Just Bring It: An Interview with BAND-MAID

BAND-MAID has really taken the J-Rock music scene by storm with their heavy sound and cute maid aesthetics. They have released many popular songs since their debut MV for "Thrill" and this coupled with the fact that they've performed overseas several times has made them a favorite of many. Adding a unique take to the mostly straight pop performances at J-POP Summit 2017, BAND-MAID was the only full band to perform on this year's main stage and we were lucky enough to interview them right before their big concert! This was one of the most fun interviews we've done and we're pleased to share it with you all! We hope that you look more into BAND-MAID's activities and check out their links following the interview!

BAND-MAID formed in 2013 and debuted with their mini album "MAID IN JAPAN". While performing music along the rock and metal styles, the band incorporates imagery and themes from Japanese Maid Cafe culture, based on the concept of maids serving their "masters and princesses". They quickly gained the attention of rock fans the world over with their music video for the song "Thrill" which hit millions of views its first week. This runaway success was followed by another mini-album, "New Beginning", and their first US concert appearance at Sakura-Con in Seattle, Washington. Not one to lose momentum, they quickly followed this up with their third mini-album, "Brand New MAID", and many more shows both domestic and overseas.  2017 is proving to be one of their biggest years yet following the release of their first full album "Just Bring It" and their third single "Daydreaming/Choose Me". J-POP Summit 2017 marked BAND-MAID's first appearance at the event and they headlined the second night's concert series.

A-to-J: 本日はインタビューありがとうございます。自己紹介をお願いします。
A-to-J: Thank you for the interview, can you please introduce yourselves?
MIKU Kobato: ぽ！お帰りなさいませご主人様お嬢様、バンドメイドのギター/ボーカルをやってます、くるっぽ小鳩ミクです。
MIKU Kobato: Po! Welcome back my master and princess. I’m the guitarist/vocalist of BAND-MAID, kuruppo, MIKU Kobato.
SAIKI: ボーカルの SAIKIです。
SAIKI: I’m the vocalist, SAIKI.
KANAMI: ギターのKANAMIです。
KANAMI: I’m the guitarist, KANAMI.
AKANE: ドラムのAKANEです。
AKANE: I’m the drummer, AKANE.
MISA: ベースのMISAです。
MISA: I’m the basist, MISA.
MIKU Kobato: お願いしますっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Nice to meet you. Po!

A-to-J: BAND-MAIDとして世界中に行ったことありますが、サンフランシスコは初めてですか？来てから観光など楽しいことはされましたか？
A-to-J: You’ve been around the world as BAND-MAID, but have you had the chance to visit San Francisco before? Have you had time to do anything fun while you’ve been here?
MIKU Kobato: うん、初めてになりますっぽ。少し空き時間があったので、街をぶらついたり、ホテルの近くのお店でみんなで食事をしたりしましたっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Yeah, this is the first time, po! We had a little spare time, so we went around the city and had a meal together at the restaurant close to our hotel,  po.

A-to-J: 何かおもしろいものはありましたか？
A-to-J: Did you find anything interesting?
KANAMI: ごはんがおっきかったよね？
KANAMI: It was such a big portion, wasn’t it?
MIKU Kobato: うん！大きかったっぽね。あと店員さんにMISAがやたらと絡まれてたっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Yeah! It was. And the stuff never stopped talking to Misa, po!
AKANE: あと、スーパーで籠をお散歩みたいに引っ張るのが、すごいびっくりしました。
AKANE: Also, in the supermarket, people were pulling the baskets as if they were walking those. That surprised me.

A-to-J: ご存知ではない方にBAND-MAIDのコンセプトを教えてください。
A-to-J: Can you explain the concept behind BAND-MAID for those that might not be familiar with it?
MIKU Kobato: BAND-MAIDは、かわいいメイド服を着て、ハードでロックな楽曲をやっているバンドですっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: BAND-MAID is a hard rock band that wears cute maid costumes.

