Interview with BORN at V-ROCK FESTIVAL

After playing a powerful set on the Rainbow Stage of the mega-event V-ROCK FESTIVAL '11, visual kei band BORN sat down with JaME to talk about their progress since the last time we met, upcoming releases, the shows in America and more.


JaME had a chance to interview BORN in America once, so instead of introducing yourselves, can you please introduce the member next to you with an interesting fact?

K: At first glance the guitarist Ray looks cool, he talks a lot and is funny. (laughs) For example, during lives, he says funny things in the MCs, he’s the band leader and the mood maker.

Ray: I like American jokes.

KIFUMI: He’s introducing himself. (laughs)

Ray: (to K) Hey, introduce me!

K: He is a KY (being "KY" means that someone acts inappropriately in situations where appropriate behaviour should be obvious from the context) leader. (laughs)

Ray: I will introduce the bassist KIFUMI. Well, he is as he looks, somewhat naughty, and also naughty on the inside; he is a child. You can see it on stage as well — before you know it, he’s spinning around horizontally and vertically. I think he is someone who hasn’t forgotten what being a boy is like in a good way. He is a naughty bassist who is always running around the stage like a small animal. I want him to always remain this way.

KIFUMI: I will introduce TOMO. We’ve been together with these members for many years, but TOMO has recently been thinking about the band so much that we got to see his common sense and the adult-like aspects of him. But to me, this isn’t so much fun. Before, he used to be an anarchist and a rather dangerous guy whom you never knew what he was going to do. This time, we are going to America, so being touched by an air of liberation, I want him to go back to his riskiness, to his crazy expressions. Remember the TOMO you were back then!

TOMO: I will introduce the vocalist Ryoga. Generally, he’s a guy whom you never know what he is thinking about. And when he stands on stage, you can’t understand him even more. (laughs) I think the fact that you never know what he will end up doing is a part of what is fascinating about him, as well as his demerit. I think this is all I can say openly. (laughs)

Ryoga: The guitarist K is very serious and recently, he has been trying his best to become adult-like. But he stumbles and slips up sometimes, and this is charmingly annoying. (laughs)

We last spoke to you two years ago. Can you tell us what has changed for BORN since then?

Ray: First of all, one big thing was that we joined a label. When we were still independent, we came together for a meeting and there was actually talk of disbandment. At that time when we were all thinking seriously about what to do from then on, we were approached by the management we have now, and we were able to become what we are now. That was a big thing. We were about to finish but we are still being able to do it now.

Ryoga: BORN was about to finish but we made a new start.
When we were active on our own, we didn’t listen to opinions around us. We just did what we wanted and we were simply moving on. But now, being involved with many different professionals, we receive opinions from different people, and in a good way BORN is able to preciously carry on the part that is our core, and at the same time our musical horizon is widening. However, from now on we too are going to continue pushing forward, not forgetting the anarchy, the sharp spirit that forms our basis.

How was the live today?

Ryoga: There were lots of points to reflect on today. It was our first time in such an environment! It felt in a way like a one-man, but it was like breaking into a festival. There were many great senpais playing today, but we were able to play a gig that was messed up and very BORN-like.

TOMO: I was nervous at first, because it was the first time we participated in such a huge event. But the moment I got on stage and we went “bam!” it was so much fun.

KIFUMI: I remember the time when the band was formed, the first time when we had this attitude of offence. When I saw the audience, I thought if there were that many people, there must be many who have never seen BORN before, and this made me excited.

Ryoga: Yeah, it was great to see as the tension at the back of the hall also started rising gradually.

K: As the songs progressed, we could see people raising hands gradually at the back. It looked great.

BORN: Involving the people who didn’t know us and seeing people gradually start to move to our music was interesting and it felt good.

Ray: Everyone was so excited, but I feel glad more than anything that we were able to perform a truly BORN-like gig. Other bands have their own colours, but apart from that, even though the environment was different from usual, if we were able to show our own characteristics, if we could transmit it, that tied to a successful result. There are people who like different bands, and as a result of today's gig, people who thought “I like BORN” are related to our future activities.

There are not just Japanese, but also foreign bands that have performed at this festival. Do you think visual kei is a Japanese genre only? How do you feel about foreign visual kei bands?

Ryoga: To be honest, I feel that visual kei is strongest in Japan. I am proud of it. Japanese visual kei is active and spreading to overseas as well. And I think there are many bands who are influenced by it. When I see the number of such bands increasing recently, I feel proud of Japan.

Ray: It’s simply interesting. As Ryoga said, it is something Japanese that is being spread overseas. There were also overseas bands who originally already wore make-up, and it it’s interesting to be able to participate in an event together. I think it is good not just for Japan, but we can all do it together. 

What kind of music influences you?

Ryoga: There’s a lot! Well, foreign artists like Marilyn Manson and the like. I think everyone has influences of their own.

Ray: I like KoЯn.

TOMO: I like Slipknot.

KIFUMI: I was influenced by many things, from heavy foreign music to J-pop which has beautiful vocal melodies.

K: There are many things from overseas that influenced me such as The Offspring and rock bands like Guns N' Roses. They are also in the roots of BORN.

