It’s been almost a year since we last spoke to ACME, and what a year it’s been for the visual kei band. With several more single releases dropping after their release of the full length album, Zesshou Ouka, and more shows in Japan and America, we were lucky enough to have the chance to sit down with them after their first Texas live at A-kon 2019! Check out our chat about their new singles, dream collaborations, and how good Girl Scout cookies are!
A-to-J: Hello again ACME, and thank you for the interview! Could you introduce yourselves to your fans?
Hal: I’m Hal, I play drums Rikito: I’m Rikito, and I play bass Shogo: I’m Shogo, I play guitar Chisa: Chisa, I do vocals A-to-J: How are you enjoying Dallas? Have you done anything fun? Hal: I’m very sleepy, but we’re having a lot of fun! Chisa: We went to the aquarium! And I saw the Kennedy memorial [the Grassy Knoll]. Rikito: Whataburger! The shakes are so big! Shogo: A lot of Tex-Mex. It’s so good here. A-to-J: What are you looking forward to doing or seeing during your time here in Dallas and next week in Long Beach? Shogo: We want to have BBQ before we leave Texas. RIkito: We want to go swimming in Long Beach, and the concert of course. A-to-J: It’s been nearly a year since we last spoke to you, are there any new projects you’d like to update us on? Chisa: We’re doing another tour in Japan, 13 places throughout the fall and winter, please come see us if you’re in Japan. A-to-J: How has the response to your recent album, ZESSHOU OUKA!, been? We at A-to-J of course love it! Hal: We’ve had a lot of good responses to the album. At the concert here, people were really excited when we played songs from it and we enjoyed that. A-to-J: Your last single, Houkago no Shiiku, has a very different feeling from Zesshou Ouka, can you tell us a bit about it? Chisa: we think a lot about the visuals for a music video when we do single releases. We wanted to explore new ideas and have it to be very different from Zesshou Ouka, almost manic feeling. I came up with the initial thoughts for the track, and I wasn’t sure it would become a finished release. I played it for the rest of the band, and they all really liked it, which was a pleasant surprise! Houkago no Shiiku MV
A-to-J: Your next single, Mononoke Requiem, comes out soon, is there anything you’d like to share about it?
Hal: I came up with the track. Our fans have long asked for really hard and heavy music from us, so I decided I would make the hardest track I could and see what happens. I showed it to the band and they liked it a lot as well. My previous band was a heavy metal band, but this track was much harder than anything I did with them. Mononoke Requiem MV
A-to-J: Are there any new musical concepts you want to want to try with your future music?
Chisa: We want to explore current music trends and try new things that way. We haven’t really decided where we want to go just yet, and each of us have musical themes and styles we want to feel out. We also see what the fans react to at live shows to help us determine what we should go for next. We do have the next single release already planned out though. A-to-J: Your music videos are so visually explosive, where do you draw inspiration from for them? Chisa: a lot of the visual inspiration for our videos get drawn from the song’s lyrics. We collaborate with the director for the video, and find a balance between what the band member who wrote the song envisioned and what the director wants. We come up with the initial ideas then work it out from there. A-to-J: Your live performance at A-kon was so amazing and energetic! How did you prepare for the event? Hal: We didn’t specially prepare for this one, we just went out to have fun and hoped the crowd had fun as well. Chisa: The audience really makes the show happen for us, so I’m glad they were into it. A-to-J: How do you decide the set lists for your shows? Chisa: we have some staff members that are keeping track of what our fans like and what they react to, and they help us shape the setlist. A-to-J: You’ve made a big and very successful push to expand to a more international audience in the last year, can your worldwide fans expect more shows outside of Japan soon? Hal: anyone that would have us, we’d love to go. Anytime, anywhere, we can go! We’d like to go around the world, and we travel light, so we can go on short notice. 
A-to-J: Is there anything you’d like to say or give advice about to your past selves, with how your lives have changed over the last few years?
Chisa: as a kid, I always figured I’d have a wife and kids, and a house, you know, that kind of domestic life. But now I realize that’s a bit impossible for me, like it’s never going to happen. So I’d tell my younger self, focus more on your music. Shogo: Please study more English! We didn’t get to learn English until middle school. But kids today in school learn English much younger, in elementary school, so I wish I could have studied harder with my English. Hal: I used to hate riding in airplanes, but it’s better now. So I’d tell myself get used to flying on airplanes! Rikito: I love Linkin Park. I actually attended their big Live in Texas show way back, and it changed my life and made a huge impact on me. So I would tell myself, keep going with your music and follow your dreams, and one day, you too will get to play in Texas. A-to-J: Do you have a dream collaboration or another artist you would like to work with? Shogo: I’d love to design shoes! Hal: Ariana Grande. We can do a song about the shichirin barbecue. You know, seven rings! Rikito: Since Linkin Park unfortunately isn’t possible anymore, I would love to work with Sting. Chisa: I would like to reach out to artists from different art forms, maybe work with different actors and actresses for music videos. And DC Comics! Batman! If we could have DC let us use Batman for a music video, that would be amazing! A-to-J: How did you learn the word “weeb”? [All laugh and point to their manager] A-to-J: Are any of you “weebs”? Chisa: yes. Many visual kei artists are actually weebs. A-to-J: Have you ever heard of a Girl Scout cookie? All: yes Shogo: Like in the Dunkin Donuts milkshakes? A-to-J: [Girl Scout cookies were brought out] I brought you some! They’re a limited time item here, we only have them for about a month a year. [General murmuring about how delicious they are, and shock at the limited availability] Shogo: Do they go up on eBay? They’re really delicious. [Their reaction tweets can be seen below!]
— 将吾□アクメのギター ワンマンツアーきてね (@acme_shogo) June 29, 2019
A-to-J: Lastly, do you have a closing statement for your fans?
Shogo: The cookies are really good! [Agreement that the cookies are, indeed, good] Chisa: We’ve only played in Japan and America, but we’d love to play more around the world. Europe, Asia, the Americas, everywhere. Anywhere we can go. Please have us back! Rikito: It’s hard to grow as an artist staying just in Japan. So I hope we can see more of the world, and learn about other places, and grow as musicians. Shogo: We’d like to surprise our fans, in a good way, with something new with our music. Please enjoy our music and follow us online! Hal: just one thing: America is great! Be sure to stay up to date with ACME on social media! Official Site: http://acme-official.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACMEOFFICIALJP Instagram: @acmeofficialjp Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/acmejapan YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/acmejapan Interview conducted by Janette G
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