Bridear NAON no YAON 2016 Girl’s Band Interview #07

I don’t understand people who don’t understand, I don’t like it. We want to be friendly metal.

Five piece band who are based in Fukuoka = BRIDEAR. From legitimate heavy metal they add a modern approach, and while you listen to a consistently powerful sound, melodious songs stand out at the same time, which charms both men and women. Here, we talked about their 1st full album "BARYTE" in detail, and asked all members to talk about their daring but tough tour flying around Europe in May this year. The nature of the conversation illustrates the good atmosphere in the band currently.

Photography / Aoki Hayasaka (PROGRESS-M) • Interview / Yosuke Hayakawa

I thought that I wanted to do something hard, but I did not expect that it would be such a hard sound.

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Suddenly, you seemed to be starring in the movie “Wolf Girl and Black Prince”.

Haru: That's right! It was used in a scene where girls' high school students are playing in the school, bring the equipment into the classroom and shoot with natural sound. As we usually do not play in a classroom, it was very fresh including the reverberation of the sound.

Misa:

However, because the shooting was in December, it was very cold (laughs). It was a uniform system, the window was also fully opened, and the scene was shot from the camera out there.

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The stars, Fumi Nikaido and Kento Yamazaki really shone in that film. Did you meet them?

KIMI: No, that day they were only shooting extras, so we never encountered anyone in the cast, it was all over (laugh).

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Oh, sorry (laughs). Then to the main subject. The formation of BRIDEAR was in 2011, but did it start from the idea that you should organize a metal band only for women?

KIMI:

At first, it wasn’t clear it was the musicianship was the cause, at first I thought that we just wanted to do some cool performances only with girls. As I knew Haru, I searched for other members from there and miraculously I found some. I thought that I wanted to do something hard, but I did not expect that it would be such a hard sound to be honest (laughs). I am really happy to be in a position now where we’ve done more than I expected.

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Initially you had just a single guitarist, but when Misa joined in 2012 you went to a twin guitar regime, this is related to everyone’s musical background, isn’t it?

KIMI: Yes. I like SEX MACHINE GUNS, and I dug into the musical roots of the MACHINE GUNS from there, so I like to use the metal of the 1980’s as a basis, and after that I like the popular songs of the 70’s and 80’s

Mitsuru: I always liked AVENGED SEVENFOLD. So, (like AVENGED) I was looking for a guitar partner from the beginning. There was a community for recruiting band members on SNS and I contacted all the women there. At that time, I was going to school by train, but I was sending a message from the train every day (laughs).

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Is it the recent metal sound of such bands as AVENGED SEVENFOLD that motivated you? .

Mitsuru: No, initially it was the orthodox melodic heavy metal like STRATOVARIOUS or JUDAS PRIEST in the main. I liked my parents and stayed at home all the time.

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Wow! It must have a felt like a genuine metal house, such an enviable environment. So, Misa?

Misa: At first I started playing the guitar at Avril Lavigne, then what is said to be emo punk ... ... especially when I was mixed up in MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, after that somehow I began to listen to deathcore (laughs), and then began listening to melodic speed metal. I like ISSUES and so on right now. Since I’m going to music school, I’ve also pass R & B and blues one after another.

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Misa also won an award at "GITMASTERS" (note: music contest sponsored by the MiJAPAN music school, Misa was the first woman to appear in the final) in 2013, but are you aiming to become an godlike figure an guitar player?

Misa: Depending on what the direction of the band is, I would like to do whatever they want, right? (Laugh). Because it becomes unsatisfactory to play only in a metal style, I want to incorporate various elements and I am still exploring.

KAI

I’m mainly engaged in Japanese rock and hard rock music, but especially solo works by Tomoyasu Hotei (ex-Boøwy). So, I did not pass through metal at all, but came to hear it right after being invited by this band.

Haru: Originally listening to classical music, I liked Janne Da Arc after a recommendation by my friend, and as I listened to Visual Kei from there, I encountered Versailles, "Metal is cool! Got it.”

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Starting with classical music, now you have mastered the band sound convincingly. And, in the 1st full album "BARYTE" released in March this year, you can listen to melodic speed metal and to songs with a modern approach that also include breakdowns, but is that the result of incorporating the various essences of the members?

Mitsuru: Even though it is the same metal, I am conscious of wanting to do as wide a range as possible. Even if I say it’s metal to a T, there are various styles employed and I think that it’s all okay, so I want to do everything (laughs).

Misa: That's right (laughs). I am also a type that likes to do various things, but since the songs written by Mitsuru are quite happy in nature, I’m conscious of trying to write songs of a more sorrowful type. It’s a little troublesome to explain in a theoretical way so I’ll leave bits out (laughs), but I am thinking about how to superimpose sounds that are not very fashionable in simpler metal systems. At first, I use my intuition, this is the baseline, and when to decide the small parts should overlap, is it fashionable to hear the guitar here and so on, like that I feel I’m picky when I’m writing

I will keep making it with such feelings. In the album, the straightforward stuff like "Rebirth" is Mitsuru’s, who is in charge of the “happy style”.

