Japanese heavy metal idol group Babymetal is here in Singapore this weekend for a solo concert (one-man live) — their first solo concert outside of Japan.

SGCafe caught up with the group on the eve of their solo concert here, and we talked to them about their thoughts on meeting Metallica, the two big Babymetal announcements that were made last weekend — a solo concert at Budokan, and their first full album releasing in February next year — as well as what they’re looking forward to in 2014.

Here’s the full transcript of our pre-concert interview with Babymetal.

(Oh, and make sure to check out Babymetal’s video message that we posted yesterday!)

—Over the past weekend, Babymetal made two announcements concerning Q1 2014.

The first is that, you will be holding a one-man live in March at the Nippon Budokan. This will be a record-breaking performance, as Babymetal will be the youngest female group (average age 14.6) to hold a one-man live at Budokan

When did you first find out about the Nippon Budokan one-man-live, and what were your thoughts when you first heard the news?

Su-Metal: For us, this has always been a goal for Babymetal to aim for, that we hoped to be able to acheve. So even right now we still feel like we can’t quite believe that this is coming true, that we’re going to be holding a one-man live (solo concert) at Budokan.

On a personal level, really this was a dream I’ve had since I was very young. So when I first heard the news, that we could hold a one-man live at Budokan, my heart was just pounding. We’re very excited for it.

—The other big news that was announced over the weekend was that Babymetal will be releasing its first full album on February 26.

Tell us more about what fans can expect in the new release.

Su-Metal: This is going to be our first full album, so it’s going to be a compendium of everything Babymetal has done so far, packed tightly in one release.

We haven’t been told anything about the new songs yet, but we think that the album will be able to express, at the highest level, what the world of Babymetal is about. So please look forward to it.

—How do you feel about finally being able to cut a full album?

Su-Metal: We’re just super happy about it. It’s like, “Finally, it’s the news that we’ve been waiting for for so long!” *laughs*

—Recently you got to meet Metallica, who were in Japan for a promotional stint for the movie Metallica Through the Never.

How was it like meeting these legends, and were there any funny moments you could recall?

Yui-Metal: When we met Metallica, well, at first when we met them before the performance, we felt that they were very friendly and were like normal kind gentlemen. It’s kind of like meeting a relative uncle.

But once they started the performance on stage, their stage presence was just amazing and they were really wild and cool, and the gap between Metallica on and off-stage was incredible and quite surprising for us.

—Tomorrow night (note: this is referring to tonight; the interview was conducted yesterday) you will be holding a solo concert here in Singapore. How are you feeling about that right now?

Moa-metal: This is the third time we’ve been to Singapore, and we’re extremely happy that our third performance here in Singapore is also our first one-man live (Solo concert) overseas, outside of Japan.

Our fans here have been very warm to us at our AFA performances, and we look forward to seeing them at the concert. We think there will also be people who’ve never seen a Babymetal live performance before, so we look forward to having fun with them too.

The key to having a good time at a Babymetal live is to follow along with Moa-Metal and Yui-Metal’s dance and cheers for the songs. So we look forward to having a good time with us!

—Finally, back at the beginning of the year, in an interview with Kawaii Girl Japan, you said that Babymetal’s mission in 2013 is to achieve world domination.

Looking back, you’ve certainly had a great year in 2013, performing not just in Singapore but also in Indonesia. You’ve also had many successful performances in Japan, at times sharing the stage with metal legends like Trivium and Arch Enemy.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Su-Metal: Well, first, in March 2014 we have the solo concert in Budokan coming up, so we’re hoping to achieve a successful solo conert there.

And of course, tomorrow (tonight) is our solo concert here in Singapore, so we’d like to make the performance here successful, and hopefully we will be able to return to do another solo concert in the future.

We’ve also received lots of warm messages from our fans overseas in other countries, so next year we really hope to be able to go to more countries, and meet our fans in person.

—Thanks for the interview, and best of luck for solo concert in Singapore!

Babymetal Live in Singapore will take place today at *SCAPE The Ground Theatre (2 Orchard Boulevard, #02-01, *SCAPE Mall S237978). The show will begin at 5.30PM; doors to open at 5PM.

If you’ve yet to get your tickets to see Babymetal perform live, you can purchase them today from 12PM onwards directly at *SCAPE The Ground Theatre ticketing counters.

Don’t miss this opportunity to catch Babymetal live in Singapore — the full solo concert experience is quite different, and a whole lot more elaborate than their past appearances at AFA.

To find out more, head over to the official Babymetal Live in Singapore website.

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