A-to-J: グループの名前とイメージはメイドやメイドカフェから影響されていますが、日本のメイド文化とどういうふうに関わっているか教えてください。
A-to-J: You name and image borrow heavily from maids and maid cafes, can you explain a bit about what maid cafe culture is like in Japan and how it ties to your group?
MIKU Kobato: 小鳩がもともとメイドさんとして働いていて、メイド服好きだっぽ～ってところからBAND-MAIDのメイドが生まれたっぽ！で、バンドや音楽が好きだったので、両方混ぜたらおもしろいっぽ～って思って、小鳩の思いつきでBAND-MAIDができたっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Kobato (I) used to work as a maid, and I loved the maid outfits. From there I came up with the idea of having maids within BAND-MAID. I also loved music and being in a band so I thought it would be interesting if both were mixed and I came up with the concept of BAND-MAID, po

A-to-J: もう少し詳しくグループの結成とヒストリーについて教えてください。
A-to-J: Can you tell us more about the formation of the group and your history together?
MIKU Kobato: 小鳩が、それでBAND-MAIDつくろうっぽ～！って思ったんですけど、一人ではバンドはできないっぽ～ってなったので、メンバーを探さなきゃいけないっぽ～と思って、パソコンでポコポコ～って調べてたら、当時ギターのKANAMIが一人で弾いてみた動画とかをネットにアップしていて、顔がちょっとわかりづらいかんじの動画をあげてたんだっぽ。で、この子かわいい気がするし、ギターもすごく上手だっぽ～と思って、BAND-MAIDっていうバンドをするんだけどよかったら一緒にやってくれないかっぽ～？ってお誘いをしたんですっぽ。で、そこからギターのKANAMIをゲットして、でもギターだけじゃだめだっぽ、ドラムもベースもいないんだっぽ～って言ったら、ドラムのAKANEがもともと（KANAMIの）知り合いだったので紹介してもらって、AKANEからMISAを紹介してもらって、ぽんぽんぽーんって三人釣れたっぽー、ゲットっぽー！ってなって。４人がまず決まって、最後に小鳩の声だけじゃロックなかっこいい楽曲をやるときにちょっと圧が足りないっぽ～と思ったので、ボーカルのSAIKI（彩姫）が、同じ事務所で一人でそのとき歌ってたので、彩（さい）ちゃんも入ってほしいなーっていうのを、小鳩が言ったらたぶん断られると思ったので、うまい具合に会社の上の人たちに言ってもらって、最後に彩ちゃんが加入したっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Kobato (I) was like: "Let’s make BAND-MAID PO!" but I was by myself so I had to find the other members. When I was on my laptop searching, I found Kanami had uploaded “hiitemita” videos [cover videos] on the internet, and in those videos I couldn’t really see her face, but I thought she’s cute and plays the guitar very well so I invited her to be in BAND-MAID and play together. So now I got Kanami as a guitarist, but we still needed a drummer and a bassist. Luckily, Kanami introduced me to Akane and Akane introduced me Misa. So I got three members without difficulty and it was just the four of us at first.  Eventually I thought that it was not powerful enough if I was the only one who sings when we play cool rock music. That’s why I needed Sai-chan (SAIKI) who was working solo in the same record company as us. However, because I thought she would refuse if I asked her to join the band, I asked the staff of the company to convince her, and then finally Sai-chan joined us, po!

A-to-J: BAND-MAIDの音楽に影響している人はいますか？
A-to-J: Who are some of your musical influences?
MIKU Kobato: もともとBAND-MAIDは今みたいにハードロックな楽曲ではなくて、もっとポップ寄りというか、J-POP寄りな楽曲がすごく多かったんですけど、私達らしいかっこよさはなんだろうって突き詰めていって気づいたら今の形になっていたので、特に誰かに影響を受けて今の楽曲になりましたとかいう、具体的なものはそんなにないですっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: Originally, BAND-MAID had many songs like pop or J-pop unlike the hard rock songs we play now. So we had looked for our own sound and when we found it we became this style, so nothing specifically. Like nobody influenced our music, po!

A-to-J: 最近シングルの「Daydreaming/Choose Me」をリリースされましたが、この2曲について教えてください。
A-to-J: You recently released the single “Daydreaming/Choose Me” can you tell us about these songs?
MIKU Kobato: 曲に関してはもともとKANAMIが基本的なコード進行だったり、構成を作ってくれるんですっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: About these songs, Kanami made basic guitar chord progression and the composition.
KANAMI: はい、DaydreamingはボーカルのSAIKIにバラードを作ってほしいと言われたので作ったのと、Choose Me はBAND-MAIDらしい一曲を作ってほしいって言われたので、そのイメージで作りました。
KANAMI: Yes, our vocalist, SAIKI, asked me to make a ballad-type song, so I composed “Daydreaming”. About “Choose Me”, I was asked to make a song that sounds like "BAND-MAID", so I made it with our image in mind

