Interview ~ Head Phones President: November 11, 2007
PMX Los Angeles, CA
We got a chance to sit down with the members of HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT as they made their first appearance on the west coast of the USA, at PMX.
This is HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT’s first west coast appearance. Can you please introduce yourselves and what part you play?
Hiro: I’m Hiro. I play guitar.
Narumi: I’m Narumi. I’m the bass player.
Anza: Anza, I’m the vocalist. Nice to meet you.
Mar: I’m Mar. I play guitar also. It’s nice to meet you.
How did everyone in HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT meet?
Mar: At first, Anza was singing solo. Then she wanted a guitarist for her music. So she held an audition for the guitarist and I applied for it. So that went well, and we got together and made songs and stuff. Hiro and I are brothers and Anza met him and we all started talking about music. Well, Hiro, he plays guitar also. We thought, “Ok, maybe we can play together.” As for our bassist…
Anza: We had a bassist before, but he had some problems and had to split from the band. Narumi was playing guitar in another band, and about the same time our bassist left, Narumi’s band broke up. (laughs) We had to go to New York in two weeks! So we asked Narumi to join as our bassist!
That’s quite a story! What about the name? HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT. How did you come up with that?
Anza: (laughs) Yes! (gestures to Hiro) He’ll explain!
Hiro: Everyone listens to their songs through head phones. We want to be the number one music they listen to with their head phones. So that’s why… Head Phones plus President.
Nice! What inspires the music HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT makes?
Anza: At first when I was thinking about the music, I wanted to express what was inside of me. We were discussing how we express music. Eventually the music just got more and more negative. We decided we want to express our music using all of our bodies. It’s negative but at the same time you can find positivity in our music.
The songs contain a lot of English. In fact, much of the lyrics are in English. Why did you choose to portray the songs using English?
Anza: In Japan there’s so many words that can’t be broadcasted on the TV or radio. They get rid of the word completely by hiding it with a *BEEP* sound. Seriously! (laughs) Just *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*! But if it’s in English it can still be broadcasted. So that’s one of the reasons. The other reason is if we wrote the lyrics in Japanese, then only Japanese can understand it. But if we write the lyrics in English, everyone can understand it. Europeans, Americans, anyone. And we want to cater to people worldwide. Personally I don’t have enough confidence in my English.
I was surprised actually, because I thought it sounded perfect.
Anza: (in English) WOW! Thank you!! I’m so happy I could cry! (band laughs)
How do you see your music in terms of genre and style?
Anza & Mar: …That’s difficult…
Mar: We’re still trying to decide what category, if any, we belong in. So for now, we want the audience to decide what category we are.
Hiro: What do you think our genre is?
I can’t decide! It’s unique, because it’s like a mix of different styles.
Anza: Maybe our music can be called world music. (laughs) Well we mix Indian, American, and Japanese styles. So in that sense it’s like world music. But we’re really picky. (laughs)
You made your debut in 2000, so its been seven years. I’m curious how your music has changed since your debut?
Anza: A big turning point for us was when we performed in New York for the first time. In Japan everything is pretty organized. All the staff supports us and tries to get us the best quality of sound, the best quality lighting. Even if the quality is lacking, they do their best to make us look good. In America we learned that we kind of had to set up everything by ourselves. So if we don’t have quality, we don’t look good.
Mar: We had to a lot of new information to absorb in New York, like how to set up the stage for the audience, how to get the best quality of sound. It was a good turning point for us.
Going off of that, how was the live in New York?
Anza: Mmmm…. We had to rent a lot of our equipment. (laughs) Well in Japan everything’s already set up for us, drum sets, the bass, all our equipment is ready. In this instance, the live house didn’t have anything. So we had to rent it and bring it to the live house. At first we were really surprised about it.
Mar: It was a hard challenge for us because we didn’t know that we would be setting everything up by ourselves. But we felt satisfied.
Anza: Yes, we felt satisfied because we were doing everything on our own. We were preparing the set ourselves and preparing the sound ourselves. The most memorable moment though was when Hiro… (laughs) He rented an amp…
Hiro: I rented an amp and it broke during the first song. It wasn’t making any sound. After the first song I actually had to improvise by singing a song using the microphone. (band laughs)
Oh wow, did you feel nervous at all?