Ryoga: At first — this is my own interpretation but anyway — we were thinking of making the band into something like Foreign Tarento (foreign artists primarily active in Japan), a visual kei band that would have inherited the coolness of foreign music. Artists that influenced us, such as Marilyn Manson — I also like Rammstein — are not half-assed, they go all out during their performances. That's what's cool about them and almost think “Aren’t they really crazy?” We thought we wanted to convey the same spirit in our gigs. I think this was the incentive to make heavy songs our basis.

On December 7 you will releasing your new single ProudiA. What is the concept of this release?

Ryoga: First, Ray wrote this song. It was really great. For the first time, there was a lot of piano in it, and the idea of “We want to release this ballad as a single some time” was born. This was in fact a long time ago, about a year ago. It is a genuinely good song, and we wanted to bring it out as BORN.

K: The song ProudiA became the A-side, and we balanced it with a second song that we put into the single, making this into a concept.

For the sake of the fans who do not understand Japanese, could you tell us the theme of the lyrics?

Ryoga: To put it simply, it is unrequited love.

TOMO: (in English) Break heart. (laughs)

Ryoga: (in English) Break heart.

One of the versions of the release contains a PV. How did the filming go?

Ray: It was the first time we made a PV in a church. We generally don’t go to such places, so it was very fresh. We never go to such buildings, so in many ways it was a lot of fun. “Oh, there are things like this.” I personally like stained glass, so I was very excited.

KIFUMI: Usually, BORN doesn’t release singles with ballads as A-sides. So up till now with heavy songs, we would just play with the usual mood as at gigs and a PV would be shot this way. But this time with a song where singing is so emphasized, we had to appeal to fans through our moves and bring out our world view, which was very difficult. It was hard work.

Next year in February, you will be playing two-day one-mans. Does each of them have a different theme or concept?

Ryoga: Since we have two days, we want to bring out the attractiveness of BORN fully without leaving anything out. Up till now, we have never done two-day consecutive one-mans, so we will definitely make the first and second day completely different. This is what I will say now.

You went to perform in America, for example in 2009. How was it?

K: When we all did stage-diving. (laughs)

Ryoga: When we all did stage-diving. Every time we go there, the fans are wildly enthusiastic. I think there are many people who don’t know BORN, but they participate anyway, and they have a strong feeling of wanting to enjoy the music. The Japanese fans are comparatively shy. Foreign fans are so daring, and they try to get nearer and nearer to the front. So we too, without any reservations, were able to do stage-diving and the like. The warm feelings of the overseas fans raise our tension greatly.

You are going back to America next month. What are you expecting from this trip?

K: We’re looking forward to it.

Ray: The warmth, the different behaviour of the fans at the show, their voices that we experience when we go to America, I want to feel them again after such a long time.

TOMO: In Japanese live houses, there are certain implicit rules. It’s like this doesn’t matter at all overseas and they go at it with all their might. At times when we would want the audience to listen silently to our music, they would scream “Boah!” which I find interesting. The fact that we don’t know what to expect from the audience over there is really interesting.

Is there a place you want to go to in America? Or anything you want to experience?

KIFUMI: I want to buy lots of instruments. I bet there are lots of instruments there that we can’t get hold of here. I also want to go and look around, but we never have time and are always busy.

Ryoga: I want to go to New York. I want to go to New York and play a show in a live house there. This is because there was a film in the past — I don’t remember which film it was — which had a band performing New York, and after seeing that, I got the feeling that “Rock equals New York.” I’ve had this longing for it. But of course the place I want to go to most is Virginia. (laughs)

TOMO: We are going to Virginia, but I want to go to Las Vegas. (laughs)

BORN: What are you saying? You should be saying where you want to perform shows, not where you want to gamble. You're in a band (laughs)

Ray: I want to buy furniture.

K: Today we performed at V-ROCK FESTIVAL, and we are also performing in a festival in America. I wonder how it is going to go...

Ryoga: We want to perform in American festivals more. The body shape of people overseas is bigger than ours, right? We may be slender, but it doesn’t matter. (laughs) We are going to perform with our souls.

Where would you want to go to overseas other than America?

Ray: I want to go to France, to Europe. The streets are beautiful there.

KIFUMI: I want to go to Dubai.

Ryoga: Me too, I want to go to Dubai.

BORN: Why Dubai?

KIFUMI: Dubai’s economy is improving but recently, they are in a period of stagnation. I think if we bring a bit of BORN energy to it, it could result in secondary economic growth. (laughs)

BORN: And TOMO? You want to go to Thailand? (laugh)

TOMO: I want to go to Asia, like Vietnam. Apparently my face is well-received in Asia. (laughs) 

Please tell us BORN’s plans from now on.

Ryoga: On the first of February next year, we are releasing a full album. We haven’t released a full album in a while, and we have expressed all the tasty aspects of BORN without leaving anything out, so we would like you to look forward to it. Our dream is to be able to compete on equal terms with all sorts of bands from all over the world.

Finally, please give our readers a message.

K: From now on we will continue our expansion overseas, so please experience BORN’s music!

Ray: We ask for your support when we have the chance to go overseas again.

KIFUMI: This is our forth time in America, so I already feel it's like my home garden. (laughs) Please look forward to it.

TOMO: When we have a chance, we would like to progress not only to America, but to other places overseas, so I ask for your support.

Ryoga: Including America, we want to be able to go overseas steadily, so you too, please come to Japan and visit our lives.


JaME would like to thank V-ROCK FESTIVAL '11 and the band management for making this interview possible, as well as Non-Non for the help with transcription.