Interview with MUCC at RTOC

Approaching the end of the Rockstar Taste of Chaos 2008 tour, MUCC met with JaME in Corpus Christi for a quick fifteen-minute interview on April 4th to discuss their spring album release, Shion, their new music style and more.


Please introduce yourself and tell us which song from your new release, Shion, has affected you the most.

Miya: I'm Miya and I play guitar. FUZZ is really the song that triggered the beginning of Shion. For us, a lot of new things started with this song and it was kind of the beginning point of the changing of MUCC.

YUKKE: I'm YUKKE and I made the song Chiisana mado. This song is string-oriented and has a huge arrangement that expresses a wider viewpoint. We've already played this song in Japan and I feel really comfortable when we play it.

SATOchi: I'm SATOchi and I pick Fukuro no yurikago. This song is really heavy since that was the first approach we took. It is connected with programmed music, a pre-recorded track. We almost did the same thing as with FUZZ, but even though it sounds kind of the same, it has its own unique sound.

Tatsuro: I'm Tatsuro, the vocalist, and I pick Libra. I'm really happy we put this song on the album. It makes me happy to play this music during this tour; the audience really likes it. We're starting MUCC's eleventh year of activity and I think it's really great to have this song on the first album of our eleventh year.

Chain Ring, from your FUZZ release, was used for the anime series "Zombie Loan." How did you get this opportunity? How did you write the song; were you told about the story beforehand and then wrote a song that would fit for the closing or was there a different approach?

Miya: First, we presented our music and when we received the offer, we then took a look at the story and wrote the lyrics.

How were you approached about the opportunity for your song FUZZ to be used in the feature film "Cloverfield?"

Miya: The director of the movie was looking for Japanese songs to put in the movie and their management gave them few different options, and the director liked our song.

Comparing your last few albums, your music style has changed quite a bit, new elements being added to it. Tell us more about this new style used for Shion. What made you decide to incorporate electronic elements in your music? It's quite a change from your usual sound

Miya: We didn't put any limitations or restrictions on ourselves and we wanted whatever came to us, sort of like anything goes. FUZZ was so different from our other songs and, because we experienced that freedom, we suddenly thought, "Oh shit we can do this! We can introduce other things into our songs."

What were your reactions upon being invited to perform on the Rockstar Taste of Chaos tour?

Miya: It wasn't even expected that we were going to be on the tour so we were really happy about it.

Before the tour even began, some of your equipment was, unfortunately, sent back to Japan. Obviously, you had to buy new equipment, but how did this affect the band before the tour even started?

Miya: We felt that even though we didn't have our original equipment, we were confident that we could still do the shows.

MUCC performed at last year's Jrock Revolution Festival and now you're performing for a USA audience again through a tour; how does it feel to be part of such an extensive USA tour?

Miya: We like long tours so we're really enjoying it.

Since you're touring with not only with Japanese bands, but also American bands, what has the atmosphere of the tour been from your point of view?

Miya: It's been really great; everyone is very kind. When I talk to the other crews and say something in very little English such as, "Hey, how are you doing?" they talk more and really try to engage in conversation. Instead of the casual "hi," they make me feel welcome.

MUCC still considers itself a visual kei band. How do you think the USA audience feels about visual kei, and about MUCC being a visual kei band since the term is used so broadly?

Miya: It all depends on the fans because visual kei is not a style of music, but the whole physical image of the band. So I think it's up to how each fan interprets the term.

You have quite a large discography and you have a shorter set for your performances on this tour, how are you determining which songs you will perform?

Miya: We wanted to show off the new songs that represent our new style, but we also wanted to play old songs that represented us the most. So the audience won't just know the current MUCC, but also what we were. We also picked songs that weren't well-known, but based from our performances. Within the audience there are people who know MUCC and there are people who don't know MUCC. So even though they might not necessarily be our most well-known songs, we just want the audience to be able to get it.

All bands have good times and bad times. Please tell us what has helped you to get through your own rough times.

Miya: To be honest about ourselves, if we have a difficulty within the band, instead of taking it out on each other, we just put that feeling into a song.

Finally, please give a final message to your international fans.

YUKKE: I hope that people who became interested in MUCC during this tour will come back when we do our headlining tour.

Miya: I hope to come back to the USA with either us headlining a tour or on another tour like this. Anyway, we will be back! So see you then!

SATOchi: I can't speak English very well, so I can't communicate with fans, but I will be great next time. So let's chat more next time!

Tatsuro: This tour has made me love the USA. I've had a lot of fun and I want to come back as soon as possible. Even though I don't know when that'll happen, I hope it happens pretty soon and we'll have fun again.


Many thanks to Rockstar Taste of Chaos, MUCC's translator, and Heather Overstreet, who helped translate, for making this interview possible; also, many thanks to MUCC for taking time to answer our questions. Photos by Lacy.