Interview ~ The Underneath: March 20, 2008
Rockstar Taste of Chaos
Before their performance on the Nassau Coliseum show date during the Taste of Chaos 2008 tour, Project: JRock Events (USA) got a chance to sit down with the members of the Underneath. It would be a couple of hours before the doors would open, so as we sat in the small press room backstage, random sound check and background music filtered into the room. Everyone was relaxed as we began.
(photos coming soon!)
Can you please introduce yourselves for the fans new to your music?
Taka: Taka, vocalist.
Masato: Masato, guitarist.
Tal: Tal, guitarist.
Ryo: Ryo, bassist.
Masaki: Masaki, drummer.
This is your second time coming to the US. How is this different from your first tour?
Taka: The length of the tour and the scale of the tour is very different.
How do you get along with the American bands on this tour?
Taka: We always say “Good morning” and “Good night” to each other.
Masato: We communicate well with the other bands and we visit the other band members’ bus and drink and party.
I believe it was Tal who mentioned on your blog that there was a great after-party during one tour date?
Tal: Yeah (smiles and nods). It’s so much fun! Yeah so much fun! (in English)
(Everyone laughs)
Too much drinking?
Tal: Of course.
Taka: Every night. (in English)
Oh, I see.
Tal: The Atreyu guitar techs took me to a very old Jazz bar to have drinks in Chicago. It was really great.
In a previous interview you mentioned that you like rock music because it has a certain presence. Do you feel like your presence has changed now that you’ve become the Underneath?
Taka: Well we spent more than 10 years as Transtic Nerve and then, of course, because of that we have so much experience as Transtic Nerve. The reason why we wanted to change our name to “the Underneath” was because we wanted to refresh and start all over with our experiences. Also, the other JRock bands, D’espairsRay and MUCC, has a history of touring the United States in the past but although this is the second time we are here in the states, this is our first tour. We would like to have a fresh start from now. That’s what we wanted to do.
I know that your music is different now because you are the Underneath but I noticed in some of your older songs as Transtic Nerve, like your rock ballads especially, seem to have some western influences. Do you have a particular western band you listen to?
Tal: When we made the heavier songs in the past we got the influence from American bands. But the ballads, that’s our blood. We made the melody lines by ourselves and that’s really us.
That’s great. Songs like Confluence and Let Me Down are really great.
Tal: Thank you. Thank you very much. (in English)
It’s really good. Thank you.
(Everyone laughs)
This tour is the first time you’ll be on tour with MUCC and D’espairsRay. How do you guys get along with them?
Taka: More than we thought.
Tal: D’espairsRay has about 10 years experience and MUCC has 10 years experience and the Underneath has 12 years experience. And of course, because of those years, we feel like we bumped into each other somewhere, but we didn’t because we have a different scene. So we never thought that we’d get along this much, but we do get along very well.
I’ve seen on the MUCC blog pictures of you guys having dinner and holding beers.
(The band members laugh and trade glances)
Taka: We did it for the blog but as a joke.
Well it sounds like you guys have some great tour stories already. Can you tell us a little bit about them?
Tal: This is dream after dream and nobody can believe that Transtic Nerve as the Underneath came to the United States. Our approach to the US music market, nobody can really imagine it. But this is the happiest thing for us as a band. It makes us so happy.
Can we expect more of The Underneath in the US?
Taka: Of course!
Tal: The main thing is we’d like to live here.
Oh really? Where?
Taka: Hmm…. Pentagon.
(The other band members laugh)
Yes, that would work. (laughs)
Masaki: White house, don’t you think?
(The other band members laugh)
Masaki: Florida, I think.
Florida? Miami?
Tal: Miami? Yes because I like bass fishing. (in English)
Really? Did you get the chance to go bass fishing yet?
Tal: No, not yet. We’re going to go soon.
After the tour?
Tal: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. (in English)
Oh, you seem very serious about it!
(The other band members laugh)
Have you guys had the chance to explore? Drive up to New York City or anything?
Masato: We wished we could’ve come to the city yesterday but we didn’t.
Busy right?
Taka: It’s kind of too far.
Tal: The train. It’s too much work.
Right.
How are your eating habits on tour?
Taka: The catering is the best!
Tal: When there’s a day off and we go out and eat, we want to go back to the catering because it’s so good.
What kind of food?
Tal: Hamburger. (in English)
Taka: They cook rice for us. Everyday they change the meal but it’s so good.
That’s nice.
Did you guys pick up any strange habits on tour?
Masato: Putting our names on our juice and water.
(the other band members laugh)
Taka: And we put our labels on the water.
Tal: Pants, shirts, brassiere! (gestures at his chest) (in English)
(everyone laughs)
How has the fan reaction been so far?
Masato: Everyday we go to the Merchandise booth after the show and we communicate with the fans. The fans are so straight forward, “Great show,” “I like you,” even when our vocalist isn’t here, they ask “Where’s Taka?” They are so honest. (laughs)
Have there been any memorable fan reactions at the signings?
Tal: Where they want to do the signings. They just push their boobs out (laughs and pushes out his chest). Never would we imagine that in Japan. “Sign here!” on the body.
Masato and Tal: The first gift we got from a fan, they put the message on a seashell saying “Ganbatte kudasai” (Good luck) to the Underneath. Transtic Nerve’s first album is called Shell. It was kind of like a metaphor to that album. It was kind of heart-warming and the fans really kind of understand. It’s so heart-warming.
This question is for Taka. I noticed that you MC a lot during your show. What do you do to prepare for that?
Taka: Whatever we want to say in Japanese we write it down and somebody translates it for us and then we memorize it.
Do you see a stronger reaction when you speak in English?
Taka: Sometimes I say things in Japanese but there is no reaction. (laughs) When we sing in Japanese we feel like fans really understand us so psychologically, I just start speaking in Japanese but its like, “Uh-oh.”
On your MySpace blog, we saw a little bit of your image training photos.
Taka: Oh! (laughs) It doesn’t really mean anything. We just went to see the stage and did it.
Do you develop a different persona when you go up on stage?
Tal: I’m usually careful about little things like flowers but on the stage, it’s like, DESTROY EVERYTHING!!
(other band members laugh)
Does something come out of you like, “Oh, I’m really cool”?
Tal: (laughs and nods)
For a lot of these shows, JRock fans have lined up early to see the JRock bands. How do you feel about that?
Taka: It’s very surprising for us when we can find fans waiting for us. At the same time it’s a very happy thing. But we really see it as the people are really accepting the Japanese culture and the Japanese music and that’s really appreciated.
Tal: We don’t want to finish just as a movement. This tour is very important for us. It’s not only a one time thing and we have a mission to express what is JRock and what is our music to the US.
How do you feel introducing Jrock to so many people?
Taka: We appreciate the people that really see us as JRock but because of that, we have to work harder because people are starting to understand what is JRock and we’re going to have to work harder to express more and let them understand what JRock really is.
Do you have any last messages to your fans?
Tal: Just one minute? (in English)
Taka: After this tour, hopefully we’re going to come back again for our own tour. There is a lot of wonderful JRock music and JRock bands, so please keep an eye on it. And please support us!
Thank you very much. And good luck!
interview by Sophia; translation by Yaz
Thank you to the Underneath for taking the time to answer our questions. Thank you to Heather Overstreet of Taste of Chaos 2008 (and other Taste of Chaos 2008 staff) and to the Underneath’s management for arranging this interview.
links
The Underneath Official Website
The Underneath Official MySpace
Rockstar Taste of Chaos
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