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It is a number with a melody punching through the orthodox metal sprint feeling.

Misa: Yes. It’s a taste of Prog Rock, I like twisted things. On the album it also appears in "Marginal Lie" and in "Set Me Free" it’s a part of the chorus that’s twisted. In a nutshell, "Marginal Lie" has solo parts using modes (on the scale), after that, in the case of the metal riffs, there are many where the riff is at 5 degrees to become duller.

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I think that the personality of a composer is tinting each song differently in a beautiful way.

KIMI:

I agree. The album is packed with familiar songs from the live shows and it seems that it is a proper work instead of a just a business card from BRIDEAR.

KAI: If you have simplicity it can become a good album, the mix finishing time allows more to listen to it.

Haru: It is an album with a lot of variety but the core is diligently put together.

Mitsuru: Yes, each song is it’s own shade of metal, but they are effectively gathered together.

Misa: Besides, it has a precise metal sound, but I think it’s also a very easy-to-listen to work.

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So it’s confirmed that melody is an important element for this band.

Misa: I’m careful there. I feel conservative because I feel like “I’m from metal”, I don’t understand people who don’t understand, I don’t like it. We want to be friendly metal.

All: Hahaha!

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So a cuddly kind of Metal, eh? (laughs). Although saying that......there is also a glory in shouting violently. The impact is intense.

Misa: Yes, I’m in charge of that (laughs).

KIMI: When she joined, she unexpectedly said "I can do it", so it’s become like her accent.

Misa: Around when I was a senior high school student, I was copying Maximum the Hormone and stuff like that, so I started doing it before I knew it (laughs).

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I know you said that you went through a deathcore phase and it is a natural approach for you, isn’t it

？

But even if we talk about it this way, I can’t believe it’s Misa doing that voice.

Misa: Well who is it then?

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That’s a difficult question to answer (laughs).

All: Hahaha!

KIMI: Maybe it’s me?

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No, no. (Laughs). Besides, this is your first experience of playing metal, isn’t it?

KAI: It is, isn’t it? When joining, I should have been told "You don’t have so much to do with only two bass drums anyway", but… (laughs).

KIMI: I thought that I wanted to do something really hard, but I didn’t know how much we could actually do with girls alone. So I invited her thinking that she wouldn’t play on a two-bass setup. However, I think that she tried the hardest and we were able to do more things than I originally thought.

Haru: I’ll use whatever I can use (laughs).

Mitsuru: Now you’ve trod on my feelings (laughs).

Misa plays a melodic solo and Mitsuru plays a solo that seems to slay people!?

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That's because Kai has a growth margin. So, what kind of themes do you write BRIDEAR's lyrics about?

KIMI: Regarding what I write, I'd like to take a perspective unique to Japanese. Afterwards I like something that has humanity, painful seeming feelings that are something common to all songs that come into your heart when thinking. I think that many depict the feelings when you are in a vortex of doubt.

Mitsuru:

In my case, while thinking what to match the music with, there are many straightforward ways.

Misa: I make songs of a melancholic song, so I like lyrics with heartrending melodies where conflicts creep in like a positive feeling. Also, I often take charge of English part, but I will assemble it thinking about the pronunciation. So, surprisingly, Mitsuru has many love songs (laughs). Where can I put this lyric when I put in the death growls? So I have plenty to think about (laughs).

KIMI: Certainly!

Misa: Actually, I'm screaming for love.

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I see, that’s what’s behind all the fearsome roaring! Now, about the role sharing of twin guitars?

Misa: Mitsuru plays a solo that seems to slay people.

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Great expression (laughs).

Misa: I play a very slushy solo of the chromatic type, so I put melodic things in it.

Mitsuru:

In fact, I often do half the solo for many of the songs.

Misa: Then, I like the form where the twin lead comes in afterwards.

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And, prior to the domestic tour accompanying the release of the album, there was a Europe tour in May, but it was a shock. First of all, there are ten consecutive sets, one day vacant, and six more sets with a very forced schedule.

KIMI: All of us were shocked (laughs).

Misa: But it was fun (laughs)

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Wasn’t it tough?

Mitsuru: Every guest was energetic, the power was amazing. Even for the first time it was pretty stupid, and many people said they tried to come in for a while.

Misa: People who know BRIDEAR's songs from YouTube were about half and those who were drinking and said "Why don’t we go listen for a moment"? were the other half. But everyone was excited together and that kind of rhythm was pure fun.

I would like you to listen to this girl’s bands without thinking of it as such.

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You played not only Germany and France, but also Slovakia, Poland and Austria.

