is not true for Japan, where it’s considered dangerous and is forbidden, to prevent accidents. We thought that this was a great idea and we wanted to do something that no one had done before. We like this feeling, when we see the whole audience with lighters; it makes the concert easier and more cheerful.

You used a photograph of your fans with lighters for the cover of your single. What does it mean for you?

Natsuki: During the show, where this photo was taken, we distributed a special 16-page photo book. One could get this photo book only during that live. To remember this day and to thank all of our fans who came to this concert we put their photograph on the cover of our single.

Why did you choose the name Rouge for your latest album?
(everyone laughs)

Natsuki: We released our first album and passed a certain period of our music career. When the time came to release the second album, we wanted to mark it as a step forward, that with this we move to a new level. We used the word “rouge” meaning “red lipstick” because that's like a sign of when a girl grows up and becomes a woman. The same way, to mark our “growing up”, we chose this particular title.

And why did you choose a French word “rouge” for this?

Natsuki: Just because this is how we call red lipstick in Japan. We didn’t do it for any particular reason.

This is your first world tour; what did you expect from it when you left Japan half a month ago?

Natsuki: We expected it to be more tiresome, but it turned out that it wasn’t so difficult.

You visited eight countries. Which country impressed you most of all?

Aki: Germany because we spent four full days there and we managed to visit some interesting sights. Both architecture and people in Germany impressed us most of all, probably due to the fact that we had a lot of time to enjoy it.
(a little pause)
Aki (speaking in English): Sorry. (the guys laugh) But… Russia is great!
(they laugh)
Aki: We took a night train from Saint-Petersburg to Moscow.
Natsuki: It was amazing! We didn’t expect that it was possible to fall asleep in Saint-Petersburg and wake up in Moscow.

Did you sleep well?

Aki: Yes, we slept quite well!

Surely there were some interesting and funny moments during this tour. Can you share any of them with us?

All together (laugh and point at Aki): Aki!
Aki: We are in Europe for the first time and we are not used to doors closing automatically. You always have to carry your key with you in order to get back. Even if you leave your room for a few minutes to smoke, you have to have the key to get back. Once I went out and I couldn’t get back. I had to wait for someone to pass by me to ask for help. Then finally we managed to call the reception and open the door.

Today is the last day of your tour. What will you remember about it? What was good and what was bad during these few weeks?

(The guys take a long pause and exchange looks, Natsuki gives the question to Aki and then Aki passes it to Nao.)
Nao: Eh… The main thing was the language barrier. People in Europe don’t understand Japanese, so the only way of communicating with them was music and the way we played on stage. We learned a lot during this tour, especially how to express our feelings and emotions in some different ways, apart from words.

Speaking about people, how do your European fans differ from the Japanese ones?

Tama: It seems that in Europe all people are on their own whereas in Japan they are more united.

Do you plan to give more concerts in Europe? Or maybe go to America some day?

Zukki: If they call us, we will come. We would like to go back to Europe, and go to America as well.

What were your impressions of Russia in one word?

Natsuki: Cold! (everyone laughs) But…
Band’s interpreter: Only one word! (laugh all together)
Natsuki: It also snows in our hometown in Japan, but the snow here in Russia is very different from that.
Aki: (in English) Delicious! Russian food is very tasty!

What did you manage to try?

Aki: Soup, pizza, chicken, latte…
Natsuki: VODKA!
All (laugh): Oooooh!!! Vodka!!! Nao drank a lot.
Aki: Yesterday he drank a lot in the train: vodka – water – vodka – water – vodka – beer…

Your concert in Saint-Petersburg last night, how did it go? What were your impressions?

Natsuki: The audience cried “A-RI-GA-TOU”! This is the first time we heard the whole audience yell “arigatou”! We were very touched by this.

What do you think about your Russian fans? Some say that Russian fans are very crazy and wild.

Natsuki: It’s not that the fans are crazy or insane; they are just enjoying the concert.

And what about -OZ- ? Are you crazy enough? Do you plan anything unusual tonight? To jump from the stage for example?

Natsuki: Ooooh… No, today we don’t plan to do any stage diving because the stage is quite high… (switches to English) But… BUT… I don’t know. (Back to Japanese) We’ll see how it goes, maybe we’ll do something. (Again speaks English) Every day, every stage… crazy.

Can you please say a few words about each member of the band? Let’s start with Nao.

Aki: (in English) Nice guy! He has long hair.
Natsuki: (in English) Weak! He catches colds easily. He plays his bass great.
Aki: He is good to everyone. And he is very easy-going.

Nao, there are a lot of photos of the food in your blog. Is it your passion?

Nao and Aki (together): Yes!
Aki: He loves to eat. His favourite food is ramen and curry.
Natsuki: He eats it in tons!

Did you bring any food from Japan?

Nao: Yes, miso soup, noodles…

And now, a few words about Zukki.

Natsuki: He is a genius!
(Our interpreter translated it into Russian. Natsuki repeated this word as it sounded in Russian and the guys started to laugh. Then Natsuki explained that the way it sounds in Russian is the same as the Japanese for “comedy”.)
Aki: To some extent… And he is very pale, like Russians.

Zukki always speaks very little during interviews. It seems that he is very shy.

Natsuki: I think we spoilt him a little bit. We always treat him as our younger brother.

What about Aki?

Zukki: Aki is a leader!
Natsuki: Comedy! (everyone laughs) He is a comedian… And he is a very interesting person. He always cheers us up and puts us in good spirits.

And now a few words about Tama.

Natsuki: He likes to drink sake and beer.
Aki: I think he has the best ear for music.
Natsuki: Once he mistook his mobile phone for his purse. He took it out, took off the battery and tried to pick money from it.

And finally – Natsuki.

Nao: Nothing to say.
(Everybody laughs, then they take a long pause to think.)
Zukki: He is the most serious one.
Aki: (in English) “IT-boy”. He likes computers a lot.
Zukki: I can’t remember anything good about him (everybody laughs).
Natsuki: You’re cruel!
Zukki: I can’t say anything bad, and I don’t want to say good things.
All: He thinks that he has the longest legs (everybody laughs).

Thank you very much! And good luck during the concert!

All together: Thank you!


JaME would like to thank the DMC concert agency and the band’s management for organizing this interview, -OZ- for an interesting talk and the interpreters for helping us with the translation. Special thanks to the MUSICA.MUSTDIE.RU site for letting us use the photos.