Choose me MV

A-to-J: BAND-MAIDの曲の中で一番好きな曲はありますか？
A-to-J: What are some of your favorite BAND-MAID songs?
MIKU Kobato: っぽー！！メンバーそれぞれみんな違うと思うんですけど、一人ひとり行った方がいいですかっぽ？？
MIKU Kobato: Pohhhh!! Each member has different ones. Should we go around one by one?
KANAMI: 私はDaydreamingを作るのがすごく大変だったので、今のところ思い入れが強いのがDaydreamingです！
KANAMI: It was really hard to make “Daydreaming”, so I really feel strongly for "Daydreaming" now.
SAIKI: 私は前のフルアルバムの「secret My lips」ですね。
SAIKI: To me, it's “secret My lips” from our recent full album.
MIKU Kobato: 小鳩は、「alone」という楽曲があるんですけど、その曲が小鳩的には圧倒的に気に入ってますっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: We have a song called “Alone”, and that’s Kobato’s ultimate favorite song.
AKANE: 私は「モラトリアム」って曲が好きです。
AKANE: I love the song “Moratorium”.
MISA: 私は、一番最近出たシングルの中に入ってる「Play」っていう曲が好きです。
MISA: I love “Play” from the newest single.
 
A-to-J: アメリカやメキシコ、ヨーロッパでライブをしたことがありますが、海外でライブするにあたって、困難なことはありますか？
A-to-J: You’ve performed in the US before as well as in Mexico and Europe, what are some of the difficulties that you’ve encountered performing overseas?
MIKU Kobato: そうですっぽね、やっぱり言葉が通じなかったりするので、表現の仕方だったり、言葉をちょっと取り入れてみたりっていうところはすごく頑張ろうって思いますっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: Well yeah, there is the language barrier, so I think we need to try harder and improve how we express ourselves and by using more words.

A-to-J: 海外でライブをするにあたっての違いは何かありますか？
A-to-J: Do you see any difference when you perform in overseas?
MIKU Kobato: 日本人の方は、BAND-MAIDのライブのことを「お給仕」って言ってるんですけど、お給仕に対してシャイな部分が多いんですけど、海外のご主人様お嬢様はダイレクトに大っきく体で表現して下さったり、実際声をあげてすごいかわいいって言ってくださったりしてくれるので。とても分かりやすくダイレクトに、私たちが百で返したら千とかで返ってくる喜びを表現してくれるところが、日本ではそこまでの表現は無いので、一番違うところかなって思いますっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: Japanese people call BAND-MAID concerts “Okyuji (service)”, and most of them are shy. On the other hand, the masters and princesses overseas express the feelings directly with using the whole body and say “very cute” out loud to us. When we send them 100, they make it 1000 and show us their excitement. People in Japan don’t express themselves like that, so I think that's the biggest difference.

A-to-J: このイベントでファンと交流出来る機会、そして今日はコンサートがありますが、このイベントでの経験の感想を聞かせてください。
A-to-J: You’ve had a lot of fan interaction at this event so far [referring to the events on day one] and the concert tonight, what are your thoughts on these experiences?
MIKU Kobato: っぽ！やっぱり二回目のアメリカなので、このあとのお給仕を本当ずっと私達もすごく楽しみにしてきたので、思いっきりやれたらいいなっておもってますっぽ。
MIKU Kobato: Po! This is the second time in America and we’ve been really looking forward to this event, so we will have a blast at the show.

A-to-J: あと数時間でライブをされますが、今日のセットリストのことちょっと教えて頂けませんか？
A-to-J: You will be performing in just a few hours, can you share a bit about the setlist?
MIKU Kobato: 先生、セットリストについておねがいしますっぽ！(笑)
MIKU Kobato: Teacher, tell us about the setlist please, po! (Laughs)
SAIKI: (笑) そうですね、やっぱBAND-MAIDを知らない人もいると思うのでYouTubeにあがってるミュージックビデオの曲をメインに組み込んで、みんなで声出せたり、手を挙げて楽しめるようなセットリストにしてます。
SAIKI: (Laughs) Yes, I know that not everyone here knows BAND-MAID, so we mainly included the songs that have music videos on YouTube. We made the setlist so that everyone can sing along and enjoy the show with their hands in the air

