Female rock band
LAZYgunsBRISKY released their debut US album
26 times last year. We decided to get to know the trio a bit better and and interviewed guitarist
izumi and vocalist
Lucy. They answered our questions about the band, their tour in Europe and plans for the United States.
For our readers that aren’t familiar with LAZYgunsBRISKY yet, we’d like to ask you to pick one song that represents you best.
izumi: The song
Navy Star that’s on the album
26times. You can see it on
YouTube.
We’d like to ask about the beginnings of the band. How did you four meet?
izumi: We met in our high school. We were in the same club activity.
What does the name ‘LAZYgunsBRISKY’ mean and why did you choose to use it for your band name?
izumi: Lucy wanted to use 'LAZY' and
azu wanted to use 'guns' because she likes
GUNS’N’ROSES, so we put those words together. Then we added 'BRISKY' which comes from the word 'brisk' that has an opposite meaning to 'LAZY.'
How did each of you become interested in music? What made you decide to learn to play an instrument?
izumi: Music had always been there for us. For example, our parents would listen to
The Beatles, so I guess it was really normal to start to play in a band.
What are some artists that have influenced LAZYgunsBRISKY?
izumi: We were influenced by the 60s and 70s rock’n’roll music and their spirit, like
The Beatles and
Led Zeppelin.
A lot of rock bands are mostly composed of men. Would you say it’s easier or harder for a female rock band to be active in Japan? Why so?
izumi: I don’t think the gender matters because female rock bands in Japan are really as powerful as the male rock bands.
Your album 26 times
has been released on the US label Good Charamel Records. What sort of interests and plans do you have for the United States?
izumi: We want to play in the United States in the near future. I hope we can go on a tour in the United States to play in a lot of places there and we want lots of people to listen to our music.
How did you get the opportunity to release your CD on the label Good Charamel Records?
izumi: Robby Takac from Good Charamel Records sent us a message from Myspace and we contacted him.
What are your thoughts on the release of your music in Europe and the United States?
izumi: I think it would be better if we actually go to those countries more often and sell our CDs, but I feel that’s not so easy to do.
How do you usually go about composing songs? From what do you draw your inspiration from?
izumi: azu composes most of our songs, and she gets inspiration when she’s playing the guitar at home.
For people who do not understand Japanese, what are your lyrics generally about?
Lucy: I always sing, "Love it, something you love. And notice someone's love, kindness and anger. We feel that music and words are too easy for people and the world. We believe that people have more power. Music has more energy. Rock'n'roll is not only music — it is a spirit from the bottom of your heart."
What is more important to you when composing songs? To get the message across or focus on the musical aspect more?
Lucy: Both. We express our views of the world and what we see and feel with our music. It depends on listeners whether they feel that from the music or the words.
Several of your releases have been produced by Asai Kenichi from BLANKEY JET CITY, JUDE, etc. How did you get the opportunity to work with him?
izumi: Our manager at that time had connection with
Asai Kenichi’s manager, so he listened to our first CD
quixotic and said he would be our producer. We couldn’t believe it when we heard that.
What was it like to work with Asai Kenichi? How have you benefitted from working with him?
izumi: It was a great experience. He would come up with ideas that we wouldn’t come up with, and that helped us a lot.
Your song titles and some of your lyrics are in English. Why did you decide to put so much focus on English rather than Japanese?
Lucy: It's because we are singing not only to Japan but to the world. Everybody knows that English is a common language in the world. And I also spent a lot of time in a foreign country and got lots of experiences in my adolescence. So, expressing my feelings English is easy. But I love to sing in Japanese too.
Lucy sang on album version of BUCK-TICK's Dokudanjou Beauty
from their latest CD RAZZLE DAZZLE
. How did you get this opportunity?
Lucy: Our acquaintance from the label for
BUCK-TICK recommended me to them for the chorus of the song.
What do you enjoy most about playing live?
Lucy: When we’re playing live, there’s a time when our hearts throb and all four of us share those feelings. And the feelings we try to express with music to the people in front of us gets strong, and when we all get together it’s the greatest feeling.
What has been the most memorable concert for LAZYgunsBRISKY so far, and why?
izumi: The event
Gather Of Dreams we held in July 2010. It was our first time holding a big event by ourselves. The purpose of this event is the “realization of people getting together” and we’ll continue to do this event.
In summer 2010, you toured France and Switzerland. What was it like? Was it anything like what you were expecting?
izumi: It was more than what we expected. It was just so great, the people, the venues, the food, everything.
Was there anything that seemed strange to you about touring Europe, compared to Japan?
izumi: Nothing strange, but we were just pleased because wherever we went, the audience was so hearty.
We were relieved to hear the members of LAZYgunsBRISKY were doing alright after the recent earthquake and tsunami. How have you experienced this most unfortunate event?
izumi: Thank you for caring about that. We had a live show in Yokohama and we were there, but it got cancelled because of the earthquake. We want to do anything that we can do for the people in Tohoku.
What plans do you have for LAZYgunsBRISKY’s future?
izumi: We’ll be releasing a new CD in Japan this spring, and we hope we can go to foreign countries to perform in the near future.
Please leave a message for your international fans.
izumi: We’ll definitely be going to your country to play rock’n’roll!!
JaME would like to thank LAZYgunsBRISKY, Robby Takac from Good Charamel Records and Sho Yoshimoto for making this interview possible.