Anza: I was nervous! (laughs) I was so surprised! He was singing the song but he doesn’t even know the lyrics!
Mar: We were all like, “Hey! HEY! What are you doing?!”
Anza: He was singing some rap song!
Mar: We don’t even have any rap songs!
Did he do well?
Anza: Hmmm, I can’t say anything about it… (laughs) It was so rare though to hear him sing rap, so it was kind of a good opportunity!
You recently released a DVD called Toy’s Box, and there was a music video for Groan and Smile. Can you tell us a little bit about the concept for that video?
Mar: Visually, as a concept… Well, we told the editors what our music was trying to portray and what kind of images we had in mind, and they worked with us from there and made it very stylistic.
Anza: The concept of that particular video… The idea is the world has been destroyed and everyone is dead. So if you were the only one left, are you going to leave? Or would you join everyone else? My choice was to join everyone one else because I want to be myself and I wouldn’t want to be away from the people I love and the other band members. It’s kind of hard to explain and hard to consume, but it’s driven from the music.
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT music is being distributed by JapanFiles.com. How did this arrangement come about? Do you think you have gained new fans through them that you wouldn't have gotten without them?
HPP: At first, Steve, from JapanFiles, came to our live show in Japan. From there, he approached us and we had a discussion about our music. Actually, another band, who is our friend, is using JapanFiles.com as well. So, we told Steve that we would like to perform in Los Angeles or New York or somewhere. Steve told us that maybe it could happen. Then, through JapanFiles, we got a MySpace page. Through that, we made a lot of new friends and fans. Everyone wanted to come to our live! So, yea, with that, we got more fans. Everyone has been really supportive. We’re really happy about it.
This next question is for Anza.
Anza: Hai
You’ve done other musical projects in the past. For example, there was Sera Myu. How does that compare to playing with a band? Do you like one over the other?
Anza: As a performer, it’s kind of the same thing. Either being in a band or being in a musical, it all feels the same. For both of them, it’s just a performance, nothing more. In a musical, I have to act and get rid of the personality of Anza. I have to be someone else. It’s really hard, actually. Speaking of performance wise, it’s almost the same as a band. If you ask which one I like, I definitely like HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT better.
Were people surprised to see you in this band because you used to be in Sera Myu, which is very happy and colorful while HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT is much darker and heavier?
Anza: I do understand that there was a big surprise because of the difference. However, it doesn’t mean that all my fans left me because I changed. Some people understood what I wanted to do, so they still followed me as a fan. Now, I have new fans because of HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT. So, I am very happy about that. I want people to decide. I am Anza when I am in Sera Myu and I am Anza when I am in HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT.
Actually, I saw a live that you guys have. It was a video that was posted on your website. I thought it was really interesting the way you all perform, especially you Anza. When you perform, you are very into the music. Is that something you feel when you are on stage, when you hear the music, that you act naturally, or is it more something that you prepare for?
Anza: I don’t really ever prepare anything. When I am on stage with everyone else, I am just so into the music. A lot of music that I perform relates to my real life experiences. It kind of reminds me of how it was in the past. So, it’s natural for me to get into it. Sometimes, I don’t even remember what I was doing on stage!
I think that’s part of what makes HPP so unique. I’ve honestly never seen anyone perform like that before in my life and it’s really interesting!
Anza: All of the members have their own kind of bruise or scar from their past. We are all kind of experienced in life and it conveys in our music. How we are on stage and how natural we seem is because we are not acting or have anything prepared. We are just expressing what happened in our pasts. We will never have a live that is the same twice. Every single one is and will be unique.
Hiro: I am so glad people don’t think we are crazy! We always worry that people are thinking that when we perform that way.
Anza: When we performed in New York a while back, some of the audience members asked us if we do any drugs! They thought we acted so crazy. Actually, we don’t even smoke or drink or anything! We were so shocked and wondered how people can see us like that, like a drug addict.
Ok, so now I want to ask this; you have performed in New York and now you are going to be performing in Los Angeles tonight. Obviously, you have also performed in Japan as well. Have you performed anywhere else in the world?
HPP: Sweden and Taiwan.
Oh, wow! How was that?
HPP: Taiwan was so hot! And Sweden was very cold!!
