Going Viral and Expressing Yourself: An Interview with Brian the Sun

Playing their first show in America at A-Kon 2019, Brian the Sun has fast become a recognizable name with anime fans around the world. Their hits LONELY GO and HEROES have been used as themes for Boruto and My Hero Academia, and they’ve also lent their works to Sweetness and Lighting, March Comes In Like a Lion, and more. In their first ever US-based interview, we got to talk about high school music clubs, their favorite foods, going viral, and their recently released album,MEME.
 
Brian the Sun has their roots set from all the way back in 2007, when Ryota and Haruki were in high school together. Over the years of playing shows, they met Shinji and Shunta, and had their first big single, SISTER, in 2012. Since then they’ve played all over Japan, releasing two mini and two full length albums, and was brought to a huge audience when HEROES was used as an ending theme for the smash hit anime My Hero Academia.

A-to-J: Hello Brian the Sun, thank you so much for the interview! Could you please introduce yourselves?
Ryota: My name is Ryota Mori. I like hamburg steak!
Haruki: My name is Haruki, I play bass. And what do I like to eat? I love curry. Cheese curry!
Shinji: I am Shinji, I play guitar. I like sushi.
Shunta: My name is Shunta. My favorite food is also sushi.
 
A-to-J: How are you enjoying Dallas? Do anything fun?
All: We are having a great time!
Ryota: Haruki and I went to the Rangers Baseball field earlier today. We took pictures and bought souvenirs
Shinji: Shunta and I visited the Dallas Art Museum. We saw their special Dior fashion exhibit.
Ryota: Last night we went out drinking. We got the BIG tequila! We also went to a club and did a small live session. There was a performance going on, and since we had come all the way from Japan they kinda pushed us onstage. We got to see the House of Blues, too!

Brian the Sun Live @ A-Kon 2019

Brian the Sun Live @ A-Kon 2019

A-to-J: For those unfamiliar with your work, could you describe your music and sound?
Ryota: Because all of the lyrics are in Japanese it can be tricky to translate the meaning into English at times. A lot of people say our lyrics tend to be like literature, written with a purpose. I don’t really think so though.
Haruki: Simply put: rock. Kind of grungy.
Ryota: We try to be cross-cultural with our music. We like bands from all over like Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, and Asian Kung Fu Generation. We want to create something new by taking inspiration from those genres and bands.
 
A-to-J: Can you tell us a little about your musical backgrounds and how you became musicians?
Haruki: Ryota and I went to the same high school and were in the casual music club together.
Ryota: We met Shinji at a concert venue.
Shunta: We met at a concert venue as well. I used to play for a different band and they stole me from them. I was very impressed by Ryota’s music. I was in a high school music club as well, but at a different school.
 
A-to-J:  What are high school music clubs like in Japan?
Haruki: K-ON clubs tend to have a lot of rules. For example, you can only practice in one room after school. The school will expect the clubs to perform for events like cultural festivals. It is not that you don’t have any freedom, but the schools can be a little stricter about what you can and can’t do. 
 
A-to-J: In America, there isn’t really an equivalent to a K-ON. I guess the closest thing is your parent’s garage.
Haruki: But that is cooler!
 
A-to-J:  It gets so hot though!
Haruki: In Japan, they don’t tend to turn on the air conditioning in schools so it is hot anyway!
 
A-to-J: We would love to hear about your new album, MEME, please tell us about it!
Shinji:  It’s out now! We had our big debut about two years ago. When we made that album, we felt like making music is our job. It’s work and we did it vigorously. But since then we came to the conclusion that we want to have fun with making music. That’s what this album is about: being able to express our enjoyment of making music, instead of it just being a job.
 
A-to-J:  Is it pronounced Meme? (/mēm/)
Ryota: Yes, like the internet meme! We chose that title on purpose. In Japan, the word isn’t as widely used, but in the West it’s much more common. We want to spread it out and reach audiences we haven’t in the past. We want to go viral!

Lonely Go!

A-to-J: Any big tracks to look for from the new album?
Ryota: There’s LONELY GO from Boruto, of course. We all really enjoy the songMajide Urusei まじでうるせえ. It roughly translates to “Shut Up”. It’s for all the people who are feeling pressured from all their social obligations and might be struggling. It’s for them to let all those feelings out.
 
A-to-J:  Are there any themes to your music or lyrics you would like your fans to be aware of?
Shinji: I feel there’s meaning in all of our songs. You know how you mix coffee and milk and it becomes a Cafe Au Lait? It can never go back to being just milk and just coffee. It’s like that with people too. Once two people meet, they can never un-meet. And whether that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or a sad thing... Those kinds of themes are in this album and in these songs.
 
A-to-J: You’ve done music for anime series such My Hero Academia, Sweetness and Lightning and March Comes in Like a Lion. Do any of you watch anime, and if so, which ones?
Ryota: I love Ranma ½. [Ryota’s mom sang one of the endings for Ranma ½] And I likeMushishi.
Haruki: I really enjoy Yu yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter.
Shinji: Jojo. And One Piece, it goes without saying.
Shunta: I really enjoy this anime called Kingdom. It is about Chinese history. It kind of takes place before the Three Kingdoms era.
 
A-to-J: Outside of music, what kind of hobbies outside of music do you enjoy?
Everyone: eating!
Shinji: I love baseball! I love Hashin Tigers!
Shunta: I really like going to onsens and bathhouses. Please try them if you are in Japan!
 
A-to-J: Lastly, do you have a closing statement for your fans?
Shinji: It was rather surprising to see just how popular anime is in America. It’s so cool to walk around the convention and see all the merchandise and all the cosplayers here. It’s great to see parts of our culture is so loved in America!
Ryota:  We are really excited to be here in America! We really want to branch out and expand our fanbase and hopefully come back again. Music is what breaks the walls between cultures. We’re so happy to have this opportunity!
 
Be sure to follow Brian the Sun on social media!
Official site: http://www.brianthesun.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/brianthesun.official/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brian_the_sun_official/?hl=en
Twitter https://twitter.com/brian_the_sun?lang=en
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkzN3oHS27NhPKF7YGIqoIg
 
Interview conducted by Janette G and Emily G

Heroes