The second boy group to debut from rapper SKY-HI's management company BMSG, MAZZEL were met with high expectations when they were first revealed to the public during a press conference on November 22, 2022. The group's
line-up features eight members, including RAN and KAIRYU, who were both contestants during BMSG's first audition "THE FIRST", and SEITO, who was unable to take part in the audition but joined BMSG as
a trainee early on. The five other members, NAOYA, RYUKI, TAKUTO,
HAYATO and EIKI, were selected after BMSG put out a call for new trainees. The selection process was shared with the public via an English-subtitled documentary series called “MISSION×2” that was uploaded to BMSG’s YouTube
channel in weekly installments beginning this January. For any fans interested in following their story from the beginning, a playlist featuring all of the episodes is available here.
MAZZEL made their official
debut this May with the single Vivid, and they just released their second single, Carnival, in October. Shortly after the release hit stores, JaME had the opportunity to ask MAZZEL some questions about the song and its eye-catching music video, performing
at BMSG FES for the first time, and their dream collaborations within BMSG.
As the second boy group from BMSG, you will likely be facing a lot of comparisons to BE:FIRST going forward. In your opinion, how is MAZZEL different from BE:FIRST?
KAIRYU: After all, we are all different in terms of personalities, strengths, and musical ‘weapons’. So, what we create as MAZZEL has our own expressions and styles of music.
What do you want to convey to listeners with your new single Carnival?
HAYATO: We may be still unknown to many people, but we want to pull them into our world and attract those who don’t know us well. That is one of the messages in Carnival. It also showcases our strong will to never
stop growing and challenging ourselves as a group. I hope many listeners find the unique worldview of MAZZEL in this song!
Were there any especially fun or challenging moments while you were working on the music video for Carnival?
KAIRYU: I had such a fun time filming the video because it was an extraordinary event surrounded by luxurious props and many cameras.
EIKI: It was an exciting event for me to perform in the open quarry area where staff built a building with our name ‘MAZZEL’ on it. It was also fun performing under the fireworks at night.
While fans have likely already heard LIGHTNING, what can you tell us about the other coupling tracks from Carnival, Fire and Holiday?
SEITO:Fire is another song produced by SKY-HI following our pre-debut song, MISSION. I hope listeners would check out some elements like the lyrics that are his message to MAZZEL over
the heavy beat and our feelings that gradually spark as the line goes. Also, don’t miss RYUKI’s rapping and my low-tone vocals!
Holiday is a song that truly depicts everyday MAZZEL. The bridge is a must-listen section! That part will grab your heart instantly when you hear the phrase. Please don’t miss how KAIRYU demonstrates
his improvisation technique in the last chorus.
TAKUTO: As SEITO just mentioned, Fire is a song produced by SKY-HI, accompanied by a heavy beat and each member’s powerful singing and rapping. It is a song we gave our all to.
Holiday on the other hand, is a song that expresses the usual MAZZEL. There is a section in the outro where we all sing together, and I hope everyone listening to the song will naturally feel the groove of the music.
MAZZEL’s music seems to draw in elements from a lot of different genres - is there any particular type of song you haven’t done yet that you’d like to try performing together in the future?
NAOYA: We’ve never done a hard-core hip-hop or rap-focused song that shows off MAZZEL’s strength in rapping. So, I want to give it a try!
RAN: I want to try something like hip-hop or house music that has a street-feeling groove. Also, it would be fun trying to arrange old-time music from the 90s and 2000s into our flavor. Of course, with super-cool choreography!
What was it like performing at BMSG FES for the first time earlier this year? Were there any particularly memorable moments onstage or behind the scenes?
KAIRYU: Performing on the stage of BMSG FES was a dream I longed for, so it made me feel good to be there, feeling I finally became part of the BMSG family. During the event, I got to know more about the BMSG family,
including BE:FIRST and other BMSG artists and staff. In particular, I had many chances to talk with BE:FIRST, whose dressing room was next to ours. It was so much fun.
NAOYA: Singing MISSION with SKY-HI and the live band was memorable. I felt emotional performing the theme song of our audition "MISSIONx2" on the same stage with him.
RAN: It was awesome. The festival itself was more evolved than the previous year, and it was amazing to be able to perform on stage with the growing BMSG family. Everyone was also having fun backstage, watching other artists’
performances. That may be one of the highlights of BMSG FES.
