Interview ~ BLOOD: April 1, 2007
Darkest Labyrinth vol.1
After their Darkest Labyrinth USA Tour, the members of BLOOD took the time to answer a few of our questions via email.
First of all, how was your tour this time? Did you have any problems?
Fu-ki: Yes, I did. Every tour we have some troubles. But good fans and staffs help us.
Kiwamu: In NYC, the last time, we had the live show in the second room, but it was sold out, so we could have this live show in the main room. But the Knitting Factory staff made a mistake about the tickets. The updated the ticket selling information with "sold out," so many fans couldn't buy tickets! Roger asked them about this problem, but they didn't answer. It was neglectful of their duties.
At the sound check, their sound was terrible. We have had many live shows with bad sound at anime conventions, but the Knitting Factory's engineer set the record for the worst! They just had their 20th anniversary, but I can't believe they could be in their 20th year with such terrible sound. And when we told the sound engineer about the sound, she got really angry. We were left with a bad impression in the guest room, too. When we went on stage, we thought we could play sound. But the Knitting Factory engineer made a mistake with that, and the sound didn't come. The sound started out incomplete. But we tried to be postive on the stage. BLOOD uses programming on stage, so if the moniter gives no sound, we can't play. We discontinued the show many times. I told her about the bad sound from the stage, and she got very angry. She wouldn't accept her bad skill, and she said "The members insulted me, so I'm going home." At least try to be a professional engineer and fix the problem! But instead she stopped all sound and pissed us off. Sometimes we see people like this in foreign countries. They can't do their work, but are very proud. We thought "This is less than the sound we get at conventions." But we gave up and played the only four songs that we could play with bad sound, and the show was finished. In every country, when we have any trouble, fans always help us. In France and in Mexico they helped us. They tried to buy our CDs or goods to help. I appreciate this very much! I thought they were very dissatisfied with the live show, but they agreed with us. Thank you very much!
BLOOD has toured the USA a few times now. Is touring easier now than it was your first time in the USA?
Kiwamu: Thanks to our good agent Roger, our situation has become better. We went to the USA in 2003, 2004, and 2006. But the 2007 tour was the best. I appreciate this situation very much.
The fans really appreciate it when you speak English on stage. What sort of things have you done to improve your English? Do you try to speak other languages when you tour in other countries?
Fu-ki: Japanese study English from junior high school and I am not special. If I have an oppertunity, I want to learn other languages.
Kiwamu: When BLOOD gets English emails, I can reply. Fuki and I can write English interview text. It's a big difference between BLOOD and other bands. In Japan, every person studies English for six years. EVERY PERSON. Ok? But 99.9% of musicians can't understand English (laugh). We are not special in fact, but knowing English makes us easy to contact with other country's organizers.
Do you prefer performing at anime conventions (with a big audience that might not like you) or do you prefer a normal live (where there are fewer people, but only fans)?
Fu-ki: Every performance is a challenge, so they are no different.
Kiwamu: There were many troubles at US conventions (Fanime 2004, Ohayocon 2004, AX 2003). I know there are big audiences. But US conventions should grow up about the sound system. At other conventions, there weren't any big troubles. UK, German, Mexico, Spain. Their sounds were good.
There were a lot of people involved with the compilation CD The Darkest Labyrinth. Did that work out smoothly? What have been the reactions to the CD so far?
Kiwamu: I got many reactions. I produced this by myself. It was the first compilation CD for me. Owing to many good bands, I decided the line-up in two weeks. And many people helped me to make this compilation. Agent Roger was the co-producer for this, and Agent Wanda made the photo for this cover.
Is there a reason why BLOOD chooses French for song titles instead of, for example, Spanish or German?
Fu-ki: The poem I refer to this time is written in French, so I used French.
Kiwamu designs all of BLOOD's flyers, album art, and posters, right? Have any of the other members of BLOOD tried graphic design? If so, how did that go?
Fu-ki: I'm not interested in it.
Kiwamu: It is my part.
What about designing (album art, etc) for other people? Can you tell us more about that?
Kiwamu: Sometimes I design for other bands. I worked for Babylon, Hizaki, NOA (ex-Brand 0), Asa festoon.
About CURE: What are your goals with it? What are your plans for the future?
Kiwamu: There are many labels that have interest in the Japanese market. So I have distributed 80 titles in Japan. And I released the Greek band Virgins O.R. Pigeons and the compilation CD. In fact, I don't have interest in stupid visual kei bands. They always disband very soon. Very stupid. I want to release great foreign goth bands in Japan.
And here's a few questions from the fans:
What are Kiwamu's favorite curse words?
Kiwamu: Jodete (note: jodete means "fuck you" in Spanish)
Some fans would like to see BLOOD do a movie. Have you ever considered it?
Fu-ki: No, we have not. But we may get a chance in the future.
interview by Melony; photo courtesy of Cure
Many thanks to the members of BLOOD and Roger for making this interview possible.
links
BLOOD Official Website
BLOOD Official MySpace
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