Press Conference with Acid Flavor (Japan)

Date: March 30, 2008
Place: Animansion (convention) in Brussels
Interviewer: Various
Photos: © Anna Matheis

Acid Flavor is a Japanese rock and pop band, signed with EMI Japan, composed of four members who haven’t changed eversince 2003. The band however, was founded in 2000 by Ryo, the leader, and Tei (bass). Next, Shigeru, originally the guitarist, switched to vocals and Taiju joined in as the drummer which now makes Ryo the guitarist.
The choice of name, Ryo explains, may not be such a great thing. “Acid” refers to the drugs referred to as “acid” and the band was called Acid Flavor because just like the drug, Ryo would like people to get addicted to their music, even if it may be no good. Which, Ryo emphasizes, does NOT mean that he things people should take drugs. The name simply implicates that people are invited to get hooked on Acid Flavor.

Acid Flavor describe their music as a mix of various kinds of music: rock, pop, jazz, heavy,… But not just lumping it all together, no, they make their original mix of these genres. Their policy is: melody! Melody is most important.

Ryo on stage

On their second album, “Next Story”, the band members are drawn as anime characters. This choice was made because two games were already using their songs and so the illustrator for the game art was commissioned to make the cover art for their album. Not only was this a nice, refreshing idea, it was also a smart way of promoting their album: people who knew the game would buy the CD which has the same art on it, and people who knew the band would want the game for the same reason.
This album is actually a very big evolution since their first, “Speedball”, Tei says. They have added new experiences, tried out new things and expressed much more than ever. The development of this album took very long, but the result has impressed even the band members themselves. As for their first single, it was released six years after the bands’s foundation. The reason for this long wait was simply the constant change in the band formation and so on.

Shigeru on stage

About their European Fans
Ryo: There was a very clear response from the audience during their first concert in Europe. We felt very appreciated and familiar with the people and it really touched us how one girl actually sang along. The audience really transmitted their fun to us. Also, compared to our Japanese audience which is mostly female, we were delighted to see about 40% of our European audience being male.

Question: Acid Flavor is not a Visual Kei band as far as I’m unformed. Do you think that VK, those looks, are overrated and might distract from the musical skill of a band or even cover up for the lack of quality in music?

Ryo: Well, in order for a band to survive, an audience is needed. And if special looks attract that audience, then I think this is an acceptable method of self-promotion. Friends of mine, the band Dio, have been Visual Kei from the beginning but honestly, the music is starting to improve from having been not so great in the beginning. But basically, I don’t think using looks for the promotion of music is a bad thing.

Shigeru & Tei having fun

Question: Is it difficult for a band like Acid Flavor, to find its place in the Japanese music market with all this enormous competition?

Tei: There are two main choices of label: major and indies. Recently, indies have become a lot more powerful and the release of a CD in terms of printing it and sending it to the shops, is easy, but the audience tends to prefer major labels. Major means famous to most people. Also, indies tend to attract a very specific audience and for artists in the indies, it’s hard to get out of or widen that cirkle.
Also, it is not, as often assumed, legal MP3 downloads such as iTunes which make the sale of CDs difficult. The problem is promotion, publicity. Major labels do a much better job here than indies. In Japan, the strongest method of song promotion is using the songs as themes in games, anime, dramas or commercials. Our manager has great connections to the game industry and we’ve written 4 songs for video games.

Question: What’s your opinion on legal downloads, such as iTunes? In Europe, iTunes makes CD sales plummet…

Ryo: We’re actually using iTunes and are available to users worldwide!

Tei: iTunes and the like are good and all, but we still appreciate when our CDs are bought. The cover design, the booklet etc. should be worth it. CDs are absolutely not “old-fashioned” or anything like that!

Even if Ryo may never conquer the world, he's conquered a few hearts at least.

Ryo: As for our expectations of the European market… We’re aiming for world domination. Errr, I mean, I just wanna spread our music… And rule the world… Actually, we gave Europe a try because our friends, like Dio, all went to Europe too, and it had been a huge success for them. So, why not us! Our further plans are… Actually, I just wanna rule the world.

Tei: This first visit to Europe seems to have been a great success, so we’d like to come as often as it takes even our Japanese fans to join us on our European tours! Since we’ve started eight years ago, this Europe thing is our first really big step forward and quite a turning point.

When asked about their thoughts on Belgium before coming here, the band replied:
Tei: I thought Belgians are nice people who love to eat!
Shigeru: Waffels, chocolate, mussles, beer...
Ryo: I’ve heard about Antwerp to be very fashionable and trendy.
And all of those expectations turned out to be true.

Question: do you guys have some sort of ritual before going on stage? Here or in Japan?

Tei: In Japan, we have this thing of putting our hands ontop of each-other, but umm, we’re not gonna demonstrate this now…

Tei

And of course, the members of Acid Flavor enjoy manga and anime. They enjoy One Piece and Tei likes Naruto best while Taiju is a big fan of Studio Ghibli.

As for song writing and composing, Ryo does most of the creative work. It’s all about words and the melody for those words. He simply writes down what he wants to make, at the moment he wants to make it. Anything that comes to mind, be it words or sheet music, he immediately writes it down as it comes to him. Most of the texts are based on Ryo’s own ideas, except for game or other commercial commissions. Ryo’s way of composing at any given time, requires him to always carry around a pen and a notebook which makes his luggage very heavy.
The messages and topics of their songs usually reflect Ryo’s thoughts. It can be about anything he’s experienced or thinking about, even politics. Expectations of life, chasing dreams… His songs are not so much about love actually.

Ryo & Tei on stage

Question: Fan-and-artist interaction is often blocked by staff. Many fans wait for their idols to leave the hall to take a picture, get their autograph or just have some small talk but most artists take a run for it when they see their fans awaiting them. Is this interaction being blocked, the artists’ wish or the staff’s command?

Ryo: This is, unfortunately, Japan’system of handling, among other things, copyrights. For example, pictures being taken at such occasions, may be sold illegally afterwards. Japan is very strict concerning such things. We’re very happy and touched that our fans would wait for us, and we’d love to spend some more time with them, but unfortunately, this is not for us to decide, it really is the staff and management. It does make me very sad though, this seems to be the sacrifice of being famous.

Tei & Taiju fooling around

About getting inspiration from other bands, Ryo replies:
Ryo: I always like to imitate things that I think are good and worth trying. My favorite band at the moment is My chemical Romance.
Shigeru: I’m not hooked on a specific genre, but for instance, I like jazz and club and such a lot.
Taiju: Heavy metal.
Tei: the American band, Dream of Theatre.

Tei on stage

Finally, the band has a message for their European fans!

Tei: For everyone who liked our music and for all those who didn’t get the chance to see us, please visit our MySpace! Thank you very much, please come again! We definitely wanna come back to Europe!

Taiju: We got a great response from the European fans and we hope to live up to your expectations even more! Plus, the food here is great!

Shigeru: Please remember us everyday! I hope that your (the present journalists’) articles will spread the word about us and help us grow. Please, dear fans, never forget us, think of us every day and night… (he’s getting creepy here)

Ryo: Thanks to Animansion, we got new fans, thanks so much for that! Next time, I’ll take over the world! Belgium’s audience was lovely, such handsome men and cute chicks! Wait, that sounded wrong… I am not gay!