Anza: It doesn’t really matter, though, if it is hot or cold, everyone loves music! We can always have a good time together. In Japan, a lot of people are very narrow sighted when it comes to music. So, everyone tries to categorize our music. Other people from other countries tend to be more open minded. They can enjoy more music other than their own. We feel like our own music is closer to people in other countries. It’s like, part of their life styles.
That was part of the cultural differences you found in other countries, I see. That makes me curious. Now that you are in America, what are some of the differences that you have found interesting here as compared to Japan?
Anza: Usually when I turn on the radio, there is rock music. When I turn on the TV, there are rock videos on. That’s the part I really love about America because in Japan, there is some rock music, but it’s not going to be on all the time.
I see. That makes sense. Now, I have a question for each of you. Where is some place that you would like to play that you haven’t already?
Mar: Italy.
Anza: I’d go see the soccer there! (laughs)
Narumi: I’d like to play in France. I think there are some HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT fans over there. We haven’t met our fans from there yet, so I’d love to go there.
Anza: This will be my first time performing here in Los Angeles tonight but I would love to go all over California.
Hiro: I just want to go EVERYWHERE that we have not been to yet!
I have a couple questions regarding the Japanese music scene in America. Right now, Japanese rock is getting bigger than it has ever been, very quickly. I want to know, what are your thought about the scene here in America?
Anza: At first, I was really happy to see Japanese music in the market here in America. I can see that it is getting bigger and bigger. The thing is, however, is that not many Japanese people know that Japanese bands are performing in America. For example, some people who love the visual bands occasionally know that bands will perform here. Still, though, not so many people know about it. We kind of want more people to know about it. A lot of Japanese bands have been performing here in America for years now. That’s a really good thing. A lot of Japanese fans have a sort of longing for America, almost like it is their dream land. It’s a really exciting and happy feeling for them, and us, to play in America. It’s very good to have this kind of opportunity since JRock is getting bigger and bigger.
In addition to that, you mentioned that here in America, you can turn on the radio and listen to rock music whenever you want. In Japan, what is the rock music scene currently like?
HPP: With heavy rock, it’s hard to listen to it on the radio or the TV because we only have certain times and stations that will broadcast it. Most music that is broadcasted is Jpop, not Jrock. It’s really hard to find that certain station on radio or TV to listen to it.
Ok, there are two questions left. This first one is for all of you. I want you to say something about the member of the band that is sitting next to you. How would you describe them, in your own words?
(everyone laughs)
(momentary silence and staring at each other then more laughter)
Hiro: Narumi is a person who can perform his own sound all the time. Even if he is using different equipment and things, it’s always his sound. He’s very good like that.
Narumi: Anza is always trying her best. She is always challenging herself. Even though I am the leader, we all feel like Anza is the leader. She is always trying to get everyone’s ass in line and making them work hard.
Anza: I am like their mom! (laughs) Let’s see….Mar is actually the sweetest, kindest person in the band. Everyone thinks he is scary but he is really sweet. He is always taking care of other people. Everyone can get close to him and be friendly and nice. All the band members like to talk to him and get advice. He’s definitely a person you can go to and talk to.
Mar: It’s weird to say something about Hiro because we are brothers. Even though he is my older brother, I think that he is like a kid all the time.
Now, Anza, as the mother, do you have to lecture them all the time?
Anza: So many times! Hiro seems like he is really stable and remembers everything but actually, he forgets things so easily! Especially our time schedules, he always forgets what time he has to be places. I always have to tell him over and over again and it’s really a hard job!
You have an album coming out in December next month. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
HPP: This is our first album in four years. We still have released mini albums and singles, but it took a long time to make this album. Now the audience can hear and feel how we have improved and changed. We feel that we can finally release this album now.
Last question. Can you say some words and give a message to our readers?
HPP: We’re really happy to have had the opportunity to do this interview. Many more people can know about HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT now. Also, since we are releasing our new album next month which can be available to many people. I want everyone to check it out! If your friends don’t know about HPP, please tell them about us! We want to perform everywhere, so please invite us!
interview by Sarah and Kei
Thank you to Pacification Records for arranging this interview, and HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT for taking the time to answer our questions
links
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT Official Website
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT Official MySpace
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT mp3s on JapanFiles.com
HEAD PHONES PRESIDENT Live Report PMX 2007
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