KIMI: Oh, and the Czech Republic!

Haru: It seems that it was the Czech's first ever live performance of a Japanese band. But it was really hot.

KAI: The cheers came up before the show started in any country.

KIMI: I feel that there were many cities friendly to Japanese people. Many people liked Japanese culture, so I was hearing a lot of Japanese as well.

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What was the most impressive thing among them?

KIMI: Everything was impressive (lol), but everyone has a feeling that our eating habits were eroded.

Misa: Bit-by-bit (laughs).

KIMI: Yes (laugh). We had ham and cheese sandwiches every day. For the time being, whenever I saw a bucket I wanted to make a sandwich because it is the culture over there, it was delicious, but it was a bit tough when it became every day.

Misa: The schedule was 8 days, but the tour manager was very careful, so it was possible thanks to that. For example if you said "I want to drink champagne!" it was prepared for you.

KIMI: Just listening to that, it sounds simply luxurious (laughs).

Misa: That's right (laughs). However, after all that I think that vocals and drums were hard.

KAI: It was hard for me!

KIMI: It was truly terrible when it was ninth day.

Mitsuru: Even my palm had a mystery muscle pain.

Haru: However, thanks to the tour being so hard, we learned how to pace the distribution of physical strength as well.

Mitsuru: We also learned how to reduce luggage (laughs).

KIMI: We’d like to go without doing it so unexpectedly.

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Who has the most baggage?

All: Mitsuru.

Mitsuru: Eh, me? But a lot of that’s necessary equipment!

Haru: Other than that, isn’t it though?

KIMI: I always say that when the case won’t close (laughs). There is also a weight limit, so I put in too many unnecessary items. Let’s leave the miso soup next time, or something like that.

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But won’t you wish you had brought it?

KIMI: I thought…

Haru: But, there are no pots over there, so we couldn’t drink it after all.

KIMI:

I see. My parents gave me some oshiruko (red bean) soup, but I could not drink it either.

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I always missed warm things. When we came back to Japan……

Mitsuru: I went to a pub right away (laughs).

KAI: Ate ochazuke.......

KIMI: Also ate rice balls……

Misa: I also ate sushi (laughs)

Haru: So the next day we all went to Yakiniku (laughs). Immediately after that was Hokkaido, so we ate ramen. I went on the domestic tour without ever going home.

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It sounds intense. Currently I’m based in Fukuoka, but are there any good places and inconvenient places?

Misa: The good thing is.... I like Fukuoka (laughs).

KIMI: Really, it was exhausting. But it is very quiet. The inconvenient places are where Tokyo is far away. There is also a great recording studio, and there are some good friends there.

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You’re a strongly grounded band.

Misa: Yes. Besides, they bought us lunch….

All: Hahaha!

KIMI: It is good for everyone's mental health to be able to relax and not overdo things. We will continue to act vigorously in the future and I'm confident of a good standard of songs, so I think myself also think that I must make truly good melodies for the other members. The feeling that many people want to listen to us is very strong, and as BRIDEAR's music spreads, and is established on the scene, there is nothing more to say if the even more difficult hurdles arise.

Misa: Yup. I would like you to listen to this girl’s bands without thinking of it as such, probably because I think that the impression will change significantly as you listen to the album.

KAI: I would like people who do not usually listen to metal to listen.

Mitsuru: So I want you to listen to other works as well as this album.

Haru: But, if you just listen to this album for the time being, I will understand (laughs).

Mitsuru: Well, that's right (laughs).

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You should have realized that there is a metal mania again from the European tour, and I think that you want BRIDEAR's sound to spread, both domestically and overseas.

Misa: Yes. We found out that abroad more spontaneity and metal are being accepted, so I'd like to go to the festivals there too. I think that we would like to lay down our sound without regard to where we are, in Japan or the rest of the world.

Profile

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BRIDEAR

Formed in November 2011. Vo. Kimi, Gt. String, Gt. Misa, Ba. Haruhi, Dr. Kai, a girl’s metal band based in Fukuoka. "Captain" They are also the first artist on the label "Akuon Old AKU - ON.ca" launched by Makoto Wada, the guitarist Misa was the first female appearance in the guitar contest "GIT Masters" sponsored by MlJAPAN, She is a proficient scholar who won the jury special award. In March this year, they released their 1st album "BARYTE" and in May 2016 took a European tour after releasing the same work and are now carrying out a domestic tour "1st ALBUM BARYTE Release Tour radiance".

Another 3,000 worder from NAON no YAON. this time Fukuoka's five piece metal unit BRIDEAR. Post "BARYTE" release, but obviously pre-"Rise". As usual, I'm no musician, so if I have screwed up any of the musical technique translation, let me know below. And... the source of TimJ's "cookie monster vocals" owns up... OR DOES SHE?