Interview with Porno Graffitti at Anime Expo 2013

Porno Graffitti made their overseas debut in Los Angeles as a guest-of-honor at Anime Expo 2013. JaME was able to attend their press conference and then sit down with the duo to talk about anime and their experiences in Los Angeles. Both vocalist Akihito Okano and guitarist Haruichi Shindo were very thoughtful, soft-spoken and humble about their success.


Press Conference

What is the process when you write songs for an anime show?

Akihito Okano: I usually know the music will be used for an anime, so a lot of times I try to integrate the show's themes into the music. For example, when we did the music for the "Bleach" movie, I wanted to weave samurai and Japanese themes into the music.
Haruichi Shindo: Also, when we wrote the song Matataku Hoshino Shitade for "Magi" I wrote the lyrics first, then they sent us the story boards and I could tweak the lyrics, and it went on like this. There's this back and forth that's a great creative process, and that's one of the benefits of working on an anime tie-in.

Porno Graffitti enjoys a good amount of popularity outside of Japan. What does that say about the popularity of Japanese anime and music overseas?

Akihito Okano: I'm really proud to see Japanese culture spread in the United States, especially as Japanese culture has been influenced a lot by American culture. If we can continue this trend, that'd be great.

Can you tell us what your future projects are, or what works you have lined up?

Haruichi Shindo: It's been 15 years since our major debut. We've become more mature, and now we want to see what kinds of rock and pop styles we can challenge.

Is there any particular anime you enjoyed working on most?

Akihito Okano: We worked on the music for the "BLEACH" movie, so we got to know Tite Kubo, the creator of "BLEACH." We had a good connection and worked closely together, and it was really memorable to work professionally with such a creative person.

Were you influenced by anime growing up? What shows did you like?

Haruichi Shindo: Yes ... but if I began to list all the shows I liked, the list would be too long! Of course I liked many of the shows from my generation ..."Dragon Ball," "Fist of the North Star," anything from Shonen Jump. (Shonen Jump is a weekly magazine that runs manga geared towards boys) I was part of the "Gundam" generation. I feel a connection with all the guys who enjoyed these shows. In addition, I also watched shows from the West, like "Tom and Jerry."
Akihito Okano: For a lot of kids, the first time they are exposed to music is through anime. For me, it was "Gundam" and "Saint Seiya" ... I still like singing "Saint Seiya" songs.

Are you aware of how many fans you have in Latin America?

Akihito Okano: Some of our music has Latin American influences and we like to integrate that sound. We're really glad to hear we have fans in Latin America, and I'll try to make new music with that in mind. This time we're in Los Angeles, but maybe next time we can be in South America.

Is there an anime you really want to write a song for?

Haruichi Shindo: Well, when we were an amateur band, there was no anime we really wanted to do a song for. But as we grew we realized that there's a whole new audience you can reach with anime. And it's really great, it's something that can transcend generations ... to be able to do that, I would take more opportunities to do anime tie-ins.

Is there a reason you chose Los Angeles for your first overseas performance?

Haruichi Shindo: In middle school and high school, we were influenced by the metal boom in Los Angeles. A lot of that music came into Japan, and we watched a lot of guys headbanging with long, blonde hair, tights ... so there's that connection.
Akihito Okano: I think it's safe to say we had a lot of Los Angeles influence throughout our lives. Like the movie "Terminator 2" ... flying in, we could see places where the movie had been filmed, so Los Angeles has a special connection for us.

This weekend is a holiday weekend in America. Did you enjoy any of the Independence Day festivities?

Haruichi Shindo: Yesterday we were in Santa Monica for a photoshoot, and we got stuck in traffic on the way back. I think that's a pretty good indication of festivities! (author's note: most Los Angeles natives don't consider traffic very festive ... but it might be exciting to be stuck in such a large crowd of cars!)

With a name like Porno Graffitti, do you ever run into any difficulties?

Haruichi Shindo: When we were in high school, we wanted a name that would make us stand out, so we chose "Porno Graffitti" and just kind of kept going using this name. We didn't realize that we would have to deal with adults using this name ... when we went major, many Japanese were put off because of the word "porno" which is taboo. They are just finally getting used to this word. And well, in America, "porno" can mean many things as well! So I think there is a little regret in choosing this name. If I'd known we would get this famous, I might have chosen a different name.


JaME Interview

First of all, congratulations on reaching this new milestone, your first performance overseas. Was performing in America something you've always planned to do, or was this something that just fell into place?

Akihito Okano: Ah, thank you. I think we always had a goal in the back of our minds that we wanted to perform overseas, especially as many things that influenced us came from the United States. But I think after awhile, we got too busy trying to conquer Japan, and we forgot about that goal for 15 years. Now that we received this invitation and this opportunity has been presented to us, I feel really honored and hope that we put on a really good show. We would like to be invited to perform overseas again.

In terms of your performance here, is there something you expect to be different from a Japanese audience?

Haruichi Shindo: I think that it will definitely be different. In terms of what to expect, I always feel that a live performance isn't just something that we create, it's a kind of synergy between us and the audience, and that's when a full live performance can fully be experienced. In Japan we have a lot of passionate fans that come to support us, there's a lot of familiar faces in the front row. So not knowing our audience is going to be a new challenge for us. To be able to perform here and see how an audience that might not be as familiar with us react is going to be interesting.

Is this your first time in Los Angeles? Or have you been able to visit before in your personal travels?

Haruichi Shindo: If you don't consider flight transfers (laughs) it's the first time we've stayed in Los Angeles this long.

Have you ever visited any other cities in the States?

Akihito Okano: New York, Las Vegas to see a show, and Hawaii ... now, having been able to visit Los Angeles like this ... well, we have a lot of images of what America is from what comes through the media. But I think now I've been subconsciously affected a lot more than I realized by the media's influence. Seeing the city first-hand, I am constantly thinking things like "wow I've seen this on TV."

Is there something unexpected you've discovered on this trip so far?

Haruichi Shindo: I think right now we're in one of the most unique areas of Los Angeles, and not just because of Anime Expo ... although I'm surprised by the scope of everything I've seen here. But speaking more broadly, I imagine the coast a lot because I've seen a lot of imagery of the beach and sunsets ... we actually went to Santa Monica yesterday for a photoshoot and I was really surprised by the amount of traffic here in Los Angeles. That's probably one of the biggest differences from what my image of Los Angeles is.

Porno Graffitti has such an extensive discography. Is there a song you haven't played for a long time that you'd like to bring back during a live?

Akihito Okano: Since we do many different types of songs and have transitioned over the years, we kind of try to look back at the music we've done as part of our creative process. The rehearsals can be a little hard because recreating the kind of emotions we felt back then can be difficult, but it helps us reflect and add perspective to the new music we're looking to create. So it really helps to tap into our old music. But in terms of whether there's a specific song ... we bring back old songs during lives relatively frequently, so I wouldn't say there's just one song we absolutely have to do.
Haruichi Shindo: We have a few albums back in the day that were very acoustic and very raw—and, for example, the Porno Graffitti albums, where we didn't do a lot of overdubbing—that's a sensation I would like to bring back.

Finally, please give a message to all your overseas fans.

Akihito Okano: First of all, it was really unexpected to actually see so many fans outside of Japan supporting us. It was never part of our plan to be this well-known overseas. But now, knowing we have fans all over the world, it'll help us create even more good music.


JaME would like to thank Porno Graffitti for their time. Also, JaME thanks Sony Music Entertainment and Anime Expo for making this interview possible.