A-to-J: 今までライブをした中で起こった面白い話やハプニング話を教えてください。
A-to-J: Do you have any funny stories that have occurred while performing that you can share with us?
MIKU Kobato: っぽー！きっといっぱいあるっぽ！基本的にトラブルだらけというか、けっこうなトラブルを積んできたので、いざ何だろうって言われると。
MIKU Kobato: Pohhhh! There’s a lot po! Basically, we’ve been in a lot of troubles and been through them. So, what can I say…
SAIKI: 小鳩がステージから落ちたとか。
SAIKI: How about (the story) when Kobato fell from the stage.
MIKU Kobato: あー！小鳩一回ステージから落ちたっぽ！(笑) おまじないで落ちたんだっぽね？
MIKU Kobato: Ahhh! Kobato (I) fell down from the stage once! (Laughs) It was during the “charm”, wasn’t it?
SAIKI: MCのときに。
SAIKI: During the MC.
MIKU Kobato: うん、おまじないっていうのやってるんだっぽ。ご主人様お嬢様とコールアンドレスポンスをするんですけど、「萌え萌え！」って言ったら「萌え萌え」って言ってくださいっていうのをやってて、前がちょっと見えなくなっちゃって、テンションがあがっちゃったんだっぽ(笑) 気づいたら、スンッて落ちてたんだっぽ。ね？彩ちゃんは消えたって思ったっぽね？あれ？って。
MIKU Kobato: Yeah, I cast a spell at the shows, po. It was when I was doing I was doing a call and response with the masters and princesses. I was telling them to say “moe moe” after I say “moe moe” , and I got too excited and leaned forward to see them. (Laughs) By the time I noticed I had already fallen down, po. Right? Sai-chan thought I disappeared, right? Like: "What happened?"
SAIKI: 居ないな？ってなって、恥ずかしそうに登ってきました。
SAIKI: I was like “Where is she?” She was embarrassed and came back on stage.
A-to-J: 大丈夫でしたか？
A-to-J: Were you okay?
MIKU Kobato: 大丈夫でしたっぽ。あ、落ちちゃった、パタパタ（羽音）って戻ったっぽ(笑)
MIKU Kobato: I was alright. I was like: "Oh I just fell." I flew back! (Laughs)

A-to-J: J-POP Summit後の予定、ご活動について教えてください。
A-to-J: What are some of your upcoming plans after J-POP Summit?
MIKU Kobato: っぽ！９月後半から私達BAND-MAIDは日本でツアーを開始するんですけど、そのあと１１月からはヨーロッパを中心にツアーが決定していますっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Po! From the end of September BAND-MAID is having a Japan tour. After that, from November, we have a tour in Europe.  

A-to-J: 最後にファンへのメッセージをお願いします。
A-to-J: Lastly, can you leave a closing message for your fans?
MIKU Kobato: 日本でももちろんご主人様お嬢様と一緒にたくさんお給仕をやって楽しんでいきたいと思っているんですけど、BAND-MAIDの目標が世界征服なので、もっともっと海外のご主人様お嬢様にBAND-MAIDの世界を楽しんでいただけたらなと思うので、これからもよろしくお願いしますっぽ！
MIKU Kobato: Of course, we want to have a lot of "okyuji" (concerts) and have fun with the masters and princesses in Japan, however, our goal is to conquer the world, so I really hope the masters and princesses in other countries enjoy the world of BAND-MAID more and more.  Thank you for your support, po!
A-to-J: ありがとうございました！
A-to-J: Thank you very much!

BAND-MAID Is:
・Miku Kobato (小鳩 ミク) – Guitar, Vocals
・Kanami (KANAMI) – Guitar, Chorus
・Akane (AKANE) – Drums
・Misa (MISA) – Bass
・Saiki (彩姫) – Vocals
​
For More Information on BAND-MAID:
Website: http://bandmaid.tokyo/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bandmaid
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bandmaid
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bandmaid.jp/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BANDMAID

The above interview was conducted by Tiffany Fujii who also provided on-site  translation. Photography and video by Manuel Figueroa with additional photography by Ivan Aburto. Japanese Transcription by Eri Watanabe. Post translation by Mei Itagaki.

Interview with BAND-MAID at J-POP Summit 2017