SEITO:BMSG FES became such a memorable day for me and MAZZEL. We learned a lot from this event and also received all the expectations from our fans. I want to work hard to return the favor to them.
The members on stage all looked confident yet fulfilled. As we watched SKY-HI’s performance together, I was thrilled at how fortunate I am to be part of BMSG and to know the other guys in MAZZEL. I remember us
saying “This is the best!” to each other.
RYUKI: We were quite nervous at our very first BMSG FES, especially on the first day. But as we proceeded, we became more comfortable and behaved as BMSG artists!
Personally, I was happy to be able to perform with the BMSG rappers, SKY-HI, Novel Core, RYOKI (BE:FIRST), edhiii boi, and TAIKI on Name Tag.
It was exciting!
TAKUTO: Seeing BMSG artists backstage cheering for other artists on stage hyped me up. Also, I was inspired by the rare collaborations among the artists, and I learned a lot from their performances.
HAYATO: I am reserved, and I found myself alone when we rehearsed with the team split into EAST and WEST. As we performed on stage during the festival, I started to open up and conversed with
other artists. Believe it or not, I ended up putting my arm around LEO’s shoulders and became friends with him during the show!
EIKI: I was a bit nervous before getting on stage, but when I was on stage, I thoroughly enjoyed the moment in front of a warm audience. All of the other 22 artists inspired me a lot, and this experience made me strongly feel
I want to grow more as an artist.
If you could collaborate with any single person from BMSG (aside from the other members of MAZZEL), for a song or a variety show activity, who would you choose and what would you want to do?
KAIRYU: I’d love to collaborate with REIKO on a high-grade R&B song. I would also like to talk with SKY-HI over a radio show.
NAOYA: I want to collaborate with REIKO and RYUHEI doing a girl band’s dance.
RAN: Honestly, I would love to collaborate with anyone, but most definitely, I want to collaborate with SOTA from BE:FIRST one day to do a song from the time when our dancing roots originated.
SEITO: I want to try a song with SHUNTO from BE:FIRST. I’m often responsible for bass parts in MAZZEL, so I want us to do a mellow R&B song.
RYUKI: I want to collaborate with SHUNTO from BE:FIRST. An edgy, avant-garde song would be great!
TAKUTO: I’d like to create a song with Novel Core.
HAYATO: I want to create a song with Aile The Shota. He helped me write the lyrics for the BMSG EAST song (The Sun from the EAST), and his lyrics are so beautiful that I've been longing
for a collaboration with him one day.
EIKI: I want to play catch or baseball with LEO one day!
Please leave a message for your fans around the world.
KAIRYU:MAZZEL, as well as BMSG, are striving for higher places. We would love to show our fans incredible scenery along the way, so please keep supporting us!
NAOYA: Thank you for rooting for us. Your support is always the fuel for my power! We are just starting, but we will quickly reach your hearts and make you all feel happy. I would be grateful if you would love us more and more!
RAN: Thanks for your relentless and warm support. MAZZEL and BMSG will keep delivering great music and continue cheering for everyone. Please be there with us.
SEITO: Thanks for cheering for us. We hope to go beyond Japan to deliver our music one day, so please look forward to that day. We, MAZZEL, will keep working hard to create diverse music to reach many people.
Stay tuned!
RYUKI: As we bring different musical backgrounds and roots on top of our colorful individuality, I am sure people can enjoy watching or listening to any of us in MAZZEL. We also try to create various music without
sticking to a particular genre, so please enjoy our music. I’d love to perform on a huge global stage in front of thousands of people one day!
TAKUTO: Though we just recently debuted, we’ve been working hard every day to become a globally recognized and beloved group. We will create ‘MAZZEL’ music and showcase who we are, so please support and cheer
for us!
HAYATO: Thank you for your warm support. I promise that we will become big enough to perform live in many countries one day, so please wait for and look forward to the day we will see you there!
EIKI:MAZZEL, as well as BMSG, will grow to become globally recognized in the future and to touch many people’s hearts all over the world. We will keep working hard and do our best to bring happiness to our fans,
MUZE, in the world.
JaME would like to thank MAZZEL, BMSG and CANGLO Pte Ltd for making this interview possible.
Digest footage from BMSG FES'23 can be viewed below, followed by the MV for MAZZEL's debut single Vivid. You can also read more about MAZZEL's appearance at BMSG FES'23 in our live report covering the international online broadcast of the event, which is available here.
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